My Sunday Song – “Kings And Queens” by Aerosmith

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For My Sunday Song #302, we are talking about the song “Kings And Queens” from the bands 1977 album ‘Draw the Line’. The song was released on February 21, 1978 and it only made it to #70 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was written by most of the band including Steven Tyler, Joey Kramer, Tom Hamilton and Brad Whitford. It was not written with Joe Perry and one of the rare times that was the case, but drugs will do that. However, producer Jack Douglas managed to get a writing credit as well as he did a lot on this album as someone had to keep pushing the band forward.

Lyrically it seems more like a Zeppelin or even early Genesis as they delve in to sorcery knights and swords and stuff. It has this whole Medieval Knights of the Round Table vibe. It is also a rather violent look at the time and does not paint a glamorous picture. Tyler has stated that it is about all those that died during the period of the Holy Wars. With that being said, there is no rosy picture to paint. It should be dark and eerie and they captured that feel nicely both lyrically and sonically.

Side 2 of the album kicks off with one of the band’s best song called “Kings and Queens”. The song feels epic, grand and far beyond anything else they have ever done. The bass is extremely heavy, it has a mandolin by Jack Douglas, a banjo by Paul Prestopino, Tyler on piano and the rest of the band all in a world of their own making. Tyler gives what might be one of his greatest vocal performances as this song hits the mark on every aspect. It is so out of left field, yet so magical. Pure perfection!

Give the song a listen and let me know what you think. I think it should’ve gone higher than #70 on the Billboard Charts, but thats just me. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a wonderful and Happy Sunday.

“Kings And Queens”

Long ago in days I’m told
Were ruled by Lords of greed
Maidens fared with gold
They dared to bare their wombs that bleed

Kings and queens and guillotines
Taking lives denied
Starch and parchment laid the laws
When bishops took the ride
Only to deceive

Oh I know I lived this life afore
Somehow know now truths I must be sure
Tossin turnin’ nightmares burnin’ dreams of swords in hand
Sailin’ ships the Viking spits the blood of father’s land
Only to deceive

Living times of knights and mares
Raising swords for maidens fair
Sneer at death fear only loss of pride

Living other centuries
Deja vu or what you please
Follows true to all who do or die

Screams of no reply they died
Screams of no reply and died
Lordy lordy and then then they died
Lordy no then they died

Live and do or die
Long ago were days I told…Lord they died
Kings and queens and guillotines…
Live and no reply they died
Long ago were days I told…
Kings and queens and guillotines…

Written by Steven Tyler, Brad Whitford, Joey Kramer, Tom Hamilton and Jack Douglas

Needtobreathe – “Keep Your Eyes Open” (2012) – Promotional Single

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A couple months ago I showed off a pretty simple, yet cool, UK Promotional CD for the Needtobreathe single “The Heart”. This time I found another UK Promotional single and this time for their 2012 hit, “Keep Your Eyers Open” off their 2011 album ‘The Reckoning’. This was scheduled to be released on September 3, 2012 in the UK (it was February 14, 2012 in the US) and was a radio edit. On the back of the case is a sticker to the people that the CD single went to…Carrie Curtis & Maree Douglas.

This packaging was not plain and simple like “The Heart”, there was a unique picture on front and back that I believe are exclusive to this release and even the CD itself had some color to it and not a simple CDr burn like the last one. Whereas “The Heart” Promotional Single was on Discogs, this one I can not find which I am assuming that means this one is very hard to find and obviously no one has cataloged it yet.

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Friday New Releases – June 3, 2022

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We are now in June and things are heating up, but for me not so much on the New Releases. There is only one I’m excited about and one I am curious. They are both marked in Blue. Let me know what you are interested in listening to this week or what we may have missed. As there are over 40 albums on here, but we do miss some from now and again. Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

  • 71Fkj2-zZmL._AC_UY436_FMwebp_QL65_  Crobot – Feel This – (Mascot Label Group): Crobot is now on the fourth full length album and this Pennsylvania hard rock/funk rock band knows how to bring it. If you like it heavy and a little funky, five these guys a chance. I’m glad I did.
  • 71yJmyCyw2L._AC_UY436_FMwebp_QL65_  The Fixx – Every Five Seconds – (JARC Ltd): It has been 10 years since their last studio album. I guess one thing lead to another and they didn’t have time. But thankfully Cy Curnin and team are back. I don’t know what to expect, but I am eager to give it a try.
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Axel Rudi Pell – ‘Between the Walls’ (1994) – Album Review (The Jeff Scott Soto Series)

