My Sunday Song – “Run Like the Devil” by Tony Martin

For My Sunday Song #404, Harrison has chosen “Run Like the Devil” by singer Tony Martin. The song is off Tony’s 2022 solo album, ‘Thorns’, which was his first solo album since 2005’s ‘Scream’. The song was written by Tony Martin and Scott McLellan who plays guitar on the song (and the album). The former Black Sabbath singer really brings the metal on this song and the album. 

The song’s lyrics are dark and foreboding, while the music is heavy, and fast and little brighter. I am not sure the actual meaning behind it, but for me the song speaks of the evil that is always lurking and poking at you. You have to rise up, fly away and get away from it as fast as you can. Stay ahead of all the evil out there and do great things. If you make the wrong choices, it will hold you back and you will die, withering on the vine.

Musically, the song is really close to speed metal and it will crush your soul with the heaviness of it. Tony’s vocals soar at times as he races through the lyrics to keep up with that tempo. And he can still hit those crazy high notes. The drums are fast and frenzied and fabulous. Their bombastic strength is the driving force behind the song. Scott’s guitar work is lightning quick and he definitely shines on here as well, I mean just listen to that solo. The song is a super-heavy blistering track that shows how Tony is so good at what he does.

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My Sunday Song – “Loser Gets It All” By Black Sabbath

For My Sunday Song #391, we are kicking off a whole new 10 song set and this time around, Mike Ladano from Grab A Stack of Rock will be picking the songs. And he has a great theme and this one is Japanese Bonus Tracks. It is those songs that were recorded during the album’s recording, but didn’t make the main album around the world, but made it to the Japanese edition as a bonus track. The more, expensive sought after Japanese Edition. If it has a Japanese bonus track, Mike is going to buy it. The first song up is from Black Sabbath’s 1995 album ‘Forbidden’ and is called “Loser Gets It All”.

The music is written by Black Sabbath and the lyrics are by, then singer, Tony Martin. The song seems to be about the fact there is never a good time to lose as there are always people watching you and judging you waiting for you to fail. And when you do, they will all see it and say something. There are a lot of gambling references in the opening verse about winning, then the rest of the song is about losing.

I will admit that I didn’t (and haven’t) listened to this era of Sabbath so this song is very new to me. I do like Tony Martin’s vocals so I can get behind this one. The song is a solid rocker, it short and sweet. But I like it a lot. I read somewhere that Tony Iommi loves this song and it is one of his favorites to perform which is cool…so why didn’t it make the album and was it relegated to a bonus track??? The guitar playing is great, I mean it is Tony Iommi so why wouldn’t it be. I found Mike’s review of the Forbidden album and he hated that album, but stated that this song was the best song on the album. Crazy!!

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You Picked It! Blue Murder – ‘Blue Murder’ (1989) – Album Review

Alright…You Picked It! This one was really close. So close in fact that I had a 3-Way tie for first. So I went on to my personal Facebook Page and posted to get a final run at votes and then Blue Murder ran away with it. Since this is the final “You Pick It” post, at least we are going out with a bang.

  1. Blue Murder – ‘Blue Murder’ – 8 votes
  2. The Scream – ‘Let It Scream’ – 6 votes
  3. Diving For Pearls – ‘Diving For Pearls – 5 votes
  4. RTZ – ‘Return to Zero’ – 2 votes
  5. Saigon Kick – ‘Saigon Kick – 1 vote

Thanks to all for participating in this series for the last few years. It has been fun, but it is time to come to an end. Since I am down to 1 Series currently (The Jeff Scott Soto Series) as the Scorpions Series is ending, I am going to start reviewing a bunch of things in my collection until it is time to start the Bon Jovi Series…not sure when that will be but it will be coming some time this Summer. For now, enjoy the Blue Murder review…

BLUE MURDER – ‘BLUE MURDER’ (1989):

With a sudden dismissal from Whitesnake, which is a story all unto itself, John Sykes had a lot to prove. His guitar work was on full display with Whitesnake’s 1987 self-titled album and fans wanted more…me included. John, along with some stellar musicians including Carmine Appice (Vanilla Fudge, Ozzy) and Tony Franklin (The Firm) formed the band Blue Murder and they brought a bluesy, rock sound that needed to be heard. With Bob Rock as producer and Mike Fraser mixing, damn it was a lethal combination of people,

And it should’ve been heard as critics loved it and his fans as well, but John made a huge mistake in signing with Geffen Records, the same label that his former band, Whitesnake, was signed to as well. Whitesnake was the label’s shining gem. It has been said that David Coverdale wanted this album squashed and it feels like it was as it came and went without much of a whimper, but for fans of John Sykes, it is an incredible masterpiece of guitar wizardry and when you have Carmine and Tony behind you, you know the rhythm section can’t be quite matched by many. Let’s dive right in and get to the music and see if it holds up to the hype…

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Friday New Releases – January 14, 2022

Welcome back to the Friday New Releases. This week sees a big jump in releases over last week with over 40 releases. I would say things are back in full swing!! A handful of big releases this week and a couple I am looking forward to hear and they are marked in Blue. Let me know what is out this week that excites you as I hope there is something for you. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!

  • 71GZTqxu8qL._AC_UY436_FMwebp_QL65_  Skillet – Dominion – (Atlantic Recording / WEA): This Christian Rock band from Tennessee is now on their 11th Studio album and they have changed so much over the years it is crazy to think how far they’ve come. Lately thought it all seems the same so I am hoping we get something a little different with this one. We will see.
  • 715HK2Gkz5L._AC_UY436_FMwebp_QL65_  Tony Martin – Thorns – (Dark Star Records): Former Black Sabbath singer is back with another solo album. It has been awhile since his last one so can’t wait to hear what he brings to the table this time around.

And then all the rest…

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