Category: Rock

Kiss – “I Was Made For Lovin’ You (Live)” (1993) – CD Maxi Single (Bonus Edition) – (The Kiss Review Series)

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I love it when I find something completely unexpected. At a record store down in St. Augustine Florida, I came across a CD Maxi Single for the song “I Was Made For Lovin’ You” but it wasn’t the Dynasty single, nope. It was the live version in support of the Kiss Alive III album. It is actually a European release and not released anywhere outside of Europe. Score!! I snatched it up just so I could show it off to you guys (and gals).

The single is for “I Was Made For Lovin’ You” off ‘Dynasty’ and I cringed when I saw this the original Alive III album as it is so overplayed, but damn! I think they do a killer job with this one. Might be the best version of this song I have heard live maybe because it is less disco sounding and more rocking. Eric’s drums are very prominent as well as Gene’s bass. The only negative is the backing vocals need a little work. Regardless, it is still a killer track. Track 1 & 3 are recorded live at The Palace of Aubern Hills, Michigan, November 29th of 1992.

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Rock Star: Music From the Motion Picture – Album Review (The Jeff Scott Soto Series)

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Who would have thought that in 1991 while doing backing vocals for Stryper’s album ‘Against the Law’, that would lead to Jeff Scott Soto doing the singing vocals for a movie in 2001 called ‘Rock Star’ starring Mark Wahlberg That is what happened. The producer on the Stryper album was Tom Werman and Tom brought Jeff in for a ton of albums he worked on after Stryper’s album and when ‘Rock Star’ came up, he had Jeff come in and audition.

He originally auditioned for the singing voice of Mark Wahlberg’s character, but the producers of the movie thought his voice was too good actually. They wanted a less seasoned voice, but one that could rip in those 80’s styles so they brought in Miljenko ‘Mike’ Matijevic another Tom vocal favorite. Mike is the lead singer of the band Steelheart and man does he have some pipes as well. Jeff actually did backing vocals on Steelheart’s debut album as well.

The movie ‘Rock Star’ was inspired by what went on with Judas Priest after Rob Halford left the band. They brought in a Judas Priest Tribute band singer by the name of Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens. Mark Wahlberg’s character, Chris Cole, is a massive Steel Dragon fan and was in a tribute band called ‘Blood Pollution’. When the lead singer of Steel Dragon, Bobby Beers, quit (sung by Jeff Scott Soto), Chris Cole was hired (sung by Ike Matijevic) and then the movie chronicles the ups and downs of Chris Cole’s life as a result of this move.

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Winger – “Hungry” – 7″ Single

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We are now on to the 2nd single from the group of 6 I purchased a few weeks back. The first was Winger’s debut single for “Madalaine”. This time around we have the fourth and final single from the debut album. The single is for the song “Hungry” which was released in September 1989 a year or so after the albums release. The song didn’t do a well as their other songs only reaching #35 on the U.S. Mainstream Rock Chart, but it did break the Billboard Top 100 reaching #85.

The song was written by Kip Winger and Reb Beach and seems to be about craving to be with the woman he loves. When he’s apart it makes him want her even more. He can’t eat, sleep and all he thinks about is being with her. Not at all creepy. The single I have is the standard U.S. release with the B-Side as “Time To Surrender” also from the debut album. Both songs are the album version and have not been edited.

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Scorpions – ‘Tokyo Tapes’ (1978) – Album Review (The Scorpions Collection Series)

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After 5 albums and the band in peak shape, it was time for a live album. While touring Japan in 1978, they recorded the two shows at Nakano Sun Plaza on April 24th and 27th. From those shows they pieced together a sensational double live album. Not only was it the band’s first live album, it was also the last album they would do with their label, RCA Records. If that wasn’t enough, it is also the last album to feature Uli Jon Roth as he left the band after the Japanese tour and prior to the release of this album. The band would audition close to 140 guitarists until they finally found the right fit in Matthias Jabs, but more on him with the next review in the series. This one is all about the live album.

The album would be released in Japan in August 1978 and around 6 months later, get released in Europe and then the U.S. The album finally saw Scorpions receive some success as they charted in 4 different countries reaching #10 in Germany and they went Gold in France. In an era of great live albums, there is no reason this shouldn’t be up there with some of the best as this takes some already great songs and turns them up a notch. I listened to this album in the car and on the turntable and once with headphones and let me tell you this is a headphone listen for the best experience. Trust me, you pick up so much more.

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My Sunday Song – “Daddy Should Have Stayed in High School” by Cheap Trick

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For My Sunday Song #315, we are diving in to the very controversial song “Daddy Should Have Stayed in High School” by Cheap Trick. The song is off the 1977 debut album. The song was not a single for obvious reasons once you learn what it is about, but it was the B-Side to the single “Oh Candy”. It was written by Rick Nielsen back when not everyone got writing credits.

“Daddy Should Have Stayed in High School” is nothing if not controversial giving us a song about a guy who loves to pervert around with teenagers. I believe that is called an ephebophile. With lyrics like “I’m thirty, but I feel like sixteen / I might even know your daddy” is simply plain sick, hysterical and so rock & roll. You can’t help but love it even if it is so, so wrong. It is no worst than Gene Simmons singing about “Christine Sixteen” years earlier.

The song starts with a bunch a school kids making noises. The song chugs along and is just so wrong, but it feels so right. It sounds a little nasty and dirty with the distorted sounding guitar, the dark bass lines and the heavier sounding drum beats. Robin sings it with a gritty feel to his vocals as he knows it is wrong and probably has to take a shower after singing this one. It is one that makes you take notice and shows they weren’t afraid to court a little controversy.

