Happy Friday and Happy Day After Star Wars Day. The Force is strong this week with new releases…yeah, that was pretty bad. But we do have a lot of new releases for you today and hopefully there is something for everyone. The only one I’m waiting on this week is Winger’s new one. Can’t wait for that to arrive today as I’m ready to crank that one. I am sure I’ll have to listen to Ed Sheeran’s new one as my kids tend to play him. Let me know what you want to hear this week and what we may have missed. Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend.
Winger – Seven – (Frontiers Records)
Ed Sheeran – “-” – (Asylum Records / Atlantic Records / Warner Music)
I have done two posts already on the Best & Worst songs from every Judas Priest album and also from Cheap Trick. I really enjoyed doing that so I thought I would continue that process and this time we would go through every Whitesnake album and see what is the best song and the worst one off each album as well. Whitesnake has 13 studio albums to go through so sit back and take it all in. Now, let’s preface this with the fact that these are my choices and not necessarily yours as we can have different opinions. If you watched the show you will see that sometimes my worst song was their favorite so you never know what people like and we all like different things or this would be a very dull world. I hope you enjoy!!
‘TROUBLE’ (1978)
BEST SONG –“Belgian Tom’s Hat Trick”: The coolest song on the album and probably the best is “Belgian Tom’s Hat Trick” which is a full assault of an instrumental with 3 different solos. One for Moody, One for Lord and One for Marsden. I don’t see it as out of place as Purple threw in an instrumental on ‘Burn’ and this one is way better. I really love when Jon Lord lays it down and he does just that. The guitar’s have a riff that plays through-out that is the main feel for the song and everything is played beautifully off of that riff. No David Coverdale on this one, so sorry, but this is too killer not to include.
WORST SONG – “Day Tripper”: The worst is this horrible cover of the Beatles’ “Day Tripper”. It is…let’s say…not good. It is uninspiring and bluh. The adding in of the Framptonesque Talk Box doesn’t help and I really can’t stand it. I hope that point is coming across. Skip/Delete whatever you do, just avoid it.
With the album ‘Alive’ in 1975, Kiss finally broke through and were on their ways to be Rock Gods!! But their next album needed to make a statement. It needed to capture the band like none of their other albums had been able to do. Famed record producer, Bob Ezrin, was brought in to man the boards all based on the work he was doing with Alice Cooper. Kiss needed that same energy and success. And did Bob deliver? Oh hell yeah he did!! ‘Destroyer’ was released on March 15, 1976 and with songs like “Beth”, ‘Detroit Rock City” and “Shout it Out Loud”, Kiss was on top. They had made it! A now platinum selling artist, a massive touring act and they were starting to reach heights they only dreamed about. At first thought, the album was slow out of the gate until “Beth” was played on the radio…it was the B-Side to “Detroit Rock City” and then Bam!! Everything changed. To celebrate this pivotal album, Kiss delivered the 45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition Box Set which we’ve already reviewed and it is jammed pack with goodness. This time we have the 2-LP Deluxe Edition Colored Vinyl which we are discussing. It isn’t as jammed pack but it is still pretty great for what it is.
One thing I really like about this set is the gatefold. It is stunning. When you open up the gatefold and there are the members of Kiss in full gear on their choppers, you get excited. It is really cool.
Almost a decade earlier, Serafino Perugino of Frontiers Records, thought a supergroup with Jeff Scott Soto doing Journey type AOR music would be a smart idea. He is notorious for putting all these great musicians together for so-called supergroups and some would say he does it WAY TOO MUCH! And I would agree, except for W.E.T. W.E.T. is a culmination of some great artist including Robert Sall of the band Work of Art (The “W”); Erik Martensson of the band Eclipses (The “E”) and Jeff Scott Soto of the band Talisman (The “T”). All three bands are Swedish bands and all on Frontiers so it made it easy to bring these three guys together. Rounding out the band are Magnus Henriksson and Robban Back both from the band Eclipse as well. What most thought would be a one-off project has now turned in to 3 studio albums and one live album and we couldn’t be happier.
