Tag: Japanese Edition

Whitesnake – ‘Live at Hammersmith’ (1980) – Album Review (The David Coverdale Series)

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I was watching Tim’s Vinyl Confessions a few week’s back and they were going through their Whitesnake vinyl and one of the guys had a Japanese Edition of Whitesnake’s ‘Live at Hammersmith’ and I don’t think I had seen it before. So, after the show ended, I went to Discogs and bought it from someone in Japan. I received a week later…yes, only a week from Japan. Heck, I can’t get things from the next town over that fast. And it lived up to expectations and then some. I mean just look at the cover with the deep rich green snake and the back cover is just as cool. This might be my favorite Whitesnake cover ever! It is so awesome.

‘Live at Hammersmith’ was recorded on November 23, 1978 at The Hammersmith Odeon in London. The album was only released in Japan back in November 1980 as a single disc vinyl. I say single disc vinyl, because this album is actually the 2nd LP on the 2LP edition of ‘Live…in the Heart of the City’. I don’t have the two LP version of that album. I have the single version which is the 1st LP which was recored in 1980 on June 23/24 at The Hammersmith Odeon in London as well. You can read that review at the links at the bottom of the page.

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Takara – ‘Blind in Paradise’ (1998) – Album Review (The Jeff Scott Soto Series)

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Takara had 2 albums in the can with Jeff never really being an official member. He was always doing the vocals to help promote the band and hopefully giving them a chance to find a new singer. The third album was written and the music was laid down back in December 1996. The tapes were sent to Jeff and it took almost a year for Jeff to finish the vocals as he was so busy with The Boogie Knights. You might ask yourself, why did the band wait for Jeff. Well according to Neil Grusky, there was no one as good as Jeff. And that might be true, but was it worth it? Probably not as the band never really took off and never found success with or without Jeff. Without a full commitment from Jeff and the band not finding another singer, they were really destined for nothing.

Three years after the release of their second album, ‘Taste of Heaven’, the new album ‘Blind in Paradise’ was finally released. The band consisted of Jeff Scott Soto on vocals, Neal Grusky on guitar, Carl Demarco on bass, Eric Rango on keyboards and Robert Duda on drums. The band continued their AOR sound and being 1998, it is a very dated sound for even that time as this album reeks of the 80’s. I’m not saying that is a bad thing…it just isn’t really a good thing.

My copy is a cool one I think as I have the Japanese version. It comes with the prized OBI strip and even a postcard to join their MVP Supporting Club. The booklet is half in English and half in Japanese which better than getting two separate books. It also has two bonus tracks and that is really why we want the Japanese Edition is those bonus tracks. If you look at the song titles, you see a lot of numbers or letters replacing words. Soto is huge fan of Prince and Prince did that a lot so Soto thought if it was good enough for Prince, it is good enough for him. Now, enough about this version, let us get to the music.

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You Picked It! – Danger Danger – ‘Screw It!’ (1991) – Album Review

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Alright…You Picked It! And this one really surprised me as I didn’t expect this one to get picked or many votes at all. But I am glad it did as I do enjoy this one a lot! A guilty pleasure you could say. The winner was Danger Danger’s 1991 album ‘Screw It!’ which is one I do have in my collection. Here are the results.

  1. Danger Danger – ‘Screw It!’ – 9 votes
  2. Neil Young – ‘After the Gold Rush – 5 votes
  3. Halestorm – ‘Back from the Dead’ – 4 votes
  4. Boston – ‘Boston’ – 3 Votes
  5. Miranda Lambert – ‘Revolution’ – Sadly, 0 votes

Thanks to all for participating. The July choices will be up on Saturday!

DANGER DANGER – ‘SCREW IT!’:

Danger Danger’s second album was not a repeat of their debut, but an improvement. It was more polished, more naughty and well…more everything. They recorded at in Ft. Lauderdale, Fl at New River Studios where Skid Row recorded their album ‘Slave to the Grind’. The funny thing is both bands put out singles called “Monkey Business” in the same year. Danger Danger was going to call their album ‘Monkey Business’, but changed their mind. I think they had trouble finding a name for the album and they said screw it! So, that became the name of the album ‘Screw It!’. And based on the lyrics in the album, there is a lot of that going on.

The band Danger Danger consists of lead singer, Ted Poley, guitarists Andy Timmons, Kasey Smith on keyboards, Bruno Ravel on bass and Steve West on drums. These guys were awesome. They were a true hair metal band and their music was the epitome of the genre. It was rude, crude, and anthem rocked out. It was one of the most sexualized albums I have ever heard and yet, even in today’s #MeToo Movement, I lover every minute of it. There is no denying their target audience with this one…young teenage boys…who had hot chicks as friends. I first heard of them because in 1990, they opened for Kiss. After I got that taste, I went and bought the debut and then was a day one shopper when this was released and I have loved it ever since. In fact, it is my #1 album on their Worst to First Ranking. I guess I have now spoiled the review…oh well…here it goes anyway.

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Cheap Trick – ‘The Doctor’ (1986) – Album Review (The Cheap Trick Collection Series)

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After recording the fantastic track, “Mighty Wings” for the Top Gun Soundtrack, Cheap Trick headed in to the studio to record their next album. At the time, not knowing that song wasn’t written by the band, I had high hopes that their album would come out rocking like that song. Yeah, but it didn’t…AT ALL!! Thanks to the production by Tony Platt, Cheap Trick came out with an album that had no balls and sounded so dated with the massive keyboards that you threw your hands up in the air and said “what is this crap”. Yes, I am ruining this review by telling you the ending right away…that is how bad this album is to me.

The band was really fighting with their label as the label kept screaming more keyboards and the band, in the end, just threw up their hands and finished the album in 3 weeks. I don’t think they even realized at the time how weak and lame this would turn out to be. They probably had an idea as it was Tony Platt that mixed their last album after Jack Douglas had to back out due to legal problems with Yoko Ono (that is whole other story for another time). Tony turned their album. “Standing On the Edge” in to a wimpfest when it was supposed to be a rocker…at least that was Jack’s vision. Why would they expect anything different with this one.

The band line-up was unchanged from the prior as we still had Robin Zander, Rick Nielsen, Bun E. Carlos and Jon Brant. However, this would be the last album to feature Brant as the band’s next album would see the return of founding bass player Tom Petersson. And not a moment too soon. The album finally saw its release on November of 1986 and it didn’t do well at all. It peaked at #115 on the Billboard Charts and only had one U.S. single which didn’t even chart. That says all you need to know right there. The band had probably hit rock bottom at this point in their career which would make you think that after this, there was no where to go but up. We will see if that happens.

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