Redlist – ‘Ignorance’ (2007) – Album Review (The Jeff Scott Soto Series)

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Back in 2001, Jeff Scott Soto was ready for a change. He had been touring with the group The Boogie Knights and he was ready to break out on his own again. He wanted to do something totally different. And what started out as a solo project for him became a band called Redlist. Redlist is actually another name for the endangered species list and they liked it so they used. Who are they? That would be Jeff, Dave Fraser (who played with Gary Richrath) and Neil Goldberg (Annihilator). They also Eric Malone (aka Big E, rapper).

Rapper? Did I just say rapper? Yes, I did. The Redlist project was not the typical Melodic rock that Jeff was used to. The time was 2001 and what was big was Industrial Rock. Think Linkin Park and you have the right idea. This is totally unexpected and out of left field which is exactly what Jeff was wanting. However, the project was shelved due to lack of interest from record executives. One thing lead to another and Jeff got busy again, he ended up doing a couple solo albums, Soul SirkUS and then Journey. Around 2007, they decided to dust off the cobwebs and release it.

They didn’t release it the normal way with a physical product. No, they did not. Instead they released it digitally through iTunes. And yes, I bought a digital product because it was the only way I could get it. Now, Jeff, if you ever find yourself reading these reviews, we would love to have a CD release of this product. Yes, I could burn it to a CD and print out the covers and put together my own CD version, but I want something official. Enough about that, let us get to the music and get ready as it isn’t what you’d expect from Jeff. Especially when Jeff does his own rapping.

The album kicks off strong with the heavy, industrial rocker, “Migraine”. It sees Jeff rap through the verses and he is very aggressive, angry and intense. The chorus is catchy and just as aggressive. The guitar sounds is gritty and pretty killer on this one. One of the better songs on the album.

Next ups is “World Today” which keeps the Linkin Park vibes going, but this song isn’t as aggressive. This is pure LP ripoff. Jeff spits out the lyrics in a rapid fire pace. The chorus is more melodic with some good harmonies. The electronic sounds are a little abrasive at times as to me they aren’t as crisp and clear as they should be. Blame production value on that one. But still a pretty good song, if you like this sort of thing.

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My Sunday Song – “Burden in My Hand” by Soundgarden

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Happy New Year and let us kick it off with a new 10 song set of My Sunday Songs. And with #331, we are kicking off with the first of 10 songs that will feature Chris Cornell, First up is the Soundgarden song “Burden in My Hand” off their 1996 album ‘Down on the Upside’. It was written by Chris and was released as the second single September 18, 1996. It did really well spending five weeks at #1 on the U.S. Mainstream Rock Chart.

The song is rather dark as it is about a guy that loses it and kills his wife. He admits it in the song. He is out in the desert where he buried her and his trying to deal with the grief and the guilt and coming to grips with what has happened. The lines “It’s just a burden in my hand / It’s just an anchor on my heart” reflects the guilt he is feeling. Kim Thayil of the band has called the song a modern “Hey Joe”. I can see that. Now, the song doesn’t say what happens to him or if he ever deals with his grief, but he is sitting there drowning his sorrows with alcohol and hopefully he drinks himself to death for what he has done

I love how the song starts out with Chris’ vocal going directly in to the first verse. The guitar comes in and it plays the song in C tuning (I read that on wiki as otherwise I’d have no idea). That opening verse with just the guitar, his voice and then the bass is perfect. The drums not coming in to until the bridge really adds a punch to the bridge. Then the full band is in for the second verse. I love the dark tone coming from the music as it matches the darkness and gloom of the situation. Chris vocals aren’t judgmental to the character, it is almost indifferent to what he has done, yet you feel a little empathy through his vocals. It is really interesting approach and it works.

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December 2022 Purchases – Vinyl & Cds…& More…

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I can’t believe 2022 is about to be behind us. Man, that year flew fast. Well, we ended with one of the biggest hauls we have ever had here at 2 Loud 2 Old Music. There are 38 albums purchased or gifted this month alone!! That is insane. Several of these purchases will be part of the new Review Series coming in 2023 after the Scorpions are done of course. Thanks for stopping by each and every day, week or month and I hope you all had a wonderful year. And I hope next year is even better for you. Let’s get started on a review of the December 2022 Vinyl & Cds…

First up is another Kiss record. I bought the 40th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition Box Set but that doesn’t come with a vinyl. The 3-LP Deluxe Edition has such a pretty blue color vinyl, I had to have it as well. I didn’t make it in time for last months post as it should have but at least I have it now…

Then I picked up the new 4 CD Deluxe Edition 20th Anniversary Box Set of Robbie William’s debut solo album ‘Life Thru A Lens’. It has a remastered album, 2 bonus discs of rarities and a live show…Just perfect!!

