Summer is over and School is back in session, now we need some new music. Who am I kidding, I don’t need a reason to want new music. Every week is a good week for that. However, this week is a little limited on the releases. There are quite a few, but not a lot to excite my senses. There are a few I will check out and they are highlighted in Blue. Let me know what interests you and what I might have missed. Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!!
Black Star Riders – Another State of Grace – (Nuclear Blast): Black Star Riders are back with their fourth studio release and I am eager to hear what is in store as well as a little apprehensive since Damon Johnson is no longer in the band. He was a big draw. I will keep an open mind and give it a try as Ricky is still on vocals and Scott is still there as well, but I hate they are only down to 2 of the 5 original members.
Lindsey Stirling – Artemis – (LindseyStomp Records/BMG): This young lady plays one mean violin. I find her to be sensational and always entertaining and I don’t expect this to be any different. A couple vocal tracks on this one as well with guest Amy Lee and Elle King which should be incredible, but the highlight is always her playing. If you haven’t checked her out, do yourself a service and do so.
Bear Rinehart is lead singer of the band Needtobreathe and if you follow my site at all you know I am a huge fan of that band. When I heard Bear was doing a solo project I was excited to see what different direction he might take. His first solo project definitely explores a different sound and style then his main job.
The name he chose is Wilder Woods which happens to be the names of his two kids, Wilder and Woods Rinehart. I think it is interesting he didn’t even use his own name on the project as he seems to want to keep it completely separate from Needtobreathe.
The album is a pure R&B and Soul album which is far from the Americana, Folk, souther rock sound of his other band. The opening track, “Light Shine In”, might the one song that sounds most like Needtobreathe with a little more of a rock edge and the track “What Gives You The Right” might have fit nicely on their album ‘Hard Love’ with its energy and alt-pop sound.
“Sure Ain’t” is classic R&B and one of the best songs on the album. He poors his heart and soul in to the vocals and there is this magical groove to pull you in. This is followed by ballad “Someday Soon” sees Bear go soulful and gives us his most heartfelt vocals.
Another R&B track is “Supply & Demand” where Bear is trying to woo his woman into a little more horizontal part of the relationship. It has a throwback sound and it is enjoyment for your ears.
“Electric Woman” might be the best song on the album with a catchy ass groove and its sultry vocal approach and seems to be another love song to his wife. And the cool thing is she is in the video with him.
Speaking of his wife, it takes balls to tell your wife that she is wrong and he does just that with “Mary, You’re Wrong” to start off Side 2. If she thinks he is going to leave her, she is mistaken as he has no desire and that is there for the long haul. “Feel” is straight out of the 70’s R&B era with the female backing vocals and the total sonics of the song.
“Hillside House” is a really slow song that seems real personal to him and I think it is another love letter to his wife who seems to be his muse for most of this album…which is really cool to see that she still pulls those feelings out of him after so many years of marriage.
The last track, “Religion”, is very church-like in its approach and you can hear his Christian upbringing in the church flow through even though it is a song that is talking about his struggles with religion. It is a little sad and the acoustic feel to the song keeps the voice as the highlight and lets you focus on the words.
It ain’t Needtobreathe and thankfully so as a solo album should be different. His first solo effort is a strong statement that he has a lot more to offer. There is a swagger and confidence in the style and his vocal delivery. I love the 70’s R&B vibes, the grooves and the soul that his heart is pouring out in his music and his lyrics. He made a modern R&B album that plays well today probably as well as it would have played in the 70’s. He has captured a sound that will hopefully resonate with everyone, young and old. My only complaint is the 2nd Side is a little weaker than the first, outside of that there are no other complaints. I would rate the album a 4.0 out of 5.0 Stars.
Give it a try and let me know what you think. Thanks for stopping by.
One way to tell how good a band really is is to see them live. If you can’t do that, then it is to listen to one of their live albums. If they can capture what they have done in the studio and bring it to the stage or even take it up a notch, then you have a solid band. Growing up, I was never in to live albums. It was all studio albums for me. One day, that changed and live albums became the thing.
Now, I tend to be gravitating to the live albums and trying the get them on vinyl or even CD if that is all I can get. I figured we would go through what Live albums I have in my collection, then with the ones I am trying to get, my Top 5 Favorites and lastly let you weigh in on which ones I have to get my hands on as I am sure there are some I am not aware are great and I should go grab.
We will kick it off with the Hottest Band in the Land…KISS!! It was the Kiss Alive albums that did it for me. These things are great. I have 4 of them…Kiss Alive!, Kiss Alive II, Kiss Alive III and Kiss Unplugged. They did get original with their names as you can tell.
