Category: Rock

Scorpions – ‘Taken By Force’ (1977) – Album Review (The Scorpions Collection Series)

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The band’s fifth album has both a first and a last point of interest. It was the band’s first album with new drummer, Herman Rarebell, and the band’s last with guitarist Uli Jon Roth. A little good and bad news rolled in to one. Herman replaced prior drummer Rudy Lenners and is the drummer that is most known with the band as he was there through their most successful years. Uli left the band because he didn’t like the direction the band was going in which was a more commercial rock sound plus he didn’t even sing a song on this album where he had at least 2 vocals on previous ones. Uli held on until the end of the tour for the album and then left to start his own band Electric Sun. That more commercial rock sound has proven to be quite successful for the band. The full band line-up was Klaus Meine, Uli Jon Roth, Rudolf Schenker, Francis Buchholz and Herman Rarebell. A very lethal combination.

The album was recorded from June to October of 1977 and was released on December 4, 1977 just in time for Christmas. I am not sure how successful this particular album was or what chart positions it hit (if any), but I do know that Apple Music considers this to be one of their most essential albums to have in your collection.

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My Sunday Song – “Sick Man of Europe” by Cheap Trick

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For My Sunday Song #314, we are going after the song “Sick Man of Europe” off the Cheap Trick 2009 album ‘The Latest’. The album came out on June 23, 2009 and the single and video for this song came out on August 13 of the same year. The song didn’t chart, but the album did at #78 on the Billboard Charts. The song was written mostly by Bun E. Carlos and Julian Raymond but credits will go all around to Rick Nielsen, Robin Zander and Tom Petersson.

“Sick Man of Europe” is named after the band name Rick and Tom had for their band while they were in Europe in the early 70’s, pre-Cheap Trick. The song is a nod to the old, but it is new again. It is basically them calling out to the world and telling them we still got it.

The bass is king here. Tom goes ballistic on this track as he is balls-to-walls amazing. Bun E. Carlos has such great feel on this one as he tears up the skins. Rick lays down some wicked riffs and Robin sounds as youthful as ever with that never aging voice. The song has all the punk attitude and force you remember from early Trick with tracks like “He’s a Whore” for example. It is short and sweet and will get you on your feet! It will slap you upside the face and kick you in the ass. It is a force to be reckoned with and shows they still got it.

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ZZ Top – “Stages” – 7″ Single

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The local haunt, Mad Jack’s, has been super good to me with Singles. Here is another one I found recently and this one is by ZZ Top. The song is “Stages” off their 1985 album ‘Afterburner’ and was released in December 1985. It was written by Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard and was the second single off the album. It broke in to the Top 40 landing at #21 and #1 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks. Not too shabby.

The song appears to be about the stages of love. How it is confusing, it can be on again / off again. And sometimes you don’t know where you stand with that person. It can happen really fast or take its sweet time. At least it seems to be worth every chance you get at it.

My copy of the single is the standard U.S. release and has “Can’t Stop Rockin'” as the B-Side. That song is also from ‘Afterburner’. Again, nothing special and no special B-Side, but I’ll take it and make sure it has a good home.

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Friday New Releases – August 26, 2022

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We are at the end of Summer, schools back in session and though still hot, we know Fall is just around the corner. Until it arrives, why don’t you pick up some new releases this week as there are a ton. We have over 50 for you this week and there are some good ones. There is only one for me this week and others I might get to eventually. My choice is first up. Let me know what you want to hear or what we may have missed. Thanks for stopping by this week and I hope you all have a great weekend!!

  • 81VYJy7TKCL._AC_UY436_FMwebp_QL65_  Will Hoge – Wings On My Shoes – (EDLO Records / Soundly Music): If you follow this site, you know I am a huge Will Hoge fan and I am super excited about this release. I got to hear one of these songs when I saw him in concert earlier this year and he was amazing. Can’t wait to throw this one on. It is a cross between Country, Americana with a little rock thrown in for good measure. If you don’t mind a little political and social commentary at time, this one is for you.

And then there are all the rest…happy hunting….

