Tag: Jimi Hendrix

Richie Sambora – ‘Stranger In This Town’ (1991) – Album Review (The Bon Jovi Collection Series)

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While Bon Jovi was on an extended hiatus, Jon Bon Jovi wasn’t the only to put a solo album. The band’s lead guitarist, Richie Sambora, decided to spread his wings and release a solo album as well. Richie would step out of the shadows and take on the lead vocals as well as most of the guitar duties as well. And like Jon on his solo album, Richie brought along a few friends for the ride including fellow Bon Jovi bandmates, Tico Torres and David Bryan. On bass, he had Tony Levin, but he also had Randy Jackson on one song who also worked on Jon’s solo album too. The biggest guest on the album would be one of his idols, Eric Clapton for Mr. Bluesman.

Speaking of Blues, Richie didn’t stick with the same Bon Jovi sound. He shook things up and focused the album on more of a blues sound and I would say he captured it beautifully. The album would be released on September 3, 1991 and would #36 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #20 on the UK Charts. He would release 3 singles officially as well as one promo single. None went Top 40, but they still had moderate airplay and one single did hit #13 on the Mainstream Rock Charts. Richie might not have sold as many albums as Jon, but for me had the more interesting album of the two.

My version is a Japanese reissue from 2020 and came with the ever cherished OBI strip as well as a bonus track which is the cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “The Wind Cries Mary”. You can’t have a Japanese edition without a bonus track, then it is just an overpriced copy of the CD. I have to say that I think Bon Jovi isn’t the same without Richie for the reason of his backing vocals (and songwriting abilities). His solo work gives us the chance to hear how well Sambora can sing and a chance for his vocals to be front and center. Too band Bon Jovi, the band, didn’t utilize the two singer approach as it wouldn’ve been awesome. But it is and willl albums be Jon’s band so I get it. I am off on a tangent now, so let’s get back to the album.

The album opens with “Rest in Peace”, an atmospheric, bluesy piece that sees Richie sparsely place the licks as David Bryan gives the orchestrated sounds that give it an ethereal tone. Richie’s vocals are sparse as well, sounding angelic and little sad. The song is more of an opening for “Church of Desire” than a song on its own, but the tone is set and we know this is NOT going to be a Bon Jovi style album. When “Church of Desire” comes bleeding in, the tempo picks up, the bluesy riffs keep coming and Richie’s vocals come in strong. The song is polished, all glossy and perfect production which doesn’t make it pure blues, just dashed with its essence. The solo is exciting as it plays for the song while showcasing the talent he is and then the 2nd solo is pure joy as he takes it to another level. The thing we learn from this song is that Richie’s vocals are better than we ever heard as backing vocals with Bon Jovi.

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My Sunday Song – “Excuse Me While I Scream” by Aldo Nova

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For My Sunday Song #355, we are going to talk about a song called “Excuse My While I Scream” by Aldo Nova. The song is one of the very few vocal performances on his mostly instrumental, weird concept album called “Nova’s Dream” from 1997. Aldo had been absent for almost 6 years and I can tell you personally I was completely unaware of this album until a couple years after its release. There was no promotion on it here in the States and so this album didn’t sell much and went pretty much ignored by most of the listening public. This was not a single, and honestly don’t know if there were any singles for this album, but it was one of my favorites from the album and I can’t say there many on this one.

The song is basically a tribute to Jimi Hendrix. There are so many references to his work and Aldo was heavily influenced by him so why not have a song that pays homage to Jimi. There is nothing wrong with that. When you give the song a listen see how many references you can pick out.

The song is heavily influenced by Jimi Hendrix as that guitar tone and playing is all done as a tribute to the man himself. The vocals have a massive effect on them to make them sound like coming from a radio or old style. It has some woman on backing vocals for the chorus, but the real champion here is the guitar playing. Aldo is very underrated and he goes all out and lays down a nasty solo, some killer riffs and it is all a masterpiece. The keyboards are used for added effect and the drumming is sensational here, but damn those guitars are absolutely nuts. Check it out for the playing alone.

Give the song a listen and let me know what you think? I think he’s an underrated guitarist, what do you think? Thanks for stopping by and I hope all have a wonderful and Happy Sunday.

