Category: Rock

The Top Albums of 2021

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2021 was not quite as strange as 2020 as things started to get back to normal. I got out to see a couple concerts and back to digging in the record stores and even went in to the office a few times.  Covid pushed back a lot of albums in 2020 and they finally came out in 2021. Some were worth the wait and well, some weren’t.  But there were some great releases and I am sure I missed a number of great albums and if you look around the web, there will be tons of Top Album lists you can get a pretty good idea of what you should check out in case you missed any of these.

This year I am doing things a little different.  I am only doing one list post, but that list will be centered around my Favorite Rock Albums of the year.  At the end I’ll give you my Top 5 Non-Rock Albums of the year as I didn’t listen to a ton of new releases this year as I was focused so much on my Kiss, Judas Priest, Queen and now Cheap Trick & Aerosmith Series.  That took a lot of time.

Also note, these are MY FAVORITES!!  These are not the most popular or trendy albums.  You won’t find the cool trendy bands, because they are usually here today gone tomorrow.  These are the albums that I connected with during the year and I kept coming back to again and again.  And without further adieu, here are the Top Rock Albums of 2020:

THE TOP ROCK ALBUMS OF 2021:

#10 – Eclipse – ‘Wired’:

71-t49UrImL._SX522_ Eclipse is a melodic rock / glam rock /hard rock band out of Sweden and let me tell you Sweden knows how to pump out these bands. I think there are more rock bands in Sweden then there are people.  It is just a guess.  The two original guys, Erik Martensson and Magnus Henriksson. are back with their 9th album and they keep delivering.  Erik’s vocals are killer and Magnus can lay down some riffs.  The three opening tracks, “Roses On Your Grave”, “Dying Breed” and “Saturday Night (Hallelujah)” just suck you in and you know you are in good hands and just along for the ride at this point. Continue reading “The Top Albums of 2021” →

ZZ Top – “Legs” – 12″ Maxi-Single

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I was out at a record show in Charlotte and was digging through the crates when I came across a 12″ Maxi-Single of ZZ Top’s song “Legs”. Who doesn’t want a “special dance mix” of that song. I had to have it especially since it was not the album mix. I love finding the non-album versions of the songs. I quickly snatched it up and here we are now doing a post.

The song is off the band’s multi-platinum, 1983 album “Eliminator”. This album, along with this song, put ZZ Top in to the stratosphere of success. And really we have MTV to thank as ZZ Top fully embraced the video concept and they did a trilogy of videos with these powerful women driving around in the classic 1933 Ford Coupe and it was stunning, just like the women.

“Legs” went Top 40 going all the way to #8 and saw the band incorporate electronic elements and new wave sounds in to their music. This was the first time that the band embrace synthesizers and electronic drum machines and if I’m not mistaken the bass and drums that were recorded for the song were actually replaced by the electronic equipment. I wonder how that went over the Hill and Beard.

My copy of the single is the standard U.S. 12″ Maxi-Single that included the “Special Dance Mix” of the song “Legs” and the B-Side was the album version of the song “La Grange” from the album ‘Tres Hombres’ from 1983. It is weird to think that this Texas Blues Rock Band would have a “Dance Mix” of a song, but in the 80’s, anything was possible. It was a dramatic change for the band that brought them a completely new audience. To think, these guys were old as far as the MTV generation was concerned, but they somehow pulled off a miracle thanks to videos and brought a fun, good time rock & roll vibe to the audience and they ate it up.

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Run DMC – “Walk This Way” – 12″ Single (The Aerosmith Collection Series – Bonus Edition)

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After ‘Done With Mirrors’, the band was not in a good place with fans, the label and themselves. The drugs use was real bad and it was time to sober up. First Steven got sober and then the rest of the band did and by 1986 they were ready for the next big thing. They needed a break. Something to get them back in the public eye. And it came in the most unexpected way.

The big break for Aerosmith came about because of Rick Rubin. Rick was working with Run DMC on their 1986 hit album, “Raising Hell”. Rick pulled out ‘Toys in the Attic’ and told Run DMC they should cover ‘Walk This Way’. Not a crazy thought as the band had free-styled over part of the song in their live shows anyway. They weren’t too keen on the idea at first, but Jam Master Jay was digging it.

But Run DMC wasn’t going to just sample the album. Why not get the band to come in and play and sing. So, a few calls were made, the band was convinced and Joe Perry and Steven Tyler went in to the studio to help out on the song. Joe played that famous riff and Steven sang the chorus and they even changed one line from “Give me a Kiss” to “Give me Head”…okay! Not what I was expecting.

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My Sunday Song – “Every Night I Wake Up Screaming” by Rick Springfield

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For My Sunday Song #279, we are going with “Every Night I Wake Up Screaming” by Rick Springfield. This is the second track in the series from my favorite Springfield album called ‘Shock/Denial/Anger/Acceptance’ which came out on February 24, 2004 and it is freaking brilliant. This is another of my favorite tracks from the album obviously. It was not a single and I don’t believe charted, but that doesn’t take away from its greatness.

