Friday New Releases – May 4th

Happy Friday and May the 4th Be With You!!  Yes, I went there on Star Wars Day!!  There aren’t a ton of releases but a few I am excited about.  I will highlight those in Blue as usual.  Go through and let me know what you like or what I might have missed.  I hope you enjoy and have a great weekend.

  • 51JgZnr7AML._SS500  Shinedown – Attention Attention – (Atlantic Recording):  The main one I want to hear is the new Shinedown album.  The song “Devil” was freaking awesome and I love the whole idea of loose concept album.  It isn’t a full on concept album, but the songs will take you on a journey of a person who is starting in a very dark, ominous place and take you all the way through to the other side where this person is done battling his mind and his issues and coming out a changed person.  Check out “Devil” and then get this album.

  • 71idNtL4rWL._SX522_  Mat Kearney – CRAZYTALK – (Tomorrow Music):  Mat Kearney is one of the finer singer/songwriters out there and he never gets enough credit.  He has some great pop sensibilities, but takes risk and tries new things.  I don’t like to listen to his albums ahead of time, I like to be surprised and I hope this will bring many.

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Friday New Releases – April 27th

 

Welcome to the last Friday of April and the new music releases.  There isn’t a ton, but there should be something for everyone.  My choices are highlighted in Blue.  Take a look through and let me know what you are interested in or what I might have missed.  Have a great weekend!!

  • 41BJkKihPEL._SS500  Sanctus Real – Changed – (Framework Records):  Sanctus Real are one of the few Christian bands I still follow.  They are consistently great and there are always some gems on each album. They are more pop than rock, but just as good as anything on the radio.  Now, here is the twist.  The lead singer of the band, Matt Hammitt, has left the band and so they have a new singer.  I am going to try this one out, but not sure how much I will dig it as it was Matt’s vocals that always drew me in.  He was also the principal songwriter.  We will see, but hopes aren’t high.

  • 61cGx3YOHDL._SY300_QL70_  Anthrax – Kings Among Scotland – (Megaforce Records):  A Live DVD and CD that was recorded last year.  It is Anthrax, of course it is going to get a spin or two.  Plus, the album is a shout out to Kiss’ Rock & Roll Over cover!  Not much else to say on this.

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Thirdstory – Concert Review (Visulite Theatre in Charlotte, April 18, 2018)

I don’t get to attend many concerts each year and when I do it is usually me taking my daughter to a show.  This case was no different with the exception that I am fan of the band as well. The band is Thirdstory who are out of New York City and featuring Elliott Skinner, Ben Lusher and Richard Saunders.  Their music is a mixture of Pop and R&B with some unbelievable harmonizing.  That is definitely the highlight of the band.

The night started out early as the show didn’t start until 8pm, but we had to arrive at 5:30pm.  Why?  Well, I am trying to win a Father of the Year award and I surprised my daughter with Meet & Greet passes for the show.  She had been hinting all along how cheap it was and I didn’t even have to get a pass since she was underage.  I could be her chaperone.  Little did she know how convincing of an argument she made.

We got there a little early and she ended up being 2nd in line to meet the band.  She was so nervous and it all started it out well enough.  She walked up all smiles and started talking, saying hello to the band and then suddenly she got a little quiet. So, in good old dad fashion, I jumped right in to keep the conversation going.  I mentioned she saw the band once before when they opened for Tori Kelly almost two years to the day at the Fillmore in Charlotte.

The band has a song “G Train” (which I will talk about later), but I brought up the fact we were in New York a couple weeks earlier.  I told them we were unable to catch the G Train while we were there.  Funny enough, they laughed and said they would be worried if we did as it isn’t the safest train in New York.  Now, I am glad we didn’t catch it.

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My Sunday Song – “Lips On You” by Maroon 5

My Sunday Song #88 is going to get downright sexy.  The song of choice this week is “Lips on You” by Maroon 5.  The song is off their most recent album ‘Red Pill Blues’ which was released back on November 3, 2017.

The song was co-written by Adam Levine with a slew of people including Kasher Hindlin, Jason Evigan and two people that are all over the charts right now, Julia Michaels and Charlie Puth.  With that many people involved, I would hope a good song would come out of that collaboration and let me tell you…it sure as hell did!!

This is probably my favorite song on the album.  The deep bass, the slower groove and the lyrics are all so damn hot.  When you throw in Adam’s voice, you have pure magic.  This is one song that should be played when you want to get busy and it will make your partner swoon and turn them in to jelly.  The lyrics will guid you through what you should do.  If this doesn’t do it, let me know and we will file a complaint with Maroon 5 and Charlie Puth.

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Friday New Releases – April 20th

Welcome to another Friday of new music releases.  There are a handful of good ones that are coming out and I will highlight the ones I want in Blue.  Take a look through and check them out and see what else you want to get this week or what I missed.  Whatever you do, support the bands you like.  Enjoy!!

  • 61CaDGJBrVL._AC_US436_QL65_  Stryper – God Damn Evil – (Frontiers Records):  The first single off this release, “Take it to the Cross” was a shock to the system.  It was more thrash than the normal Stryper music, but it was awesome.  The second single, “Sorry” was more of what you expect.  Either way, they have me excited about this release and can’t wait to check it out.

  • 61HFVOPvWmL._SX120_SY120_  Black Stone Cherry – Family Tree – (Mascot Records):  Black Stone Cherry have been releasing albums every 2-3 years and they are right on schedule with this one.  I love their Southern Rock/Metal sound and they haven’t missed a beat with this one.  Looking forward to hearing the rest.  Looks like it is going to be a heavy week.