  • A1wQ2lLUJlL._AC_UY436_FMwebp_QL65_  Muse – Will of the People – (Warner Music)
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Takara – ‘Blind in Paradise’ (1998) – Album Review (The Jeff Scott Soto Series)

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Takara had 2 albums in the can with Jeff never really being an official member. He was always doing the vocals to help promote the band and hopefully giving them a chance to find a new singer. The third album was written and the music was laid down back in December 1996. The tapes were sent to Jeff and it took almost a year for Jeff to finish the vocals as he was so busy with The Boogie Knights. You might ask yourself, why did the band wait for Jeff. Well according to Neil Grusky, there was no one as good as Jeff. And that might be true, but was it worth it? Probably not as the band never really took off and never found success with or without Jeff. Without a full commitment from Jeff and the band not finding another singer, they were really destined for nothing.

Three years after the release of their second album, ‘Taste of Heaven’, the new album ‘Blind in Paradise’ was finally released. The band consisted of Jeff Scott Soto on vocals, Neal Grusky on guitar, Carl Demarco on bass, Eric Rango on keyboards and Robert Duda on drums. The band continued their AOR sound and being 1998, it is a very dated sound for even that time as this album reeks of the 80’s. I’m not saying that is a bad thing…it just isn’t really a good thing.

My copy is a cool one I think as I have the Japanese version. It comes with the prized OBI strip and even a postcard to join their MVP Supporting Club. The booklet is half in English and half in Japanese which better than getting two separate books. It also has two bonus tracks and that is really why we want the Japanese Edition is those bonus tracks. If you look at the song titles, you see a lot of numbers or letters replacing words. Soto is huge fan of Prince and Prince did that a lot so Soto thought if it was good enough for Prince, it is good enough for him. Now, enough about this version, let us get to the music.

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“Nothin’ But A Good Time: The Uncensored History of the ’80’s Hard Rock Explosion” by Tom Beaujour & Richard Bienstock – Book Review

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It took me a long time to finally get to this book as I’ve had it a long while, but life kept getting in the way. When I was on vacation a few weeks back, I was bound and determined to finish this book and man was it a great read. The 80’s Hard Rock Explosion is the music scene I grew up with and is what I am most passionate about so this book was a no-brainer for me. This book was written by journalists Tom Beaujour who was co-founder of Revolver magazine and Richard Bienstock who was a senior editor for Guitar World magazine plus he has been published in Rolling Stone and New York Times. Both very accomplished writers.

These guys go back to the beginning even before the Sunset Strip music scene and we find out what was really happening and how things got started. The craziness, the sex, the drugs, the rock & roll all here in full uncensored glory. There are so many fascinating stories and I loved learning about the musical chairs between band members in the early days with Jake E. Lee jumping from one band to another, Warren DeMartini possibly playing with a band other than Ratt and just who was in Guns N Roses first and who wasn’t….it was so much to keep up with and a blast to read about. There are a cast of characters chapter showing all the people that were interviewed and quoted and it was 7 pages long. If they were part of the scene, they are in here from Steven Adler to Zakk Wylde and everything in between.

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Billy Idol – “Rebel Yell” – 7″ Single (The Billy Idol Series – Bonus Edition)

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In my quest for great picture sleeve singles, here is yet another great one I found at Mad Jack’s in Matthews, NC. This time around it is Billy Idol’s single for “Rebel Yell” and yes, I am surprised I didn’t already have this one, but I didn’t. It was released on October 24, 1983 and the song was a smash for Billy Idol and Steve Steven especially on MTV. On the radio, it didn’t even break the Top 40 reaching only #46. It did go to #9 on the Rock Charts, but MTV is where it was in constant rotation and helped make Billy a star. He was made for MTV.

“Rebel Yell” was written by Billy Idol and Steve Stevens and was actually inspired by the Rolling Stones according to Billy on VH1 Storytellers.  Billy was at a party thrown by the Stones and everyone was drinking Rebel Yell Bourbon Whiskey.  I guess he loved that whiskey (along with a lot of drugs at the time). He took the name and turned it in to a rocking track.

