March kicks off with a bang with a highly anticipated album for a lot of people. That would be Harry Styles new one. I’m sure I’ll give it a listen. I’ll also probably stream Rainbow and Black Stone Cherry. Others might like Leaves’ Eyes or Charlotte Sands or Morrissey and there are a couple of older bands like Squeeze and Talking Heads with new albums. Tell me what you want to hear this week or if we missed anything. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a great weekend!!
Harry Styles – Kiss All The Time, Disco Occasionally – (Erksine Records / Columbia Records)
Rainbow – Temple of the King: Rainbow 1975-1976 – (Edsel Records)
Black Stone Cherry – Celebrate – (Mascot Records)
Squeeze – Trixies – (Love Records / BMG Rights Mgmt)
Morrissey – Make-Up Is A Lie – (Sire Records)
Gnarls Barkley – Atlanta – (TenThousand Projects Holdings LLC)
Talking Heads – Tentative Decisions: Demos & Live – (Rhino Entertainment Co / Warner Music)
Mountain – Don’t Look Around: The Recordings 1969-1974 – (Esoteric)
Yngwie Malmsteen brought back his first three singers for his next album which was a tribute album of all the songs that inspired Yngwie to do what he does. The aptly titled, ‘Inspiration’, is his ninth studio album and was released on October 14, 1996. The album charted in Finland and in Sweden but nowhere else that I can find. It did go Gold in Japan selling over 100,000 copies. It has been reissued a couple times over the years, but my copy is the original Japanese released on Pony Canyon from 1996 with OBI strip and booklet written all in Japanese.
The singers on the album are Joe Lynn Turner, Mark Boals and the reason we are here, Jeff Scott Soto. If you remember after ‘Marching Out’ when Jeff left the band yet again, I told you he would pop back in the Yngwie Universe. Joe and Jeff get 3 songs each while Mark gets 4 on the album. Yngwie even handles the vocals on one song which give us the 11 songs in total. The Japanese Edition that I has a bonus track that gives us 11 tracks in total. The normal release of the album only had 10 tracks.
Surprisingly, there are no instrumentals for Yngwie to show off which I think is pretty mature of him. There isn’t a lot of variety as we get 5 Richie Blackmore songs with 4 from Deep Purple and one from Rainbow. We also are treated to 2 Jimi Hendrix tracks. The remaining 4 tracks are from Kansas, U.K., Scorpions and Rush. But based off these tracks, he was influenced by a lot of guitarists and bands so many others were as well. Who doesn’t love Richie Blackmore or Jimi Hendrix.
The album opens with a cover of Kansas and their hit “Carry On Wayward Son” and wouldn’t you know that Jeff Scott Soto is also first up with the vocals. The song sounds like it should, but the riffs you know from the original are not on here as Yngwie changes them to suit Yngwie. Even the solo is all his own. Jeff handles the vocals with no problem. There are great harmonies and Jeff stuck with how the song should be done. He saves the song from veering too far off the rails.
Joe Lynn Turner handles the reins on “Pictures of Home” which is a Deep Purple cover off ‘Machine Head’. Turner is an impressive vocalist so no issue with the vocals on this one. And this isn’t even his best performance on the album. The guitar riffs are fast, frenzied and frantic as only Yngwie can. If you only heard the guitar, you would never guess this was a Deep Purple track. Now, the Yngwie bass playing on this one is badass and one of my favorite parts. The ending of the song is a crazy keyboard instrumental with some guitar thrown in. Very cool and helped make the song better.
“Gates of Bablyon” has a killer opening with its Indian style sitar work and then when Jeff jumps in, the song is taken up a notch. This might be the best vocal performance on the whole album. He has that raspiness at times that really adds some texture to the song. At the same time, his vocals simply soar. He does Ronnie James Dio proud with this Rainbow cover. Yngwie’s guitar playing is over-the-top for the song, but still really smokes. I actually don’t mind it all. And his picking at the end, sensational. The sum of this songs parts are what makes it one of the best songs on the album.
