Tag: Tom Keifer

Tom Keifer / Cinderella – The Albums Ranked Worst to First

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We have Gene Simmons of Kiss and Jon Bon Jovi to thank for Tom Keifer and Cinderella. Gene tried to get them signed first, wasn’t successful though. Then Jon came in the picture and boom, a contract. Cinderella’s debut album came out in 1986 and wow was it over the top with the packaging of the band’s look and their sound. They fit right in to the Hair Metal style. Their next album in 1988 came out, ‘Long Cold Winter’, and they got as far away from that sound and look as they could. With their third album, that took it the extreme the other way. That lineup of Tom Keifer, Eric Brittingham, Jeff LaBar and Fred Coury were a house hold names for me.

After their third album, Tom suffered major throat problems with paralysis of his left vocal cord. This delayed their fourth and final album, ‘Still Climbing’ in 1994, With little to no fanfare, the band basically called it quits…well with at least album as we never received another one. It was until 2013 did we even get Tom Keifer’s first solo album. What a comeback it was. But then nothing for six years until the most current release in 2019 with ‘Rise’. It has been a long ride, and sadly only 6 albums so far. I hope we get more, if not from Cinderella, at least from the voice of the band, Tom Keifer.

Let us go ahead and rank the 6 albums we do have and I can’t wait to see what order you would place them. I hope you enjoy.

THE WORST: Tom Keifer: ‘The Way Life Goes’ (2013):

Ok, let’s get this out there in the open right away. There is no “Worst” Tom Keifer album. There is only Favorite to Least Favorite as he hasn’t really made a bad album. Out of all the albums he’s done, this is only the one I don’t play as often as the others, so it is my least favorite of the bunch. They are all favorites. What a welcome sight it was to finally get some new material for Tom after 20 years of nothing. It felt like a personal album and his writing and playing have matured and improved and aged perfectly like cheese, but no cheese here. All well crafted songs. They didn’t capture me as tightly as the other album which is the only reason this one is a the bottom, but it is far from being a bad album.

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You Picked It!: Cinderella – ‘Long Cold Winter’ (1988) – Album Review

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Alright…You Picked It! Apparently, people didn’t like the new format as the vote count was way down. I am getting back to what my site is about and that is what is in my collection which is why I changed things. I was tired of the other way and needed to change…so I did. Get used to this way because this is how it will be for the time being. The first vote getter in this month’s picks ended up the winner. Therefore the winner was Cinderella’s ‘Long Cold Winter’. Here are the results.

  1. Cinderella – ‘Long Cold Winter’ – 5 votes
  2. Winger – ‘Pull’ – 4 votes
  3. White Lion – ‘Mane Attraction’ – 2 votes
  4. Night Ranger – ‘Man in Motion’ – 2 votes
  5. Poison – ‘Look What the Cat Dragged In’ – 1 Vote

Thanks to all for participating. The December choices will be up on Saturday! And the choices are all now from my collection and will have a loose theme of 70’s Classics!!!

CINDERELLA – ‘LONG COLD WINTER’ (1988):

Cinderella hit it big with their Glam Rock debut ‘Night Songs’ back in 1986 with a lot of thanks to Jon Bon Jovi who saw them play and helped them get a deal. Gene Simmons was interested first, but they weren’t interested in Gene. The debut album had them dressing all Glam in colorful outfits and I don’t think they were very fond of that whole concept. That became obvious with their second album when they went to a more all black and blue jean look and changed their sound to mostly blues rock. They wanted to distance themselves as much as they could from the Glam scene and I don’t think they did, but they at least sounded different. Fans of the debut, followed along with this one as well…I know I did.

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Cinderella – “Heartbreak Station” – 7″ Single Promo

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The final single in the 3 I found at the Charlotte Record Show is another from Cinderella. This time around it is the 2nd single from ‘Heartbreak Station’ titled…well…”Heartbreak Station”. The song didn’t do as well as “Shelter Me”, but did got to #44 on the Hot 100 just missing Top 40 Status. On the Mainstream Rock Chart it went to #10 so all-in-all not a bad run. The song was written by Tom Keifer (imagine that as he pretty much writes everything for the band).

And like with “Shelter Me” we get another French Promo single. This one wasn’t promoting a show like the last time, just promoting the 1990 album ‘Heartbreak Station. The B-Side is another deep cut from the album called “One for Rock And Roll”. I have to admit, I think really like finding the promos as they are a little special to me and to get a French one is even cooler. Look at the labels from Vertigo, really cool lettering and styling I have to say.

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Cinderella – “Shelter Me (Le 11 Février 1991 A La Cigale)” – 7″ Single Promo

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The 2nd 7″ Single I found was for the band Cinderella for the song “Shelter Me” which was the first single off their 1990 album ‘Heartbreak Station’. The song was written by Tom Keifer and actually broke the Top 40 in the U.S. going to #36 and #5 on the U.S. Mainstream Rock stations. The B-Side of the single is also from the album and is the deep cut “Long Gone Bad”.

