My Sunday Song – “Defying Gravity” by The Veer Union

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For My Sunday Song #457, we are talking “Defying Gravity” and no, this is not the Wicked song of the same name. This one is by the band The Veer Union and is off their 2016 album ‘Decade’ which celebrates the band’s 10 years of existence. The song was the first and maybe only single and was released on December 11, 2015 while the album was not released until January 29, 2016. For this album, the band wrote five new songs and pulled five songs from around 10 years back that were never used. But we are here to talk “Defying Gravity”.

The song was written by Crispin Earl and is about his battle with depression. The song details how the singer has been impacted by depression. How it weighs him down and he has no energy to do what needs to be done to fight it. He is looking for the strength as he knows he has to lift himself up to beat this horrible disease. If you have suffered from depression, you know how the weight of it holds you back. For him, defying the gravity that is holding him down is what it will take to fight his way out of it. It is such a hard battle fighting the demon inside. It is a daily struggle, a constant struggle. It can be fought and you don’t have to do it alone. There is help out there, but asking is the hardest part.

Musically, it is heavy like the subject matter. If you haven’t heard The Veer Union before, think a cross between Breaking Benjamin and Sevendust. Those are probably two good bands to compare them too. The guitar riffs are brutal by Dan Sittler, the drums are destructive from Tyler Reimer and I love how it goes from really heavy in the chorus while being melodic to a softer tone during the verses. Crispin Earl handles the clean vocals and you can hear the pain and emotion in his vocals. He is singing from his heart. I’m not one that usually likes unclean vocals, but bass player, Amal Wijayanayake, does a great job with the screaming vocal parts not to mention his bass playing along with rhythm guitarist Ryan Ramsdell keep the song moving forward. The unclean vocals aren’t overdone and only serve as an added texture to the song. I think it adds to the overall darkness of the heavy subject.

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Friday New Releases – October 31, 2025

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Happy Halloween and no tricks for you, only treats. We have another batch of new releases coming your way. Let me know what you want to hear or what we may have missed. I’m interested in the Cars – Heartbeat City Deluxe Set but that is it. I’ll stream for now and maybe get down the road. Too much coming out lately to keep up. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a great weekend.

  • The Pretty Reckless – Taylor Momsen’s Pretty Reckless Christmas – (Goin’ Down Inc. / Fearless Records)
  • Florence + The Machine – Everybody Scream – (Polydor Records / Republic Records / Universal)
  • Avatar – Don’t Go In The Forest – (Black Waltz AB / Thirty Tigers)
  • The Cars – Heartbeat City (Deluxe Edition) – (Elektra Catalog Group)
  • Bob Dylan – Through The Open Window: The Bootleg Series Vol. 18 1956-1963 – (Columbia Records / Sony Music)
  • Duff McKagan – Lighthouse Live From London – (Blood Meridian / earMusic / Edel Entertainment)
  • Guided by Voices – Thick Rich And Delicious – (GBV Inc.)
  • Thompson Twins – Industry & Seduction: A Thompson Twins Collection Deluxe – (BMG Rights Mgmt)
  • ODC – Twisted Love – (Frontiers Records)
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Kiss – Boxx (Vol. 1) (1993) – Album Review (The Kiss Bootleg Series)

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I have been doing a Kiss Bootleg Series for years. You get a review every time I add a new one to the collection. Well, after buying 38 Bootleg CDs from John Humphrey’s personal collection, I figured let’s jump right back in and do a whole lot of reviews on the Bootlegs. Oh, if you don’t know who John Humphrey is, you need to know he is a massive Kiss collector. And he is the drummer of the band Seether. John decided to sell off his entire collection…sort of…he kept all the vinyl (like 4,000 of them). He did it through an auction at Backstage Auctions and I had to have a piece of it…and I did wind up with some things.

This time around we have another Australian Bootleg which means it has a big “UNAUTHORIZED” across the cover. It is called Boxx (Vol. 1) and was released in 1993 by a label called Banana and distributed by Apple House Music. What is with the fruit references?? It’s packaging is identical to the Live Vol. 1 we did a few weeks back. Both were made in Australia. This time instead of tracks from one show we get them from two. One is Cleveland 1975 and the other is actually Nashville 1984 despite the cover saying ’85. Oops. It looks like songs 1-6 are from June 21, 1975 at the Cleveland Music Hall and was actually part of the King Biscuit Flower Hour Broadcast…which explains why it sounds so good. Tracks 7-13 are from January 11, 1984 show at Nashville Municipal Auditorium.

