Category: Album Review

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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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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Cheap Trick – ‘We’re All Alright!’ – Album Review

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Cheap Trick is the fine wine of Rock & Roll…they keep getting better with age.  Okay, that was extremely cheesy if not entirely true!  They are now on their 18th Studio album after 44 years together.  To top it off, it has only been around 15 months since their last one, ‘Bang, Zoom, Crazy…Hello’.  The new album picks up right where that album left off.  ‘We’re All Alright!’ even takes it to the next level.

The album title, ‘We’re All Alright!’, is a line straight out of their classic song “Surrender” and the whole album is classic Cheap Trick.  The album is a fast paced, juggernaut of pure Cheap Trick rock.  The songs are generally around 3 minutes and the album flies by at only 33 minutes (45 for the deluxe edition).  The album consists of new songs and some old songs that were never recorded or released.

For a band where the members are well into their 60’s, they sound so alive and refreshing and sound better than bands that are half their age.  Robin Zander’s vocals are amazing and sound like he did when he was a kid. Rick Nielsen’s guitar work on the album is the highlight for me.  So many great riffs and solos that music today is sorely missing.  Tom Petersson’s work on the bass keeps everyone in line and adds the finishing touches to each song.  Daxx Nielsen (Rick’s son) on drums has that old Cheap Trick sound and keep the band going at a heart stopping pace.

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“My First Time” with Whitesnake’s ‘Whitesnake’

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Over the past couple weeks, I have dived deeply into Whitesnake’s early albums such as ‘Lovehunter’, ‘Ready an’ Willing’, ‘Come an’ Get It’ and “Saints & Sinners’.  And I actually picked up ‘Ready an’ Willing’ and ‘Come an’ Get It’ on vinyl last week. Those albums are so good and hate that I didn’t really know about them back in the day.  It got me thinking about the first album I bought from Whitesnake which was simply ‘Whitesnake’.

The album came out in 1987, my senior year of high school.  It quickly became one of my favorite albums of that year (behind ‘Hysteria’ by Def Leppard of course).  It was pure 80’s hair metal (or whatever label you want to give it) and pure magic.  The pounding drums, the guitar solos, the thumping bass, the synthesizers and that voice.  A combination that as a sure fire hit.  Which it was as the album actually went to #2 on the Billboard charts.

However, this album almost didn’t get made.  After 10 years of playing with little to no success, David Coverdale was ready to call it quits for Whitesnake.  The U.S. had pretty much ignored the band and the former Deep Purple singer had about had enough.  If it wasn’t for the record label, Geffen Records, Whitesnake as we know it, would be gone forever.

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Bryan Adams – “Straight From the Heart” & “Cuts Like A Knife” – The 45 Single (1985)

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For the next single that was in my box of vinyl, you get two for the price of one.  It is actually a re-issued single of two of Bryan Adams most popular songs from his ‘Cuts Like a Knife’ album.  A&M Records had a 45 single series called A&M Memories where they re-released singles of artists and both sides were previously released singles from the artist and from the same album.

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The original singles “Straight From the Heart” and “Cuts Like a Knife” were actually released in 1983 as separate singles.  The B-Side for “Straight From the Heart” was “One Good Reason” and the B-Side for “Cuts Like a Knife” was “Lonely Nights”.  This release of those singles was done only a couple years later in 1985. The concept of this A&M series was pretty smart as it gave the customer two hit songs for the price of one.

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Papa Roach – ‘Crooked Teeth’ – Album Review

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‘Crooked Teeth’ is Papa Roach’s ninth studio album and with it they show no signs of slowing down.  The band sounds incredible and delivers another solid release.  Where bands like Linkin Park have completely changed their style, Papa Roach hasn’t changed their sound too dramatically.  And why should they as they do it so well.

Papa Roach still brings the rap in their songs, however, the album is more melodic and has a very modern rock sound.  With any rock album, it sounds best cranked up as loud as you can take it.  Like they did with their last album, ‘F.E.A.R.’, they have also added a couple of collaborations with some spectacular guests including Skylar Grey and Machine Gun Kelly.