But, will the third time be the charm? Will this be as good or better than the first two or have they outlived their usefulness? The answer to those questions is that this band keeps getting better and better with age. They are like a fine wine and although there is a little cheese in this sound, the album gives us a group of songs that has so many hooks that the US Fish and Wildlife Service has issued a warning about that fact. So, sit back and get ready to get caught up in the music hook, line and sinker. And I am sure all that sounded as bad as it felt writing it. Since I’m only writing bad jokes at this point, lets get to the music.
The album opens with the stellar first single “Watch the Fire” and mine it is something to behold. It opens with an atmospheric keyboard sound, then the guitars and drums come roaring in and then we get Erik’s vocals to kick off the song and Jeff joins in as well. Another fantastic duet between the two and it is shame this is the only song they do it on, but what a song. The melodies, the harmonies, the hook-ridden chorus, the wicked guitar solo, it is melodic rock at its absolute best!! This is one of the best songs they have done on the three albums.
For My Sunday Song #358, we are going to dive in to the title track of Aldo Nova’s 1991 comeback album ‘Blood on the Bricks’. The song kicks off the album and was the first single. It is also a collaboration between Aldo Nova and his long time friend Jon Bon Jovi. After Aldo helped Jon with his debut solo, Jon returned the favor and helped on this one. The song and the album were released on Jon’s own label Jambco Records which was part of Mercury Records.
The song is a dark view on inner city life. It is a sad commentary on the amount of crime in the big cities, the increase in gang violence, how unsafe life is there and a very unfavorable opinion of how the police handle it all. What is awful about this commentary is that 30 years later, it really isn’t any better and might be worse now. This song is really just as relevant today as it was back in 1991.
The drum barrage to kick it off gets the blood flowing. Then the guitars and bass coming roaring in and Aldo comes in with the vocals and there is a heck of a lot more energy as this song is a pure on rocker with heavy guitar, blistering riffs and a solo that will knock on your ass. The vocal deliver is a cross between Bon Jovi’s “Living on a Prayer” and Kiss’ “Hide Your Heart” as it is telling a story of a hard, rough life. Aldo does sound great, but it is the guitar’s that are the star here as Aldo rips and shreds all over the place with this one. The second star is Kenny Aronoff’s drumming as it is spectacular and the driving force to the song. A stellar comeback track for Aldo Nova!!
How is we are already to the end of April…crazy. Well, things are starting to heat up here and definitely in the new releases. We get another Whitesnake Box Set and I am thrilled as Coverdale knows how to do these right. This one is on order and hopefully will arrive today. I’m also looking forward to Disciple and Colton Dixon who both are Christian artists just at each end of the spectrum…one metal, one pop. And that is it for me. What do you want to hear this week? Let me know what it is and what we may have missed even though we have around 45 release for you, we might’ve missed something. It happens. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Whitesnake – Still…Good to Be Bad (Super Deluxe Edition) – (Rhino Entertainment / Saltburn / Warner Music)
Okay, grab a cup of coffee, sit back and relax as we are going to be here awhile as April turned in to a stellar month. And let’s just jump right in to this shall we. Before March even closed and after I wrote the March post on the purchases, this arrived in the mail…Needtobreathe’s Fan Club Exclusive vinyl autographed by the band. It is the 1st Edition from 2022 and took awhile to get here. And two weeks or so later. the 2nd Edition for 2023 arrived, autographed by the band. These are two of my favorite pieces now in my collection. As they are one of my favorite bands (after Kiss & Def Leppard of course).
And if that wasn’t enough with autographs, Jason Bieler released his latest album and I was able to grab on CD with his signature. I could’ve done vinyl, but I don’t have of his albums on vinyl so why start now. And this another great one. His stuff is so interesting and eclectic, Love it!!
In a time where the Ratt gang is battling on who owns what, who is suing who, it is no wonder Stephen Pearcy took it upon himself to re-record a bunch of Ratt classic songs. Why it is called Mickey Ratt is beyond me because most of these songs do not come from the Mickey Ratt era…some of them do though. Plus, he couldn’t call it straight up Ratt with all the lawsuits now could he.
The LP version is what I have which was released back in 2020. My copy has the pretty cool Pink LP and the album has 16 re-recorded Ratt songs with a little help from some of his friends including George Lynch and Tracii Guns. The cover is bad, the picture on the back is bad and the sound of the record is…well…not that bad. The early Ratt / Mickey Ratt songs sounded rough, raw and almost garage style, so these were recorded with that old sound and songs that dated back to the Mickey Ratt time frame, but recorded by Ratt sound like the old Mickey Ratt sound and not the polished production Ratt albums had. And I kind of dig that.
