Friday New Releases – May 11th

May is kicking in to high gear.  The temperature is heating up and so is the music.  There are only a few I am interested in this week, but there is plenty to get you moving this weekend.  My choices are highlighted in Blue.  Let me know what tickles your fancy and if I missed anything (which I know I did).  Take a look and have a great weekend!!!

  • 51O5XlQtVaL._AC_US436_QL65_  RSO (Richie Sambora & Orianthi) – Radio Free America – (BMG):  The first full length album from Richie Sambora & Orianthi.  Well, it isn’t really completely new as they have had 2 EPs and a couble singles which are all included. The only new songs are only “Blues Won’t Leave Me Alone” and “Hellbound Train”.  I have mixed feelings on the EPs, but let’s see how they play as a full length album.

  • 51Jg2VeHSHL._SX120_SY120_  Arctic Monkeys – Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino – (Domino Recording):  Arctic Monkeys are back with their first album in five years.  It has been a while, but I am eager to hear if any of the magic is back.  They haven’t disappointed me yet…or at least very little.  Here is a snippet…

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Turntables & Vinyl #15 – More & More Vinyl

Vinyl, Vinyl, Vinyl…I keep getting more and more and I get more addicted to wanting more and more.  My wife shakes her head and just sighs at this point.  I guess I could be drinking, smoking or doing drugs, but thankfully that is not the case.  If I did those things, I would consume everything and I would just be throwing money away.  With the vinyl purchases, I at least could sell them if I ran out of money, so it is an investment…yeah, let’s go with that!!

There is a friend at work that her husband has 2 big crates of vinyl in their closet and she wants them out of the house.  So before they took them somewhere to sell them, she gave me first crack at going through them and letting me pick out the ones I want first. I gave her a fair price (more than any record store would give her, even more than they would in store credit).

The crates were very heavy and full of vinyl.  My wife said I should take them upstairs in the Loft and sit with the family while I went through them.  I declined as they were too dang heavy and I didn’t want to tackle the stairs with them.  Instead, I stayed downstairs for a couple hours and slowly went through the collection.

The collection consisted of albums from the late 50’s all the way up to the late 80’s.  Each crate was sort of themed.  The one crate was from the 50’s-70’s and it was all her husband’s parents vinyl.  It had stuff I had never heard of and a lot I had.  There was Elvis, Liberace (I passed on those), Oak Ridge Boys, Alabama, the Kingston Trio and I could go on and on.

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The Fratellis – ‘In Your Own Sweet Time’ – Album Review

The Fratellis released their fifth studio album back in March, titled ‘In Your Own Sweet Time’ and it has been on repeat.  This album shows us a band who is comfortable being who they are and shows a confidence in both the band and the music.

The album is full of infectious pop melodies and a sound that is strictly their own.  The songs are fun and enjoyable enough to play over and over despite the lyrics not always being so happy-go-lucky.  They will make you want to dance or just sit back and enjoy while you are tapping your feet.  It is a total feel good album.

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My Sunday Song – “Burn” by Deep Purple

For My Sunday Song #90, I am going with “Burn” by the band Deep Purple.  The song was the first single off the album of the same name and the first with new lead singer David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes.  The song wasn’t a big chart buster on its release in 1974, but it did chart  at #45 on the UK Charts in 1978, but that was four years after its release.  Not sure why the time difference.

The song at 6:40 in length features a blistering guitar solo by Richie Blackmore and a finger licking good organ solo by Jon Lord. The song has everything.  The vocals are shared between David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes.  A pretty awesome duo to have in your band.  In fact, the whole band for this song & album were pretty amazing.

  • David Coverdale – vocals
  • Glenn Hughes – bass, vocals
  • Richie Blackmore – guitar
  • Jon Lord – Hammond Organ
  • Ian Paice – drums

It doesn’t get much better than that.  After this version of Deep Purple broke up (the Mark III version), Coverdale would go on to form Whitesnake and at one time or another, Ian and Jon both played in the band with David.

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Friday New Releases – May 4th

Happy Friday and May the 4th Be With You!!  Yes, I went there on Star Wars Day!!  There aren’t a ton of releases but a few I am excited about.  I will highlight those in Blue as usual.  Go through and let me know what you like or what I might have missed.  I hope you enjoy and have a great weekend.

  • 51JgZnr7AML._SS500  Shinedown – Attention Attention – (Atlantic Recording):  The main one I want to hear is the new Shinedown album.  The song “Devil” was freaking awesome and I love the whole idea of loose concept album.  It isn’t a full on concept album, but the songs will take you on a journey of a person who is starting in a very dark, ominous place and take you all the way through to the other side where this person is done battling his mind and his issues and coming out a changed person.  Check out “Devil” and then get this album.

  • 71idNtL4rWL._SX522_  Mat Kearney – CRAZYTALK – (Tomorrow Music):  Mat Kearney is one of the finer singer/songwriters out there and he never gets enough credit.  He has some great pop sensibilities, but takes risk and tries new things.  I don’t like to listen to his albums ahead of time, I like to be surprised and I hope this will bring many.

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Def Leppard – Live at Abbey Road Studios E.P. (2018 #RSD) – Album Review

For the third time in as many years, Def Leppard took part on Record Store Day.  In 2016, the did a picture disc of the self-titled album and last year they re-released their original EP release on vinyl, The Def Leppard EP.  For 2018, we are given another EP, but this time it is 3 songs recorded live at Abbey Road Studios on May 8, 2008.

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What does the Def Leppard press release say about this release, well I will tell you…

The retro cover art is similar to the Def Leppard EP and features the large logo from the 1980 ‘On Through The Night’ album and ‘Hello America’ single. Also included is the street sign from the studios in North West London and the same red stamp title seen on ‘The Lost Session’ iTunes EP from January.

