Tag: Japanese Bonus Track

My Sunday Song – “Return Of The King” by Bruce Dickinson

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For My Sunday Song #394, we see Mike continue his Japanese Edition Bonus Tracks with “Return of the King” by Bruce Dickinson. The song is off his 1998 album ‘The Chemical Wedding’. The song was written by Bruce Dickinson and his Iron Maiden bandmate Adrian Smith. Now, don’t think you can only get this on a Japanese Edition as that is not the case anymore. It is on the Expanded Edition of the album and you can stream it on Apple Music and probably any streaming service and you should.

The song is partially about Stonehenge or maybe the Beltany Stone Circle as referenced by the Beltane Fires. It talks about how long it took to build and the mysteries behind it. It also talks about Uther Pendragon the legendary King of the Britons and father to King Arthur. This is one reason I’ve never listened to Bruce or Maiden as it makes you think and learn history. I just want to rock out.

However, the song does kick ass. Bruce’s vocals are really incredible as they soar to amazing heights and are perfectly suited fo heavy metal. He is one of the best in the business. The song to me feels more like Iron Maiden then I expected, to be honest. I figured this was a solo album, it would be his own thing, but I guess with Adrian also in on the writing, the Maiden connection makes sense. It is a is rocking track and some great guitar work and the drums are immense and powerful. A really cool song I will admit.

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My Sunday Song – “In Your Face” by Kiss

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For My Sunday Song #392, then next one in the Japanese Bonus Tracks from Mike Ladano’s picks is one from Kiss off the 1998 reunion album ‘Psycho Circus’ is the Japanese Bonus Track called “In Your Face”. It was written by Gene Simmons but it is Ace that is on vocals. The song didn’t make the regular album, but did show up as a B-Side on singles and listed as a non-album track. Therefore, there are no charting on the song and it didn’t help drive sales, but I have to say I really dig it.

The song seems to be autobiographical for Ace even though Gene did write it. Gene made it from Ace’s perspective. The song seems to be about that Ace doesn’t feel like he belongs, but he is who he is and he won’t apologize for it. And if you push him, he will get in your face so you better watch out. They lyrics mention Ace and the Spaceman and the song feels like an Ace track. It is better than numerous songs on this album.

As I said, Ace sings and actually plays lead guitar on this one which he only does on 3 of the 11 tracks on the Japanese Edition. I assume Gene is on bass since he wrote the song and Paul on rhythm guitar, but there is no Peter on drums as it is handled by Kevin Valentine. I do love the bass on this one as Gene really gets a little nasty on this one. Ace sounds great and his solo is also spectacular. Again, the song has a classic Ace feel to it and is a solid rocker with a catchy chorus and all around melodic track.

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My Sunday Song – “Loser Gets It All” By Black Sabbath

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For My Sunday Song #391, we are kicking off a whole new 10 song set and this time around, Mike Ladano from Grab A Stack of Rock will be picking the songs. And he has a great theme and this one is Japanese Bonus Tracks. It is those songs that were recorded during the album’s recording, but didn’t make the main album around the world, but made it to the Japanese edition as a bonus track. The more, expensive sought after Japanese Edition. If it has a Japanese bonus track, Mike is going to buy it. The first song up is from Black Sabbath’s 1995 album ‘Forbidden’ and is called “Loser Gets It All”.

The music is written by Black Sabbath and the lyrics are by, then singer, Tony Martin. The song seems to be about the fact there is never a good time to lose as there are always people watching you and judging you waiting for you to fail. And when you do, they will all see it and say something. There are a lot of gambling references in the opening verse about winning, then the rest of the song is about losing.

I will admit that I didn’t (and haven’t) listened to this era of Sabbath so this song is very new to me. I do like Tony Martin’s vocals so I can get behind this one. The song is a solid rocker, it short and sweet. But I like it a lot. I read somewhere that Tony Iommi loves this song and it is one of his favorites to perform which is cool…so why didn’t it make the album and was it relegated to a bonus track??? The guitar playing is great, I mean it is Tony Iommi so why wouldn’t it be. I found Mike’s review of the Forbidden album and he hated that album, but stated that this song was the best song on the album. Crazy!!

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