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Skid Row – ‘B-Side Ourselves E.P.’ – Album Review

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Skid Row were two albums in and after 1991’s ‘Slave to the Grind’ going #1, there were riding high. Little did they know that the rug was about to be pulled out from under them thanks to the likes of Nirvana. But that didn’t stop them from releasing material to keep the fans happy. They released an E.P. which was a collection of covers and a collection of B-Sides from previous singles. This an idea that today band’s like Halestorm do between albums…the only difference is the Halestorm covers are not B-Sides. Still glad they do it.

The album came out on September 22, 1992 almost 30 years ago. My version is not an original copy, but a re-issue released on October 17, 2017. This release is part of the Rhino Rocktober’s 2017 and is limited to 3,000 copies worldwide. It comes with original inner-sleeve and vinyl disc in charcoal black poly-lined inner whatever the hell that means. The vinyl is silver…or maybe gray…either way, it is nice…

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Friday New Releases – November 22nd

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The week before Thanksgiving and the last big week of new releases.  There will be more releases over the next three weeks, but not as big as this one (in numbers, not necessarily quality).  There are a handful I will give a spin and they will be highlighted in Blue as usual.  Let me know what interests you or what I might have missed.  Now next Friday there are new releases, but it is also Record Store Day Black Friday, so hopefully some I can grab…until then.

  • A1iseK+RBPL._SX522_.jpg  Coldplay – Everyday Life – (Parlophone Records / Warner Music):  I will admit, I hold hopes out that they will release something as good as ‘Parachute’ again.  So, this will get a spin to see what they bring to the table this time.  My hopes aren’t too high.

  • 81--bZEqP7L._SX522_.jpg  Beck – Hyperspace – (Fonograf Records / Capitol):  Okay, it’s Beck…why would he not get a spin?  His quirkiness is always welcome even if not always appreciated.

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Tuesday’s Memes – Guitar Gods!

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I have done a post on guitars, but I will step it up and do one on Guitar Gods because I love the guitar and over the next year I will finally learn to play.  Until then, I will leave this to inspire me.  I hope you enjoy…

Jimi…

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And another Jimmy…

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Tuesday’s Memes – Jimi Hendrix

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This week it is time to honor Jimi Hendrix in the Meme collection.  There were so many to choose from so I am sure there will be a part 2 down the road.  For now, I hope you enjoy these that I found.  Let us jump right into it.

The Songs…

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Because he is Jimi ‘Fucking” Hendrix…

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And just for fun…

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I hope you enjoyed.  Have a great rest of week!!

 

Friday New Releases – March 9th

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Finally a Friday with an abundance of new releases.  There are so many I am interested in that this could take awhile.  I hope to get to them all sooner or later. I think there is a little something for everyone today.  The ones that are striking my fancy are highlighted in Blue.  Let me know what you are looking forward to getting or if I am missing something added to the comments.  Have a great listening weekend.

  • 51Xejf8pEwL._AC_US436_QL65_  Myles Kennedy – Year of the Tiger – (Napalm Records):  Whether with Alter Bridge, Slash or just by himself, there is no getting by the immense talent that is Myles Kennedy.  He can definitely sing, but his guitar playing is just as sensational.  Looking forward to the focus being all about him.  I have purposely not listened to anything off this album yet so I can enjoy it all at one time.

  • 61juEljtrLL._AC_US436_QL65_  Judas Priest – Firepower – (Sony Music):  Judas Priest is back with a brand new album.  Enough said…Mic drop!!!

  • 61OAkFDlBoL._SY300_QL70_  Thirdstory – Cold Heart – (Verve Label Group):  After waiting for two years, we finally get the full length album they have been promising.  My daughter and I saw them open for Tori Kelly two years ago and we bot really enjoyed their harmonies and just the power of their voices.  Three guys doing amazing things singing together.  We are going to see them again in April when they headline a little club here in Charlotte.

  • 41Tg4xMSIqL._AC_US436_QL65_  Calum Scott – Only Human – (Capitol Records):  This former Britain’s Got Talent contestant from 2015 finally gets his debut album.  After the release of his cover of “Dancing On My Own”, I was completely blown away by his vocals.  Can’t wait to enjoy this one.

