My Sunday Song – “45” by Shinedown

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For My Sunday Song #321, we are starting our 10 song run with 10 songs from the band Shinedown. First up is the song “45” from their debut album ‘Leave a Whisper’ which was released on May 27, 2003. “45” is the second single on the album and was released on July 29th of that same year. It is a platinum selling single with over 1,000,000 in sales and it reached #3 on the US Mainstream Rock chart.

The song was written by Brent Smith and Tony Battaglia and was a little controversial for its lyrics. However, it wasn’t supposed to be a literal interpretation of the lyrics. The whole gun scenario was a metaphor. The song is really about that point in your life where you wake up, look at yourself in the mirror and decide that it is time to be you and make yourself happy. A coming of age story that sees you stepping in to adulthood. When you are looking in the mirror, you are forced to see yourself in the same way looking down a barrel of a gun makes you see who you really are.

People took it literal and as a result, MTV wanted to edit the video to remove a few of the lyrics from the video and they actually aired an edited version of the video without the bands consent. Brent Smith didn’t want it played because he felt the edit took away from the meaning of the song. The video was apparently removed, but it didn’t seem to harm the success of the song.

The song isn’t a ballad, but it is a slow tempo and the chorus does get all powerful. Brent’s vocals are sympathetic to the plight of figuring out who you are. You can feel the pain and struggle the person is going through during this critical time. There is such a serious tone to the music, yet it is empathetic sounding. The song builds to the chorus where Brent’s vocals soar and the music matches the intensity. Barry Kerch’s drums are so powerful and make you feel every ounce of struggle with every drum beat. It is a beautiful battle of the mind played through the music. Really well done.

Continue reading “My Sunday Song – “45” by Shinedown” →

You Pick It! – What to Review in November?

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You, my reader, are going to pick an album for me to review each month.  It is really simple…first, I will give you 5 albums to choose from and second, you will tell me which one of those you would like to see reviewed on the site.  See…simple! Now, if you want to cast more than one vote, comment on the Twitter and Facebook post and you could get up to 3 votes on your favorite pick.

There are no longer rules for my selections.  I’m just picking albums in my collection. Well, I guess that is a rule. And maybe a theme on the five. This time they are all from the same genre I guess. And what are the 5 albums you ask?  Funny you should ask because I have those right here…

   White Lion – ‘Mane Attraction’

   Winger – ‘Pull’

    Cinderella – ‘Long Cold Winter’

   Poison – ‘Look What the Cat Dragged In’

   Night Ranger – ‘Man in Motion’

Let me know which one you would like to see and sometime in November, I will post a review of the album that gets the most votes. You have one week to decide and from there I will start listening to the album and do a review.

Thanks for participating!!

Friday New Releases – October 14, 2022

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Welcome to another Friday New Releases. We have a bunch here for you this week, I mean a ton…over 50 coming your way. I am sure there will be something for everyone on this one. Have a few I want to hear and I will mark those in Blue. Let me know what you want to hear this week and what we may have missed as that does happen believe it or not. I’m not as perfect as you think I am…really!! Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

And this one won’t have videos for all them as the time I’m writing, I’m still recuperating and still uncomfortable.

  • 81jObf5RGOL._AC_UY436_FMwebp_QL65_  Skid Row – The Gang’s All Here – (earMusic / Edel Music & Entertainment): Skid Row is doing something they haven’t done since Sebastian Bach left the band and that is have people optimistically anticipating a new album. That is all because they now have Eric Gronwell (formerly of the band H.E.A.T.) as their lead singer. Hell, I want to hear it now as I love Eric. Can’t wait for this one.
  • 81v5MgKJ5XL._AC_UY436_FMwebp_QL65_  Alter Bridge – Pawns & Kings – (Napalm Records): Mark Tremonti and Myles Kennedy return with another album. I will admit, I have been a little bored lately with their releases. Now, I love Tremonti releases and Myles solo stuff, but Alter Bridge has left me with a feeling somethings missing. Hopefully this will recapture some of the early magic.
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Talisman – ‘Live at Sweden Rock Festival’ (2002) – Album Review (The Jeff Scott Soto Series)

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By 2001, Jeff Scott Soto and Marcel Jacob and had been playing together for a decade. The longest project Jeff had ever been with and probably the most fulfilling as he and Marcel were able to craft Talisman out of all the types of music they both liked. To celebrate that 10 years, a tour was needed and they wound up playing at the Sweden Rock Festival in 2001 on one of the smaller stages.

The place was packed up to an hour before the show. The crowd was chanting their name and was ready to hear some Talisman. Jeff Scott Soto, Marcel Jacob, Pontus Norgren and Jamie Borger were ready to take the stage and give the fans what they wanted…Talisman!! They played on the Rockklassiker stage with a 2000 crowd capacity. But it started off a little rough…two days prior to the show, Marcel’s gear was left in Stockholm where he, Jeff and Pontus were working on the new Humanimal album. So, Marcel had no bass. He wasn’t going to play, but when he heard the crowd chanting, he ran and found a bass from another band.