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What to Expect in New Music for 2023???

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2023 is upon us and it is always fun anticipating what new albums will come out in the year. Since today would normaly be a Friday New Release post, let’s look at the new releases coming our way in 2023. There are quite a few we already know about, but some haven’t been officially announced or even a date set yet.

Last year, there were a few artist I was hoping would release an album that might have or might not have released one.  It is always fun to hope for new music from these bands, but sometimes there are disappointments.  Here are the ones I was hoping to get new albums from last year and what actually happened…

  • Def Leppard – They’ve been writing…will we get the new album in 2022??  Or at least The Collection Vol. 4 which is the final in the series – We did get a fantastic new album called ‘Diamond Star Halos’ but no The Collection Volume 4!!!
  • Kiss – I will keep this on the list until I die!! – We did get 3 Off the Soundboard releases and the Creatures of the Night Box Set, so that was at least a success!
  • Guns ‘N Roses – Rumors, Rumors, Rumors!! – STILL NOTHING…But did get a Use Your Illusion Box Set…big whoop!
  • Aldo Nova – He keeps talking about a 2CD set, but will he get around to releasing it?? We did get a 10 song E.P. with highlights from the Rock Opera which was fantastic, but no full release yet of The Life & Times of Eddie Gage’
  • Poison – I think it is time for a new album! NOPE! They did the Stadium Tour with Def Leppard & Motley Crue…but nothing new and doesn’t look like there will be any time soon.
  • Will Hoge – His last one was 2020 so now is the time for another! And we got it!! It is amazing and called ‘Wings On My Shoes’
  • Billy Idol – He teased us with an E.P. in 2021.  A full album would be nice. Okay, No full album, but another killer E.P. I think I could take an E.P. a year.

Okay, are there albums I want to see this year from some of my favorite bands that haven’t been announced or in some cases even rumored?  Of course there are.  These are the bands I want new albums from this year…but it might not happen.

  • Def Leppard – Too soon for a new album, but give us The Collection Vol. 4!!
  • Kiss – I will keep this on the list until I die!!  At least give us another Soundboard LP.
  • Guns ‘N Roses – Rumors, Rumors, Rumors!!  Will we ever get a new album!
  • Aldo Nova – He keeps talking about a 2CD set for over 3 years and still nothing much, but will he get around to releasing the full Life & Times of Eddie Gage? I hope so.
  • Ace Frehley – It is time for a new album…no Origins, Vol 3…a new album!!
  • Bon Jovi – A new album WITH RICHIE SAMBORA!!!

From what I have gathered around the internet, here are the bands that should have new albums out in 2023, but no dates announced yet. The ones I would give a try will be highlighted in Blue. The ones with Dates Announced are at the bottom of this post. The list is building up nicely!!

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The Top Rock Albums of 2022

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I can’t believe we are through with another year. And what a year it was, It saw me complete my goal of one post for every day of the year and it saw me start and still not finish the massive Jeff Scott Soto Series. I still have about 6 months to go on that one. Crazy. It saw some struggles as I had a minor surgery but the two week recovery was hard and then I got sick and was miserable for another two weeks and that put a massive damper on my enthusiasm for writing. For October, I barely wrote anything. Thankfully, I keep ahead so it had no impact on my readers, you probably didn’t even notice, but for me, it was hard. But we are way past that now and all is good.

With the Soto series and the Scorpions series, I actually didn’t spend much time with new releases, but I did have a bunch that I liked and wish I spent more time with. So, we are going to go through the Top 10 Rock Albums of 2022 and of course there will be some honorable mentions, a worst of album and some of my favorite Non-Rock albums. Sit back, grab a cup of coffee if it is morning, or a beer if it is any other time of day…and enjoy!!

TOP ROCK ALBUMS OF 2022:

#10 – HALESTORM – BACK FROM THE DEAD: Lzzy Hale and the boys are back from the dead and they are rocking the hell out of you with this one. With the title track, then “Wicked Ways” and “The Steeple”, they showed they mean business and are carrying the torch for rock. Listen to this and you know Rock Ain’t Dead!! And if you want more great ones, I really like “Psycho Crazy” and the ballad “Raise Your Horns”…oh sooooo good!!

#9 – H.E.A.T. – FORCE MAJEURE: I thought there last album was amazing with Erik Gronwell on vocals, but Erik left and is now with Skid Row who also released an album this year. Original H.E.A.T. lead singer, Kenny Leckremo, returned and they released another stellar release. I like it way better than the new Skid Row…sorry Erik. Such stellar tracks as “Back to the Rhythm”, “Nationwide”, “Tainted Blood” and “Demon Eyes” to only name a handful.

