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ARTENSION - Forces Of Nature (Shrapnel)
After a few listens I'm finding a good deal of it quite tolerable and good. Right off the bat it is the use those cheap sounding synths (c'mon just use a hammond man!), and the guitar coming off as that generic shread style used by plenty of modern "prog" guitarists - the same tone every song! What is big on this album is the interesting songwriting and John West's strong vox, which at times reminds me of Tony Martin (ex Sabbath). Fave track is "Tall Ships" - a mid tempo powerful song, somewhat dramatic and with a fine melodic catch to it, features a really strong vocal from West. "Guardian Of The Hunt" is another track that stands out; a cool dramatic ballad. One other thing that's quite noticeable throughout this album is the powerful drum sound of Shane Gaalaas - very up front, and more rock oriented than technical - i like it!
Should appeal to modern day metal-progsters, and rockers; this being more rock than prog if you ask me, and these guys can come up with fine songs and performances (for the most part!).
GROOVE KITCHEN - Poor White Trash (Subhuman)
This Tennessee based metal outfit rides on fast paced energetic riff tunes, and some decent grooves.
This being the band's first CD release, featuring 10 tracks. Vocally, there's a strong resmemblance to JACKYLL, but musically these guys are less of the BS (no chain-saws!), and tracks like "D.U.I." and "Snail Darter Theme" are cool groove rockers, with a powerful mix of guitar, bass, and drums (the latter with 1 cool solo!). After that Groove Kitchen is into gritty bar-room speed rockers like "Hell to Pay" and "Nacho Kind", fun songs (especially if you're drinking I imagine!), but not big on memorable melodies or riffs (mind you the solos are something else!). Groove Kitchen should appeal to a wide range of hard rockers, drawing reminders of old BOC, Sabbath, Jackyll, Motorhead, Blackfoot , and Iron Maiden.
For more info on the band write Groove Kitchen : P.O. Box 359, Chuckey, TN., 37641, USA.
BORISLAV MITIC - Borislav Mitic (Shrapnel)
This Belgrade born guitar meistro (now residing in Quebec) blames Ymgwie Malmsteen for his intro to mixing classical and rock (actually, not really blame but thanks for the tips). Well, what can be said - the guy can play massive amounts of notes & chords, and mixes his classical tastes with classic hard rock (ala Deep Purple, Iron Maiden, etc...). A few things are quite enjoyable here, especially "Waltz of Time" but others like "Chasing The Dream" and the last track (hold it - i can't even keep track of the songs 'cause there's no vocals, and there's a bunch of 2 parters) just irritate me - like mixing classical influenced metal with old dance songs from back home, and cramming as many notes in as possible! Well, it all pieces together nicely (highs and lows, ballads, powerful rock tunes), but as far as it being a rock album that I can get into - I dunno, maybe it's another "musician's album" for those that have the attention span to count the notes or whatever.
For more info write Borislav Mitic : P.O. Box 832 Station H., Montreal, Quebec, H3G 2M8, Canada.
SAMMY HAGAR & The Waboritas - Red Voodoo(MCA)
I just don't get it! Here's a guy with loads of talent, fame, connections, etc.... For a while I felt sorry for Sammy after the boot from Van Halen, and was happy to see he could pick up his solo career with a good bit of success with the "Marching To Mars" disc. Once a guitar-driven "red rocker", now wanting to be 'hip' with annoying anthems like "Mas Tequila" (man, that Gary Glitter thing really drives me nuts!) and "The Revival", and then the just plain awful "Shag"! (what's with the horns?). All that's missing here is a cover of "The Macarena"!! Sure the annoying tracks jump out at ya right away, but there are a few decent rockers here that save Sammy & His Wobbleritos from real embarrassment, such as "Sympathy For The Human" and "Right On Right"; as well as the power-ballad "Lay Your Hand On Me". Apart from that there's the cheesy pop of "Red Voodoo", generic honky-tonk slop of "Don't Fight It" (man, what is going on here?), and your standard Van Halen tosser "The Love". I really like Sammy's solo stuff pre VH, but now I'm wonderin'! 11 tunes, 5 that make me wretch, and a few brilliant moments of old Sammy Hagar! Cheesy cover to boot!
