Friday New Releases – February 21st

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Happy Friday and welcome to another Friday New Releases post.  This week we only have slighty more than a handful with a whole 6 new releases with only 2 I am interested in (highlighted in Blue).  I am sorry there can’t be more, but there probably is that I don’t know about or even care about…not that I care about all of these.  What has been a slow year with releases seems to continue thankfully I do have a couple.  Let me know what interests you or what I may have missed so more people will know about it.  Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!!

  • 81bOoSHWYlL._SS500_  H.E.A.T. – H.E.A.T. II – (Sony Music Entertainment) – Digital Release Only (CD/LPs out 2/28):  This Swedish Hard Rock band is back with their sixth studio album.  If you want some solid arena rock with a hint of glam and great fun, then this is the album you should check out this week.  Bring on the guitars and let it rip.

  • 91-osrduSHL._SX522_.jpg  Ozzy Osbourne – Ordinary Man – (Epic Records / Sony):  Ozzy!!!  I’m sorry, but Ozzy is no ordinary man even though the album is trying to fool you in to thinking so.  Hell, I’m not even sure the Price of Darkness is even a man!  But he is Ozzy and that is enough for me to give this a spin.  He has earned that.  I wish Ozzy well in his fight with Parkinson and may he keep on rocking.

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Gene Simmons – ‘The Vault’ – Album Review (Part 8 of 15 – Disk 7)

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Welcome back to the Gene Simmons The Vault review.  We are now on Disk 7.  Below are the rules I am trying to follow with each review.

I will try and keep some consistency between each disk.  I will go through each song and mention who wrote, who played on it and what I think about the song. I won’t go through all the stories as you should get the vault to get all the information.  I will grade each song (ranking 1 to 5, 5 being best) and then take an average of the grades for the score of the disk.  I know most of these are demos, so I won’t be taking quality of the sound in to play that much because I know what I am getting and I am more interested in the overall song.

At the end of all the reviews, we will average the score of each review and come up with an overall ‘The Vault’ score which I hope will be a fair representation of the whole package.  I am going to do my best to do one a week, but as I said before, life sometimes gets in the way so I am not going to promise one a week.  Plus, this is 11 disks to digest and that is a lot as I am also doing the David Coverdale Series at the same time.  That is a bunch of music to go through.

The songs aren’t in chronological order.  Gene states each disk is more of a mood or vibe.  The vibe of this one is hard to pinpoint. It is a little all over the place with rock and some R&B vibes.

Well, are you ready?  Then let’s get right to it.

The CD comes in sleeve with my least favorite picture of Gene…I hope that is not a sign…

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Whitesnake – ‘Slip of the Tongue’ – Album Review (The David Coverdale Series)

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After coming off the tour of the band’s biggest selling album, ‘Whitesnake’, it was time to record a new album.  But before that could happen, another guitarist left the fold.  Vivian Campbell left the band and it was reported as “Creative Differences”…whatever that means.  But it what it did mean, was more line-up issues for the band.

But that didn’t stop David from starting to write new songs.  He and his now creative partner, Adrian Vandenberg, set forth with writing the new album.  They actually wrote some of the album while on tour, but the bulk was crafter in David’s home in Lake Tahoe. I would think that wouldn’t be a bad place to hold up to write. The songs were all written by David and Adrian (except for one), but sadly, Adrian wouldn’t play on any of them.

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Adrian hurt his wrist and could not record.  He would need surgery for the issue and that put him out of commission for some time.  So, David needed to find a replacement to help with the album.  Now the replacement was to record, but it was also to replace Vivian.  He needed someone really strong and thankfully for us, he found one of the greatest guitar players ever to hold a 6 string.  It was the former Frank Zappa and former David Lee Roth guitarist Steve Vai. Steve brought a whole new style and sound to Whitesnake. Don’t expect Vai to play the blues, he had a texture and sound that was not what Whitesnake fans were used to, but we could accept it. Continue reading “Whitesnake – ‘Slip of the Tongue’ – Album Review (The David Coverdale Series)” →

The Original vs. The Cover – “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding”

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For this month’s version of The Original vs. The Cover, we are going to talk about the Brinsley Schwarz song “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding”.  The song was written by Nick Lowe and was recorded by his band Brinsley Schwarz.  It was released in 1974 album called ‘The New Favorites of…Brinsley Schwarz.

