Thanksgiving is over and it is now Black Friday! And for that reason, the new release set is limited..very limited. I almost skipped it as a result, but I didn’t…you are welcome. There are only 2releases I have on here and nothing I will run out and grab. Maybe something for you. I will keep it short and sweet…Have a great Friday and see you next Friday!
Accept – Symphonic Terror: Live at Wacken 2017 – (Nuclear Blast)
Rita Ora – Phoenix – (Atlantic Records)
Lifehouse started in 1996 as the band Blyss. This was while they were in high school and by 1998, the recorded a bunch of Demos. In 2000, the band went back and re-recorded 12 of the 15 original demos and those demos became their debut album, ‘No Name Face’. Apparently, they decided to change the band name for this release to Lifehouse because the songs were about lead singer, Jason Wade’s life and other people’s life. The name was believed to be a good fit to encompass all that.
The band would go on to release 7 studio albums between 2000 and 2015. They have had their ups and downs as a band, they have had hits, been popular and not so popular and have taken the typical roller coaster of success. I have followed the band from the debut album all the way to today and still one of my favorites even if I haven’t liked everything they have done. But there is more that I like than I don’t like and that is what matters.
I am going to go through all 7 albums and tell you what I like and don’t like about each as well as rank them from the Worst album to their #1 album in my book. If you are not familiar with them, I hope this will spark an interest and you will give them a try.
After the success of the band’s debut, their sophomore release was a rather big disappointment for me. It wasn’t all bad as there were some great songs such as “Spin”, “Wash” and “Take Me Away”. Heck, the album sold 2 million copies so people liked it. It was a heavier rock sound then the first album and normally that is a good thing for me.
Continue reading “Lifehouse – The Albums Ranked Worst to First”
Aldo Nova is back after 21 years since his last studio album, ‘Nova’s Dream’. And it has been way too long in my opinion. I discovered Aldo’s music back in the very early 80’s with his song and video for “Fantasy” and I have every album he has put out (I haven’t bought this one…yet!). When I heard he was releasing a new album I was so excited. I was thinking Steve Perry and Aldo Nova back after all this time, life is good.
Well, then I heard the album was a re-imagining of a handful of songs from his debut album, ‘Aldo Nova’, including “Fantasy”. There was going to be one new song, but I was a little worried about the ‘re-imagining’ part. It worked so well for Bon Jovi with that piece of shit album called ‘This Left Feels Right’. I was not a fan of that obviously.
Aldo redoing songs from such a classic album (classic to me) was like George Lucas redoing the original Star Wars Trilogy and adding all that unwanted and unnecessary crap into it that it was so stupid. And guess what, the redoing of all these songs is just that. He added so many electronic effects and extra guitar parts that I feel it took away from the heart of the songs.
Continue reading “Aldo Nova – ‘Aldo Nova 2.0’ – Album Review”
For My Sunday Song #118, I am going to highlight “Sunset Station” by Jorn Lande. I know most people in the U.S. probably aren’t familiar with Jorn and that is a shame. Jorn Lande is a Rock/Metal singer from Norway and has been in bands such as Ark, Millenium and Vagabond. However, I came to know him thanks to Melodicrock.com and his solo work as well as with Power Metal band Masterplan. I even highlighted him in a post way back in my early days on this blog (check it out – Jorn Lande).
One of my favorite songs by Mr. Lande is “Sunset Station” off his 2nd solo album called ‘Worldchanger’. The album was released back in 2001 and really stood out for me (not in that year – I came across it a few years later). This song in particular jumped out of the speakers and grabbed hold of me.
Jorn’s vocals are solid and a cross between David Coverdale of Whitesnake and Ronnie James Dio (both obvious influences on Jorn). That alone was enough to catch my attention. He sings with such power and lays it all out every time. Musically, it is loud, heavy and very melodic but more metal than melodic rock. The guitar work is another attention grabber for me as it just screams and comes at you with blistering veracity.
Continue reading “My Sunday Song – “Sunset Station” by Jorn Lande”
Wow! Another HUGE week of releases. There are a ton I am interested in and some I have bought already or will be very, very soon. There is a wide range of artists covering Rock, Metal, Country, R&B, Pop, Showtunes, Christian, Alternative, Hip Hop and many more. There has to be something you will be digging. If not, let me know and let me if there is. I love to know what people are in to and whether or not I am missing out on anything good. My choices are highlighted in Blue. Have a great weekend!!
Needtobreathe – Acoustic Live, Vol. 1 – (Atlantic Records): If you read my site, you know this is one of my favorite bands so it is no wonder this tops the list. The vinyl is on order and I hope I get it on release day, but doubt it since it is from the NTB webstore and not Amazon. Oh well! The album is a collection of acoustic tracks from their acoustic tour last year. All classic NTB tracks and these guys are fantastic live, so high expectations.
Chris Cornell – Chris Cornell (Deluxe) – (Universal Music): This set looks S.W.E.E.T.!! An extensive greatest hits compilation of his Soundgarden, Audioslave and Solo work among some rare treats as well. This is another must have in the physical form. It is on the Christmas list and if I don’t get it, I will immediately buy on Amazon Christmas Day.Continue reading “Friday New Releases – November 16th”
The Who released a Record Store Day Exclusive for the April 2018 edition of the event. The album was ‘The Kids Are Alright’ and the release was a double LP, colored vinyl edition. And a nice set it was. This is an album spotlight and not a review as this is The Who and I don’t know if I can add anything new to the conversation, so I am just going to talk about this particular release and what I like and don’t like about it.
First up, what do I like about this release?