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While Jeff Scott Soto was touring with Talisman in Europe, Axel Rudi Pell was ready to make another album. After the mixed reaction from the fans on ‘The Ballad’ album, Axel was going to go to his roots and make a pure metal album…a German Metal Album as he has stated. He contacted Jeff and arranged for him to come in and work on the album while his other band was touring. Jeff was happy to do so as he really enjoyed working with Axel since it wasn’t a dictatorship like other bands he had worked in. Jeff and Axel work well together and Soto co-wrote 4 of the 10 tracks.

Most of the band was back from the last studio album, ‘Eternal Prisoner’. There was obviously Axel and Jeff, but Jorg Michael was back on drums and Volker Krawczak on bass. Keyboardist Kai Raglewski was out and in his place was Julie Greaux who has worked with Billy Idol and happened to be Soto’s girlfriend. That’s convenient wouldn’t you say!! What I would say is that this was a solid line-up and had me interested to hear what they had put together this time around. It is definitely more fantasy and mystical lyrics and it is truly metal for sure! One more thing, in the liner notes, it lists out what instrument each band member plays with and for Jeff…it says he plays with Julie….”Oh Heffe, Oh Oh Ooh”…Let me just say…Wow!! Okay, hold on tight and let’s get to the music.

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Cheap Trick – ‘Bang, Zoom, Crazy…Hello’ (2016) – Album Review (The Cheap Trick Collection Series)

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It has been seven years since Cheap Trick’s last studio album. A lot has happened. They did release a live album here or there and the three volume set of The Epic Archives, but the biggest change was with the line-up. Bun E. Carlos decided to stop recording and touring and as a result, the band pushed him to the side or moved on without him, however you want to look at it. There were lawsuits back and forth and in the end all was settled. Bun E. Carlos wasn’t in the band anymore, but he was still a part of it. In 2015, he helped write the liner notes for all three of The Epic Archive albums. But when it came to the 17th studio album, ‘Bang, Zoom, Crazy…Hello!’, Bun E. Carlos was not to be found.

Instead new drummer, Daxx Nielsen, was part of the band. Hmm…that last name sounds familiar. Oh, that’s right, he is the son of guitarists Rick Nielsen. It was the first studio album of their career without Bun E. Carlos and it was the first studio album for the band with a major label in 20 years and that label was Big Machine. When the album was released on April 1, 2016 the album went to #31 on the Billboard Charts and was their highest charting album since 1988’s ‘Lap of Luxury’. Don’t worry that it dropped of the chart in a couple weeks…oh well.

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May 2022 Purchases – Vinyl & CD’s

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Another month down and therefore it is time to review the purchases made this month at 2 Loud 2 Old Music. And I think it was a pretty good haul. We bought some stuff online, we hit a local record store and we had a record show this month. And we will kick it off with the brand new album by Jeff Scott Soto which came out on May 6th. It is called ‘Complicated’ and we won’t be getting to review this one for a long time as we are only 20+ albums into the 70 album series. For now, take a peek…

Then I have some research I need to do for a friend of Jeff Scott Soto. I have a lot of homework to do on Jason Bieler of Saigon Kick (notice the three Rock Candy Editions) and his new band Jason Bieler and the Baron Von Bielski Orchestra plus others. Hmmm…now why would I be doing homework…I guess you will soon find out…

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The Original vs. The Cover – “Let The Music Do The Talking”

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For this round of The Original vs. The Cover, we are battling out with “Let the Music Do the Talking” which will pit The Joe Perry Project against Aerosmith. Wait, isn’t Joe Perry in both of those…why yes he is!! The Joe Perry Project released an album in March 1980 with this song as the lead off track and the name of the album. Aerosmith did it 5 years later as the lead off track as well on their 1985 album ‘Done with Mirrors’.

How did this song come about? Well, Joe Perry got in to a major fight with Steven Tyler and the band over their wives, plus drugs and other band issues. He left the band and immediately started work on an album. Columbia Records was real hesitant on giving him a deal with all the struggles he had with Aerosmith. But they did and this song just kind of came in to being. Joe had a lot to prove that he could make it on his own and he felt the music should do the talking for him rather than shooting off his own mouth. And he was right. When he rejoined Aerosmith, the band loved the song and wanted to cover it, so they did.