How Elvis Costello got a hold of it is the fact that Nick Lowe was the producer of his 1979 album ‘Armed Forces’.  Nick introduced him to the song and the band recorded it for the B-Side of Nick Lowe’s single “American Squirm”.  The song did so well, the slapped it on as the last track of the album for the North American release of the album.

Nick wrote the song in 1973 and it was supposed to be a joke song making fun of the hippie generation coming out of their dream like state and becoming a more cynical bunch.  What he realized later was there actually is a bit of truth and wisdom in the song.

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My Sunday Song – “Hooligan’s Holiday” by Motley Crue

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For My Sunday Song #183, we are going to discuss a song from the self-titled gem called “Hooligan’s Holiday”. The song was the first single off their 1994 album and was the first song the world got to hear with new lead singer John Corabi.  The song did pretty well reaching #10 on the U.S. Rock charts, but overall the album was a dud, sales wise.  I find it to be quite a satisfying record and one of Crue’s best although the band now ignores this album.  But it is an album that shouldn’t be ignored.

The title of the song come from the news that Nikki was watching during the LA Riots where the broadcaster stated that the rioters were on a Hooligan’s Holiday.  Nikki liked it so much he and John based a song around that concept.  The song is basically about living large and doing whatever you want.  What started out as a demo between John and Nikki that no one wanted to do, became the first single and one of the more popular songs on the album.

The song is a pure, fun, rock song.  It sounds like Crue at a time when Crue were going through major changes with a new lead singer.  It opens with Mick and Tommy hitting a few riffs and fills and turns in to a ball buster when the whole band kicks in.  The song has balls and delivers quite a punch.  John Corab’s gravelly voice gives the vocals an edge of rebellion and toughens up the sound of the band without the high vocals they would have had with Vince Neil.  It was the perfect combination the band needed and for me a shot of adrenaline the band needed.

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Friday New Releases – February 14th

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Welcome to Friday and guess what it is Valentine’s Day!!  The worst holiday ever invented.  It puts undo pressure on everyone.  The trick is show the one you love how much they mean to you every day of the year and then this day doesn’t mean shit!!  It is just another.  So blame Hallmark and all the chocolate companies and the florist companies and the restaurants for forcing this upon us.  Wow, I went off on a tangent there.  It is Friday, so that means new music.  Not a whole lot here for me, but hopefully there is enough that you find something for you or the one you love.  My listens are in Blue.  Let me know what you want to hear and what I might have missed from the list because believe it or not…it happens all the time.  Happy Valentine’s Day to you all!!

  • 81I39u50ZjL._SS500_  Hollywood Undead – New Empire, Vol 1 – (BMG Rights):  I am excited for their new album which is now their 6th studio release.  I really enjoy their rap-rock / nu-metal sound and I love the angst as well.  It is usually great to blast driving down the road…so here is warning to you Charlotte Drivers that I might be a little reckless today with this cranked up.

  • 61FWfBkifpL._SX522_  Huey Lewis & the News – Weather – (New Hulex LLC / BMG Rights):  I am really anxious and sad to hear this one.  It could quite possibly be Huey’s last record and he is even unable to perform anymore.  If you haven’t heard, Huey was diagnosed with a disorder of the inner ear called Meniere’s disease.  It brings hearing loss, vertigo, ringing in the ear and a feeling of fullness.  My thoughts and prayers are with him and selfishly I always would like new music from him.

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Gene Simmons – ‘The Vault’ – Album Review (Part 7 of 15 – Disk 6)

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Welcome back to the Gene Simmons The Vault review.  We are now on Disk 6.  Below are the rules I am trying to follow with each review.

I will try and keep some consistency between each disk.  I will go through each song and mention who wrote, who played on it and what I think about the song. I won’t go through all the stories as you should get the vault to get all the information.  I will grade each song (ranking 1 to 5, 5 being best) and then take an average of the grades for the score of the disk.  I know most of these are demos, so I won’t be taking quality of the sound in to play that much because I know what I am getting and I am more interested in the overall song.

At the end of all the reviews, we will average the score of each review and come up with an overall ‘The Vault’ score which I hope will be a fair representation of the whole package.  I am going to do my best to do one a week, but as I said before, life sometimes gets in the way so I am not going to promise one a week.  Plus, this is 11 disks to digest and that is a lot as I am also doing the David Coverdale Series at the same time.  That is a bunch of music to go through.