Well, there is quite a lot actually. The sound for starters. The quality of the sound coming out of the speakers for this album are sensational. It sounds so crisp and clear and just begs to be cranked up so loud the walls shake and with an opening song like “My Generation”, how could you not oblige.
I mentioned that it was a double LP and colored vinyl and it is just that. I love the red & blue colors and it feels like a 3rd LP would be good with a white color to complete the Union Jack color scheme, but sadly only 2.
The track listing is great as well. It has the same 17 tracks as the original and they have been remastered beautifully. What are the 17 tracks? Easy, here are they are…
Continue reading “The Who – ‘ The Kids Are Alright’ – Album Spotlight”
Wow!! The new releases are coming in droves. Another extensive list of releases this week just like last. There has to be something for everyone as the artist here cover the gamut of genres. There are a handful I am interested in streaming at least, not sure about buying…yet. I will test the waters first. Those are highlighted in Blue. What do you see that you like? Let me know and let me know what releases are missing from the list. I hope you find something. Have a great weekend!!
Stephen Pearcy – View to a Thrill – (Frontiers Records): The lead singer of Ratt (or some version of it) is back with another solo effort. I am becoming very skeptical of this release with all the antics going on with him from the latest Ratt tour…not a pretty picture. The tracks I have heard so far are so, so…but after his last one was pretty decent, I will give this one a try. We will see.
Red Dragon Cartel – Patina – (Frontiers Record): Jake E. Lee isback with Red Dragon Cartel’s 2nd album. I get the impression this is a real band now and so the songs should be solid and consistent. I am digging what I have heard and have higher expectations for this one over the last. I can’t wait to crank this one up.Continue reading “Friday New Releases – November 9th”
For this version of The Original vs. The Cover, we are covering the song “Get It On” by T. Rex and covered by The Power Station. The song originally came out back in 1971 and went all the way to #1 in the UK, but only #10 in the US (only…like #10 is a bad thing). However, in the States, the song was called “Bang a Gong (Get It On)” as jazz band called The Chase, released a song that same year called “Get It On”…completely different song though.
The Power Station released the song in 1985 and they did so much better as the song went to #9 on the US Charts and all the way to #22 on the UK charts..oh wait, that isn’t really better…oh well. It still was very popular and helped sell a lot of albums for the band.
The song is a simple song which is basically about sex. What? That wasn’t obvious to you with the title. That’s it, it is about sex. I have nothing else to add. There is no big story behind it, just sex. I do know that a certain radio DJ of some fame by the name of John Peel really hated this song and as a result, his relationship with Marc Bolan became strained as Peel wouldn’t play the song on his show. Apparently they were solid chums prior to this song. Other than that, that is all I got for you until I speak of the song itself with each band. So let’s get to that.
T. Rex’s version is a straight up rocker with a great little guitar riff that Marc Bolan claims he took from Chuck Berry’s song “Little Queenie” which he also ended the song with the line “For the meanwhile I’m still thinking” from that song as well. The song has a retro 50’s feel to it as well and the simplicity of the lyrics is also a shout out to that era.
Continue reading “The Original vs. The Cover – “Get It On””
Welcome to first review in the Billy Idol Series. I am going to do album reviews for all albums by the 80’s icon, Billy Idol. We will start with his stint in the band Generation X from 1978 all the way up to his 2018 release ‘Vital Idol: Revitalized’ (assuming that is the latest release by the time I get to it).
I was going to wait until I got the debut album on vinyl to start the series, but I am not the most patient person and since I have the next 7 or so on vinyl already, I will go ahead and start now. So, without further adieu, here is the first of many reviews…
Back in 1976 at the tender age of 21, guitarist William Broad joined the band Chelsea after answering an ad for musicians. Also answering that add were bass player Tony James and drummer John Towe. They would join up with singer John O’Hara to form the band. The band would tour and do mostly covers, but William and Tony became fast friends and felt they could do better so they grabbed John Towe and all left the band.
They would be the founding members of the band that would become known as Generation X. Now, where did the name come from. It wasn’t based on the fact that people born in this time were known as Gen Xers. The name actually came from a book William’s mom was reading called Generation X which was book on popular youth culture from 1965 by British journalists Jane Deverson and Charles Hamblett.
This new band needed a guitarists so they hired 17 year old guitarist Bob “Derwood” Andrews from a band called Paradox. That wasn’t the only change. They needed a guitarist because William decided to drop the guitar and become the lead singer.
Continue reading “Generation X – ‘Generation X’ – Album Review (The Billy Idol Series)”
For My Sunday Song #116, I am tackling “Everybody Out of the Water” by The Wallflowers. The song is off their 2002 album, ‘Red Letter Days’. It was never released as a single, but was used for an episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigator. However, I know the song from the album. It was one of the standout tracks from that album for me.
The song is very aggressive and much heavier than anything before it. I big change for the band. It has this cool little guitar riff that is played throughout. It is just a couple of notes repeated over and over, but it works and is really cool. The overall guitar work on this was really exceptional and made it a really guitar-heavy song.
The aggressive nature of the song also leaked into the lyrics. The song appears to be about some catastrophic event, but is it a natural disaster, an apocalyptic event, or is it a metaphor for a relationship is all unclear. That is the great thing about the song, you can make it mean whatever you want it to mean.
Being this is in 2002 and after 9/11, this could be a bleak view of the “New Frontier” after such a horrific event. He states that “Got to learn how to pray / Love won’t be enough” is really a dark view point and a sign of that whatever we are doing isn’t enough to save us. To me, this kinda fits the song that maybe it is a shout-out to those events.
Continue reading “My Sunday Song – “Everybody Out of the Water” by The Wallflowers”
2 Loud 2 Old Music 