Mammoth – ‘Mammoth’ (1981/2024) – Album Review

Noble Records had three exclusives in October and they were all great, but this one stood out the most for me. It is from a band called Mammoth (not to be confused with the early Van Halen band or even Wolfgang’s Mammoth WVH). These guys were a Southern Rock band out of Florida and the album was recorded in 1981 at Relayer Studios in Deland, Florida. If you like Lynyrd Skynyrd and that Southern Rock sound, than Mammoth will be right up your alley. It is the first Exclusive Noble Records has done where I had actually heard of the band and had always been curious about them. The Noble Exclusive was limited to only 300 copies on a really cool purple colored vinyl. It sold out rather quickly.

The band consists of Bill Abell (Rhythm guitar), Ron Herman (Drums), Joey Costa (Bass) and Buzz Fetters (Lead Guitar) and apparently they all lent a hand to vocals as they don’t have a defined lead singer. Instead, the blend the vocals into each track that works to perfection. These guys are in your face, rocking it hard and are 100% authentic in their delivery. Hold on tight and get ready for a band that should’ve been bigger as they had the songs, the sound and the style. Riding Easy Records reminds us again of another great band that we all missed back in the day.

SIDE ONE:

The album kicks off with “Change the Run” and it simply explodes out of the speakers. The riffs are slick, fast and frenzied and the vocals are powerful and full of attitude. The guitar tones are in that sweet spot with wicked licks and ever so slight distortion. The drums and bass drive a rhythm section that pushes the song forward at a controlled, fast pace…oh yeah…and there is cowbell!! There is never enough cowbell!! But the highlight is that guitar and the solo..wow! What a blistering opening track.

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Friday New Releases – March 31, 2023

We are at the end of the month already. March just flew by and the April Showers are about to be upon us. Before we get to that, we have another stack of new releases for you and we are close to 40 this week so hopefully you will find something to listen to this week. Me, not so much. Nothing really excites me this week so I will try and do catch up on other things I’ve missed so far this year. Let me know what you want to hear this week or what we may have missed. Thanks for stopping by each and ever week and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

  • 81UKohVgBYL._AC_UY436_FMwebp_QL65_  The Who – The Who With Orchestra: Live at Wembley (feat. Isobell Griffiths Orchestra) – (UMR / Universal Music)
  • 81XOoHWxO0L._AC_UY436_FMwebp_QL65_  Last in Line – Jericho – (Orange Glow LLC / EarMusic)
  • 71TSJDxSpoL._SX522_  The New Pornographers – Continue as a Guest – (Merge Records)
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Axel Rudi Pell – ‘Between the Walls’ (1994) – Album Review (The Jeff Scott Soto Series)

While Jeff Scott Soto was touring with Talisman in Europe, Axel Rudi Pell was ready to make another album. After the mixed reaction from the fans on ‘The Ballad’ album, Axel was going to go to his roots and make a pure metal album…a German Metal Album as he has stated. He contacted Jeff and arranged for him to come in and work on the album while his other band was touring. Jeff was happy to do so as he really enjoyed working with Axel since it wasn’t a dictatorship like other bands he had worked in. Jeff and Axel work well together and Soto co-wrote 4 of the 10 tracks.

Most of the band was back from the last studio album, ‘Eternal Prisoner’. There was obviously Axel and Jeff, but Jorg Michael was back on drums and Volker Krawczak on bass. Keyboardist Kai Raglewski was out and in his place was Julie Greaux who has worked with Billy Idol and happened to be Soto’s girlfriend. That’s convenient wouldn’t you say!! What I would say is that this was a solid line-up and had me interested to hear what they had put together this time around. It is definitely more fantasy and mystical lyrics and it is truly metal for sure! One more thing, in the liner notes, it lists out what instrument each band member plays with and for Jeff…it says he plays with Julie….”Oh Heffe, Oh Oh Ooh”…Let me just say…Wow!! Okay, hold on tight and let’s get to the music.

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My Sunday Song – “Guitar or a Gun” by Will Hoge

For My Sunday Song #267, we are going to dive in to the song “Guitar or a Gun” by Will Hoge. The song is off his 2015 album ‘Small Town Dreams’. As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, the album went to #15 on the Country Charts and #162 on the Billboard 200 Album Chart. The song was written by Will Hoge, Dylan Altman and Gary Allan. Will sought out Gary specifically to write with on this track along with another song in hopes Gary would record them. Thankfully for us, Gary passed and Will got to keep this great track all his own.

The song is basically Will thinking about growing up in Franklin, Tennessee. Will would go to the local pawn shop and stare for hours at the guitars on the wall and the guns behind the counter. He would ride his bike over there every weekend. After mowing lawns all Summer, he took his $200 he earned and finally went to that pawn shop to buy one of those two items. He wanted both and the lyrics tell you what his dad said about them but not letting you know really which one his dad was talking about. All Will could think about was being in a gang…a gang of guys that form a band or a gang of guys to do nothing but get in to trouble and ride off in to the sunset like the gang from the movie “Young Guns”. Since we are reviewing a song by Will Hoge, I believe we know he chose the Guitar.

The song is a southern rock sounding track with an acoustic guitar, an electric, a piano and some driving drum beats. It starts off slow with the acoustic guitar and then Will singing the first verse before the band comes in and then they all join in and take it home. The bridge and chorus kick it up a notch and are catchy and colorful. The music and the song feel tell a great story and take you back to your childhood where you might have had the same thoughts. Will is a master at telling great stories and this song is just that.

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