Yngwie now takes turns on the vocals with The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s own “Manic Depression”. The groove on this one is simply sweet. Wrapped around that groove are little guitar fills that add some layers. Now, Yngwie isn’t the best singer, but neither was Jimi. I think he holds his own here and his guitar parts aren’t too flashy and actually fit the song pretty well. They keep great song is still being great.
I don’t remember the band U.K., but hearing the song, I remember it. “In the Dead of Night” sees Mark Boals get his first vocals on a song. The song opens with some keyboards, guitar fills and then a solid beat that propels the song forward. Mark’s voice sounds great. The higher pitched of the three singers. Very melodic and when he hits the chorus, they hit that sweet spot and sound so good. About half way through the song, we get the guitar solo and it is very tasteful and plays for the song. It is nice to see Yngwie play reservedly sometimes and show us that he isn’t one-dimensional.
“Mistreated” is the final of the three Soto songs and this bluesy treat sees Jeff pull out his best David Coverdale from the Deep Purple years. What I love is that they left the blues aspect of this song as it gets a little down, dirty and nasty with that riff. But Yngwie, being Yngwie, throws in some wild, extra-curricular riffs. And it works. The solo is not as restrained as the last song, but it isn’t over-the-top either. A nice mixture of both that still sounds like the original, simply some extra flair thrown in for good measure. Soto has no missteps on his three songs, even if I’m extremely biased towards him…it is still true.
“The Sails of Charon” is the only Scorpions cover and I the do keep to the feel and vibe of the original with the main groove, but the riffs are all Yngwie. Wild, crazy and blistering fast. Does that hurt the song? Yeah, it does a little as it is a favorite of mine as far as early Scorpions goes. Uli is missed on this one. Mark Boals is back and he is trying his best Klaus Meine and he does a great job. At times, he sounds a little like him. I might have preferred more of sounding like himself, but I’ll take it. The solo here starts off while Mark is letting a long, drawn out scream. Yngwie attacks the frets at break-neck speed. Flashy and wild. Not a bad song, but not the best on the album.
Yet another Deep Purple cover is upon us with “Demon’s Eye”. Joe Lynn Turner is back this time around. Man, what a voice he has. He seems to be the main focus on this one and I love it. The groove on this one is solid, as good as the original. The solo is again, tasteful. I do like it when he shows he can rein it in for the song.
“Anthem” is up next and we are finally to the Rush song. I’ve been waiting for this one. Anders Johansson is the drummer on this one (and all the songs) and let me tell you he does a great job. Not an easy one to play. The guitar playing by Yngwie is as flamboyant as he is at times. Some really cool effects and some pure mastery at times. Mark Boals is back and he is a chameleon with his vocals. He sounds so different then the last track he was on. Might be his best performance on the album here. The guitar solo is wildly entertaining and so Yngwie. The energy around this song is electric and another favorite on the album.
The final track on the original album is a Deep Purple song…go figure. This time it is “Child In Time” and has Mark on the vocals. A great opening on the keyboards by David Rosenthal to open the track. It was nice to see him not try to duplicate Jon Lord (can’t be done). Mark starts off with a reserved vocal before he goes all crazy and delivers the screams that this song requires. It is good, not Ian Gillan good, but Mark does a respectable job. I guess we should mention Yngwie as it is his album. His solo is what you’d expect some resemblance to the original, but lots of dashes of his style thrown in for flavor. The solo is long and explosive and so Yngwie. And sometimes, that is a good thing.
“Spanish Castle Magic” by The Jimi Hendrix Experience is the Japanese Bonus Track. Like “Manic Depression” it captures that Hendrix Experience sound. Joe Lynn is on vocals and does a respectable job. Yngwie keeps to the spirit of the song and throws in his style to make it his own as best he could. To be honest, I’m not a fan of any covers of this song. Ace Frehley tried to do it and I didn’t like that one either. It isn’t a bad cover, the song doesn’t do anything for me. But you’d probably like it as this is not my personal taste.