Which one is better? We will see.

THE JOE PERRY PROJECT:

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My Sunday Song – “Lightning Strikes” by Aerosmith

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For My Sunday Song #301, we are kicking off the next 10 song set with Aerosmith and first up is “Lightning Strikes” off their 1982 album ‘Rock in a Hard Place’. The song was released as a single on August 27, 1982 and is noted as the only charted song the band had without Joe Perry in the band. This had Jimmy Crespo on guitar who replaced Joe after he left in 1979. The song went to #21 on the U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks Chart.

The song was written by Steven Tyler, Jimmy Crespo and Richie Supa (who replaced Joe first before the full time replacement was found in Crespo). It is basically about a gang fight. Not any old gang fight, it seems like an old 50’s/60’s style fight with leather jackets and knives. It is only missing Fonzi!! All seriousness aside, it does capture the toughness on the streets and has a solid story.

This is one of the best Aerosmith songs of all time…Sorry…but it is…get over it!! “Lightning Strikes” has this slow build up that explodes in to this rough and tumble, balling and brawling masterpiece. The song is heavy, it is tough, it is mean and it is fan”freaking”tastic! It actually starts off with some keyboard before Joey slams down some drum beats then the guitar slowly build in with more Joey fills. Steven sounds like he is ready to rumble which makes sense it is about gang fighting. It even ends with some Thunder rolling in. This was the only song Brad Whitford appeared for the album and it was as rhythm guitar since Crespo did the solo .

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Needtobreathe – ‘La Diferencia E.P.’ – Album Review

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Needtobreathe is one of my all time favorite bands and one of the few bands I have to everything they do and in that search I came across this beauty. It is the E.P. called La Diferencia. It was only available on the DRIVE ALL NIGHT TOUR 2013. If you went to a show on that tour and you placed a pre-order for their upcoming album ‘Rivers of the Wasteland, you received a pre-order card AND got the BRAND NEW EP called La Diferencia on CD. I actually missed that tour so I didn’t have this and I do now. The EP contains four previously unreleased live tracks and the title is quite misleading because it would make you think their were some Hispanic language songs on here but there are not…which is fine as I don’t speak Spanish anyway. The cover art I am sure was done by band member Bo Rinehart as he has been the artistic brain behind most of their visual side of the band.

The opening track, “Difference Maker” might be the best song the band has ever written. There is such a sadness and longing in the song and lyrically, it is splendid.  For me, it raises question as to why are we here in this world and what is our place in that world.  Is God the answer?  I think that is for each of us to decide as I find faith and religion to be a personal choice.  This song helped me take a longer look at myself and I believed has helped a lot. The song is not quite a demo. They call it a “work tape” so at this point it was a work in process but damn, it is so good.

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Friday New Releases – May 27, 2022

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Can you believe May is almost over? Another month that has blown by. This weekend is Memorial Day Weekend where we remember all those men and women lost in the many wars we have been in over the many years of this country. I think people think this weekend is vacation and grilling only…a reason to drink and party…but not at all. Take a moment to remember why you can do all those things and what was sacrificed for it to happen. Now, back to the reason for the post. We have a ton of releases for you today with over 40 albums. There is only one I’m a really excited about and another I am intrigued about it. They are marked in Blue. Let me know what you want to hear and what we may have missed! Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!!

  • 81GWsHK-QBL._AC_UL640_FMwebp_QL65_  Def Leppard – Diamond Star Halos – (Bludgeon Riffola Limited / Mercury Records): There have been no new Def Leppard studio albums since I started this blog which is way way too long. I am excited about this one, but truly aren’t expecting a lot if I’m being honest. That didn’t stop me from ordering it…on vinyl exclusive from Target…on cassette and two different Japanese Edition CDs. I think that is every format. Yes, I have a problem…deal with it!!
  • A15cHqIFTTL._AC_UL640_FMwebp_QL65_  Mark Tremonti – Mark Tremonti Sings Frank Sinatra – (JMM / Slow Down Sounds): The guitarist of Creed, Alter Bridge and lead singer of Tremonti goes soft with Frank Sinatra…or does he? I don’t know as I haven’t heard it yet as I want to take it all in at once. Here’s to hoping it is something cool.
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