But that is not all, I also have a ton of Kiss Bootlegs as you have seen through my Kiss Bootleg Series…
Now that Deep Purple was defunct, the record company needed to release something I am sure so why not a live album. In October 1975, ‘Made in Europe’ was released. The recording from April 3rd – April 7th on some of the final dates that Ritchie Blackmore would play as he left the band shortly after. So, with that being said, the line is the Mark III lineup of the band consisting of Ritchie, David Coverdale, Glenn Hughes, Jon Lord and Ian Paice.
The show was recorded from 3 different shows that took place on April 3rd, 1975 in Graz, Austria, April 5th in Saarbrücken, Germany and finally on April 7th at the Palais des Sports in Paris, France. According to the album jacket, the album was recorded using the “Rolling Stones” mobile truck. And it has also been discussed that there were some heavy overdubbing and cleaning up of the set including the audience with the crowd noise and applause…but this is the 70’s what live album wasn’t retouched (ahem…Kiss).
The album is only a single LP and only includes 5 songs with a total run time of 45:47 which means the average song length over 9 minutes so the band plays the heck out of these songs which is really what a Deep Purple live album is all about. The band had huge success with the prior live album ‘Made in Japan’ and although this is a good release, it isn’t as good as the Japan release.
For My Sunday Song #159, I want to discuss the song “Blind Faith” off the self-titled album Def Leppard from 2015. The final song on the album and not a rocker, but not sure it is a ballad either. The album has helped see a jump in popularity for the band as it is probably the best album they have done in about the last 20 years. And for me, this song is part of the reason.
“Blind Faith” was written by Rick Savage and Joe Elliott and is a commentary on religion and cult-like faith groups. I think I connected to it due to his viewpoints are similar to mine. It is not that he doesn’t believe in God, it is not a knock on religion, it is more that sometimes organized religion is kind of futile.
Joe said this about the song in an interview with Claire Sturgess for Absolute Radio:
“We’ve always touched on the real side of life if you like. Mostly it’s in with relationship stuff but with this it was like just observation of the that humanity can be abused if you like. And I set out writing this thing and I just had this stream of consciousness. It just came pouring out of me but I made a very conscious effort to not be preachy and finger waggy about it. If you actually read the lyrics. And I did say to the guy when he was putting the artwork together. I want a question mark putting at the end because I want everybody to realise. I’m asking a question and I’m not telling you what’s going on. I’m asking is it really what’s going on?. You know. Make your own mind up. So in that – it is poking a little bit but it’s not preaching. I want the listener to make their own mind up as to whether you know what they’re hearing is representative of what they’re thinking as well because it’s certainly what a lot of people think.”
We are at the end of August and are getting ready for some huge releases that will be coming in September and October. This week has a ton of releases, but none I am eager to run out and get although one everyone is talking about (but me – well I am talking about it, but I don’t really care). My choices are limited and highlighted in Blue. Let me know what you are interested in hearing or if I missed anything as that is known to happen…frequently. Have a great week.
Sons of Apollo – Live With the Plovdiv Psychotic Symphony – (Inside Out Music). Sons of Apollo are releasing a huge live album/DVD and I expect it will be awesome. How could it not with Jeff Scott Soto on vocals, Mike Portnoy on Drums, Billy Sheehan on Bass, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal on guitar and Derek Sherinian on keyboards. Their debut was spectacular and this will be nothing short of that. This will get played a lot!!
Tool – Fear Inoculum – (Tool Dissectional/Voyage): Here is the album everyone is talking about. It has been 13 years since their last album and I am not sure if anyone thought they would do another album. This is going to be huge in the world of music. So why do I not care one bit. I have never found them to be anything special so maybe I am missing something. I will listen to see if this finally grabs me, but I am not expecting much as I liked nothing prior. Can someone please tell me why they are so liked…seriously, let me know.
I realized I have been making a lot of purchases and yet not everything makes its way on to the site. I figured I would do a wrap up each month of all my purchasing I have made even if they made it on the site during the month or even might make it on to the site down the road.
I like to buy vinyl, but I will also pick up CDs as well because sometimes those albums are not on vinyl and sometimes the CD package gives me a little more than the vinyl would like having a DVD included. One such release was done for that very reason.
The first being The Traveling Wilburys. I couldn’t believe I didn’t have these albums on vinyl and I could probably get them; however, I was at the record store and in the used section was The Traveling Wilburys Collection which included both albums and a DVD with a brief documentary and some music videos and all for a price well cheaper than getting these on vinyl with no DVD. I grabbed it!!