Track Listing:
Carry On Wayward Son (Kansas Cover) – Keeper
Pictures of Home (Deep Purple Cover) – Keeper
Gates of Babylon (Rainbow Cover) – Keeper
Manic Depression (The Jimi Hendrix Experience Cover) – Keeper
In the Dead of Night (U.K. Cover) – Keeper
Mistreated (Deep Purple Cover) – Keeper
The Sails of Charon (Scorpions Cover – Keeper(1/2 Point)
The Track Score is 9.5 out of 11 Tracks or 86%. I have to say, I liked this way more than I thought I would. I can see how Yngwie’s style can get tiresome, but he did hold back on some songs and let loose on others which kept it interesting. The songs themselves are all awesome so great song choices too. The vocalist? I mean you have Mark Boals, Joe Lynn Turner and Jeff Scott Soto, what is there not to like. They all did a great job. I think Mark has come in to his own, Joe is a legend and the most seasoned of the bunch and Jeff is nothing but sensational as usual. Rarely does he not sound good to my ears. Songs like “Anthem” and “Gates of Babylon” are worth the price of this album alone and the rest of the songs just make it that much better. My Overall Score is a 4.0 out of 5.0 Stars. Again, this one surprised me how much I liked it. And to get three songs from Jeff I didn’t have before, that is just icing on the cake.
2026 is upon us and it is always fun anticipating what new albums will come out in the year. Since today would normally be a Friday New Release post, let’s look at the new releases coming our way in 2026. There are quite a few we already know about, but some haven’t been officially announced or even a date set yet.
Last year, there were a few artist I was hoping would release an album that might have or might not have released one. It is always fun to hope for new music from these bands, but sometimes there are disappointments. Here are the ones I was hoping to get new albums from last year and what actually happened…
Def Leppard – It is time for The Collection Vol. 4!! Come on boys, give it to us!! Or a new album…whichever you want. Well – we didn’t get a new album, but we got a new live album with ‘Diamond Star Heroes’, but honestly their live albums bore me.
Kiss – I will keep this on the list until I die!! Time to start up more Soundboard LPs or another box set…give us something! We got a brand new Soundboard LP as well as 2 Box sets with Dressed to Kill and Alive!! Yes!! That is more like it boys!!
Guns ‘N Roses – Rumors, Rumors, Rumors!! Will we ever get a new album! – Still nothing, but we did get new songs…sort of…they aren’t really new as they are leftover tracks from Chinese Democracy with the current line-up…come on boys…do better!!
Aldo Nova – He keeps talking about a 2CD set for over 3 years and still nothing much, but will he get around to releasing the full Life & Times of Eddie Gage? I hope so. – Nothing at all from him in 2025 but he did mention a new album in 2026!! We will see.
Billy Idol – There are rumors of a new album and even Steve Stevens showed a test pressing..could it be??!! We got one!! Yeah!! ‘Dream Into It’ came out in 2026…I didn’t care for it too much so that is disappointing.
Okay, are there albums I want to see this year from some of my favorite bands that haven’t been announced or in some cases even rumored? Of course there are. These are the bands I want new albums from this year…but it might not happen.
Def Leppard – It is time for The Collection Vol. 4!! Come on boys, give it to us!! Or a new album…whichever you want. The new album has been hinted at so fingers crossed
Kiss – I will keep this on the list until I die!! Will we get another soundboard or any more box sets??? I hope so!
Aldo Nova – He keeps talking about a 2CD set for over 4 years and still nothing much, but will he get around to releasing the full Life & Times of Eddie Gage? I hope so. He has now mentioned something coming in 2026…I will believe it when I see it.
Creed – Will there be new music in 2026? Oh, please say it will be so! There have been rumblings and rumors…I think they will at least work on a new album in 2026.
Poison – We need a new album, but I don’t expect one. What I do hope we get is a 40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of their debut, “Look What the Cat Dragged In”. That would be cool.
Guns N Roses – Will we get a full album. You know what, I don’t think I really care. The older I get, the more overrated this band really is!! Only one great album in their minuscule catalog.
Jeff Scott Soto – Now, Soto puts out a ton of albums every year. I would love a new solo album as it has been years. At the very least, a SOTO band album. But please, NO MORE ART OF ANARCHY! That was awful.