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My Sunday Song – “Constant Craving” by k.d. lang

For My Sunday Song #87, I have chosen “Constant Craving” by the amazing k.d. lang.  The song is off her album ‘Ingenue’ in 1992.  The song did well on the charts, obviously, but it was the song that gave k.d. a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Performance in 1993.  The song was also up for Song of the Year and Record of the Year.

The song had a more commercial feel then her previous releases.  She had been going for a more country style, but her androgynous appearance hindered her acceptance into Nashville and country music.  She had hits on the country charts such as “Cryin’ (w/ Roy Orbison) and other songs, but they were never truly embraced her.  Thankfully for us,  she turned more pop and gave us this beauty of an album and song.

“Constant Craving” is such a beautiful song set at a mid-tempo with loads of different acoustic guitars, an accordion and of course k.d.’s amazing and gorgeous voice.  For the background vocals, they used numerous layers of her vocals as well as the Reclines singer, Sue Leonard to assist on the high vocal parts.  For me, it was the song that really turned me on to lang.  It had such a haunting feel to it and with the utter desperation and wanting of the lyrics and I was hooked.

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Friday New Releases – April 13th

Welcome to a pretty slow week.  Only one I am interested in this week and there aren’t a ton of others coming out.  Hopefully next week will bring us more.  However, it might be a good week to catch up on earlier releases as I am sure that is what I will be doing.  My choices are in Blue.  Let me know if there is anything you are interested in as well.

  • 81EGj2+qBCL._AC_UL115_  Breaking Benjamin – Ember – (Hollywood Records):  We thought the band was over in 2009, but it returned in 2015 although it wasn’t the original band, just the singer.  Didn’t matter, it was the singer I always liked so glad to hear some new music from him.  This time the new band was involved in the writing so hopefully will add a new layer to the band.  We will see…or hear I guess.

  • 71SLhyrtHdL._SX522_  Metallica – The $5.98 EP: Garage Days Re-Revisited – (Blackened Recordings):

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Calum Scott – ‘Only Human’ – Album Review

Calum Scott’s debut release, ‘Only Human’, came out on Friday, March 9th. A day surrounded by albums from some Hard Rock artists such as Judas Priest, Myles Kennedy, Three Days Grace and even Jimi Hendrix, how did this pop artist catch my ear?  Easy, two years ago this former Britain’s Got Talent contestant released a cover of Robyn’s “Dancing on My Own”.  That song made me stop and take notice.  It was absolutely fantastic (more on it later).  I have been anxiously awaiting an album from him ever since.

And now, the long wait is finally over.  Calum Scott is a cross between many artists.  I would say he is a little bit Sam Smith (without the depressing ass songs), a little bit Adam Levine (his vocal stylings only), a little Gavin DeGraw (catchy pop love songs) and a little bit of James Bay (his first record and even a little of his guitar sound).  He is the best of all those people rolled into one.

There are 14 tracks on the CD version  of the album (vinyl only has 11) so I won’t go through all the songs in detail, but I will highlight several of my favorites.  First off, there are two types of songs throughout the album.  You get the love song ballads and the upbeat pop songs.  I have to admit, I am a sucker for a good love song and Calum has no short supply.  The ballads are beautiful showcases of his amazing, soulful vocal abilities.

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Friday New Releases – April 6th

It is already April and I can’t believe how fast time flies.  We just got back from New York City for a family vacation and what a great time we had.  I love that city!!  Now, what do we have new this week you might ask.  Well, we have a lot of different things, Metal, Rock, Southern Rock, Pop, Christian and so much more.  My choices are highlighted in Blue.  Let me know what you want, if anything.

  • 91P3HWlQIsL._SX522_  The Dead Daisies – Burn It Down – (Spitfire Music):  John Corabi and boys are back with yet another Dead Daisies release.  They are pumping out the music and thankfully so.  Since Corabi came on board, I have really loved these guys.  And coming of Corabi’s recent Live album playing his one Motley Cure album in its entirety, I am ready for some more.

  • 31iUJMAkz3L._AC_US320_QL65_  Thirty Seconds to Mars – The New Album – (Interscope):  Jared Leto and company are finally returning with some new music.  He shares his time between movies and music and although I like his movies, he is one of the few actors that actually has some musical chops and Thirty Seconds to Mars rarely disappoints.  Looking forward to this one as I have loved the first song and here it is…

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Kiss – “I Was Made For Lovin’ You” (The 45 Single)

Disco era Kiss!  Does it get any better than that??  Well, yes it actually does.  Nonetheless, it was still Kiss and still awesome.  I was out at my favorite little record spot and came across a 7″ single of Kiss and of course I had to have it.  It was the 1979 single off the Dynasty album called “I Was Made For Lovin’ You”.

The single was only the band’s second Gold single and it went on to sell over a 1 million copies so needless to say, it was a hit.  Which proved Gene and Paul correct that during the Disco era, anyone could write a disco song.  Speaking of writing, this was the first time Kiss co-wrote a song with Desmond Child and it wouldn’t be the last.  It was also Desmond’s first hit he ever had.  The song was also written by Paul Stanley and Vini Poncia who played piano on the song and did backing vocals.

The really isn’t much to talk about in regards to the song.  Think disco and you know what the song sounds like.  You can get up and dance to it and sing along to the catchy, pop chorus.  It is simple.  One thing I guess I can talk about is that wikipedia has the 7″ single listed at 4:01, but my version has it at 3:57 which might not seem like a lot, but that is a big difference.  The song is already cut down from the album version which was at 4:30.  Not sure if I have a different version or wikipedia is just wrong.

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