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Jeff Scott Soto – ‘B-Sides’ (2006) – Album Review (The Jeff Scott Soto Series)

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We are here with yet another Jeff Scott Soto release and this one is quite unique. It is called ‘B-Sides’ and consists of unreleased tracks, bonus tracks, duets as well as songs used for Tribute albums. It shows as it is an official release from Frontiers Records, but it is very cheap looking. The CDs themselves do say these are “Not For Sale, For Promo Use Only”, but they seem like bootlegs. However, discogs has them on their site and they do not list it as ‘Unofficial’ so everything actually leads me to believe this is a real Frontiers Records release. And yet, the mix of it is not that great as the volume between songs has not been equalized as some songs are louder than others. I don’t know what to think, but I have a copy and I am pretty stoked about it. I am curious as to why the reason behind this product though, so if anyone knows, please let me know in the comments below.

The main reason I’m stoked is that it saves me a ton of money from going and buying all the albums that these songs are on. Most are on an album from another artist that Jeff appears on or Tribute albums where this is probably the only song I would want any way. To have them all in one compilation I would say is big win. One thing that sort of stinks about this is the liner notes on the CD booklet. As you can see from a picture further down the post, there is a fantastic Track List of CD 2 and where the songs originated from, but the left side of the picture does not have the track list for CD 1 and where the songs originated. That is actually a misprint because I have seen pictures of the inner sleeve that have the CD 1 track list breakdown. If the list is there or not, this is still a pretty cool piece in the Soto collection.

The first song was a cassette only bonus track from Jeff’s first band, Panther. “Set Me Free” one of my favorite songs on that album. Soto attacks it with a deeper tone and yet still soars with some high notes. The drumming on it is immense with some great fills. The guitar solo is typical for the time to see how fast he can go, but its great. It definitely takes me back to the 80’s with this one. The next three tracks,”Act of Sympathy”, “Highway to Nowhere” and “Mental Ward” were demos from Jeff’s work with is buddy Gary Schutt on his album ‘Sentimetal’ that Jeff sang lead on. “Act” is pure metal, heavy, dark and Jeff sounds great but a lot of echo…again, this is a demo so not fully polished. Same with “Highway” except it is a little more speed metal, some kickass double bass drum, a real killer track. “Mental Ward” comes off feeling like a leftover track from Jeff’s worker with Biker Mice From Mars soundtrack. It has that same campy, cartoony feel to it.

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Scorpions – ‘Face the Heat’ (1993) – Album Review (The Scorpions Collection Series)

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We are not on to the twelfth studio album for the Scorpions and it is called ‘Face the Heat’. It sees the band bring on a new producer with the late, Bruce Fairbairn and it sees them go a little more political as well as change their sound a little to be heavier at times and yet more contemporary. Whether or not that is a good thing we will soon see. As with most Fairbairn produced albums, we see the band go to the famous Little Mountain Studios in Vancouver Canada to record this one as that was Bruce’s home base. And with them being in Canada, Bruce brought in Paul Laine to work on some backing vocals and as you know, Paul Laine was my first rock & roll star interview so anytime I can draw a connection to him, I point it out.

The band saw their first line-up change in a long time as Francis Buchholz left the band and new bass player, Ralph Rieckermann was now in. This would also end up being Herman Rarebell’s last album with the band but we will get to that on the next album. The rest of the gang was still in place with Klaus Meine, Rudolf Schenker and Mathias Jabs. The album was released on September 21, 1993 and saw the band’s popularity drop significantly. The album only went to #24 on the US Billboard 200 and only sold 450,000 copies, not even going Gold. Was it the change in sound or the fact the US was going in to a more grunge direction. I think it was a little of both.

Now my copy is a recent re-issue of the album with the first LP being the regular album and then a Bonus E.P. added holding 4 bonus tracks a couple of which were bonus tracks on the European and Japanese editions of the original album. The first LP is the standard 33 1/3 RPM while the Bonus E.P. was a 45 RPM and it is important to note that because when you throw on the second LP, if you don’t make the switch it sounds like a demon is singing as it is too slow. Now, if you play the 2nd first and then the first 2nd, you get Alvin & the Chipmunks, but I’m going off topic now. Back to the album.