From what I have gathered around the internet, here are the bands that should have new albums out in 2025 or are rumored, but no dates announced yet. The ones I would give a try will be highlighted in Blue. The ones with Dates Announced are at the bottom of this post. The list is building up nicely!!
July was the month of local record stores. I spent a lot of time at a couple this month, Noble Records and Hardy Boys, both excellent local shops. First, we made a trip to Noble Records and I actually had a good trip for vinyl. Meaning I bought a handful not just one here and one there. I grabbed some I’ve been meaning to add to the collection and Tim Durling is to blame for 3 of them as he’s been talking about them a lot.
And if that wasn’t enough, I was scanning the cassettes and I found a ton of Kiss cassettes, those are hard to come by so I grabbed them even though they weren’t in the best shape. I didn’t care too much about that as I just wanted them in the collection. They needed a new home anyway, so why not…I adopted a bunch…
Who would have thought that in 1991 while doing backing vocals for Stryper’s album ‘Against the Law’, that would lead to Jeff Scott Soto doing the singing vocals for a movie in 2001 called ‘Rock Star’ starring Mark Wahlberg That is what happened. The producer on the Stryper album was Tom Werman and Tom brought Jeff in for a ton of albums he worked on after Stryper’s album and when ‘Rock Star’ came up, he had Jeff come in and audition.
He originally auditioned for the singing voice of Mark Wahlberg’s character, but the producers of the movie thought his voice was too good actually. They wanted a less seasoned voice, but one that could rip in those 80’s styles so they brought in Miljenko ‘Mike’ Matijevic another Tom vocal favorite. Mike is the lead singer of the band Steelheart and man does he have some pipes as well. Jeff actually did backing vocals on Steelheart’s debut album as well.
The movie ‘Rock Star’ was inspired by what went on with Judas Priest after Rob Halford left the band. They brought in a Judas Priest Tribute band singer by the name of Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens. Mark Wahlberg’s character, Chris Cole, is a massive Steel Dragon fan and was in a tribute band called ‘Blood Pollution’. When the lead singer of Steel Dragon, Bobby Beers, quit (sung by Jeff Scott Soto), Chris Cole was hired (sung by Ike Matijevic) and then the movie chronicles the ups and downs of Chris Cole’s life as a result of this move.
Another month down and therefore it is time to review the purchases made this month at 2 Loud 2 Old Music. And I think it was a pretty good haul. We bought some stuff online, we hit a local record store and we had a record show this month. And we will kick it off with the brand new album by Jeff Scott Soto which came out on May 6th. It is called ‘Complicated’ and we won’t be getting to review this one for a long time as we are only 20+ albums into the 70 album series. For now, take a peek…
Then I have some research I need to do for a friend of Jeff Scott Soto. I have a lot of homework to do on Jason Bieler of Saigon Kick (notice the three Rock Candy Editions) and his new band Jason Bieler and the Baron Von Bielski Orchestra plus others. Hmmm…now why would I be doing homework…I guess you will soon find out…
After Jeff Scott Soto had finished his vocals on the ‘Eternal Prisoner’ album for Axel Rudi Pell, he went back to the states to continue to work with his band Slam. Then it was on to work on the next Talisman album ‘Genesis’. But his obligations weren’t done with Axel. Axel wanted to do an album full of nothing but ballads so Jeff was brought back in April 1993 to finish up some work on several songs to be included on the album. Jeff was only on 4 of the 10 songs, two were instrumentals, two from Rob Rock with one from Karl Holthaus both previous singers of Axel’s.
The album was released on September 7, 1993 and I guess it was successful as Axel did a total of five of these Ballad compilations. ‘The Ballads’ release had a mixture of previously released tracks, some previously unreleased tracks and even a couple covers. It is a lot of ballads to have on an album. It caused a mixture of reactions. Some metal fans were turned off because the album was nothing but ballads, however, you had a section of non-metal people that were now introduced to Axel’s music because it was all ballads. Heck it was the ballads that probably brought a lot of women in to the Glam music scene anyway…that and the fact they wanted to know the secrets on how the guys got their hair so big and poofy. But lets talk about the music instead of the hair.
