Friday New Releases – June 15th

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Are things heating up for you?  Well, the new releases are heating up!  Okay, maybe they are lukewarm; however, there are a few worth checking out and mine will be in Blue.  Let me what you are looking forward to hearing.  There are live albums, Blues, Pop, Rock and electronica…something for everyone. If you like 90’s artists, there a several back this week that might be worth at least a stream or two.  Have a great weekend!!

  • 61PHqjoSN2L._AC_US436_QL65_  The Darkness – Live at Hammersmith – (Canary Dwarf Ltd):  The 80’s Hair Metal throwback band are back with a live album and wasn’t that what we were waiting to hear! This might be first up on the stereo today for me.  These guys would have been huge in the 80’s!!  Turn it up because I Believe In a Thing Called “Live”…see what I did there!!  Here is the original video as I didn’t see a live one for this release.

  • 51jjidBu5YL._SS500  Mike Shinoda – Post Traumatic – (Warner Bros):  The co-lead singer of Linkin Park is set for his first solo release and his first music since Chester Bennington’s passing.  As a fan of Linkin Park this is a no-brainer.  I am really interested to see where he takes it and how he responds to Chester’s death.  It should be a great release.

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Journey – Concert Review (Charlotte, NC June 9th, 2018)

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Yesterday, I did the review on the Def Leppard part of the show (since they opened the show they should get the first review).  Now, it is time to talk about Journey’s portion of the show.  After seeing Lep, I was really pumped and excited to finally see Journey live.  I have never had the pleasure and I can’t believe I missed them in the Steve Perry years.  Journey has survived all these years because they have something a lot of bands don’t really have and that is songs.  Journey’s hits are some of the most loved and admired songs ever.  I mean  “Don’t Stop Believin'” might be the most recognizable song around the world.

The band is still pretty much in tact.  At least the band from the era I grew up with. You have founder Neal Schon, Jonathan Cain, Ross Valory and Steve Smith.  All these guys were there doing the early 80’s and their heyday.  11 years ago they added vocalist Arnel Pineda who they found off Youtube and let me tell you what a find he was.  I still wish they would have done more with Jeff Scott Soto, but oh well.  Arnel is pretty darn good vocalist.

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The stage set up was slightly different than Def Leppard’s, but not by much.  They both used the big 40 Foot screen in the back and the 3 large screens up top on the front of the stage.  Journey stripped back all the risers and platforms that Def Leppard used and had a much simpler set up.  Piano on the left, drums in the middle, Ross and Neal up front and Arnel all over the place (more on that later).

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Def Leppard – Concert Review (Charlotte, NC June 9th, 2018)

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Def Leppard is back on tour and this time they are out with Journey on a co-headlining trek around North America.  The last time the two bands toured together was 12 years ago and I missed that tour (I am sure it had to do with having an almost 3 year old and maybe another on the way).  Whatever the reason, I missed it and I wasn’t going to do that again.

When tickets went on sale, I joined the Def Leppard Rock Brigade so I could get early access to tickets.  And damn, tickets were expensive.  This show wasn’t going to be just 2 tickets, I had to buy 3 this time as my wife and my oldest daughter (the one that was almost 3 is now almost 15 – my 11 year old opted out), were joining me on this one.  My wife was going for Journey, but my daughter was going for Leppard (and now has the shirt to prove it).  Me…I was actually going for both.  I have seen Leppard numerous times, but I have never seen Journey…crazy, I know.  Here is what you get for joining the Rock Brigade…a T-shirt & a Pin…

Back to tickets, Lower Level seat were kinda ridiculous.  They were at least $150 or so a piece and then even higher the closer to the stage.  I settled for 3 Front Row Tickets!!  That is right 3 Front Row Tickets!!!  Of course, front row in section 226 on the upper deck because I do have to eat and these were only $99 a piece (only…like $99 is cheap).  Hey, I had an unobstructed view of the show and I could sit if I wanted and not miss a thing.  No real complaints (except I will pay more next time…and there will be a next time).

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Matt Nathanson – ‘Pyromattia’ E.P. – Album Review

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We interrupt the normal Tuesday’s Memes scheduled to talk about something amazing…Matt Nathanson surprised his fans with an announcement of a new album and released it the very next day.  The album was only a 6 song E.P., but who cares.  Any new music from Matt is super fantastic.  The only problem is that it wasn’t actually new music.  It was an E.P. full of cover songs.