The songs aren’t in chronological order.  Gene states each disk is more of a mood or vibe.  The vibe of this one appears to be a little pop, a little R&B and nothing real rock like.  Plus, it is a lot of demos from the ‘Asshole’ album which isn’t a good thing.

Well, are you ready?  Then let’s get right to it.

The CD comes with a picture of Gene in front of a lot of Kiss memorabilia…

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Whitesnake – ‘Whitesnake’ (1987) – Album Review (The David Coverdale Series)

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After all the turmoil with the band around the ‘Slide it In’ album and tour, David Coverdale was almost ready to throw in the towel.  After the tour, Cozy Powell left the band and I think Davd had had enough.  However, Geffen records saw something between David and newcomer John Sykes that they somehow talked David in to hanging on and working with John.  The two went and tucked themselves away somewhere in the south of France and started writing…south of France…tough fucking life!!

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When they gathered some material, the two embarked to L.A. with bassist Neil Murray to start recording.  But before they could do that, they needed a drummer and along comes Ansley Dunbar to complete the team.  But wait, there is only 1 guitar player and usually there is two and you would be right.  John Sykes recorded all the guitar parts for the album.

Now during the recording, the band had more problems.  One was John Sykes.  John was obsessed over getting the right guitar sound almost to the detriment of the whole project.  Second, David got sick…bad sick. A major sinus infection that almost derailed his whole career.  It was so bad, that John Sykes had suggested bringing in another vocalist to finish the project…excuse me??…WTF???  John, if you didn’t know, Whitesnake is David’s band, not yours.  That did not sit well with David as is no surprise. And right when the album was set for release, David fired the band! Yep, all of them…bye, bye!!

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Okay, this is basically the second time this has happened in a row on an album release.  The new band was brought in and it consisted of Adrian Vandenberg and Vivian Campbell on guitars, Rudy Sarzo on bass and Tommy Aldridge on drums.  I have to say that is one helluva a line-up.  David has a way of getting top musicians.

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Stone Temple Pilots – ‘Perdida’ – Album Review

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Stone Temple Pilots release their first album of the new decade which is their eighth album overall and second with new lead singer Jeff Gutt.  ‘Perdida’ is quite a departure for the band as the album is an all acoustic affair of 10 new songs.  This is either a bold step in a new direction or a complete and utter misstep in a stellar career.

When I heard several months back that this was all acoustic, I had my reservations.  I was curious as to the reason why with only one album under their belts with Jeff Gutt as the singer would they change course so dramatically.  I still don’t know why, but it is an interesting choice.

The album title “Perdida” struck me as odd until I found out what it meant.  The word is Spanish and means “lost’.  Take that word with the image of the cover, which I find to be spectacular, and everything starts to fall in to place.  Is the band lost in who they are as group or our they spiritually lost.  Is the album them trying to find their way or is it a statement that they have no idea what to do anymore and it is a cry for help?  So many questions.

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My Sunday Song – “Primal Scream” by Motley Crue

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For My Sunday Song #182, we are discussing “Primal Scream” by Motley Crue.  The song is one of three new songs that were released on the band’s 1991 greatest hits package “Decade of Decadence”.  The song was released as a single, but only reached #63 on the Billboard Hot 100, but made it to #21 on the Mainstream Rock Chart.  Those low ranking surprised me as this is one of the best Motley Crue songs ever.

The song was written by Nikki Sixx and is pretty much about his childhood and his rather rough upbringing.  His abusive childhood was both physical and emotional and luckily he escaped out of it, but not without major mental issues and drug addiction throughout most of his life.  Nikki also has said the song is based off a book by Arthur Janov called “The Primal Scream. Primal Therapy: A Cure For Neurosis.”  And if you listen to the song, you will hear a shout out to Janov.  Nikki has a way of capturing his pain and turning it in to some great music.

The song opens with a primal drum beat by Tommy Lee and Nikki with a great little bass line.  Mick’s guitar comes screaming in and then Vince’s vocals come in angry and primal in nature.  It is a heavy song with a lot of pure, raw emotion being delivered.  An energy that conveys the stark, disturbing childhood Nikki faced and how he persevered by fighting it head on. Mick does a great solo, but the best part is that primal scream by Vince towards the end after the last verse.  That made the song for me.  It was short and sweet, but just what the song needed.  This is a darker, more edgy Motley Crue and I am totally okay with that.  Actually, I would like more of that.

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