“You Want Love” opens the album and was one of the new tracks recorded by Jeff Scott Soto for this release. Opens with acoustic guitars and then Soto comes in singing in a soft falsetto. The chorus brings harmonies and the bass and drum. From here on out, the tempo stays relatively consistent. Jeff does sound great, I’ll give him that, but the song is a little dull as it is too same-same sounding throughout. Even the solo is a little lifeless and boring.
I was digging for records while on vacation down in St. Augustine, Florida and at one of the stores, I came across a vinyl that brought back so many memories. I had this on cassette and I remember loving it and listening to it constantly. I had to get it and at only $5, it was a no brainer.
The album is not something I normally buy and that is because it is a compilation album mixed with numerous artists. The album was K-Tel’s “Master of Metal”! Now, don’t let the name confuse you because it isn’t really that heavy or metal, but it was full of songs that I loved from bands that sometimes do much heavier stuff. The album is from 1984 and had hit songs from some of the biggest bands at that time.
There were so many bands on here that had connections with each other. Such as Black Sabbath is on it with Ian Gillan on vocals, Dio is on here and Ronnie James Dio used to sing with Black Sabbath, Rainbow is on here with Joe Lynn Turner and Dio sang with them as well. Kiss is on here and so is Rush who opened for Kiss. All pretty cool, but back in 1984, I had no idea about these connections.
Harry Styles – Kiss All The Time, Disco Occasionally – (Erksine Records / Columbia Records)
Rainbow – Temple of the King: Rainbow 1975-1976 – (Edsel Records)
Black Stone Cherry – Celebrate – (Mascot Records)
Squeeze – Trixies – (Love Records / BMG Rights Mgmt)
Morrissey – Make-Up Is A Lie – (Sire Records)
Gnarls Barkley – Atlanta – (TenThousand Projects Holdings LLC)
Talking Heads – Tentative Decisions: Demos & Live – (Rhino Entertainment Co / Warner Music)
Mountain – Don’t Look Around: The Recordings 1969-1974 – (Esoteric)
Godsmack – Awake (25th Anniversary) – (Republic Records / UMG Recordings)
The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus – X’s For Eyes (Deluxe) – (Better Noise Records)
Leaves’ Eyes – Song of Darkness E.P. – (Reigning Phoenix Music)
Hunter Hayes – Evergreen – (LP Entertainment / DashGo)
Aaron Watson – Horse Named Texas – (Adub Records)
Charlotte Sands – Satellite – (CS Records)
American Adrenalin – Burn the Ships – (Together Records)
Erra – Silence Outlives the Earth – (UNFD)
Prong – Live And Uncleansed – (Steamhammer)
Vreid – The Skies Turn Black – (Indie Recordings)
Desert Storm – Buried Under the Weight of Reason – (Heavy Psych Sounds)
Nefastis – Shadows at the Light of Dawn – (Rockshots Records)
Surfbort – Reality Star – (TODO)
The S.E.T. – Self Evident Truth – (Flatspot Records)
Alex Melton – The Process – (Pure Noise Records)
The Theander Expression – Wonderful Anticipation (10th Anniversary) – (Malachite Night Records)
Status/Non-Status – Big Changes – (You’ve Changed Records)
War Child – Help (2) – (War Child Records)
Bory – Never Turns To Night – (Bleak Enterprise)
William Clark Green – Watterson Hall – (Bill Grease Records / Stem)
Austin Michael – Lonestar – (Austin Michael)
Willa Ford – Amanda – (Willa Ford Music LLC)
Travis Bolt – Burning Bridges – (Gravel Road / Stem)
The Brook And The Bluff – Werewolf – (Dualtone Music Group)
Matt Corby – Tragic Magic – (Island Records / Rainbow Valley Records)
Our Oceans – Right Here, Right Now – (Long Branch Records)
Denzel Curry – Strictly 4 The Scythe – (PH Recordings / Loma Vista Recordings / Concord)
Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers – Hell To Breakfast – (EmmaJava Recordings / Soundly Music)
Shabaka – Of The Earth – (Shabaka Records)
Rick Braun – Rick Braun Plays Chuck Mangione – (A-Train/Braunto)
2 Loud 2 Old Music 