Category: Rock

Friday New Releases – August 23rd

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Happy Friday.  Welcome to the new releases and I am sorry, but there are not a lot this week.  Why?  Because no one wants to go up against Taylor Swift.  She will rule the world this week.  That doesn’t mean I don’t have something because I do and it is going to kick some major ass.  Sorry Swift, this will get played…yours won’t…except with my girls so I will hear it, but not by choice.  What I will hear is in Blue.  I hope there is something for you. Let me know what you like and if I missed anything.  Thanks and have a great weekend!

  • 81s2r82IqqL._SX522_.jpg  Crobot – Motherbrain – (Mascot Label Group):  The boys from PA are back with their fourth studio album.  If you like your hard rock with a little funk then come on over as you won’t be disappointed.  This album is going on first thing this morning on the way to work…cranked as loud as I can take it.  Each album has gotten better and I hope this one follows that trend.

  • 61bc1iAwLFL._AC_UL115_  Taylor Swift – Lover – (Taylor Swift):  Okay, I will have to listen to this and it is a really huge release so I will mention it.  My prediction is that it won’t do as well as her previous releases as I think she has reached her peak a couple album ago.  I am not saying it will be bad, I am saying we have probably heard it all before and she is rehashing old sounds.  I think the days of Swift Superiority are coming to an end especially when you have fresh voices like Billie Eilish starting to rule the airwaves.

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Deep Purple – ‘Come Taste the Band’ – Album Review (The David Coverdale Series)

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Ritchie Blackmore left the band after the last album, ‘Stormbringer’, due to creative differences with David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes.  I find this funny considering Ritchie brought them in to help take the band in a new direction and Ritchie ended up not liking that direction.  So Deep Purple was done…or were they?

David talked Jon Lord and Ian Paice to continue and they did.  Now before they could continue, they needed a new guitar player and in comes Tommy Bolin, a bloody American.  This upset quite a few diehard UK Purple fans.  And probably part of the reason the album didn’t do that well.

David had heard Tommy’s playing on Jazz fusion drummer Billy Cobham’s solo album called ‘Spectrum’ and thought he would be perfect.  And we all know now that David has an ear for great guitarists (can you say John Sykes and Steve Vai to name a couple). Tommy was a great guitar player and it is too bad his heroin addiction would take a life way too soon a little over a year after the album’s release.

Deep Purple would continue and this would end up being the first Deep Purple album to not feature either Ritchie Blackmore or even Ian Gillan.  As a result, a lot of people don’t really consider this a Deep Purple album.  Now that is crazy because if they consider ‘Burn’ to be a Deep Purple album, then this one is as well as the sound and feel is so similar to that album and quite possibly could be better.  I know I might be in the minority, but I really like this album.

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The Original vs. The Cover – “Proud Mary”

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For the next edition of The Original vs. The Cover, we are going with the classic song “Proud Mary” originally done by Creedence Clearwater Revival and covered by Ike & Tina Turner.  The song was written by John Fogerty and released in January 1969 on the band’s album ‘Bayou Country’.  This song has had 100’s of covers made of it, but in 1969 alone, there were 35 covers…35!!!  Unbelievable.

The song was written by Fogerty after he was discharged from the Army in 1967 which was the the “good job” he left in the city.  “Proud Mary” is the name of the River Boat and the song is about that journey down the river with the big water wheel rolling around and around pushing them down the river.  The song went to #2 for CCR and #4 for Ike & Tina on Billboard Hot 100 charts which is pretty respectable for both.

But enough about that.  Let us focus on the song and which version is better.  We will start as we usually do with the Original and then discuss the Cover ending with a wonderful Verdict of which one I like more.  And away we go…

CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL

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My Sunday Song – “Blood Runs Cold” by Def Leppard

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For My Sunday Song #157, “Blood Runs Cold” from the 1996 album ‘Slang’ is our song of discussion this week.  The song is certainly a deep cut as it was never a single and not sure if they played it live.  ‘Slang’ was a highly underrated album and was at a time when Grunge had killed the 80’s rock so Lep went out and did their own thing.  Most people wanted more of the same, but this was from it. This song is a ballad, but not like any ballad they had done before.

