Category: Rock

My Very First Blog Post Revisited #MYFIRSTPOSTREVISITED

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I’m honored to have been nominated by fellow blogger Jeff Archuleta at Eclectic Music Lover to participate in the ‘My Very First Post’ challenge.  I don’t normally do these little things and just stick with my normal schedule, but I figured it is Jeff and one of the first bloggers that followed me, so I owed him that much.

I created my music blog on April 17th of 2016 on the encouragement of my lovely wife. She felt I needed an outlet to talk about my passion for everything music.  I love all types of music, but so far my focus has been in the Rock, Pop & Christian genres.  I will crossover into other areas if something moves me.  I do album reviews, playlists, artist spotlights, song spotlights and talk a lot about my vinyl collection that I started as a result of this blog.  A lot of it focuses on my family as well and what they might be listening to and concerts we might see.

Now when I started my blog, I had 10 posts that day and they didn’t pop up in the order I wrote them.  The first one I wrote was a Matt Nathanson Artist Profile, but what posted first was my Road Rage Playlist which is what I will repost here as it shows as my first on the site.  I hope you enjoy.

Here are the rules for this challenge:

  • No cheating. (It must be your first post. Not your second post, not one you love…first post only.
  • Link back to the person who tagged you (thank them if you feel like it or, if not, curse them with a plague of crickets).
  • Cut and paste your first post into a new post or reblog it. (Either way is fine but NO editing.)
  • Put the hashtag #MyFirstPostRevisited in your title.
  • Tag five (5) other bloggers to take up this challenge.
  • Notify your tags (don’t just hope they notice a pingback somewhere in their spam).
  • Feel free to cut and paste the badge to use in your post.
  • Include “the rules” in your post.

Please feel free to participate. Of course, there is no obligation (and I dont’ think they will do it anyway)! I nominate the following bloggers to participate:

Mike  – Lebrain’s Record Store Tales & Reviews

deKE – Stick It In Your Ear

Aaron – Keeps Me Alive

Stephen – 1001 Albums in 10 Years

Lennon Carlyle – Fabulous With Glitches

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Road Rage – Playlist

Everyone gets Road Rage at some time in their driving life. It is unavoidable. Sitting in Atlanta traffic or even Charlotte traffic now can raise your blood pressure. And how many times have you just wanted to ram your car right into the asshole that just cut you off or rode your bumper. I have too many times to count. When I get that feeling, I have a playlist that I have to put on that will let me just vent my frustration and anger. Maybe you can try it out.

Five Finger Death Punch – “Under And Over It”

Texas Hippie Coalition – “Turn It Up”

Rev Theory – “Justice”

Rob Zombie – “Dead City Radio and the New Gods of Supertown”

Hollywood Undead – “Been to Hell”

Red – “Release the Panic”

Filter – “We Hate It When You Get What You Want”

Adrenaline Mob – “Psychosane”

Disturbed – “Ten Thousand Fists”

Five Finger Death Punch – “Mama Said Knock You Our (featuring Tech N9ne)”

Yes, I have to start and end it with Five Finger Death Punch. Why wouldn’t you??? When this is finished playing, I feel so much better and you will too. What are your Road Rage songs?  I am always looking for more.

Jack Russell’s Great White – ‘He Saw It Comin’ – Album Review

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Through the tragedies (Rhode Island night club fire), the legal battles over the band name, and even the health scares, Jack Russell has persevered.  Jack Russell’s Great White delivers a stellar album with ‘He Saw It Comin’.

The album is a huge surprise as I wasn’t expecting much, but man did Jack and the band exceed all expectations.  If you are expecting Great White, this is not that band.  Jack Russell has gone his own way.

The album doesn’t have a heavy sound throughout, but takes you on a journey through many different styles that cohesively fit together.  Jack raps briefly on “She Moves Me”, they completely rock out on “Spy Vs. Spy” (a throwback to MAD magazine?), have total fun with “Crazy”, and they doo-wop on “Godspeed”.

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Friday New Releases – March 10th

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Happy Friday!  I hope there are some new releases here that you might like.  There is not a whole lot coming out, but a few will be on my list to listen to during the week.  I will highlight those in Blue.  You will see something from the Jerry Garcia Band for you Deadheads and if you liked Soft Cell from the 80’s there is a greatest hits package from Marc Almond.  There is an album by the great country artist Marty Stuart that actually might be worth a listen, but isn’t first up on my list.  I will eventually get to that one.

  • 170x170bb-16  Chickenfoot – Best + Live – (Chickenfoot LLC & Entertainment One): I am not sure how you have a Best of album after only 2 studio albums, but Chickenfoot seems to think they need one.  I am thinking it is a contractual obligation they have to fulfil.  I will be glad for the Live songs and the one new single “Divine Termination”.  No matter what, when you have Sammy, Joe, Chad & Michael together, you are in for a good time.

