Meat Loaf – ‘Braver Than We Are’ – Album Review

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When I first heard that Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman were doing another record I was very excited.  I know they are usually hit and miss records, but when they hit…they hit it out of the park (Bat Out of Hell 1 & 2).  That is why this was a sad album review for me to write. The reason is because one of our great rock vocalist is great no more.  Meat Loaf’s voice is shot.

This is quite possibly the worst album I have ever heard and especially the worst album of the year.  Meat Loaf’s vocals are no where in the same realm of the greatness it was and as a result it turns this album into a sad realization of his future as a singer.  Jim Steinman’s music can’t save the album because when you hear Meat’s voice it actually makes the music sound horrible as well.

There were several female vocalists brought in to accompany Meat, but they don’t sound good enough either to save this album.  There is not one song on this record I will keep in my music library…not a one!

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My Sunday Song – “Live On Forever” by The Afters

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For My Sunday Song #7, I chose “Live On Forever” by the The Afters.  The song is off their brand new album, ‘Live On Forever’.  The song for me is a reminder of that faith in Christ will let us live forever even after we have left this world.

I was reading a review of the song on a so-called Christian website and was a little disappointed by the writer.  He stated that he wouldn’t listen to the song because it was to open for interpretation of what religion.  The song didn’t specifically mention Christ or God so could be interpreted to be any religion.  What an idiot.  He is one of the reasons I have a disdain for overly religious people.  It is their way or no way.  Not very Christian of him in my opinion.  Sorry for the rant.

The song is so soothing and so inspirational.  I instantly connected to it when I heard it and it is one of my favorite songs on their new album.  I will do a review of the album later. For now, enjoy the song and have a great Sunday!

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Def Leppard – ‘On Through the Night’- My High School Fascination

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I am not sure what my fascination was with this album in High School.  The album had already been out for 3 or 4 years and ‘Pyromania’ was the big album at the time.  For some strange reason, I kept using things from that album for school projects.

One project was for art.  I needed a subject matter for a drawing, so I picked the album cover of ‘On Through the Night’ to draw.  I spent a lot of time on it and I think I did a pretty good rendition of the cover.  I am not an artist, but I tried.  I don’t know if I could do it again though.

See for yourself:

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Friday New Releases – September 16th

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It is yet another Friday and another long list of new releases.  However, this week does not hold a lot that I am interested in giving a listen.  Hopefully there is something of interest to you so let me know what you like.

The albums I am interested in listening to are highlighted in Blue as usual.

  • 511kMAOso4L._AC_US200_  Usher – Hard II Love – (RCA):  Usher always has some great songs and I can’t wait to see what he has in store for us on this release.  He is the essence of cool, but this album cover is not the most attractive cover I have seen.

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Brendan O’Brien – Producer Extraordinaire #2

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After I wrote on one of my favorite music producers “Mutt” Lange, I started thinking of other producers I tend to gravitate towards and the first one that popped into my head was Brendan O’Brien.

The 1990’s

Brendan was very busy in the ’90’s during the Grunge & Alternative movement and worked with so many of the top bands of that era.  He worked with Stone Temple Pilots throughout the ’90’s on their albums ‘Core ‘(1992), ‘Purple’ (1994), ‘Tiny Music’ (1996) and even ‘No.4’ (1999).  The relationship continued into the 2000’s with his work on their fifth album ‘Shangri-La Dee Da’ (2001).

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Music Challenge #4 – Steve ‘n’ Seagulls – ‘Brothers in Farm’

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It is finally time for another music challenge.  Go and listen to an album based solely on the Band’s name, the album name or the album cover.  Let me know what you pick, why and what you thought about the album.

Here is my pick for the music challenge…The band is called Steve ‘n’ Seagulls.  The name of the band and that unusual album cover are why I picked this one for my music challenge.  The band name is a pun on the iconic actor (not really iconic) Steven Seagal.

They are a country band from Finland.  You read that correctly…they are from Finland and they are a country band.  I don’t know if I have ever heard of a Finnish country band. Wow! If you want proof, see below…

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My Sunday Song – “Never Too Far Gone” by Jordan Feliz

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For My Sunday Song #6, I wanted to showcase the new video by Jordan Feliz for his song “Never Too Far Gone”.  The video came out this past Friday and any chance I get to talk about Jordan Feliz, I am going to take it.  I have become a huge fan of Jordan after listening to his album ‘The River’ (see album review here). It is one of my favorite albums of the year.  He is a great songwriter and sings with such emotion that you instantly connect to his songs.

My take on the song is that no matter what you have done or how far you may have strayed from God, that you are never far from His grace and love.  That for me is encouraging to know that He is always there for me.

If you want the actual meaning of the song, I found a great interview with Jordan Feliz on the website www.newreleasetoday.com that discusses what the song means to him.  The song stems from the loss of one child to the birth of another.  Jordan states:

“I was overwhelmed by holding my daughter for the first time and by the presence of God in that moment, knowing that I had been so frustrated, and the things I had said to Him in my brokenness with our lost baby. It doesn’t matter where you are going, where you’ve been, or what you’ve said, there is absolutely nothing that will separate you from the love of Jesus.”

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KISS – Alive! – Released 41 Years Ago Today

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I was online and noticed that Kiss released their first live album back on this date in 1975. I figured I would do a little post that celebrated that fact.

This was the album that made me a huge Kiss fan even to this day.  The album finally brought to life the songs from their first 3 albums and made you feel you were part of the show.  I know there is a lot of controversy that this isn’t really a live album as they went into the studio and cleaned it up significantly, but I don’t care.  It had the feel of a live album and is still one of my favorite live albums even today.

I actually still have the vinyl release from 1975 (which is actually my brother’s album, but I have it and he doesn’t).

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Friday New Releases – September 9th

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September has an incredible number of new releases coming out and today is the start of it all.  There is now way humanly possible to get through all of them and I am not going to try.  I will miss out on a lot of great stuff, but each week there is going to be too much to get through.  I would have to quit my paying job and then do this full time (which doesn’t pay)…not going to happen, but wish it could.

The ones in Blue are the ones I will make every effort to listen to and enjoy!  Which ones are you looking forward to hearing?

  • 61E1lss9nGL._AC_US160_  Rev Theory – Revelation – (Another Record Co):  I like it loud and heavy and that is what I expect I will get with Rev Theory’s new release.  I have thoroughly enjoyed their prior releases and what I hear so far sounds great.  Give them a listen.

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Robert John “Mutt” Lange – Producer Extraordinaire

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Robert John “Mutt” Lange could quite possibly be one of the greatest music producers there has ever been.  He is personally responsible for some of the biggest selling albums of all time. He is the man behind the music, literally.

He started producing albums in the 70’s where he produced Graham Parker’s album ‘Heat Treatment’ and worked with the City Boys.  He also worked with the Boomtown Rats which gave him his first real breakout album was their 1978 album ‘A Tonic for the Troops”.

But the big break came with the success of his work with AC/DC.  He produced the 1979 album ‘Highway to Hell’ and then the 1980 classic ‘Back in Black’ which is the second largest selling album of all time at over 50 million albums.  ‘Back in Black’ was one of the albums I picked up just recently (read about it here).  He went to do another album for AC/DC in 1981, ‘For Those About To Rock We Salute You’.

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