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Winger – “Madelaine” – 7″ Single (Promotional Copy)

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I have been out to some stores and found 6 great picture sleeve singles and all from only 2 bands. First up is Beavis & Butthead’s favorite band to hate, Winger. The song is for the debut single from their debut album. The song is “Madalaine” from their self-titled album Winger. The single was released in May of 1988 a few months prior to the release of the album. The song went to #27 on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart and was actually ignored by MTV which is a shocker. It wasn’t until their next single “Seventeen” did the band break on MTV.

The song was written by Kip Winger, Reb Beach and producer Beau Hill. They took a bunch of riffs that Reb had laying around since he was a kid and Kip helped piece them together to make the song. It is obviously about a woman who is just to tough to tame as she is too wild. Originally it was written with a slower tempo and meant to be more ballady, but Beau Hill had the idea of speeding it up and well, he was right. It works really well that way.

My copy says the B-Side is the song “Higher & Higher” which was only available on the CD version of the release. However, my copy is not the public released single. Nope. It is a promo of the song “Madalaine” and that is the song on both sides. The jacket used was the standard single jacket, but the 7″ Vinyl label was printed as promotional copy. My version has the person it was sent to stamped on both sides (or it was the stamp of someone that collected it). Not sure why it is stamped on both sides because you really only need to stamp it once to mark it as yours.

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Friday New Releases – September 2, 2022

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September? Is it September already? No way! Impossible…yet here we are. It is Labor Day Weekend here in the States and that means not a ton of releases as most bands don’t want to compete with peoples travel money. However, we still have around 20 for you today down from the 40 to 50 we normally see. I actually have two I want to here and they are marked in Blue! Let me know what you want to hear and what we may have missed. I hope everyone has a great weekend as I know I will enjoy my 3 day weekend!!

  • 71+DquXarOL._AC_UY436_FMwebp_QL65_  Megadeth – The Sick, The Dying…and the Dead – (Universal Music): I can’t believe it has been 6 years since their last effort with the phenomenal, ‘Dystopia’. I really loved that album. A lot has happened with Covid and Ellefson’s firing, Dave’s health issues…a lot. Glad to have Dave back and can’t wait to hear what’s in store this time around.
  • 819N-0dN5VL._AC_UY436_FMwebp_QL65_  King’s X – Three Sides of One – (InsisdeOutMusic): King’s X is a band I never really got in to, but that doesn’t mean anything. These guys are a band’s band…musicians love these guys and they should…super talented. I will give it a listen to see if it finally clicks for me as I have mad respect for them.
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Talisman – ‘Truth’ (1998) – Album Review (The Jeff Scott Soto Series)

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By 1998, Jeff Scott Soto and Marcel Jacob thought it was time to bring Talisman back together and record a new album. Jamie Borger was brought back, of course, on drums and a new guitarist was found in Pontus Norgren (The Poodles, Hammerfall). The only problem is that Jeff was so busy with The Boogie Knights, they had to record in the States. Jeff had a home studio so he and Marcel spent about 10 days writing new material which then band then recorded in Jeff’s home studio. The drums, however, were not as they needed a better set-up so they were recorded elsewhere.

They found a couple record labels to release the album, Point Music in Europe and Pony Canyon in Japan. However, neither label wanted to promote the material so no touring was actually done which is nuts. The album was released on December 27, 1998 and that date alone should tell you how much the labels gave a crap about that album because who in their right mind releases an album 2 days after Christmas.

The band’s sound on this album was a nod to earlier Talisman where they tried to capture a little of the sound from the first two albums. They also ended up recording 3 cover songs on the album and actually opened the album with a cover song. I’ve heard Jeff describe this album as their ‘Diver Down’ album (which also had a lot of covers).

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August 2022 Purchases – Vinyl, CDs and Books

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August is over and so is Summer. School is back in session and it was a very busy month. Between vacation, getting one of my daughters off to college and traveling for work, I didn’t have much record store time. As a result, my selection is rather small compared to some of my months. But doesn’t mean there isn’t enough to show off so lets get in to it.

We will start off with my record shopping while on vacation as I did pick up a few things. First up was a Joe Satriani for the album, ‘Not of this Earth’, which I already have. But I didn’t have this cover. I had never seen this before, so my rule…if you haven’t seen it before, you buy it. And I did…

And that holds true for one my next finds at the same record store. I picked up Kiss’ ‘Psycho Circus’ on CD as it was at the lowest price I’d seen in awhile. Then I saw a maxi-single for “I Was Made For Loving You (Live)” for the Alive III album. I had never seen this before, so I bought it…

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The Alarm – “Strength” – 7″ Single

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This is the last 7″ Single I found at Mad Jack’s on the last dig I had back earlier in the Summer. This time around it is the song “Strength” by the UK band The Alarm. This was the first single off the album of the same name. The song came out prior to the album release which was in 1985. It reached #40 in the UK but didn’t chart in the U.S. However, I saw the video for this song on MTV and my brother had their prior album, so I was really in to it and in fact, the album ‘Strength’ is a personal favorite of mine.

The song is credited to the whole band which is not normal for them. The song came to Mike Peters in the middle of the night while at a hotel in Newcastle. He and his friend went down to the get his guitar out of the van so he could start writing. The next day during soundcheck, the whole band worked through the song as Mike still didn’t hav the right chords for it. And that is why the whole band got credit.

My copy is the Pinckneyville Pressing from the U.S. Pretty standard. The cool thing about it is the B-Side is a non-album track. The song is called “Majority”. You can now get it on subsequent re-issues of the album, but not back in the day. This was the only place which would’ve made this a prized single to get.

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