The song is another tribute to their fallen comrade, Steve Clark.  “Blood Runs Cold” was written by Joe Elliott and Phil Collen and this is the second tribute they had written for Steve, the first being “White Lightning” which we discussed several weeks back.  This one was a cold, feeling ballad full of sadness and emptiness for missing their friend.

It really is a dark song and I love how the bass playing by Rick Savage is really the focused instrument.  Just give a listen to how he plays the song and how the notes are hit with the right tone and timing.  He does a stellar job with this song.

Joe’s sadness shines through as he sings the lyrics and I love in the middle of the song, Phil’s backing vocals sound amazing and adds an extra level of pain to the lyrics with his delivery of the lyrics.  Then the guitar solo also has the sad feel to it as well.  It is really a heartbreaking song especially when you listen to the lyrics.

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Friday New Releases – August 16th

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Another Friday of new releases.  Not the best day for releases. There are not a bunch and not a bunch I am interested in either.  Which is probably good as I am driving back from vacation today with my family and they won’t want to listen to anything I want anyway (unless they fall asleep and then I can play what I want).  My choices are highlighted in Blue.  Let me know what interests you or if there is anything I missed. Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend.

  • 71UD301JhSL._SS500_  The Parlor Mob – Dark Hour – (Britannia Row Recordings):  A hard rock band out of New Jersey that formed around 2004. It is modern hard rock and I have to admit I liked their first two albums so after a long break, the band is back after 8 years since the last full length album (3 years since an E.P.). I am interested to hear what they have to offer now after such a long break.  I haven’t listened to anything yet so not sure what to expect, but if it is anything like ‘Dog’, I am in.

  • 91Z6a1B7KQL._SX522_.jpg  King Gizzard & Lizard Wizard – Infest the Rats’ Nest – (Flightless Records):  First up in my car this week will be the new one from this Experimental, Psychedelic Rock band who puts out more music than anyone.  Hell a year or so ago they put out 5 albums in one year!!  Who does that??  Always worth a spin so this one will get one first thing.

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Kiss – All The Way At The Ball Room (Bootleg Series) – Album Review

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This piece of Kiss Bootleg I found at my local independent record store called Lunchbox Records.  It is Kiss from February 7th, 1995 and was recorded at the Hilton Hotel Ballroom in Melbourne, Australia while they were down under on tour.  The album is an acoustic show and this is a collection of outtakes from that show.

The line-up is Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons of course and since this is pre-reunion, it also includes Bruce Kulick and Eric Singer.  A great non-makeup lineup.  The band sounds great and even Paul is singing his heart out.  The recording I believe is an audience recording only due to the loudness of the crowd, but let me tell you it sounds freaking awesome.

The crowd is really in to and at times it feels like a campfire singalong.  The band is definitely enjoying themselves as they are interacting with the crowd and seem to be having a blast.

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The set is a single LP and includes a full size poster in with the album. The picture is of the front cover so not something different from what you already see…

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Kiss – The End of the Road Tour – Concert Review (Charlotte, NC August 10, 2019)

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We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming of Tuesday’s Memes to bring you this special announcement…

August 10th, 2019, Kiss bid farewell to the city of Charlotte, NC.  The End of the rode made a stop on a beautifully, hot night and a venue that holds 19,500 people was pretty freaking packed!!  If it wasn’t sold out, it wasn’t by much.  The place was filled with young and old alike and the costumes and make-up were a plenty including leather pants so tight, I don’t know how the women got them on (or off for that matter).

My first show was December 26, 1983 and August 10, 2019 was my last.  That is according to Kiss as this is the Farewell Tour or so they say.  I tried to drag my kids to it, but in the end, my oldest was the only one to go so I let her bring a friend.  My youngest has a few issues with noise sensitivity and after the show, I realized, she was probably right not to go as it would have been too much for her as the explosions and music were pretty darn loud.  Hell, my ears are still ringing a little this morning as I type.