Now, they aren’t just any cover songs.  They are from my all time favorite band, Def Leppard.  If you don’t know, Matt Nathanson is a metal head.  I realized that a few years ago when I saw Matt being interviewed on the VH1 show “That Metal Show” with Eddie Trunk.  Matt gushed on and on about his rock and metal influences and it made me appreciate him more than I already did.

Matt is also one of my all time favorite artist and he can do no wrong in my book. So, let’s throw Matt together with Def Leppard songs and you have what could possibly be the greatest combination in music history.  I am not kidding!!

When I saw the track listing, I was a little disappointed with a few choices as they seemed obvious and then stunned at some others as I couldn’t imagine what he would do with it.  The songs are as follows:

  1. Pour Some Sugar on Me
  2. Bringin’ on the Heartbreak
  3. Comin’ Under Fire
  4. Hysteria
  5. Stragefright
  6. Promises

With cover albums you either need to nail it perfectly or completely re-imagine the song.  Matt completely re-imagined the songs.  He plays them acoustically and even adds some string orchestration to them.  He takes these songs and makes them his own and does an absolutely impressive covers album.

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Def Leppard – The Collection, Volume One – Album Review

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Def Leppard is on a mission to release Four Box Sets each collection a specific period in the band.  On June 1st, they started with Volume One…of course.  They aren’t Chickenfoot and aren’t going to skip around with title numbers.  Volume One covers the early years of the band capturing the first 4 albums of release.  The set also includes 2 bonus albums, a book and a 7″ Single.  Now, I have the first four albums on vinyl and CD so that was not what I was after.  I wanted the bonus material.  Don’t get me wrong, it is nice having new remastered, 180 gram vinyl for all of the albums.  I am not complaining.  But this set is for serious fans because it isn’t cheap!!

The article is not really a full review as it would take pages and pages of writing to fully review each album in the set.  It is really a picture chronicle of the set because really there is no reason you shouldn’t own it if you are a fan.  You can get it in CD or Vinyl. I chose vinyl.  What you get is another fantastic package from the band and if this is an indication of what is to come for Volumes Two – Four, I better start saving now.

Why don’t we start with a picture of everything you get…

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My Sunday Song – “Something to Believe In” by Poison

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For My Sunday Song #95, this power ballad comes to us from Poison. The song is “Something To Believe In” and is off their 1990 album ‘Flesh & Blood’.  The song went to #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and is great example of how moving and poignant a song can be.

The song is about two people in Bret Michael’s life.  The first is his personal friend and bodyguard, James Kimo Maano or Kimo.  Kimo got hooked up in the rock & roll lifestyle and with his abuse of drugs and alcohol, his life tragically ended early.  When Bret found out, he was inspired to write this song as a tribute to his friend.  When you watch the video of this song, you see an emotional Bret Michaels reacting to pictures that showed up on the TV of his friend.  The Director of the video didn’t tell him the pictures were being used and it took Bret by surprise.  It was a cruel trick, but it captured a real moment.

The other person is Bret’s cousin Bob who had been wounded in Vietnam and the song talks about his struggles mentally with what happened as well as the loss of so many of his cousin’s friends in the way.  It paints a stark reality of the damage war can have on a person.

The whole song discusses reasons for Bret’s loss of faith whether it is from false prophets, the homeless, the impact of war or the loss of a close friend.  The song paints such a graphic picture that you can’t help but be touched by it in some way.  And depends on your mood when you listen, it could even bring a tear to your eyes.

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Friday New Releases – June 8th

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Happy Friday and welcome to this week’s list of notable releases…at least notable in my book.  There is only one MUST HAVE and a couple others I will get to as well.  Take a look and let me know what you are looking forward to and what I might have missed.  My choices are highlighted in Blue.

  • 4846771  Tremonti – A Dying Machine – (Napalm Records):  The Creed and Alter Bridge guitarist strikes out on his own with his other band Tremonti.  This time he takes on lead vocals and fronts one hellavu hard rock band.  If you are a fan, then this is a MUST HAVE in your collection as it is mine.  The band bring us their fourth album…that is right…their fourth and we can never get enough.

