My Sunday Song – “Never the Heroes” by Judas Priest

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For My Sunday Song #295, we are go to go through “Never the Heroes” off the band’s most recent album, 2018’s ‘Firepower’. The song was the third single and it helped propel the album to a #5 ranking on the Billboard Top 200 albums and showing the band still had a lot of life left in them. It was an album and a song that saw the band return to form and show that metal was still alive and well in their old bones.

The band issued a statement about the song upon its release stating the following:

“‘Never The Heroes’ is about the courageous men and women that enter war, never trained to be heroes but becoming heroic due to their actions and sacrifices doing their duty for their people and country,” the band said in a statement. “It resonates as there is a hero in all of us and in times of struggle we can be strong and united, conquering our own challenges and helping others.”

I don’t think I need to add anything to that so I will just talk about the music.

This is one of the coolest songs on the album, “Never the Heroes”, and also one of my favorite songs, ever, by the band. Their foot comes off the gas with this one only slightly and we get a pure melodic blissful song. It shows the softer side of Priest and Halford’s vocals deliver nothing but greatness. Usually with the pounding drums and guitar, I tend to miss out on Ian’s bass playing, but this one has that deep, low end sound that helps take this one up a notch. But it is the layers of vocals and the harmonies they create in the chorus that takes it over the top. This is a solid hard rock song and shows that those old dogs can still hunt. Priest being the old dog and the hunt being the music if you missed that analogy.

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

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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 – Aldo Nova – ‘The Life & Times of Eddie Gage’

  Never Heard Before – David Bowie – ‘Blackstar’

  Not My Normal Genre – Beyonce – ‘Lemonade’

  From My Collection – Steve Vai – ‘Passion & Warfare’

  From My Collection – Journey – ‘Raised on Radio’

Let me know which one you would like to see and sometime in May, 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!!

Friday New Releases – April 15, 2022

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April 15th in the U.S. use to be Tax Day. The day our taxes needed to be filed and paid (unless you file an extension). This year it is actually been pushed to Monday, April 18th like that will make any difference to the procrastinators. Mine are done!! But, being that Friday New Releases this year is on April 15, maybe they decided not to have many so these people that have to pay more in taxes don’t have to worry about missing out on too much. Or it could be the Super Deluxe Edition of Rush’s Moving Pictures is so expensive no one can afford anything else. Either way, we only have around 35 this week which is way down from previous weeks. I only have one and it is up first and highlighted in Blue. But I am sure there is something for you in there so take a look and let me know what you want to hear this week or what we missed. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a great weekend!!

  • 71vsyGEt+AL._SX522_  Rush – Moving Pictures (40th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition) – (Mercury Records / UMG): Probably my favorite Rush album and my entry point in to the band, ‘Moving Pictures’ is getting the Super Deluxe Edition for its 40th Anniversary…WOW!! 40 Years. I am getting old. This box set includes a 3 CD set featuring the 2015 album remaster and the complete, unreleased Toronto concert from March 25, 1981. All audio is also showcased on 5 LPs cut at half-speed DMM on 180-gram vinyl. Blu-ray Audio disc presents a first-ever Dolby Atmos and new 5.1 surround album mix including the brand-new video for “YYZ” + 3 music videos. Extras include a book, model car, drumsticks, posters, and more! At only $299, it is a little steep. You could just get the deluxe edition CDs or vinyl for way, way less.

And then all the rest…

  • 51R6fD7UPoL._AC_UL640_FMwebp_QL65_  Jewel – Freewheelin’ Woman – (Words Matter Media)
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Cheap Trick – ‘Special One’ (2003) – Album Review (The Cheap Trick Collection Series)

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I know, I know. After the review of ‘Music for Hangovers’, I should be reviewing the live album ‘Silver’ which came out in 2001. However, note the title of the series…this is the Cheap Trick Collection Series and is on the Cheap Trick albums in my collection and that one is not in my collection…sorry. Instead we are jumping to the next studio album, ‘Special One’, which the band released 6 years after their last studio album. This is a massive break in between studio albums for them and for their fans. But the band is still in tact with Robin Zander, Rick Nielsen, Tom Petersson and Bun E. Carlos. Not many bands can say that (not that it last much longer, but still an impressive run).