My copy is a standard U.S. Release and nothing special. You can pick it up cheap if you find it. The B-Side is “Crank Call” also from the album ‘Rebel Yell’.

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Scorpions – ‘Virgin Killer’ (1976) – Album Review (The Scorpions Collection Series)

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Another year, another Scorpions album. The band recorded their fourth album during 1976 and it was released on October 9, 1976. The album saw the band continue down the hard rock road and refining their sound more and more closer to what they became most famous for, but this album didn’t see them push much further in sales. The album did better outside of Germany seeing some success in Japan, but the U.S. still hadn’t jumped on board yet. In Japan, the album landed at #32 and sold over 100,000 copies but success elsewhere was coming, but not with this album.

With the last album, ‘In Trance’, the album cover saw a little controversy. ‘Virgin Killer’ looked at ‘In Trance’ and said “Hold my Beer”. The original album cover for this album was of a nude prepubescent girl with a broken glass effect over her private parts. This did not sit well with a lot of the buying public as some considered it child pornography. The album cover was not designed by the band as they generally had no say in the album artwork, that was handled by the label and this picture was handled by Steffan Böhle who was product manager for RCA Records. Some countries wouldn’t sell the album unless it was sealed in black plastic so the cover wasn’t visible. As a result, an alternate cover that featured the band members was issued and is the cover I have. I had the opportunity about 6 months ago to buy the original cover album at a record show, but they wanted $150 for it and I didn’t want to spend that much…maybe someday.

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My Sunday Song – “Light Up the Fire” by Cheap Trick

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For My Sunday Song #313, we are talking about the first single off their latest album called “Light Up the Fire”. The album, ‘In Another World’ was released in 2021 and it picks up with “We’re All Alright’ left off. The album only went to #142 which is a shame because it is a solid album. The single was a blistering power pop track. It was written by Rick Nielsen, Robin Zander, Tom Petersson and Julian Raymond (the producer).

The song is about…heck if I know for sure but from the lyrics it could be about a woman who wants to be good and find that right relationship, but at the same time she is tempted by dark side, if you will. The lyrics ask if she is “looking for heaven or one hell of a time”. She doesn’t know yet what she really wants. He wants to be with her in every sense of the word, but he doesn’t want her to burn out and destroy their love. He wants her to light up the fire, but be careful how hard and heavy it burns because it could be bad.

The song opens with some heavy, low down, deep and nasty bass line and a massive guitar distortion-filled riff, Cheap Trick brings back the heavy and Robin attacks the lyrics with some cocky bravado while Rick’s guitar playing on this one is stellar as he lets loose. Robin’s voice never ages and is still killer after almost 40 years of the band. The Daxx Nielsen & Tom Peterson combo are key to the vibe as their rhythm section is driving hard and fast. Tom’s bass line on this one is stellar. The song is filled with a classic cheap trick chorus, a great hook and totally infectious. A beast of a track.

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You Pick It! – Which Album to Review in September?

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You, my reader, are going to pick an album for me to review each month.  It is really simple…first, I will give you 5 albums to choose from and second, you will tell me which one of those you would like to see reviewed on the site.  See…simple! Now, if you want to cast more than one vote, comment on the Twitter and Facebook post and you could get up to 3 votes on your favorite pick.

There are a few simple rules I have put in to place in my selections.  They are…

  • One has to be a new release (within the last month)
  • One has to be one I have never heard before (new releases don’t count for this one)
  • One has to be from a genre I don’t normally listen to at all or very often
  • And the last two are choices from my collection that I haven’t reviewed before

What are the 5 albums you ask?  Funny you should ask because I have those right here…

  New Release – Hollywood Undead – ‘Hotel Kalifornia’

  Never Heard Before – The Smiths – ‘The Queen is Dead’

  Not My Normal Genre – Pistol Annies – ‘Interstate Gospel’

  From My Collection – Ghost – ‘Meliora’

  From My Collection – The Doors – ‘Morrison Hotel’

Let me know which one you would like to see and sometime in September, I will post a review of the album that gets the most votes. You have one week to decide and from there I will start listening to the album and do a review.

Thanks for participating!!