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With tickets in hand, we found our seats and were ready to see “The Hottest Band in the Land…KISS”

But first, we had to sit through the opening act.  No, not a rock band.  Nope, not a comedian either.  We got the great pleasure of having David Girabaldi doing some performance art…painting.  What?  Painting is a performance art?  I was not aware of this.  David is immensely talented and whipped through 3 paintings in about 30 minutes. He did one of Jon Bon Jovi, while their music played.  His final one was of Kiss which was raffled off with proceeds going to Make a Wish Foundation which is cool.  The 2nd painting was of Ozzy!!  And it was really great…heck…they all were. The problem was it was so boring and unexciting.  The crowd liked it somewhat, I thought it sucked.  I would have liked a band to play, a young up & coming band or someone that had toured with Kiss before…Actually, Bruce Kulick’s band would have be the bomb!!

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Deep Purple – ‘Stormbringer’ – Album Review (The David Coverdale Series)

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After ‘Burn’, Deep Purple went right back in the studio and recorded their second album together with the Mark III line-up.  The album was released in November 1974 just nine months after ‘Burn’.  ‘Stormbringer’ is the bands 9th album and actually ended marking the end of an era for the band which will discuss shortly.

The album cover is a great picture of a tornado with a pegasus riding in with the storm.  The cover is based on a photo by Lucille Handberg which was taken back on July 8th of the year 1927 in the town of Jasper, Minnesota.  The picture stretches out to the back cover to show the immense size of the storm.  The intenseness of the album cover; doesn’t necessarily translate to the music.

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The sound of the album is a continuation of ‘Burn’, but not near the intensity. There seem to push the Blues and Funk and lot more on this one much to the dismay of its leader Ritchie Blackmore.  Ritchie was so displeased with the direction of the band that after this album, Ritchie left ending the era of the Mark III phase of Coverdale, Hughes, Lord, Paice and Blackmore.  I find this funny considering David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes were both brought in by Ritchie to explore a new sound and direction for the band.  I guess sometimes be careful what you wish for.

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My Sunday Song – “Gods of War” by Def Leppard

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For My Sunday Song #156, we are going to talk about one of Def Leppard’s few politically charged songs and one of the few songs from Hysteria that was not a single.  The song is “Gods of War”.  It is an epic song at over 6 minutes and I loved it when they used to play this one live long, long ago.  They still do play it when they do the whole Hysteria album in concert of course.

This was the 80’s and there were all these little military skirmishes going on around the world and it was the end of the Cold War.  Ronald Reagan was President of the United States and Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.  Intermixed in the song were lines from the world leaders threatening the terrorists and even gun fire and battle sounds.  One of my favorite lines was towards the end when President Reagan said, “He counted on America to be passive, He counted wrong” and then there was gun fire and explosions.  For a teenage boy, that was really badass!  Plus, I can do a really great Reagan impression so I would say those lines in his voice every time I would sing it.

Joe came up with the song from watching the news and what was going on in the world. It was Def Leppard’s version of protest song which I am sure was overshadowed by the songs that the band was releasing such as “Pour Some Sugar On Me”.  People didn’t look at Leppard as a socially conscience band, but they could be and were.

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Friday New Releases – August 9th

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Happy Friday!!  Another work week behind us and new music weekend ahead of us.  Does it get any better than that?  Nope!  This Friday, however, there are not a ton of releases (at least not that I am interested in.  There is one I am anxious to hear and the rest…neh.  There is one I will hear whether I want to or not thanks to my daughter and another I might listen to as I am not sure I get this band and see if this one changes my mind at all.  MY choices are in Blue.  Let me know what tickles your fancy or if I missed anything.  Thanks and have a great Weekend!!

  • 6127Sh3ejCL._SS500_.jpg  Wilder Woods – Wilder Woods – (Atlantic Records):  This is the only release I am excited about and have ordered the vinyl which hopefully will there when I get home from work!!  Bear Rinehart, lead singer for one of all time favorite bands, Needtobreathe, has a side project called Wilder Woods.  The music is different from Needtobreathe, but that voice is the same.  It is another opportunity to explore something different and spread his wings of creativity.  It is a little lighter at times and yet darker as well as he explores different sides of himself than what you would normally get.  I can’t wait to explore this one.

  • 81bMGIBu5mL._SS500_  Slipknot – We Are Not Your Kind – (Roadrunner Records):  Okay, here is a band I have never really listened to. A little heavier than I like or maybe a little stranger than I like.  The mask, yeah whatever, the music, eeeh, but I might give it a listen to see what the hubbub is about.  Don’t expect I will like this any more (or any less) then their other stuff.

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