After their last label went belly-up, Cheap Trick formed their own label and released two live albums, one of which we discussed already. It took awhile for the band to find themselves again and get in a place to write and record new songs. Sometime during 2001, they started writing. They would bump around from studio to studio to write and record in both 2001 and 2002 and after working in 8 separate studios the album was finished by the end of 2002. Now, since they were self-producing the album, it did take a little while longer to get the album out. This was like today where you could immediately put it out digitally.

The album hit the street on July 22, 2003 and it did chart but not very high. It only reached #128 on the Billboard Top 200 and sadly, only lasted a week before falling off the chart at a blinding speed. They album did have one single, but nothing came of it either. But the album isn’t as bad as it might seem. One great thing is the band wrote every single song on the album with only a couple having any outside co-writes. As far as sound goes, it is a very modern sounding Cheap Trick album which I don’t think is a bad thing and it is guitar-driven with minimal to no use of keyboards.

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Eyes – ‘Windows of the Soul’ (1993) – Album Review (The Jeff Scott Soto Series)

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The debut Eyes album didn’t do very well. The band was stalling and Jeff Scott Soto started writing with George Bernhardt for a new band he was in called Slam as Jeff wasn’t happy with the direction the band was going. He eventually had enough and left the band. Then suddenly just two years after the Eyes debut, ‘Windows of the Soul’ was released and Jeff was never told nor did he ever agree to its release. To say he was pissed would be an understatement. The reason for its release was due to Jeff’s popularity in Europe had been on the rise and the record company wanted to take advantage of it.

Is it really a new album? No, not really. All it is are the demos and original tracks Eyes had done and submitted to their label for the first Eyes album. The label wasn’t happy with them so they went back and re-recorded the album and cut some new songs. The record company might not have thought them good to begin with, but still decided to package up the demos into an album that came out in 1993 only in Scandinavia which is the version I have as you can see the 1993 on the back cover. The album was released elsewhere in Europe in 1994. The band on this record included Aldy Damian, Steve Dougherty and Jeff Scott Soto. The band didn’t have a bass player so on the demos were Chuck Wright (Guiffria) and Mike Porcaro. On keyboards you get either Jeff Naideau or Todd Jasmin. Out of the 10 songs, only three of these were on the debut and the demos are pretty great in their own right. Let’s get to the music.

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Bon Jovi – “You Give Love A Bad Name” – 7″ Single

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In my quest to find good homes for 7″ Singles with picture sleeve covers, I came across another Bon Jovi single. This time around it is for the song “You Give Love a Bad Name” off their mega-selling album “Slipper When Wet”. It was the first single off the album and was the band’s first #1 single and wouldn’t be their last. The song was written by Desmond Child, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora and is about a woman who has done her lover wrong. So wrong that she gives love a bad name.

An interesting note about the song is Desmond had written this song for Bonnie Tyler, but it was called “If You Were a Woman (And I Was a Man)” which had completely different lyrics. The song did poorly so he brought it to his writing session with Jon and Richie and pitched it. They completely re-wrote the lyrics and turned it in to the big hit it is today.

The single I have is the standard U.S Release which was released on July 23, 1986. The B-Side is also off ‘Slippery When Wet’ and is the song “Raise Your Hands”. The picture sleeve I have is in great shape and the vinyl is clean and sounds great. For being 36 years old, I would say it is in pretty great shape.

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You Picked It! – George Harrison – ‘All Things Must Pass’ (1970) – Album Review

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Alright…You Picked It! And this one wasn’t even close. The winner had the first vote and never looked back. The winner was George Harrison’s ‘All Things Must Pass” which is now over 50 years old. Crazy! Here are the results.

  1. George Harrison – ‘All Things Must Pass’ – 10 votes
  2. Oasis – ‘(What’s the Story) Morning Glory’ – 5 votes
  3. Bryan Adams – ‘So Happy It Hurts’ – 2 votes
  4. Gnarls Barkley – ‘St. Elsewhere’ – 1 Vote
  5. Harry Connick Jr. – ‘Blue Light, Red Light’ – Sadly, 0 votes

Thanks to all for participating. The May choices will be up on Saturday!

GEORGE HARRISON – ‘ALL THINGS MUST PASS’:

I like the Beatles, but as far as solo albums have gone, I haven’t really followed any of the Beatles outside of the Beatles. Yes, I know a lot of Paul’s and John’s stuff, but Ringo definitely no and George I was a little turned off his music due to the song “I’ve Got My Mind Set On You”. I was not a fan so I never went back to listen to his older stuff. I thought it was about time I did so I included it on the list. Now, if I would’ve known then that the album was actually 3 albums in one, I might not have picked it, but I am so glad I did and it won.