My version is pretty cool…at least I think it is. It is a French Promo but it wasn’t just promoting the album, it was promoting the upcoming show in Paris on February 11, 1991 at the La Cagila which ia a theater at 120, boulevard de Rochechouart near Place Pigalle, in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. That is what the (Le 11 Février 1991 A La Cigale) was referencing on the front of the single. The place was built back in 1887 so it has lots of history. Like I said, I think this is a cool piece.

A-SIDE:

“Shelter Me” took the band back to their roots pulling influence from both the Stones and Aerosmith with the bluesy rock. Just listen to that Stones Boogie in the song and you will know what I mean. Keifer’s raspy vocals add so much grit and then throw in Tom and Jeff Labar’s steel guitar work and you have a great track. There is even some honky tonk piano, some saxophone and I swear I hear a mouth harp (or whatever that twangy sound is). You get both a guitar solo and a saxophone solo, what more could you want. It is a down home good time song.

B-SIDE:

The B-Side is “Love Gone Bad” and is a very deep cut on the ‘Heartbreak Station’ album. It was also written solely by Tom Keifer but that is to be expected. This song leads more to the rock then the blues even though there is still a lot of blues in it. Fred Coury is slamming the skins and Tom’s vocals are on the harder edge of things as he screams a lot more on this one and with the raspy vocals you get that rock side to his vocals. The guitar work by him and Labar is stellar as usual. You get more saxophone and piano from Jay Davidson, organ work by Ken Hensley and some background vocals from Eric Troyer. Another stellar track from the band.

And that is it for this single, the last of the 3 from the Charlotte Record Show is up next week. Thanks for stopping by and hanging with us.

January 2020 Purchases – Vinyl & CDs

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Welcome to the new decade and my monthly recap of purchases that I make.  I do this as not everything I buy ends up on the site so you can see some of the items in my collection. Also, it helps me remember when I bought something and now I have it stored in the Internet universe forever (or as long as I keep paying annually for my site).

On the weekend before New Year’s Day, I went and did a little digging. Now, I know that is not January, but I had already finished and edited my December post and I didn’t have time to update.  So, these purchases get to be a part of this post.

First up was a trip to Lunchbox Records in Charlotte, NC.  My oldest daughter wanted to go and being the good dad, how could I say no.  I did some digging and found somethings, but nothing that I hadn’t seen before or that was priced right.  I found my way over to the 45’s and the 10″ records and there I saw and old Cheap Trick 10″ called ‘Found All the Parts’.  I know it probably isn’t super rare, but I had never seen one so I grabbed it.  I tell my daughter the fun thing about digging is finding that one thing you haven’t seen before.  And when you see it, you better buy it.  I haven’t always followed that rule and I have a couple regrets on that.

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The Top 20 Rock Songs of 2019

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Welcome to the Top 20 Rock Songs of 2019.  These songs are my favorite songs of the year and were not necessarily played on the radio or even shot up the charts.  They just moved me in some way good or bad!

If you missed the Top Rock Albums of 2019 or the Top Albums of 2019 (that were not Rock), just click on the link and go check them out.

It is time to start the list so here we go…

#20 -“Chase the Feeling (feat. Chris Cester)” by Wolfmother – Single:

No album, just a single and anything they put out will probably end up on my list.  It is full of the distorted guitar sound that is reminiscent of Wolfmother and don’t forget that voice os Andrew Stockdale.  The drum fills are great and that groove keeps the song driving forward.  I hope this is a sign of things to come.

#19 – “All Animal” by Through Fire off the album ‘All Animal’:

I like it loud and I like it heavy at times and this does both.  Pounding drums, blistering guitars and vocals that can scream it out or sing with such great melodies.  A modern rock sound that rips it from the opening notes until the very end.  Perfect for driving down the road at 100mph as it wakes up the beast in you!!

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Top Rock Albums 2019

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2019 was another year with some great releases and way too many to get through them all so I am sure I missed a number of great albums and if you look around the web, there will be tons of Top Album lists you can get a pretty good idea of what you should check out in case you missed any of these.

This list will be my favorite “Rock” albums of the year.  All other types of music will be for a later post.  I am going to leave this one to my favorite genre.  It is a broad genre, but these are the albums that I consider to be ROCK!!

Also note, these are MY FAVORITES!!  These are not the most popular or trendy albums.  You won’t find the new Tool album here because I don’t like them and I never had any desire to hear it.  So, they won’t even be rates as worst album because I didn’t listen to it. These are the albums that I connected with during the year and I kept coming back to again and again.  And without further adieu, here are the Top Rock Albums of 2019:

#10 – Michael Sweet – Ten

81esW6bXErL._SL1500_ Michael Sweet’s 10th solo studio album brings us a very Stryper sounding album, but one that takes us back to the early days of Yellow & Back Attack and To Hell With the Devil which in my opinion is a very good thing.  He brings a special guest on each song which you would think would make the album a little disjointed, but it works on so many levels.  The album rocks out from beginning to end!