Next up was one I have been wanting to grab as well on vinyl, but when I saw this on CD and at the price, I grabbed it. I got it for less than $8 and considering the album is over $80 now (at least on Amazon), I thought who needs a vinyl. The album is Jimmy Page & the Black Crowes Live at the Greek. I had heard a lot of good things about it, so why not.
Everclear has been around since 1991 and was started by leader Art Alexakis. When they were at their height, the main three guys included Art, Craig Montoya and Greg Eklund and this to me is the classic line-up. This was the band at its peak. All the hits you know, “Father of Mine”, “AM Radio” , “Santa Monica” and “Wonderful” just to name a few.
After the disappointing sales and reception of the band’s 2003 album, Slow Motion Daydream, Craig and Greg left the band. Thankfully, Art continued Everclear with now a revolving door of musicians. But don’t kid yourself, the band is Art’s and it doesn’t matter who the players are, you want Art’s vocals and sound as that is all that matters.
I am going to go through and rank 12 albums which does include a Covers Album and a couple albums of re-recordings as those aren’t technically compilations. I won’t review any live albums or ones listed as greatest hits. I figured these 12 best represent that band and are what should be ranked. So let’s get started and I hope you enjoy.
On a dark stormy night in August, Queen + Adam Lambert came riding in to town for the very last show of their Rhapsody Tour. Yes, Charlotte, NC was able to bid farewell to this legend of a band who has seen a massive resurgence thanks in large part to the movie ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and in small part due to the current singer Adam Lambert.
There is no exciting story to tell leading up to the show except the Rain Gods were nice to my daughter and I by not raining on us. We got in to the Spectrum Center and about 5 minutes later the skies opened up. People were coming in dripping wet, but no one cared because everyone was there to have a good time and listening to everyone’s favorite band, Queen.
When we finally arrive to our seats after a long line at the merch table and a long line at the bathroom and a short line at the refreshment stand to grab a couple of $5 waters (each), we were greeted to this…
A giant crown wrapping the stage. It looked so real and like it was made out of metal. Impressive. Even more impressive was the fact it was a giant TV screen. The graphics, detail, clarity, hell everything about it was impressive. It looked 3D without the glasses…amazing.
For My Sunday Song #158, I bring to you “Getcha Rocks Off” from the band’s 1979 debut E.P. simply known as the Def Leppard E.P. The song would go on to be re-recorded for the band’s debut full length album ‘On Through the Night’ but there it is known as “Rocks Off”.
What is cool about this song? Well, everything actually. It is as early Def Leppard as you can get. It is raw, it is rough and it completely gets your rocks off…really! The band sounds so young, so hungry and so damn good. Steve Clark’s guitar riff instantly grabs hold of you and won’t let go. And let’s talk about that solo. Damn, Steve was immediately letting the world know that this band meant business. There is a little back and forth on the guitars with Steve and Pete Willis and then Steve just tears into that solo with a blistering pace and so much fire and passion. This is guitar rock at its best.
Another cool thing about this song is the drumming. This is not Rick Allen on drums. This was before he joined the band. The drummer on this is Frank Noon. Frank was a session drummer and wasn’t really a full member of the band. He wasn’t the first drummer either as that was Tony Kenning, but he isn’t on this record so no more about him. Frank did a great job and pounded the hell out of those drums.
Lyrically there isn’t much to the song. It is a pure rock & roll song about a beautiful woman that comes to the dressing room door and is looking smoking hot. She wants to get her rocks off. When the band goes on stage the girl is in the front and she has lots of pretty friends, enough for every one in the band…funny how that works out. This song is really great for the music, not the lyrical content for sure.
Black Star Riders – Another State of Grace – (Nuclear Blast): Black Star Riders are back with their fourth studio release and I am eager to hear what is in store as well as a little apprehensive since Damon Johnson is no longer in the band. He was a big draw. I will keep an open mind and give it a try as Ricky is still on vocals and Scott is still there as well, but I hate they are only down to 2 of the 5 original members.
Lindsey Stirling – Artemis – (LindseyStomp Records/BMG): This young lady plays one mean violin. I find her to be sensational and always entertaining and I don’t expect this to be any different. A couple vocal tracks on this one as well with guest Amy Lee and Elle King which should be incredible, but the highlight is always her playing. If you haven’t checked her out, do yourself a service and do so.
2 Loud 2 Old Music 