  • 91D-QeKEaBL._SX522_  Three Days Grace – Outsider – (RCA Records):  I have had two heavy and two soft albums and now back to heavy with Three Days Grace. I followed them since their debut in 2003 with the song “I Hate Everything About You”.  They have given me consistently good albums and I expect nothing less from this hard rock band out of Canada.

  • 51hvL2s57GL._AC_US436_QL65_  Jimi Hendrix – Both Sides of the Sky – (Experience Hendrix LLC):  Jimi Hendrix…worth giving a listen solely for that matter.  This is the third and final in a series of unreleased tracks and surprised their have been so many and why did it take so long for them to come out.

  • 71+ROZdl3aL._SS500  The Fratellis – In Your Own Sweet Time – (Cooking Vinyl): (MOVED TO MARCH 16) And there is still one more I want to hear and that is the Fratellis.  When I heard their album Costello Music, I adored their sound and the whole vibe.  As a result, I have been absorbing all their albums and this one will be no different.

  • A1tacv-Bk2L._AC_UL320_SR320,320_  Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats – Tearing at the Seams – (Bottleneck Music)

  • the-neighbourhood-8943  The Neighbourhood – The Neighbourhood – (Columbia Records)

  • 71uNAtyyFzL._AC_UL115_  Suicidal Tendencies – Get Your Fight On! – (Suicidal Records)

  • 51ODSEkcvjL._SS500.jpg  Ministry – AmeriKKKant – (Nuclear Blast)

  • 61oWXk3LmPL._SS500  Nightwish – Decades – (Nuclear Blast Records)

  • 91QjB6kYcLL._SX522_  David Byrne – American Utopia – (Todomundo LTD)

 

Turntables & Vinyl #12 – The CD Edition Update

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If you remember back a few months for Turntables & Vinyl #8 – The CD Edition, I talked about all these CDs I received from someone in the neighborhood that was giving them away.  They were in really bad shape and there were 100’s I had to throw out due to broken or badly scratched CDs.

I managed to keep the CD covers in hopes of doing something artsy with them.  It turns out, I am not very artsy, so I decided to put them on a canvas and make them into a picture for my office wall.  Now, I decided, but I didn’t actually do the work.  My wife is the one that put this together as she is the creative one.

Below is a picture of the canvas with some of my favorite album covers from the lot I had to throw away.  I am very pleased with how it turned out and I have to thank my beautiful and talented wife for putting this together.  I couldn’t have done it without her.  The only thing I did was cut out the covers and decide the order to place them in even though she helped with that arrangement a little as well.  Okay, so she really did all of it.  She’s the best!

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Now, I didn’t have any Kiss or Def Leppard albums to include which bothered me, so I printed out their logos and had them incorporated into the picture by only showing partial album covers for AC/DC Back in Black and the Beach Boys Greatest Hits album.  See which ones you recognize.  I think most of them are very classic albums and I was even able to use the Emerson, Lake and Palmer cover to Brain Salad Surgery which is one of my favorite album covers.

There you have it!

Until next time…have a great day.

The Original vs. The Cover – “All Along the Watchtower”

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For this month’s The Original vs. The Cover, we are tackling the classic song “All Along the Watchtower” written by Bob Dylan.  We are going to explore the Bob Dylan version and the Jimi Hendrix version.  The two versions of this song couldn’t be more different.  You have Bob Dylan’s version which is more Folk Rock and then the Hendrix version which is pure guitar rock.  Each version is a classic in its own right so how do you choose.  Let’s learn about each version first before we decide.

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan wrote and recorded the song back in 1967.  It was on the album John Wesley Harding which was released in December 1967.  The song itself wasn’t released as a single until November 22, 1968 which was actually after The Jimi Hendrix Experience released it as they released it as a single on September 21, 1968.  If we base the original and the cover based off single release date, then Hendrix’s is the original…right?  No, it isn’t but one could make an argument if they so choose.

The song itself is a slow, almost ballad like for part of the song.  Instrumentally, the standout is the harmonica which is the main driver of the song.  The guitar and drum parts were background and their simplicity is what makes it work.  The folksy sound and Dylan’s gritty voice were magical and he sings with such emotion.  This is one of the few songs I actually could understand what he was saying.

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