There was another band at the festival that had some recording gear and so they decided to record the show. Marcel and Pontus were a little unhappy with the recording as the bass sound wasn’t what Marcel really sounded like (remember, not his guitar), Jeff’s microphone had issues and the guitar sounded a little out of tune at times…they re-recorded a lot of the record in the studio and played as if it was the show to capture that essence…and honestly, you can’t tell. It all sounds fantastic.

This was 2001, so this was prior to Humanimal project and prior to the giant riff between Marcel and Pontus which forced the end of Humanimal and the end of Pontus in Talisman. So, if this is the last recording with Pontus on lead guitar, then we get a wonderful time capsule. The album was supposed to come out in April 2002, but the release was delayed (probably due to the Humanimal issues going on). It finally saw the light of day in December 2002 and thankfully it did as it is a fantastic show.

Continue reading “Talisman – ‘Live at Sweden Rock Festival’ (2002) – Album Review (The Jeff Scott Soto Series)” →

Scorpions – ‘Blackout’ (1982) – Album Review (The Scorpions Collection Series)

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Shortly after the release of their previous album, ‘Animal Magnetism’, Klaus Meine started having vocal issues. It got so bad he had to have surgery on his vocal cords which left a lot of doubt if he was going to heal and be able to continue as lead singer of the band. Scorpions started working on this next album and brought in singer Don Dokken to do the guide vocals on the demos. None of Don’s demoes made the album, naturally, but one can hope they get released one day (if they’ve survived). Luckily for the band, Klaus’ vocal cords healed up nicely and he had no problem completing the album. The album would see its release on March 29, 1982 and would go all the way to #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the U.S. going platinum with over 1,000,000 records sold.

The band’s line-up ended up unchanged thanks to Klaus’ recovery. It was still Klaus Meine, Rudolf Schenker, Mathias Jabs, Francis Buchholz and Herman Rarebell. Don Dokken is credited with background vocals as they did leave some of his work in tact. Producer was still Dieter Dierks and with all the same cast of characters, the band was really starting to find their way. They were gelling and put together one of the Top 100 Greatest Metal albums of all time according to Rolling Stones Magazine in 2017. I don’t know if I agree or disagree with that, but I do know it is one hell of a great album.

Continue reading “Scorpions – ‘Blackout’ (1982) – Album Review (The Scorpions Collection Series)” →

Bon Jovi – “Living in Sin” – 7″ Single

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In my quest to find good homes for 7″ Singles with picture sleeve covers, I came across another Bon Jovi single. This time around it is for the song “Living in Sin” off the mega-seller ‘New Jersey’ and was released on October 7, 1989. Bon Jovi was the king of power ballads and this fit the bill nicely as the song went to #9 on the Billboard Top 40 charts. It was the 5th and final single off the 7X platinum status album which means it sold over 7 million copies in the US alone.

The song was written by Jon Bon Jovi and talks about cohabitating with the person you love out of wedlock, thus the “Living in Sin” part. True love outweighs every thing. Jon doesn’t need a wedding, a preacher, a ring to tell him he loves her and they should be together. He doesn’t need her father telling them it is wrong either. The only thing that matters is that they are together.

My copy of the Single is the standard U.S. release with “Love is War” as the B-Side. The picture sleeve is in pristine condition and a great find to add to my singles collection. I have a ton of Bon Jovi singles which makes sense as millions were sold so there should be some out in the wild for the taking.

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You Picked It! – Ozzy Osbourne – ‘Patient Number 9’ (2022) – Album Review

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Alright…You Picked It! And this one I thought was going to be a blowout as Ozzy jumped out front right out of the gate, but others gained ground. In the end, Ozzy held on and never lost its #1 ranking. Therefore the winner was Ozzy Osbourne’s – ‘Patient Number 9’ which is a new release and not one I’ve actually bought yet…will this make me run out and buy it? We will see. Here are the results.

  1. Ozzy Osbourne – ‘Patient Number 9’ – 10 votes
  2. Joy Division – ‘Unknown Pleasures’ – 5 votes
  3. The Darkness – ‘Permission to Land’ – 5 votes
  4. Loretta Lynn – ‘Van Lear Rose’ – 3 votes
  5. Peter Gabriel – ‘So’ – 2 votes

Thanks to all for participating. The November choices will be up on Saturday! And the choices are changing as they are all now from my collection and will have a loose theme.

OZZY OSBOURNE – ‘PATIENT NUMBER 9’ (2022):

Ozzy started work on this album about 2 years ago, just days after the release of the stellar “Ordinary Man” release in 2020. I really liked that album so this one had some big shoes to fill. You keep seeing pictures of Ozzy in the media and you think to yourself, how is this man still alive. He looks like death is standing next to him, tapping him on the shoulder. However, when you hear the last album and this one, you realize, there is still plenty of life in the Prince of Darkness.

This album sees Ozzy bring back in a ton of old friends as we have guest appearances from Jeff Beck, Mike McCreedy, Eric Clapton and his old Sabbath bandmate, Tony Iommi. And if that wasn’t enough, former Ozzy guitarist Zakk Wylde is back on guitar for four of the 13 tracks. So, 10 of the 13 tracks all have a special guest, those last 3 do not. But the listed special guests are only the tip of the iceberg as there are some big names playing on this album. And speaking of 13 tracks, this album feels long…very long as it runs over an hour long…that is a lot of Ozzy.