  • 170x170bb-43  Bush – Black and White Rainbows – (Zuma Rock Records):  Bush is still going strong.  This is the first album for Gavin Rossdale since his well publicized divorce from Gwen Stefani.  It will be interesting to see how that impacted his song writing for this album.  Can’t wait to hear this one regardless of that fact.

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Friday New Releases – March 3rd

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I can’t believe it is March already.  Damn, time flies.  Another Friday of great new releases.  Finally, Ed Sheeran is gracing us with his presence and a new release.  My oldest daughter could not be more excited.  I hope there is something on the list for you.  My most anticipated are highlighted in Blue.

  • 170x170bb-4  Ed Sheeran – Divide – (Asylum Records):  Yes, after a long wait we now have new Ed Sheeran music.  The kids is super talented and one of the few pop solo artist I will go out an get without hearing anything.  I looking forward to exploring this one for a long while and if the new song, “Shape of You” is any indication of what is to come, this will be great.

  • 170x170bb-72  Tokio Hotel – Dream Machine – (Believe Digital):  I am not sure when or why I stumbled across this German band, but I am glad I did.  What I like about them is how their style changes a little with each album.  They never keep it stale and boring.  It is always interesting.

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Stephen Pearcy – ‘Smash’ – Album Review

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If you are expecting Stephen Pearcy’s ‘Smash’ to sound like Ratt, You’re In Trouble.  This Collage of songs is definitely not Ratt and the first two songs, “I Know I’m Crazy” & “Ten Miles Wide”, proves that it is his own album.

Stephen’s screaming of MuthaFucka at the beginning of “Dead Roses” is the Detonator that is set off on this explosion of rock.  They Lay It Down on the blues sounding “Shut Down Baby”.  I’m Insane for the rockers “Passion Infinity” & “I Can’t Take It” as they would fit nicely on any Ratt album.

It’s a Shame, Shame, Shame, but a few songs don’t hold up.  It feels like he pulled “Summer’s End” Out of the Cellar as it is a stale ballad.  The song “Jamie” completely rips off the chorus on the Ratt song “Can’t Wait On Love” and it Drives Me Crazy.  Lastly, the childish sounding “Lollipop” had me screaming Enough is Enough!

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“My First Time” with Pat Benatar’s ‘Wide Awake in Dreamland’

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Pat Benatar had been around for almost 10 years by the time I got around to buying my first Pay Benatar album.  I had seen her videos and heard a lot of songs on the radio, but I had never bought an album.  That changed in 1988 with the release of one song…”All Fired Up”.

That was the song that did it for me.  I heard that song and finally decided to go out and buy the CD.  The album ‘Wide Awake in Dreamland” was My First Time with Pat Benatar.

Pat Benatar has one of the finest voices ever in Rock music, but for some reason I always hesitated buying her stuff.  There is no one out there with her octave range or her talent. This album showed me that she was untouchable when it came to vocals.  It was this album that caused me to go back and get her entire collection over the next few years.

I was out at the record store a month back and came across this album and had to have it on vinyl.  The cool thing about the album I found was that it was a “Promotional Only” album and not supposed to be available for resale.

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Friday New Releases – February 24th

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There is a lot of Rock albums out today and I am super excited and hope I can get through them all.  Frontiers Records normally does 4 albums every month but today they bring us 5 albums that could keep me very busy.  I have highlighted in Blue the ones I am most excited about.  I am sure there is something this week for everyone.

  • cover170x170-11  King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard – Flying Microtonal Banana – (Flightless Records):  King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard are back after only one year and now they are top on my list.  I had never heard of them until I did a music challenge where I pick an album to listen to based solely on the band name, the album name or the album cover and I picked them.  Read about it here.  I found that album to be stellar and now they will be the first thing I listen to on this day out of all the new releases.  They are a very unique band and probably an acquired taste and the song “Rattlesnake” makes me a little worried about this release, but I will still listen.

  • 170x170bb-33  Mike Tramp – Maybe Tomorrow – (Target Records):  Mike Tramp keeps pumping out the solo music and he brings us a new one to enjoy.  The former lead singer of 80’s rock band, White Lion, has carved path in his solo work that is nothing like his former band and that is okay. He never disappoints.

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Bruce Fairbairn – Producer Extraordinaire #3

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In my producer extraordinaire series, this is the 3rd producer who helped create some of my favorite albums.  The first post in the series was for Robert John “Mutt” Lange and then second post was for Brendan O’Brien.  Both legendary producers.

Bruce Fairbairn didn’t have as long as career as the first two guys due to his untimely death back in 1999.  However, during his brief time, he crafted some of the most memorable albums of the 80’s & 90’s and the albums sold well over 65 million copies if you just count the platinum and gold albums.