  • 51ePleVw4rL._SY300_QL70_  Sunstorm – The Road to Hell – (Frontier Records):  The great Joe Lynn Turner brings his vocals to the band’s fifth album and the man can still sing at just 66 years young.  The Hackensack-ack-ack-ack born singer has fronted a few bands you might have heard about…Rainbow and Deep Purple.  He still brings the fire and intensity with Sunstorm.  Check them out.

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1995 – The Greatest Year in Music?

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If you are new to the site, I started this series with the year 1987 and then noticed that 1991 and 1983 were also a couple of the greatest years in music.  I got to thinking, was there a pattern that every 4 years we have another great year in music.  Well, I am not sure the theory held up for me with 1979, but now I am exploring the year 1995. If you want to explore the other years, click on the link below…

1979 – The Greatest Year in Music?

1983 – The Greatest Year in Music?

1987 – The Greatest Year in Music?

1991 – The Greatest Year in Music?

Will 1995 be another great year or is my theory fully debunked with this year.  Let us explore and see and then decide a the end.  But first we have to ask What were the top albums of the year?, What were the debut albums from some of the great rock bands? and What was going on in the world of music that year?

NEWS:

1995 didn’t have any major news story that changed music like 1979 with the Sony Walkman and 1983 with the release of the CD, but a couple big stories did happen.

KISS_UnpluggedOn August 9th, a major even happened in the history of Kiss.  Kiss performed on MTV’s Unplugged series.  That in and of itself was nothing special, but some special guests were invited up on the stage and out walked Ace & Peter.  It was the first time in 16 years the original members of Kiss (Gene, Paul, Peter & Ace) had played together.  It was so well received that the following year, Kiss put their make-up back on and the first reunion tour was kicked off and the Kiss Unplugged album was finally released.  This event started it off.

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Maroon 5 – The Albums Ranked Worst to First

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With Maroon 5 heading out for their next big tour this Summer, I thought I might go through and rank their albums from Worst to First.  With a span of 6 albums over 16 years, they have put out some great albums and a couple not so great ones.  I am going to keep this strictly to Maroon 5’s studio albums and not include any from them when they were known as Kara’s Flowers or any live or re-mix albums.  This will keep it simpler and keep me sane from digging into everything else that is out there.

Now, take a seat and lean back and read on and find out how I rank the Maroon 5 albums from Worst to First.  And of course, we will start with the Worst…

7 – THE WORST – ‘Jordi’ (2021):

I didn’t think they could keep going backwards, but they have done just that.  ‘Jordi’ is another example of a band that feels they have to have a “Featured” artists to get played on the radio.  They have Megan Thee Stallion, H.E.R., blackbear, Nipsey Hussle to name only a few.  Out of the 14 songs on the Deluxe Edition, 9 have a guest artist featured on the song.  NINE!!!  That is INSANE!! Continue reading “Maroon 5 – The Albums Ranked Worst to First” →

My Sunday Song – “I Remember You” by Skid Row

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For My Sunday Song #94, “I Remember You” by Skid Row is the next power ballad on the list.  The song came out in November 1989 and by 1990 it was a huge success. It made it to #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and ended up in being played at every high school’s prom according to Sebastian Bach in interview with SleazeRoxx.com.  Who doesn’t remember dancing to this song (well, I don’t because I had already graduated high school three years earlier).

What band wasn’t doing power ballads back in the day, so why is this one so special? Well, it is easy.  It is Sebastian Bach’s vocals.  He delivered such a powerful, heartfelt, emotional performance of the song written by fellow bandmates Rachel Bolan and Dave Sabo.  Now, Scotti Hill also laid down a killer guitar in the middle of the song that could stand up with any of the time.  It was lethal combination.  If you saw them live and this song came on, your lighter would be flickering as you raised your arm high into the air with everyone else in the building.

The song’s lyrics reflect a sadness and regret for a long lost love.  A longing for the times together and Bach captures that essence perfectly.  Rob Affuso’s drumming is strong and underlines the song with a punch that helps lift the ballad to another level.  There is no denying this was one of the best power ballads to come out of the whole movement.  I find it just as good today as it was back then.

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