It starts off with what is called “Intro” so I was expecting a big “You Wanted the Best, You Got the Best…” opening, however, it was simply the intro to the song “Hotter Than Hell” as are only taking songs from the setlist here and not a full show. “Hotter Than Hell” really cooks. The guitars are smoking, the bass is steaming and the drums are explosive. Paul’s vocals are killer and it is hard to believe this is a bootleg. The go right into “Firehouse” like they do in the original full show. And it is more of the same awesomeness. You know how the song goes so no need discussing that, simply know this sounds like a band in their prime and hungry as hell.

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The Collection: Ep. 79 – Kiss: ‘Dressed to Kill’ (50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition)

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This week we unbox the brand new Kiss ‘Dressed to Kill’ (50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition) box set. It is massive. There are 5 CDs and 1 Blu-Ray but it also has a bunch of goodies included. You get a 100-page Hard Back book, stickers, buttons, picks, posters photographs, newspaper, ticket stubs, backstage passes and everything and anything related with a Kiss logo on it. The album came out in 1975 and produced what would become one of the greatest rock anthems with “Rock And Roll All Nite”. The tour would spawn the greatest live album ever made, Alive!, and you get not one, but two full shows that album was taken from. The rest will hopefully be on the Alive! box set, we will get to that one after it comes out. Sit back and enjoy as you unbox with me as it just showed up on my doorstep.

So go check it out as it is live right now on YouTube. Thanks for stopping by and please click “Like” and hit “Subscribe” as it helps out the site when you do.

My Sunday Song – “Bounce” by Emphatic

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For My Sunday Song #456, we are talking “Bounce” by the Nebraska band Emphatic. The song is on their big label debut, ‘Damage’, which was released on July 12, 2011 and went to #23 on the US Hard Rock Charts. The first single was “Bounce” which went to #23 on the US Mainstream Rock Chart. I don’t remember when I first heard it, but when I did, I was hooked. It was one of those songs I would put on repeat as it had so much energy.

The song was written by lead guitarist, Justin McCain and the song itself is pretty basic rock & roll stuff. It is all about S.E.X. It is about two people that are extremely passionate about each other and they are longing to get together to do…well…to do the deed. He wants to slap her back tattoo, give her a kiss and give her a ride…whatever that might mean (nudge, nudge, wink, wink). Bounce, of course, is the word he chose to use to describe the deed and it completely and utterly works. Who doesn’t love a good “bounce” with the woman (or person) they love?

Musically, the song does truly “bounce”. I heavy, high octane track with blistering guitars from Justin, pounding drums by Josh Freese and some heavy bass work by Paul Bushnell. Vocals were handled by Patrick Wilson and he has that rock & roll grit that fits a song like this. The chorus is one major hook with the repetitive “Bounce, Bounce” and sucks you in. Such great pop-sensibilities with this song as well. Very radio friendly. A song that is as musically fun as those lyrics. A good time was had by all with this one.

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Friday New Releases – October 24, 2025

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Welcome to Friday New Releases and we have a big week for you with almost 50 releases coming out. There is something for everyone. I’m interested in the Mammoth new one as well as the Bon Jovi album that is a reissue of his last album ‘Forever’ and this time with duets for all the songs. There are some interesting people on board. I am sure Demi Lovato will be big this week and cool to see a new one by Big Wreck. Lots to choose from. Let me know what you want to hear or what we may have missed. Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

  • Mammoth – The End – (I Am the Sheriff LLC / BMG Rights Mgmt)
  • Bon Jovi – Forever (Legendary Edition) – (Captain Kidd Corp/ Island Records)
  • Demi Lovato – It’s Not That Deep – (DLG Recordings LLC / Island Records)
  • Five Finger Death Punch – Best of Volume 2 – (Better Noise Music)
  • Bad Company – Can’t Get Enough: A Tribute to Bad Company – (Primary Wave Music III)
  • Frank Zappa – Halloween 78 (Super Deluxe) – (Universal Music / UMG)
  • Big Wreck – The Rest of the Story – (Thorn in my Side Publishing / Unyon Records)
  • Brandi Carlile – Returning To Myself – (Interscope Records / Lost Highway)
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Scorpions – ‘From The First Sting’ (2025) – Album Review (The Scorpions Collection Series)

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60 Years! Think about how long that number is. That is how long Scorpions have been a band and a band that is still going strong. Quite impressive! To celebrate that length of services, they have released a new greatest hits compilation that goes all the back to the first sting and one of the most recent stings. Musically, the band has released material since 1972 which isn’t quite 60 years, but the essence of the band goes back to 1965 when it was started by Rudolf Schenker. Their first album, ‘Lonesome Dove’, came out in 1972 and their last studio album so far, ‘Rock Believer’ came out in 2022. And they have a brand new live album coming out on December 5, 2025 called ‘Coming Home Live’ that was recorded on July 5, 2025. Can’t wait.