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Tom Keifer – ‘Rise’ – Album Review

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Tom Keifer brings us his second solo album and pretty much let’s you know that he means business.  Now known as the Keifer Band, the album has that band feel.  They are tight and solid and they blow your freaking ears off.  This album is loud, it is raucous, it is dirty, it is gritty, it is out and out nasty at times and all in a good way.  The band is Tony Higbee (lead guitar), Billy Mercer (bass), Jarred Pope (drums), Kory Myers (keyboards) and Kendra Chantelle and his wife Savannah Keifer (backing vocals).

The thing I noticed most about this release is the guitar sound.  Tony Higbee is a beast and tears it up song after song.  His guitar has that dirty blues rock guitar sound that hits you in the gut in a way that knocks your breathe away and is satisfying all at the same time.  That gut wrenching, distorted sound is the masterpiece of this release next to Keifer’s songwriting and vocals which is why we are in the first place.

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Tom Keifer puts to rest any thoughts of a Cinderella reunion because after you hear this you realize you could care less to go back and revisit after such an outstanding release.  You get two opening tracks that are heavy and badass with “Touching the Devine” and “The Death In Me” and then he slows it down with the well-written “Waiting on the Demons” before getting slapped in the face again with “Hype” and Higbee’s killer guitar sound.

The coolest and best song for me on this album is “Untitled” as it has this eerie guitar opening riff that turns in to a nasty blues riff and Keifer comes in with a deeper vocal before hitting that signature high pitch vocal we all know and love.  Tom slows it down again with the epic sounding “Rise” which is exactly what he has done.  He has had vocal issues, legal issues and health issues and like the phoenix, Tom has risen to give us one of the best albums he has ever done.

“All Amped Up” is exactly as it sounds.  A return to the heavy and the good times.  And then we get to the only two songs I wasn’t overly thrilled with “Breaking Down” and “Taste for the Pain” as they both were a little dull and felt like filler.  But don’t be disheartened as “Life Was Here” brings the energy back and Tom delivers another great track.  The album closes with the acoustic track “You Believe in Me” which is only a guitar and Tom’s vocals.  It is quite beautiful and a nice way to go out.

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I have loved this album and has been on almost non-stop since its release. Tom Keifer brings his roots and influences full force with one of the best Hard Rock Blues album I have heard in a long time.  Like a fine wine, Tom keeps getting better with age and shows no signs of slowing down.  The production and songwriting were top-notch and that guitar sound was the most killer part of the whole package.  For all of those things, I give it a 4.5 out of 5.0 Stars with a Track Score of 82% (9 out of 11) since there were only 2 out of 11 songs I didn’t care for.  An incredible release that will certainly make my Top Rock Albums of 2019 list at the end of the year.

Friday New Releases – September 13th

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Welcome to Friday new releases on this Friday the 13th.  And let me tell you this is a lucky Friday…no bad news here.  There are an abundance of releases this week that I am excited about and it might be the best week in quite a long time or even all year.  There are over 25 on this list and maybe 1/2 I am interested in at listening to once. How long is that going to take…it could be next September.  My choices will be highlighted in Blue.  Let me know what you see that you like and what I might be missing (could there be anything???).  Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

The most important…

  • 717mqiZN3dL._SX522_  The Defiants – Zokusho – (Frontiers Records):  Man, I am super excited about this one.  Paul Laine and the Danger Danger boys are back with their second release and if it is half as good as the debut, then we are in for a treat.  The first 3 songs they have previewed are sensational!!  So expectations are HIGH!!  I don’t usually listen to songs that are previewed on albums I am anxious about, but I could wait.  If you like 80’s brand rock with modern productions, you will be in for a treat.

  • A1EaP+943DL._SX522_.jpg  Tom Keifer – Rise – (Cleopatra Music): The voice of Cinderella is back with his 2nd solo album.  His first was fantastic and nothing less is expected on this one.  His blues rock and the gravely voice is just what the doctor ordered so grab a copy and crank it up.  A great weekend is ahead.

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Friday New Releases – October 20th

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October is flying by and there are a bunch of new ones available this week…even Christmas albums if you are so inclined.  There are some brand new bands, some old favorites and some fabulous reissues/deluxe editions.  My choices are highlighted in Blue.  Let me know which ones you are interested in with a comment below.  Thanks and have a great weekend.

  • 61tzU2GB7VL._AC_US160_  Sons of Apollo – Pyschotic Symphony – (Inside Out Music):  Another supergroup and another one featuring Billy Sheehan and Mike Portnoy.  If you liked in The Winery Dogs, this is not the Winery Dogs.  This is a much heavier band with Jeff Scott Soto on lead vocals rather than Richie Kotzen.  Also on the record is Bumblefoot on guitar and Derek Sherinian that make this a massive group with a massive sound.  Can’t wait to dive into this one.

  • 51TQWYRXviL._AC_US218_  Europe – Walk the Earth – (Silver Lining Music):  Europe is still putting out quality albums after 35+ years in the business.  The took most of the 90’s off, but came roar back in the 2000’s and have been non-stop ever since.  I have held off from listening to anything on this one yet as I want to take it in all at once.

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