The song is about how the world is gone to hell. The song feels like Rick is suffering from Anxiety with all the turmoil going on the world from terrorists to any other bad stuff you can think of. The “breathe” comments lead me to believe it is a panic attack and that the nightmares are occurring while he is awake. The line “everything looks better with my eyes close” that he can’t take watching it anymore. He sees it while sleeping and while awake and it is frightening. The song was 17 years ago and I don’t feel anything is better. In fact, I think things are worse, but that topic could be talked about for hours.

Musically, it starts of with some quiet guitar notes and a more quiet, reserved first verse before the song explodes and the volume gets turned up to 11. The song is heavy, it is angry and Rick attacks it with the ferocity that is needed. It goes back and forth between the quiet and the heavy. The drum beats during the quieter verses still give it that ominous vibe that things aren’t all rosy and then all hell breaks loose again. It is one of the heaviest songs I think he’s done.

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Kiss – ‘Black Diamond: Lafayette Music Room, Memphis, TN April 18th, 1974 – FM Broadcast’ – Album Review (The Bootleg Series)

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In my quest to get as many Kiss Bootleg’s I can, I found this one in a local record store, new and sealed. And cheap. This is actually an easy one to get if you are collecting Kiss Bootlegs. I think I paid $25 for it. There is nothing really special about this one, no inserts, no picture sleeves and no surprised in the package like I have received in a lot of my bootlegs. This one is rather generic. For historical reasons though, it is pretty cool. The recording is an FM Broadcast from April 18, 1974 in Memphis, TN at the Lafayette Music Room and is one of the earliest recordings of the band.

Soundwise…well…let’s just say there is sound. This is a recording off a radio broadcast on to a tape. That tape was then copied, which was then copied, which was then copied, which was then copied and keep going for another dozen copies. There is a massive tape drag at several points during the show which slows the song down and it is quite noticeable. That proves that the source material was from an old tape that had been copied many times. Yes, the sound sucks at times and might be on the low end of some of my bootlegs, but I am still okay with it and because I collect them I will buy regardless.

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Cheap Trick – “Tonight It’s You” (1985) – 7″ Single (The Cheap Trick Collection Series – Bonus Edition)

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The Cheap Trick Collection Series is about all things in my collection that are Cheap Trick related and this time around we are looking at a 7″ Single I picked up over the past year. The single is for the song “Tonight It’s You” off their album ‘Standing on the Edge which we reviewed last week. The song was the only single off the album and sadly, it didn’t break the Top 40, stalling out at #44. The song was written by Rick Nielsen, Robin Zander, Jon Brant and the song doctor Mark Radice who we talked about during the album review.

The Single is an edited and re-mixed version of the album cutting off over a minute of run time. The album version sits at around 4:47 and the Single edit is at 3:10. Basically they cut off a lot of the end that is repetitive as well as tightening it up to fit the short attention spans of the radio listener. The B-Side is off the same album and is the final song called “Wild Wild Women”.

My version is the standard U.S. Single, nothing special. I do love the cover and how it is the album cover but using the orange tint. Not original, but still looks good.

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‘Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock’ by Sammy Hagar with Joel Selvin – Book Review

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I know, I know. I am a little late to this book as it came out way back in 2011. But I’m finally here, I’ve finally drenched myself in to the pages and I am ready to tell you all about it. Thanks for being so patient with me. Sammy Hagar! What is there to say about Sammy. I remember seeing “I Can’t Drive 55” on MTV and really starting to discover who he was. I found out he was the lead singer of the band Montrose from the 70’s and then around 1985, I remember he was named the new lead singer of Van Halen. That was when I really started to find out who he really was. I picked up some Sammy albums and definitely bought the Van Halen albums and I really liked him. Then in the 90’s after leaving Van Halen, he started up his solo stuff again. Eventually he turned in to what I felt was the Jimmy Buffet of Rock & Roll. He had this laid back, surfer dude, all sunshine, relaxation and Tequila. He has always seemed like such a cool dude! And this book proved that to be the case, but I discovered so much more.

The book has Sammy really focusing on his rock & roll life with nuggets of his early childhood, but thankfully he stuck to the music mostly. Well, almost thankfully, as I would’ve loved to hear more about his business side as he only touched on it (except for Cabo Wabo and the Tequila) a little and that seems to be the area where he made most of his money and let me tell you, the man looks like he made more money on the business side of his life then the music side and I find that fascinating. Hell, he sold his Tequila brand for around $100 million…DAMN!!! He had a fire safety sprinkler company before there as really such a thing. He’s had his bar Cabo Wabo which is now bar’s’ with an ‘s’. He seems to invest in the right things at the right time and I have never been that lucky.

