It feels like I just did this last week…oh wait…I did. Another Friday and another week full of Christmas albums. I can’t wait (he says very sarcastically). There are a plethora of new releases, but only a few must haves for me. There a few metal ones down the list I will probably give a listen to as well. The most intriguing for me are highlighted in Blue.
Dee Snider – We Are the Ones – (Snider Than Thou Productions): The Twisted Sister frontman, Dee Snider, is releasing his first ever solo album and all I can say is..IT IS ABOUT DAMN TIME!!!
When Lady Gaga came on the scene back in 2008, I thought she was just a 21st Century Madonna. Boy, was I wrong. Where Madonna never really grew up in her music, Lady Gaga certainly has.
The album is eclectic in its musical styles, but they all blend nicely together in a very cohesive album. She definitely has her pop/dance songs such as the first single “Perfect Illusions” to “A Yo” which would fit nicely on any P!nk album.
Lady Gaga rocks out on the coolest song of the album “John Wayne” and has a country-blues tinged song “Sinner’s Prayer”. Her vocal maturity shows through on the exceptional songs “Joanne”, “Diamond Heart” and the heartbreaking love song “Million Reasons”.
One of the highlights is the song “Angel Down” that was inspired by Trayvon Martin. It is a very moving and sad song. The only misstep I found was “Hey Girl’ with Florence Welch. It is the one song I found flat musically and not very interesting.
For the album, she worked with Mark Ronson, Beck & Josh Homme (eclectic group) who helped her craft a well-rounded, sensational album. I can now say I am officially a fan.
10 keepers out 11 songs – 91%(4.5 out 5 stars).
NOTE: This is my first 200 word album review which was inspired by a challenge by Mike Ladano from way back in August. I am a little slow getting around to it. Click on his name and check out his site. It has tons of reviews and some awesome stories.
The lead singer of Dead or Alive, Pete Burns, dies at age 57 of cardiac arrest. Pete passed yesterday, Sunday, October 23rd. The band Dead or Alive was most famous for the 80’s hit “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)”. The song made it to #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1984 and was one of the more fun Pop/Dance songs that came out in the 80’s. It was in heavy rotation on MTV where the band’s look help propel them to success. They had another hit in 1986 that made it to #15 called “Brand New Lover”. The band didn’t do much more in the states, but they will live in music history as everyone knows that song “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record).
Each week Apple Music creates a playlist for me of songs they feel I will like called “My Favorites Mix”. This week they did a really great job of picking those songs. There were 25 songs and 1 hour & 32 minutes of magic. Here are the songs:
“Parasite (feat. John 5)” by Ace Frehley – Origins Vol. 1
“You’re In Trouble” by Ratt – Out of the Cellar
“Tobacco Road” by David Lee Roth – Eat ‘Em and Smile
“My Woman in Black” by Scorpion Child – Acid Roulette
“Outta My Way” by Talisman – Cats and Dogs
“Monster You Made” by Pop Evil – War of Angels
“Under and Over It” by Five Finger Death Punch – American Capitalist
“Fiddler’s” by John 5 – Songs for Sanity
“We Could Run Away” by Needtobreathe – The Heat
“Rudebox” by Robbie Williams – Rudebox E.P.
“Stay the Night” by James Blunt – Some Kind of Trouble
“No Apologies” by Bon Jovi – Greatest Hits – The Ultimate Collection
“Professor Satchafunkilus” by Joe Satriani – Professor Satchafunkilus and the Musterion of Rock
“Lighter Shade of Green” by Alcatrazz – Disturbing the Peace
“Start Me Up” by the Rolling Stones – The Complete Collection 1971-2013
“Something More” by Train – Drops of Jupiter
“Invisible Touch” by Genesis – Invisible Touch
“Run to You” by Bryan Adams – Reckless
“Bring It On Home” by Dread Zeppelin – Un-Led-Ed
“One Thing Leads to Another” by The Fixx – Reach the Beach
“Suicide Blonde” by INXS – The Best of INXS
“Sure Know Something” by Kiss – Dynasty
“Save A Prayer” by Duran Duran – Greatest
“Let’s Dance” by David Bowie – Best of Bowie
“Hollywood” by Collective Soul – Afterwords
When I gave this a listen the first time, this playlist put me in a great mood. I hope the new playlist coming up on Wednesday is as good as this one. Go to Apple Music and give it a listen at this link.