Continue reading “You Picked It! – Ozzy Osbourne – ‘Patient Number 9’ (2022) – Album Review” →

My Sunday Song – “Dream Police” by Cheap Trick

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For My Sunday Song #320, we are ending are Cheap Trick 10 song run with “Dream Police” off the album of the same name. The song was release in September 1979 and broke the Top 40 landing all the way at #26. It was the first single off an album that followed ‘Live at Budokan’ and was destined to be a smash…and it was.

The song was written by Rick Nielsen and seems to be about a very paranoid individual. This guy thinks that Big Brother is monitoring his dreams. No matter where he goes or what he does, the dream police are they waiting to arrest him for that one wrong thought or dream. With each passing moment, he is growing more and more insane and obsessed with the whole idea.

The song is upbeat and starts off with the chorus and then goes straight in to the first verse. The organ/keyboards and the string orchestration add an eerie, spooky vibe to the song which makes the song so dramatic and horrifying. Bun E. Carlos’ drums are spectacular adding perfect fills where needed and Petersson’s bass during the creepy Robin speaking vocals adds so much texture and flavor to the song. It is catchy as hell and bores in to your brain as sweet ear candy. The song also reminds me of The Who with its energy and that is good thing.

Give the song a listen and let me know what you think. Do you love the humor behind as much as I do? It is one of my favorite tracks by them, where does it fall for you? Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a wonderful and Happy Sunday!! Be careful when you sleep because you never know who is listening (or watching).

“Dream Police”

The dream police, they live inside of my head
The dream police, they come to me in my bed
The dream police, they’re coming to arrest me, oh, no

You know that talk is cheap
And those rumors ain’t nice
And when I fall asleep
I don’t think I’ll survive the night, the night

‘Cause they’re waiting for me
They’re looking for me
Every single night
They’re driving me insane
Those men inside my brain

The dream police, they live inside of my head (live inside of my head)
The dream police, they come to me in my bed (come to me in my bed)
The dream police, they’re coming to arrest me, oh, no

Well, I can’t tell lies
‘Cause they’re listening to me
And when I fall asleep
Bet they’re spying on me tonight, tonight

‘Cause they’re waiting for me
They’re looking for me
Every single night
They’re driving me insane
Those men inside my brain

I try to sleep, they’re wide awake, they won’t let me alone
They don’t get paid to take vacations or let me alone
They spy on me, I try to hide, they won’t let me alone
They persecute me, they’re the judge and jury all in one

‘Cause they’re waiting for me
They’re looking for me
Every single night
They’re driving me insane
Those men inside my brain

The dream police, they live inside of my head (live inside of my head)
The dream police, they come to me in my bed (come to me in my bed)
The dream police, they’re coming to arrest me
The dream police (police, police)
The dream police (police, police)
The dream police (police, police)
The dream police (police, police)
The dream police (police, police)
The dream police (police, police

Written by Rick Nielsen

Matt Nathanson – “Faster” – Promotional CD

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“Faster” is the first single off Matt Nathanson’s 2011 album ‘Modern Love’. The single in the U.S. came out on March 29, 2011 and it broke the Top 100 landing at #74…so not getting close to the Top 40 countdown. However, on the Adult Top 40 Billboard Chart, it reached #11 so the adults dug, kids…I guess not so much.

The promotional copy I found is from the U.K. and according to the note on the front, it was to be released on August, 6th, 2011. It was talking him up and the fact he was opening for Kelly Clarkson’s tour in America and Train in the U.K. Matt was heading to the U.K. to do his own set of shows. That Kelly Clarkson show was the one my oldest daughter and I caught at their Fox Theater, Atlanta stop. My brother-in-law, Ryan, worked with both Kelly and Matt in that year so we got free tickets to the show and ended up meeting Matt that evening and getting autographs and pictures. He was a truly stand-up guy with the way he treated my daughter. He made her feel that she was the most important girl in the room when he talked to her. Really cool.

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Friday New Releases – October 7, 2022

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Hey guys and gals! Happy Friday! We have another large list of releases for you this week. I will apologize upfront as there are not videos for all of the releases as I am writing this, I am recovering from surgery and it is rather uncomfortable so don’t feel up to a the full post, but at least want to get you a list of the top releases for the week. My choices are highlighted in Blue. Let me know what you are most looking forward to hearing this week and what we may have missed. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a great weekend!!

  • images  Ellefson / Soto – Vacation in the Underworld – (Rat Pak Records): Jeff Scott Soto and former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson join forces for what I hope is a total beast of an album. It is cool sometimes to hear Soto go heavy. My review on this will be one of the last reviews in the Jeff Scott Soto Series so it will be awhile before we get to it.
  • 41HoM8LaRdL._AC_UY436_FMwebp_QL65_  The Cult – Under the Midnight Sun – (Black Hill Records / Round Hill Records): Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy bless us with another album as it has been 6 years since the last. Sign me up please!!
Continue reading “Friday New Releases – October 7, 2022” →