This compilation came out on October 17, 2025 and I have both the CD version and the Amazon Exclusive Gold Vinyl which also comes with a Scorpions Patch. The album on vinyl is a 2 LP set while the CD is only a single disc. Hard to put 60 years of songs on a single disc that only has 16 tracks. I think a 2 CD or even 3 CD set would’ve been a more appropriate and better way to celebrate 60 years. 60 years, did I mention that yet? They do cover some great songs on here and we even get 2 previously unreleased versions of a couple of their songs so that is cool at least.

As far as band members go, there have been quite a few, but Rudolf Schenker has been in there since the beginning, singer Klaus Meine since 1969 and Mathias Jabs joined around 1978. Currently, there is Pawel Maciwoda who has been on bass since 2004 and the most recent member is the great Mikkey Dee on drums who joined back in 2016. Throughout the years we have seen some great players like Michael Schenker, Uli Jon Roth, Francis Buchholz, Herman Rarebell and James Kottak to only name a few. What a career these guys have had as they have survived through every genre change that music business has seen and each time they stayed true to themselves and survived. They are all legends and one of my favorite bands. Let’s get to the music.

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The Collection: Ep. 78 – Ace Frehley: The Albums Ranked

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With the passing of my first guitar hero last week, I thought it was appropriate this week to honor his memory and do a ranking of his solo albums. He had 10 albums and I have to say I do enjoy all of them so it isn’t a worst to first, more like a least favorite to most favorite. We include the Kiss solo album from 1978, the two Frehley’s Comet albums and the rest are his actual solo albums that he has done over the last 40 years. Ace was one of a kind and will certainly be missed. That boyish laugh to that Chesire grin, he was his own unique self and I think the music world is all the better for it. He influenced so many guitar players over the years and he is in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and soon will receive the Kennedy Center Honor that is so richly deserved.

So go check it out as it will air tonight, October 20th at 7pm on YouTube. Thanks for stopping by and please click “Like” and hit “Subscribe” as it helps out the site when you do.

My Sunday Song – “Trenches” by Pop Evil

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For My Sunday Song #455, we are talking Pop Evil and their first #1 song, “Trenches”. The song is off their third album, the 2013 release ‘Onyx’. An album that went to #3 on the Rock Charts thanks to this one and three other #1 songs. The band consists of Leigh Kakaty, Nick Fuelling, Dave Grahs, Matt DiRito and Josh Marunde.

The song was written by Leigh Kakaty with the help of Dave Bassett who is a big time songwriter. The song is about battling your demons and digging yourself out of the holes you’ve made or have been put in front of you. In this case, they are called “Trenches”. The song is about their never-ending grind they face in the music business but can be used to fit anyone’s life battles. The hard truth of not focusing on the things you can’t control and fight for the ones you can. I think it takes everyone a long time to learn how to do that, I know it did for me. The song is great mantra to live by.

The song kicks off with a killer, dirty and nasty guitar riff. This is modern rock that is hard and heavy and a punch to the face. The drums are fierce, the bass is thumping and Leigh attacks those vocals with a ferocious veracity. He wants you to feel the words he sings and you definitely do. There is a mean ass guitar solo which is something we still need in our metal and hard rock. The song will get you pumped up and ready to fight your way out of the trenches in life you face.

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Friday New Releases – October 17, 2025

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You made it through another week and as your reward, we have a bunch of new releases for you to explore. For me, my prize for making it is the latest Scorpions album, ‘From the First Sting’. A compilation celebrating 60 years of Scorpions! That is crazy!! What do you see here that you want to grab or simply stream? Let me know and what we may have missed. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a great weekend.

  • Scorpions – From The First Sting (60th Anniversary) – (BMG Rights Mgmt)
  • Biohazard – Divided We Fall – (Frontiers Records))
  • Sabaton – Legends – (Better Noise Music)
  • Chrissie Hynde – Duets Special – (Parolphone Records Limited)
  • Bruce Springsteen – Nebraska ’82 (Expanded Edition) – (Columbia Records / Sony Music) – Sorry Bruce was moved to Oct. 24th…but will be worth the wait!
  • David Gilmour – The Luck And Strange Concerts – (Sony Music / David Gilmour Music)
  • Boz Scaggs – Detour – (Concord Records / Concord)
  • Alison Brown & Steve Martin – Safe, Sensible And Sane – (Compass Records)
  • Tame Impala – Deadbeat – (Columbia Records / Sony Music)
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