It all started in back in Canada in the late 70’s when he started out producing for a band called Prism.  Prism had moderate success in Canada, but not much internationally.  In 1980, Bruce started production on the debut album for another Canadian band called Loverboy.  Loverboy opened the doors for Bruce with the bands international appeal. He produced 4 albums with Loverboy in the 80’s.  They were as follows:

  • Loverboy – (2x Platinum)
  • Get Lucky – (4x Platinum)
  • Keep It Up – (2x Platinum)
  • Wildside – (Gold)

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Black Star Riders – ‘Heavy Fire’ – Album Review

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‘Heavy Fire’ is Black Star Riders third album in just 4 years and they keep getting better.  For those that don’t know Black Star Riders, the band is really made up of the current members of Thin Lizzy.  They wanted to release some new songs, but they didn’t want to release them as Thin Lizzy so they created Black Star Riders.

I think I understand why they did it.  If you think about it, was anyone looking to hear new music from Thin Lizzy…No, probably not.  This was actually a brilliant move as it caused a lot of buzz around the original release and here they are 4 years later getting better and better.

The band members are as follows:

  • Ricky Warwick – vocals
  • Scott Gorham – lead guitar
  • Damon Johnson – lead guitar
  • Robbie Crane – bass
  • Jimmy DeGrasso – drums

The album is a guitar heavy, hard rock release and you wouldn’t expect anything less when you have two lead guitarists.  The opening track and title track, “Heavy Fire”, comes screaming in with the guitars and a nice heavy sound.  Ricky sounds fantastic and they deliver a shot that resonates throughout the album.

The first single, “When the Night Comes In”, keeps up with the opening track and now you are completely invested in this album.  I love guitar rock and they bring it even more on this song.  “Dancing With the Wrong Girl” is a little more pop sound, but that doesn’t take away from anything, but actually adds to its charm.  Jimmy’s drums on this one are perfect.  They aren’t over powering and just enough that set perfectly in the song.

The heaviest and baddest song on the album is “Who Rides the Tiger”.  The song is a full on attack of your senses and even the lyrics are a blast.  They guitar solo was amazing and I don’t think I will ever tire of this duo of Scott & Damon.  This is probably my favorite song they have ever done.

“Cold War Love” is next up, but this is one song that I could never connect with.  It is a nice slow ballad, but I wasn’t feeling it.  Hopefully you can connect with it and enjoy it.  Luckily, the next song was their current single, “Testify or Say Goodbye”.  The song picks the tempo back up and gives us more of the what you love from this album.  The classic rock sound, the vocals and all around musicianship make it another standout on the album.

“Thinking About You Could Get Me Killed” gives us a little more darker sound and is a nice change of pace for the album without losing the flow of the album.  “True Blue Kid” is another song that misses the mark for me.  I can’t pinpoint what it is about the song, but I found myself skipping it which is never a good sign.

“Ticket to Rise” brings me back to the enjoyment with another solid guitar heavy song with a great solo.  Keep it coming and I won’t tire of it. “Letting Go of Me” is the only song on the album not co-written by Damon Johnson and yet it is still a great song.  This one was a fun song with a faster tempo.

The final track, “Fade”, is considered a bonus track but it is too good and fits nicely with the overall album. It doesn’t have the bonus track feel.  It is a slower song and actually kept my interest.  I usually like albums to end with a bang, but this worked for me nonetheless.  A nice way to end the album.

Track Listing:

  1. “Heavy Fire” – Keeper
  2. “When The Night Comes In” – Keeper
  3. “Dancing With the Wrong Girl” – Keeper
  4. “Who Rides the Tiger” – Keeper
  5. “Cold War Love” – Delete
  6. “Testify or Say Goodbye” – Keeper
  7. “Thinking About You Could Get Me Killed” – Keeper
  8. “True Blue Kid” – Delete
  9. “Ticket to Rise” – Keeper
  10. “Letting Go of Me” – Keeper
  11. “Fade” – Keeper

9 keeper out 11 songs – 82% (4.1 out 5 stars).  The Black Star Riders are killing it on this album.  I always talk about how rock today seems to be missing the guitar rock sound and these guys are not missing anything.  The guitars are outstanding and take me back to when guitars were king.  Nobody wanted to be a DJ, they wanted to play guitar.  For that alone this album is worth it, but it has so much more to offer.  Go grab a copy and get ready to have your ears blasted with what rock should sound like.

Friday New Releases – February 17th

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Happy Friday.  Welcome to the end of another long work week and hopefully something released today will fit your needs.  Not much out this week, but a couple to look forward to for me.  They are highlighted in Blue.

  • 170x170bb-78  Alison Krauss – Windy City – (Hokker, Inc):  Hard to believe that this is her first solo release in 18 years.  Sadly it is only a covers album and not original material.  I will take what I can get from this bluegrass/country superstar.

  • 170x170bb-28  Ryan Adams – Prisoner – (PaxAmericana Recordings):  Ryan hasn’t waited 18 years for his next solo release.  He has only waited about 3 years.  For him, this is his 16th studio album.  That seems crazy, but he does put out a lot of albums as he averages about 1 album a year.  I am sure it will be interesting as his usually are.

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