The album opens with “Break the Fall” and gives you the rap lyrics you would expect and then cranks up the metal with the classic Papa Roach sound.  The album comes out of the gate swinging and doesn’t let up with the title track, “Crooked Teeth”.  The first single off the album is a scorcher that attacks you from all sides with the pounding drums and screaming vocals and powerful guitars.  You see that even after 24 years, the band has not lost a step.

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Music Challenge #6 – Alestorm – ‘No Grave But the Sea’

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For those that don’t know what the Music Challenge is I will tell you.  Go out and pick up an album or stream an album based solely off one of three categories…1) Album Cover, 2) Band Name or 3) Album Name.  Once you have listened to one, come tell me about it. My 6th pick is Alestorm and I chose it off the cover and the band name…here are my thoughts on it…(Parental Guidance is suggested…if foul language offends you than go read another post)

All my life, I have felt that something was missing.  I didn’t know what it was and have struggled with it my whole life.  Well that struggle is no more.  The thing that was missing from it was PIRATE HEAVY METAL!!!  Heavy Metal music with a pirate theme!! How have I never thought of that before.  Thank God I found Alestorm to fill that hole missing in my life all this time.

The timing couldn’t be better with the release of the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie “Dead Men Tell No Tales”.  Now I have a pirate movie and pirate music to go along with it!  This is Alestorm’s fifth studio album and it is called ‘No Grave But the Sea’.  I seriously thought this was just a novelty album, but nope…it is for real and they have now stuck with the pirate theme for 5 albums.

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Linkin Park – One More Light – Album Review

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Linkin Park goes 180º in direction with ‘One More Light’.  The heaviness from ‘The Hunting Party’ and anything else they have done is thrown out the window.  Instead, Linkin Park goes entirely POP!!  No heavy guitars, very little in the realm of rap and overall full on aggressiveness is gone.

The closest you get to old school Linkin Park is “Good Goodbye (feat. Pusha T & Stormzy)”. This is one of the few songs I do like despite the dumbest lyric in history brought to us by Pusha T…

“Goodbye, good riddance
A period is after every sentence”

Really!!  A period is after every sentence???  That is the best you could come up with to rhyme with good riddance. Suckish!

The first single, “Heavy”, is great, but only because of Kiiara’s voice.  She brings an elegance to the song that is needed. A few other songs I did end up enjoying included “Talking to Myself”, “Invisible” and “Sharp Edges”.  They were catchy even if unoriginal.  The remainder of the album meandered along and was completely forgettable.

‘One More Light’ is not worth your time. I might have liked it if I didn’t know it was Linkin Park.

5 keepers out 10 songs – 50% (2.5 out 5 stars)

#200WordChallenge

Harry Styles – ‘Harry Styles’ – Album Review

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I wasn’t planning on doing a review of this album until my daughter asked if I was doing a review.  It made me think that maybe she wanted me to do a review, so after numerous listens of the album, here is my review.

Before I listened to the album, I really didn’t know what to expect.  I know what I hoped to hear and that was an album that was nothing like One Direction, his former band.  The Harry Styles solo album needed to show creativity and give us a different look than what we have seen before.  The pressure for him to deliver is huge.  I know I didn’t care for Zayn’s album (although “Pillowtalk” was an amazing song) so I was hoping this didn’t end up giving me a similar feeling.

Gladly, I wasn’t disappointed.  I was actually pleasantly surprised.  Harry delivered an album of very diverse songs yet they seemed to be cohesive at the same time.  Sonically, the album is pure British.  It has a lot of British musical influences and stylings.  I hear the essences of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Elton John, Arctic Monkeys, Oasis and even Robbie Williams.  And looking at the songwriting credits, I see Harry has his hand in all the songs which is a good thing…just how much of the writing he did is unknown.

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