Category: Album Review

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

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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)” →

Billy Idol – ‘Rebel Calling’ (Live Bootleg) – Album Review (The Billy Idol Series)

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As I mentioned in the post last week on the Billy Idol bootleg “Rebel Waltz”, A few weeks back, Lunchbox records posted on Facebook that they got in a bunch of bootlegs from Duran Duran and Billy Idol.  I will be honest, I don’t care about the Duran Duran bootlegs, but the Billy Idol peaked my interest.  It was around 6:30pm on a Saturday night and I mentioned to my kids we should go to Lunchbox, but we didn’t go.  We did go the next day on Sunday.  We left a little after 12pm and arrived just before 1pm and they were closed (Duh Duh Duh – dramatic music insert).

We forgot to check if they would be open and with the virus going around, I wasn’t sure now if they would open at all.  Lo and behold, they were going to open and that was going to be at 1pm which was in a couple minutes.  We were the first ones in and those Billy Idol bootlegs were still there.  Apparently, there are not of ton of crazies out there buying Billy Idol bootlegs…Who knew!!!

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Unlike the last bootleg, this one was a little more advanced in its packaging.  This time we actually get a picture on the album jacket on both the front and the back as opposed to a print out on a sheet of paper stuffed inside.  I couldn’t find much information on the show as to which show it was at the Roxy in L.A.  I know based on the track list it was in 1982 after the release of his self-titled debut album.  There were 3 shows in L.A. at the Roxy.  The first two were in August on the 11th and the 12th.  The next was on November 13th.  I couldn’t find a setlist at all so now way to match.  But I am guessing one of these shows for sure. Continue reading “Billy Idol – ‘Rebel Calling’ (Live Bootleg) – Album Review (The Billy Idol Series)” →

Whitesnake – ‘Live…In the Shadow of the Blues’ – Album Review (The David Coverdale Series)

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In just 9 months after the release the live DVD…’Live…In The Still of The Night’, the band releases another live album.  Released on November 24th, 2006 is ‘Live…In The Shadow of the Blues’.  Surprisingly, this album never got an official release here in the U.S. and I am hurt by that, but I got over it.  This is the band’s third live album with the whole ‘Live…’ set up as the first was ‘Live…In the Heart of the City’ back in 1980.  However, it is the technically the fourth live album thanks to ‘Starkers in Tokyo’.

Now, I am a little baffled as to why release another live album so quickly after the DVD release.  It doesn’t really make any sense.  Especially since the band’s line-up is relatively unchanged with the exception of bass.  On bass for this set is Uriah Duffy and the last one was Marco Mendoza.  Otherwise, the players are the same…

  • David Coverdale – vocals
  • Doug Aldrich – guitar
  • Reb Beach – guitar
  • Tommy Aldridge – drums
  • Timothy Drury – keyboards

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Let’s talk about the positives with this set.  You do get 20 songs from various shows.  And most importantly, you do get 4 brand new songs written by David Coverdale with his new partner in crime, Doug Aldrich.  We will review those songs in detail, but before we get to those songs, let’s go through the live set a little. Continue reading “Whitesnake – ‘Live…In the Shadow of the Blues’ – Album Review (The David Coverdale Series)” →

Whitesnake – ‘Live…In the Still of the Night’ – DVD Review (The David Coverdale Series)

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After David Coverdale’s solo album, ‘Into the Light’, in 2000.  Whitesnake layed dormant for another 2 years.  It was December of 2002 that David decided to reform Whitenake.  And what a band he put together.  It was Doug Aldrich and Reb Beach on guitar, Marco Mendozza on bass, Timothy Drury on keyboards and the mighty Tommy Aldridge on drums.

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The band toured for a couple years and in 2004, they recorded a show.  It was on October 20, 2004 at the Hammersmith Apollo in London that a video recording was made of the show.  The video, however, would not see the light of day for until February 2006.  I know because I remember when this came out as I received a very special copy.  Why was it special? I will tell you.

It is not special because it is the ‘Special Collector’s Edition’.  No.  It is special because I won it on some music website give away.  Sadly, I don’t remember what website, but I remember entering the contest, receiving an email that I won, and lastly receiving a parcel in the mail with the DVD set included. And it was this set that reignited my passion for David Coverdale and the rest is history. Continue reading “Whitesnake – ‘Live…In the Still of the Night’ – DVD Review (The David Coverdale Series)” →

Billy Idol – ‘Rebel Waltz’ (Live Bootleg) – Album Review (The Billy Idol Series)

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A few weeks back, Lunchbox records posted on Facebook that they got in a bunch of bootlegs from Duran Duran and Billy Idol.  I will be honest, I don’t care about the Duran Duran bootlegs, but the Billy Idol peaked my interest.  It was around 6:30pm on a Saturday night and I mentioned to my kids we should go to Lunchbox, but we didn’t go.  We did go the next day on Sunday.  We left a little after 12pm and arrived just before 1pm and they were closed (Duh Duh Duh – dramatic music insert).