Recently, the 50th Anniversary Edition of the album was released and if I’m not mistaken, my brother-in-law, Ryan Williams, had a hand in putting it together as he does a lot of work with Dhani Harrison, George’s son. That alone was another reason I wanted to check out the album. He did say going through boxes and boxes of never before released tracks was rather incredible.

I had to use the CD back cover as that was the best picture I could find with all the songs that was legible. We are going in vinyl order on the review
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Tim’s Vinyl Confessions – “Ratt Talk” with Jex, Deke, John and of course, Tim

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Yesterday we recorded our Ratt Talk on Tim’s Vinyl Confessions…Today…it is now up on YouTube. Go check it out as it was a ton of fun. It was great meeting Jex and seeing Deke again. And a big thank you to Tim of Tim’s Vinyl Confessions for having me on. Always a good time to talk about Ratt!!

RATT:

One of the most consistent hard rock bands to emerge from the early 1980s. Not an enormous catalogue, but enough to discuss, with a first time combo of TVC vet Jex, Deke and John. If you’re a Ratt fan, you’re going to enjoy this one.

Follow Jex here: https://www.youtube.com/user/CineBros…

Deke: https://www.youtube.com/user/superdekes1

Tim’s Vinyl Confessions: https://www.youtube.com/c/TimsVinylConfessions

My Sunday Song – “Blood Red Skies” by Judas Priest

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For My Sunday Song #294, we are going to discuss the song “Blood Red Skies” by Judas Priest off their 1988 album ‘Ram it Down’. The song is not an official single from the album which had some real crappy singles so this would’ve been way better as a single then what the chose. Ok, probably not a better choice as the song is over 7 minutes long so way to long for radio. The album did go gold thanks to songs like this (but mostly due to past success). The song was written by the normal trio of characters with Glenn Tipton, K.K. Downing and Rob Halford.

The song to me is so powerful. There is a real struggle and battle with the singer. And since the singer is Rob, I believe the battle is his struggle with and the world’s acceptance of his homosexuality. He was so afraid of being found out and what that would do to the band and to him. Rightfully so as this was the metal community back in the 80’s and being gay was not widely accepted yet. The song dives in to his personal struggles and what religion says will happen if you are gay, he’s being watched by everyone and is afraid the fame will all go away. But damn it, he is who is and he is going to fight for the right to be who he is and as history has shown, no one cares that he is gay. We all love Rob for Rob and it never hurt him or the band and he is finally happy being who he is.

The most epic song on ‘Ram It Down’ is “Blood Red Skies” the song feels like it is wrapped in a whole Terminator-like vibe. It feels like science fiction in music. The song starts off slower and it sounds like we are in space or something atmospheric like that. There are some acoustic guitars and Rob comes in soft and gentle to keep with the feel of the music. His falsettos are stellar. The song kicks up the tempo with some guitar synthesizer sounds and heavier drumming (although they sound programmed which sucks a little). Rob changes his vocal approach as well getting a little more sinister and angrier. The song takes me back to earlier Priest when they were doing a little more Prog stuff (without the synths though). This is one of the better songs on the album and really reaches new heights with the grand levels it reaches. It is engaging and feels like it is telling some powerful journey which it actually is.

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Kiss – “Christine Sixteen” – 7″ Single (The Kiss Review Series – Bonus Edition)

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A couple weeks ago we talked through the Kiss 7″ Single for “Beth”. I know, I know…the Kiss Review Series will never die as I’ll always keep finding stuff to show off. Now, I found another one of their singles and this one is from their 1977 album ‘Love Gun’. It is “Christine Sixteen” and the song features Gene Simmons on the lead vocals. As far as chart success, it went all the way to #25 on the Billboard Hot 100. Not bad!

I say not bad because of the subject matter of the song, a lot of stations wouldn’t play it or would only play it after 7pm as if that made it any better. The basis of the song is about an older man infatuated with a girl of the tender age of 16. That wouldn’t fly at all today, but back then, it wasn’t terrible or unforgivable, merely frowned upon I would say based on the fact it still sold like hotcakes. Imagine the chart position if all the stations played it any time of day.

My version is the standard U.S. version, with no picture sleeve. It has the standard Casablanca/Filmworks sleeve which is pretty basic. The B-Side of the song might actually be better than the A-Side is it is Ace Frehley’s song “Shock Me”. More on that later. First let’s discuss the A-Side.

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