But the main reason to read the book for any Sammy fan is the Va Halen stories and they don’t disappoint. I’ve heard that he was really harsh on Eddie Van Halen and he regrets that a little, but I don’t think it was that harsh. I don’t think it is anything we didn’t expect or know. Eddie was an addict and his behavior over the years has shown that. I think Sammy was being honest with how he interpreted the stories and that is what I want in a book. I can read other people’s books to get their side and then draw my own conclusion, but Sammy’s seemed authentic to me. The sunshine and roses of how he got with the band seems to coincide with what Ted Templeman said in his book which is all good. But the downfall is where it got interesting. The little things they did to each other, the backstabbing, the drugs and alcohol and just the shitty way things went down was outright riveting to me. Sammy laid it all out there for you to read. So go do it.

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Survivor – ‘High On You” – 45 Single

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For the past several months, we have been talking about singles that I found at this cool place called House of Vinyl down in Fernandina Beach, Florida. Well, this is not one of them. But it is from that same trip. I found this in a little antique store just down the road. I bought a lot of singles on that trip and I love them all.

“High on You” by Survivor was the second single of their album ‘Vital Signs’, which is the VERY FIRST CD I ever bought with my own money!! So that album holds a special place in my heart. The single was release in December 1984 and was written by the writing partners of Survivor, Frankie Sullivan and Jim Peterik. The song went to #8 on the Billboard charts and help the album go platinum and reach #16 on the Charts as well.

The song title had been sitting with Peterik since 1977 when we was at CBS Convention. At the show, Sly and the Family Stone was performing and Sly was so stoned that when he ran out on stage, he told everyone that he said “I want you to know people, I’m high on you”. (from Songfacts). That wasn’t the only thing he was high on. Survivor liked to jam a lot and the song itself came about from one of those jam sessions.

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Aerosmith – ‘Done With Mirrors’ (1985) – Album Review (The Aerosmith Collection Series)

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Something big happened to the band on Valentine’s Day 1984. But at the time, they didn’t realize how big. While the band was playing a show at Boston’s Orpheum Theater, they received two special guests to see the show. It was former band mates Joe Perry and Brad Whitford. When the five original band members got in a room together, the magic started bubbling again. And by June 1984, the original band was reunited and were now out on the road for the Back in the Saddle Tour which would keep them busy until January 1985. One big thing that helped was that Perry was now divorced from his wife who the band and all their wives hated. And she wasn’t a great influence on Joe either. However, the drug problems were not gone.

After the tour, it was time for the big Comeback album. Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Brad Whitford, Tom Hamilton and Joey Kramer…the boys were back together. They were now on a new label, Geffen, and the incredible producer, Ted Templeman was brought in to be behind the boards. This was supposed to be the album that brought Aerosmith back to the top, however, that didn’t happen.

Templeman was going for a rough and raw sound like the days of old for the band. He wanted to capture that tough, live sounding magic that they had on their earlier albums. He felt that was the sound everyone loved. A trick he used with the band was removing the “red light” in the studio that indicated the band was recording. He did this so the band wouldn’t get all stressed out when the light went. He wanted them loose and relaxed as he felt that would get the best sound. Hell, it worked for Van Halen. The problem was twofold, the band was still doing drugs and Ted was working in a studio he wasn’t familiar with so he never captured the sound he wanted. In fact, the band hates this album for that reason, especially Joey Kramer who thinks his drum sound sucks. And maybe it does. But this was my gateway in to the band. My first Aerosmith album I ever bought and as I result, I kinda like this one.

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My Sunday Song – “Rock of Life” by Rick Springfield

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For My Sunday Song #278, we are tackling the song “Rock of Life” by Rick Springfield off his 1988 album with the same name. It was written by Rick Springfield and a little piece of trivia for you, the bass player is American Idol’s own Randy Jackson. The song went to #22, but the album didn’t do that well. It charted at #55 and didn’t go Gold so Rick was starting to lose his mojo (not with me though).

The song was started back in 1985, but Rick was having trouble finishing it. He set it aside and after some time off the road with his new born, his life had really changed. A new baby really changed everything for him. They lyrics came flooding to him after that. The song is about the birth of his son and the impact that it had on him. He was now a dad and not just a rock singer and that can be a strange feeling. He wasn’t ready for the change and it I guess the song helped him cope with that.

Musically, the song was very different from his previous work. There were a lot of keyboard effects put in, Rick sings it in a higher register than he usually did. There were a lot of woo’s and hoo’s and it sounds like the 80’s and that might be why I like it, even today. It does rock out and it should with that title. But this being 1988, rock had changed and so this didn’t get the recognition I am sure he would’ve liked. All around was Def Leppard’s Hysteria, GNR’s Appetite and Whitesnake’s self titled album. There was really no place for Rick, but I didn’t care. He was my guilty pleasure back in the day. No longer as I am proudly able to say I like his stuff.

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