“My Champion” by Alter Bridge is this week’s choice for My Sunday Song #12. The song is off their brand new album “The Last Hero” and if you haven’t listened to it…you should. There is a great review over at Stick It In Your Ear by DeKE if you want to read up on how awesome the album is.
It is a very uplifting and inspiring song. If you know someone who is struggling, let them know that they are your champion. They might need a little encouragement or just a word from you that could help them with whatever they are going through.
I hope the song and the lyrics help you out in some way.
Friday again and we are definitely getting closer to Christmas as there are several Christmas albums on the new release schedule (and I don’t want to listen to any of them!!!). Thank goodness there are some great rock releases as well. If you like women rockers, there are two great ones coming out today in The Pretty Reckless and The Pretenders. So many to listen to and can’t wait to hear them. My choices are highlighted in Blue.
Pretty Reckless – Who You Selling For – (Razor & Tie): Taylor Momsen and gang are ready for the new hard rock release. Taylor has a great voice that is perfect to rock out. She is amazing and so is this band. High hopes for this one.
The Pretenders – Alone – (BMG): This was an unexpected surprise. So excited that Chrissie Hynde is back. I have followed them since the early 80’s and love everything they do. This is a must for me.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame announced the nominations for the 2017 induction ceremony today. There are a lot of great artists on this list and all deservedly so; however, only 5 will make it through. The nominees are as follows:
Stryper is currently touring in support of the 30th Anniversary of their break-through album ‘To Hell With the Devil’. The album was released back on October 24, 1986 and became the first Christian Metal album to go platinum. It was the best selling Christian metal album all the way up to 2001 when P.O.D. outsold it with their album ‘Satellite’ (another great album).
The videos for the album were on regular rotation on MTV which was so unusual for a band that was labeled as Christian. They actually made it cool to listen to music about Christ. They are the reason why I still listen to Christian music today (well Christ has a lot to do with it too). Most Christian music was fairly boring and somewhat cheesy. But not Stryper. They had screaming guitars, pounding drums, deep bass and soaring vocals. Perfect for the so called Glam era that was overtaking the radios at the time.
The band had its own gimmicks. The hair of course…wow!! The hairspray bill alone must of have been outrageous. The most memorable was them wearing the yellow & black leather outfits during their shows (which they will don again during their anniversary tour for the album). The band also handed out bibles to the crowd (I never got one). I did see them live on their tour in support of the next album ‘In God We Trust’, but was not close enough to get a bible.
I can’t believe I am on my 11th My Sunday Song post. Time to change it up a bit. I have a new picture for the next 10 weeks (thanks to my wonderful Mother-In-Law) and the song choices will vary slightly. These next 10 songs won’t be songs by Christian based artists. They are going to be by mainstream artists, but they will still be fun, up-lifting and have a positive message.
I am starting #11 with the song “Brand New” by Ben Rector. The song is off his latest album of the same name for which he is currently touring. Check out the album and the tour as you will not be disappointed.
The song “Brand New” is such a happy song and can put a smile on your face. Everyone loves the brand new feel of a new car, new clothes, newly washed bedsheets and the feel of a new girlfriend/boyfriend. This song makes you feel all those things and more all over again and again.
The video for the song is extra cool as it is a bunch of clips of fan-made videos for the song. He held a contest with Yahoo to hold an acoustic show in a fan’s living room. So many great videos were sent in that they compiled them together to make this super fun video.
Maroon 5 dropped a new song and video today. The song is “Don’t Wanna Know” and features Kendrick Lamar for just around 18 seconds. Sadly, he isn’t in the video. No announcement of a new album, but hopefully soon.
The song is pretty good and is growing on me. The video is massively disturbing. The band is dressed up as Pokemon characters and they are being chased all around by idiots with cellphones trying to capture them. Obviously poking fun at Pokemon Go. The video features Sarah Silverman and Vince Vaughn (probably because it was directed by the director the “Wedding Crashers” , David Dobkin.
With the video, I think they are also poking fun at how they probably feel with the media and crazed fans. They are always dodging the paparazzi and getting bothered by fans wanting a picture or an autograph. Maybe I am putting too much thought into it.
Alright, here is the video. Give it a view just to see the strangeness that is going on. Enjoy!
Dee Snider – We Are the Ones – (Snider Than Thou Productions): The Twisted Sister frontman, Dee Snider, is releasing his first ever solo album and all I can say is..IT IS ABOUT DAMN TIME!!!
2 Loud 2 Old Music 