The band recorded a session at the legendary London studios on 8th May 2008 when promoting the ‘Songs From The Sparkle Lounge’ album. Using the same room The Beatles used to record most of their biggest albums in the 1960s.

This was filmed for the UK TV show ‘Live From Abbey Road’ which was broadcast on More4 TV on 1st August 2008 and featured three songs – ‘Rocket’, ‘Rock On’ and ‘C’mon C’mon’

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Rock Talk with Mitch Lafon – Podcast Review

Something new on 2Loud2OldMusic.com this week will be podcast reviews.  I have been digging through a ton of music podcasts over the last few months and there are several that I have grown to love and they are now a weekly event that I listen to on the drive home from work.

First up for review is ‘Rock Talk with Mitch Lafon’ on Westwood One.  So, who is Mitch Lafon?  Mitch is a very well respected music journalists out of Canada and has been in the music scene for over 20 years.  To put it simply, he knows the rock scene.  He lives and breathes it on a daily basis.  One thing I found out is his first interview was at 11 years old back in 1980 when he interviewed Gene Simmons of Kiss.

Mitch interviews the cream of the crop in the rock world and the interviews are always compelling and full of cool information about the artist and what is going on with their music or even their lives.  At times the interviews seem like two friends sitting back and having a conversation.  Mitch has interviewed a lot of these artist before over the years and some are actually personal friends of his.  You don’t get the normal stale, boring interview.  Mitch has a way of making the artist feel relaxed and willing to talk.  Hell, most of the time the artist are coming to Mitch for the interview not the other way around.  That right there tells me a lot about his credibility.

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My Sunday Song – “Need You Now” by Lady Antebellum

My Sunday Song #89 is going Country with Lady Antebellum’s song “Need You Now”.  The song is the title track to their sophomore album and the single was released on April 11, 2009.  The song became one of their biggest hits selling millions of copies and garnering a Grammy for Record of the Year and Song of the Year a feat which not many Country Artists have ever been able to do.  Only one other Country Artists has ever done that and it was the Dixie Chicks just two years earlier.

The song was written rather quickly according to one of the co-writers of the song Josh Kear.  He stated the following (Songfacts.com):

“Actually, it was the second song we wrote that day,” he said. “We were only together for two-and-a-half hours. We finished the first one in the first 45 minutes. Charles had a guitar thing and an opening line for a song and we wrote ‘Need You Now’ really fast and went, ‘great, that was fun.’ It was the first day I’d ever spent with them. They went their separate ways: it was Charles wife’s birthday, I went home to my wife. Next thing you know it, it’s on the record, title track, first single and here we are. It was actually the very last song they played for the label for deciding what songs were going to put on the album.”

The song is about that late night hook-up.  You get so lonely and you yearn to be with someone so you pick up that phone and the next thing you know…booty call.  The record label was not real keen about one of the lyrics “It’s a quarter after one, I’m a little drunk and I need you now”.  They had an issue with the little drunk part. Smart heads prevailed and the lyric remained and thankfully so because it does add a bit of truth to the whole story.  Who hasn’t done that when they were drunk?  Hell, that was probably when most people did it.

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Friday New Releases – April 27th

 

Welcome to the last Friday of April and the new music releases.  There isn’t a ton, but there should be something for everyone.  My choices are highlighted in Blue.  Take a look through and let me know what you are interested in or what I might have missed.  Have a great weekend!!

  • 41BJkKihPEL._SS500  Sanctus Real – Changed – (Framework Records):  Sanctus Real are one of the few Christian bands I still follow.  They are consistently great and there are always some gems on each album. They are more pop than rock, but just as good as anything on the radio.  Now, here is the twist.  The lead singer of the band, Matt Hammitt, has left the band and so they have a new singer.  I am going to try this one out, but not sure how much I will dig it as it was Matt’s vocals that always drew me in.  He was also the principal songwriter.  We will see, but hopes aren’t high.

  • 61cGx3YOHDL._SY300_QL70_  Anthrax – Kings Among Scotland – (Megaforce Records):  A Live DVD and CD that was recorded last year.  It is Anthrax, of course it is going to get a spin or two.  Plus, the album is a shout out to Kiss’ Rock & Roll Over cover!  Not much else to say on this.

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Thirdstory – Concert Review (Visulite Theatre in Charlotte, April 18, 2018)

I don’t get to attend many concerts each year and when I do it is usually me taking my daughter to a show.  This case was no different with the exception that I am fan of the band as well. The band is Thirdstory who are out of New York City and featuring Elliott Skinner, Ben Lusher and Richard Saunders.  Their music is a mixture of Pop and R&B with some unbelievable harmonizing.  That is definitely the highlight of the band.

The night started out early as the show didn’t start until 8pm, but we had to arrive at 5:30pm.  Why?  Well, I am trying to win a Father of the Year award and I surprised my daughter with Meet & Greet passes for the show.  She had been hinting all along how cheap it was and I didn’t even have to get a pass since she was underage.  I could be her chaperone.  Little did she know how convincing of an argument she made.

We got there a little early and she ended up being 2nd in line to meet the band.  She was so nervous and it all started it out well enough.  She walked up all smiles and started talking, saying hello to the band and then suddenly she got a little quiet. So, in good old dad fashion, I jumped right in to keep the conversation going.  I mentioned she saw the band once before when they opened for Tori Kelly almost two years to the day at the Fillmore in Charlotte.

The band has a song “G Train” (which I will talk about later), but I brought up the fact we were in New York a couple weeks earlier.  I told them we were unable to catch the G Train while we were there.  Funny enough, they laughed and said they would be worried if we did as it isn’t the safest train in New York.  Now, I am glad we didn’t catch it.

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