We forgot to check if they would be open and with the virus going around, I wasn’t sure now if they would open at all.  Lo and behold, they were going to open and that was going to be at 1pm which was in a couple minutes.  We were the first ones in and those Billy Idol bootlegs were still there.  Apparently, there are not of ton of crazies out there buying Billy Idol bootlegs…Who knew!!!

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This is a typical bootleg from the 80’s.  The vinyl jacket is a basic all white cardboard with two print outs…one for the front and one for the back slid in to the clear plastic sleeve holding it all together.  The front cover says: “Billy Idol in New York City: A Hardcore hero comes home.”  Here’s the thing…the show is in Houston, Texas…not New York. Definitely not high quality work here ladies and gentlemen.  However, that is the beauty of these releases.  As you will see below, the actual vinyl doesn’t even have a label. There might have been one at one time, but after 35 years or so, there isn’t anymore. Continue reading “Billy Idol – ‘Rebel Waltz’ (Live Bootleg) – Album Review (The Billy Idol Series)” →

David Coverdale – ‘Into the Light’ – Album Review (The David Coverdale Series)

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After the final Whitesnake Tour back in 1998, David felt lost.  He had been David Coverdale of Whitesnake for so long, he wasn’t sure who he was anymore. He needed to find himself.  After a little break, David Coverdale re-emerged, but this time without the Whitesnake persona.  This time, he was just David Coverdale.  Even though his previous album, ‘Restless Heart’, was supposed to be a solo album, this is now officially his first one since 1978’s ‘Northwind’…and no, Coverdale/Page doesn’t count as a solo album.

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The cool thing about the solo album is that it really is just David and a lot of great, talented musicians pitching in on songs.  You get Doug Bossi, Earl Slick, Marco Mendozza, Tony Franklin and Denny Carmassi, just to name a few, but that is only the tip of the iceberg.  With all these different artist, you don’t get that typical Whitesnake sound.  But you do get hints.  There are some blues tracks, there are some Zeppelin style fare and there is stuff that is truly only David.

The album came out on September 25, 2000 in the UK and it was released with little fanfare. It didn’t blow up the charts or set the world on fire. Heck, it was pretty much non-existent in the States. I accidentally stumbled across back then, but I did add it to my collection.  What it did do was get David back in the music business and working again, if at least for a brief time. Continue reading “David Coverdale – ‘Into the Light’ – Album Review (The David Coverdale Series)” →

Kiss – The Tickler (Bootleg Series) – Album Review

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A month ago, local record shop Hardy Boys Records bought a Kiss collection and offered up for sale. Everything was going to drop on that next Saturday at 10am. I got up, showered, dressed and headed out the door and arrive about 9:50 and luckily only one person was in line ahead of me.  Great conversations were had about our love for Kiss. I picked up 6 different Kiss pieces that were not in my collection one was this Bootleg called The Tickler.

‘The Tickler’ is an independent released bootleg of the bands concert from the Scandinavium which is in Gothenburg, Sweden.  The show was on the Lick It up Tour and dates to November 18, 1983.  It isn’t the full show as that show had 17 songs.  This one is only 8 songs and 2 solos including Gene Simmon’s bass solo and Vinnie Vincent’s guitar solo.

The bootleg is limited to 500 copies (no, it’s not numbered).  It has the green cover as there is one with a red cover floating around as well.  The packaging is very limited.  you get the horrible black & white photos on the front and back of the album jackets is blank.  The labels on the vinyl are pretty basic black with an A & B on each side and the name of the label, Roxy Records.  No special inserts or any bonus items.  Plain and simple.  My guess this came out in the 80’s.  Now the copy I bought was sealed, but to me that is a complete and utter waste.  I want to hear it, so I opened it and played it…SUE ME!!! Continue reading “Kiss – The Tickler (Bootleg Series) – Album Review” →

Gene Simmons – ‘The Vault’ – Album Review (Part 15 of 15 – The Final Verdict)

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We are finally to The End of the Road.  No, not the End of the Road Tour, but the end of our journey of Gene Simmons – The Vault!  We are on Part 15 of our 15 Part series.  We have spent numerous hours listening, reading, researching and writing up these posts and I have to say, it is the most fun I have had on this site maybe ever.  I wanted to deliver a very detailed breakdown of The Vault so maybe you would see whether or not it is worth buying.  For me, it was a no brainer, even though it took me two years to do it.  The price was finally right.

Let’s mention a little on the production of this album.  The production and mix were stellar.  They all had the same volume level and even the worst quality recording still sounded great.  They put a lot of time and effort in that and they hit it out of the park.

And I don’t want to forget to mention the people on this album.  I won’t go through all of them as you should read each review, but you get Ace Frehley, Bruce Kulick, Eric Carr, Eric Singer, Tommy Thayer, Bob Kulick and even Paul Stanley.  And then there is Bob Dylan, Eddie Van Halen and Alex Van Halen, but that is only a small portion…you get members of Black & Blue, of Silent Rage and even someone from Steel Panther. You get some songwriters, producers that helped write some songs and even Katey Sagal from Married With Children does some background vocals.  It is so cool to see all the different people involved.  That was one of my favorite parts.

IMG_1624 Continue reading “Gene Simmons – ‘The Vault’ – Album Review (Part 15 of 15 – The Final Verdict)” →