George Lynch plas on about 5 songs including the opener “Round And Round”. The song sounds good enough, but I hate to say this, George is no Warren DeMartini so I don’t like the guitar sound on the re-recording much at all. Sorry George, I’ve never really been a fan although you are superbly talented!! And the overall recording is no where near as good as the original…the same goes with most of these.
At this point in Jeff Scott Soto’s career, he had been signed with Frontiers Records for about 15 years now. This 2017 album, ‘Retribution'(which was released on November 10 of that year), was timed perfectly for his 15th Anniversary with the label. This is also his 6th solo album, the first dating back all the way to 1994’s ‘Love Parade’. As with a lot of his solo work, his good friend, Howie Simon, was back to help out and he did a lot. He co-wrote most of the songs, played on the most of them and co-produced the album with Jeff. Jeff brings in some help on drums with Edu Cominato who is Jeff’s drummer in his band SOTO. These three handle everything on the album on all songs, but two and we will talk about the players on those two songs when we get to them.
At times this album is as heavy as his SOTO band, but most of it is pretty standard melodic rock. And I say standard, because at this point in his catalog, I am not real thrilled with this solo albums. At first, I thought after spending around 15 months reviewing a Jeff Scott Soto album every single week, I was maybe getting burned out, but that is not the case. Reviewing the Sons of Apollo album was a lot of fun and so was the Joel Hoektra’s 13 album and all the recent W.E.T. albums. His music still excites me. But the solo stuff, especially this album, does not so much. I think it is the quality of the songs more than anything, but let’s dive in to those songs and find out why. I am apparently wrong in my thinking a vast majority of the reviews I read on this one praised it.
The album opens with a barrage of sound and then a dirty, gritty guitar riff. The title track, “Retribution”, is a on the heavier side closer to SOTO, but more melodic. The chorus is big, the guitars are powerful (listen to that solo), the drums are destructive and all leads to an explosive opening track.
Next up is “Inside/Outside” which is a pure melodic rock track. It has an ear catching opening like the title track, but toned down a little. The bass is heavy on this one, thumping hard and high in the mix. The song is a very radio-friendly track and has a really catchy chorus that will draw you in and you now it is Soto’s vocals that are the draw as they are powerful, smooth and they soar all at the same time.
For My Sunday Song #357, we are talking about another recent release of Aldo’s called “King of Deceit” from his upcoming Rock Opera – ‘The Life & Times of Eddie Gage’. In 2022, he released a 10 song E.P. showcasing some of the 25 tracks on the over 2 hour Opera. This was one of the really cool songs on the album. The song and I believe instrument might have been played solely by Aldo Nova himself.
The album tells the story about a guy that sells his sole to the Devil to be a rock star and lyrically, this song is coming from the perspective of the Devil. The devil’s name is Ratl Ayida who was sent to Eddie (the rock star) by the CEO of the Deedalus Records, M.F. Stophalis, to corrupt him as felt Eddie would be his downfall. He is telling the Eddie not to trust him as he will lie to him and blind him from the truth. He will even cheat him since he is the “King of Deceit”. The singer is in such a bad place he is mesmerized by the trappings of the fame he could receive and he falls for the lies hook, line and sinker. He does tell Eddie that he will take it away as fast as he handed it to him, but the singer still goes along.
Musically, it is very dramatic with string orchestration and a beautiful, yet dark piano accompaniment. The song isn’t a rocker, it is a slower temple and the vocals are purposely almost sung in a spoken voice technique as he tells Eddie what is going to happen. The piano that is behind the vocals is so creepy and eerie as is all the music. It lets you know there is something evil going on with the story. I really loved it and can’t wait for the whole album to finally hit the shelves.
Winger – Seven – (Frontiers Records)
Ed Sheeran – “-” – (Asylum Records / Atlantic Records / Warner Music)
Whitesnake – Still…Good to Be Bad (Super Deluxe Edition) – (Rhino Entertainment / Saltburn / Warner Music)
Disciple – Skeleton Psalms – (BEC Recordings)
Colton Dixon – Canvas – (Atlantic Records)
2 Loud 2 Old Music 