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Talisman – The Albums Ranked Worst to First (The Jeff Scott Soto Series)

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Going through the Jeff Scott Soto Series, we have now been through every Talisman Studio album so I figured, let’s go ahead and rank them rather than wait until the end of the series. Talisman is a band started by the late Marcel Jacob. He recruited Jeff Scott Soto as they became friends while working with Yngwie Malmsteen. The original band also had Christopher Stahl on guitar, Mats Lindfors on guitar, Mats Olassaon on keyboard, and Peter Hermansson on drums. But for me, that isn’t the classic line-up. Nope. That would Marcel, Jeff and then Fredrik Akesson on guitar and Jamie Borger on drums. Heck, I even loved when Pontus Norgren replaced Fredrik on guitar. I mean, let’s be honest, all versions of the line-up were great. Who are we kidding.

The band started in 1989 and released their first album in 1990. They had moderate success in Europe but did best in Sweden. Not much noise at all here in the States as the music had changed too much for them to succeed. For a band that was together for around 20 years, we only got 7 albums which isn’t near enough in my opinion. They were really busy with side projects that seem to consume their time. Or maybe, Talisman was the side project. Whatever it was, I was always glad to hear new Talisman music. In 2009, Marcel Jacob passed away before they could start on an 8th album and that was the end of Talisman. I don’t suspect Jeff will resurrect it without Marcel and I don’t think he should.

With that, let is get to the ranking of their studio albums from the Worst (which really isn’t) to their Best (which really is)…

THE WORST – ‘LIFE’ (1995):

I do have some issues with this one as I thought the mix on my version was bad and that mostly comes with the uneven transitions between songs. It is very inconsistent.  There are only a handful of standout tracks such as “Tears in the Sky”, “Crazy”, “Body”, “Soul 2 Soul” and “A Life”, but otherwise the rest of the album could be forgettable. It does have its moments though and is above average which is why My Overall Score is a 3.5 out of 5.0 Stars.  I don’t know if it was for the fact they felt rushed or production, but the quality of the songs on this weren’t there.  It could also be they didn’t perform this one live in the studio together which I find can hurt the vibes of the album. So, out of the 7 albums. This I would categorize as The Worst, but still an above average score.

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My Sunday Song Special Edition: “Yellin’ at the Xmas Tree” by Billy Idol

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Merry Christmas!! And today is a Special Edition of My Sunday Song as it will be a Christmas song and one I enjoy a lot. The song today is “Yellin’ at the Xmas Tree” by Billy Idol. Nothing says Christmas like a drunk father yellin’ at the Christmas tree and then end up falling asleep in the same tree. The song was written by Billy Idol and Brian Tichy and was released on the US and EU promo copies of Billy’s 2005 album ‘Devil’s Playground.

Now, my Christmas’ were nothing like the one pictured in the song. My dad was only yelling at the Christmas tree if we were doing something to it. Plus, he was never drunk. But I am sure a lot of people out there that this has happened to them. Gather around the tree to decorate it, but Dad’s out at the pub getting drunk. Carolers are outside singing and all is well while Santa comes down the chimney and is making it with your Mom while Dad stands there and yells at the Christmas Tree. It sounds like such a Happy Christmas!! And it sounds like a dirty Santa as you can tell from this line…”Santa’s balls are jingling / Mommy’s hips a-wiggling” You go Santa!!

We would all need some therapy after that sight I am sure. The song opens with sleigh bells and then turns straight up rocker. That Steve Stevens guitar sound races through the riffs and Brian Tichy is banging on those drums. Billy’s lip curls as he spits out the lyrics. We get some great Idol screams, some church bells. It is a kick ass song that will put you in the Christmas spirit the minute you hear it!!

Give the song a listen and tell me it doesn’t just brighten your day that your families Christmas was better than this. It makes you appreciate what you have for sure!! Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Day!!

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Scorpions – “Send Me An Angel” – Promo CD (1991) – Single Review (The Scorpions Collection Series)

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The final of the four Promotional Items I had for ‘Crazy World’ is the amazing ballad “Send Me An Angel”. It was released as a single on September 17th, 1991 and it did really great going to Top 10 in 7 countries, Top 30 in 3 more and #44 on the US charts. The song was written by Rudolf Schenker and Klaus Meine one of the few songs on the album to be written by two people as most of the others were more a team effort.

My copy is the U.S. promotional copy and it was really, really basic. It was a CD case with no cover and no backing, only the CD. Can’t get more cheap than that. And since there was no artwork, here is what the cover to the 7″ Single looked like.

Scorpions end ‘Crazy World with a ballad and we end our promo run with the same ballad. And I think it is one of their best ballads ever. “Send Me An Angel” sees Klaus give his best vocal performance as he conveys both a melancholy vibe yet there is still a shimmering light of hope. There is such a pure and honest feel to his vocals which is why I think it connects with me so much. The keyboards add to the sadness and they are handled by Jim Vallance who actually co-wrote 7 of the tracks on the album as well, but not this one.

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