QUIET RIOT - Alive and Well (Deadline)
Here Quiet Riot who were forefront in the LA metal movement back in the early 80s obtaining hits off of a few old Slade classics, and their own anthem "Metal Health", spring back to life with the same line up as the 80s. Alive & Well features 8 new songs, a cover of AC/DCs "Highway To Hell" (one painful tune here!), and 6 remakes of their old hits! (Huh?). The new songs show that Kevin DuBrow and company can still come up with some catchy metal anthems in the likes of the opener "Don't Know What I Want", the aggressive "Angry", and "Too Much Information". "The Ritual" is another heavy track that stands out, it's slower paced, with DuBrow doing a dark vocal in the vein of Dio. There's a few cheesey moments on 80s pop-metal anthems like "Overworked And Underpaid" (geez, the title's enough!), and "Slam Dunk". But hey, 6 of the first 9 tracks are very likeable! The latter 6 tracks are listed as "Bonus" tracks, and they're all remakes, 4 of the band's own are quite enjoyable being done with a good bit of bite, but uhm maybe it's me, but DuBrow sounds kinda bored on the Slade tunes, and kinda hurtin for the high notes on "Metal Health". Anyway, here's wishing the band some success with this release, 'cause it's a fine offering, with some very good new material and heck the bands greatest hits all in one! Oh, and not to mention that band members were no slouches, most notably Rudy Sarzo (bass) who worked with Ozzy and a number of other acts, and Frankie Banalie (drums) who worked with Wasp and a few others in more recent years.
Humanary Stew : A Tribute To ALICE COOPER (Triage)
By far my favorite tribute disc to date! Here producer / guitarist Bob Kulick has assembled a stellar list of hard-rock names, similar to the likes of the Queen tribute of a few years back. Unfortunately I thought the Queen disc was a bit over-blown sound-wise and technically, however what stands out here is not only some of the superb musicianship - but more the big vocal contributions! This - to me, is a singer's album. The list of singer's is very impressive and the performances are even more so, and surprising on a few.
Best picks here are Roger Daltrey doing "No More Mr Nice Guy" (sounds not unlike Alice either, despite Daltrey's voice starting to go), RJ Dio doing "Welcome To My Nightmare", Dee Snider on "Go To Hell", Glenn Hughes on "Only Women Bleed", and Phil Lewis (LA Guns) doing "Billion Dollar Babies". Bruce Dickinson's take of "Black Widow" - complete with him narrating the speech (originally done by Vincent Price) is remarkable! - as if the song was made for him! Even Joe Elliot (Def Leppard) comes up with a surprisingly decent vocal on "Under My Wheels", as does Dave Mustaine on "Schools Out". Musically, the performances on "No More Mr Nice Guy" stands out with Slash on guitar, Carmine Appice on drums, Kulick, and Mike Inez (Ozzy) on bass as does "I'm 18" with John Norum on guitar, Kulick, Tim Bogert (bass), and Gregg Bissonette on drums. Other names here include guitarists Marty Freidman (Megadeth), Steve Lukather (Toto and a dozen others!), Paul Gilbert (Mr Big), Billy Duffy (The Cult), and Zakk Wylde, drummers Frankie Banali (Wasp, Quiet Riot), Eric Singer, and Tommy Aldridge; bassists Bob Daisley (Ozzy, Heep, Dio, ....), Billy Sheehan, Rudy Sarzo, and Mike Porcaro.
Can't argue with the song selection here either, with 11 classics from the original band days to Alice's second solo outting "Go To Hell". Credit to Bob Kulick for assembling such a fine group, and creating a tribute to the Coop so fitting and lively!
MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP - The Unforgiven (Shrapnel)
I must say I haven't paid much attention to Schenker since his disgraceful exit from the UFO reunion tour a few years back! I loved his work with that band, but never got into his MSG stuff much, and his last disc "Written In Sand" was a laregly forgettable thing. "The Unforgiven" sees Schenker team up with singer Kelly Keelin, who at times sounds like David Coverdale, especially on the lead off track "Rude Awakening" - which is one cool lead off track. Two things that bother me here are that Schenker's playing seems a bit smooth, kinda taking away the edge that he had on UFO's "Walk On Water", and it's all got that trademark Shrapnel production sound. The other thing being that he rarely comes up with a big strong riff, but more so a sophisticated hook here and there, that are often interchangeable and forgettable! But don't misunderstand me, 'cause there are some good songs here, such as "In And Out Of Love", "Hello Angel" and "Tower". Best moments here are the 2 lighter tracks - "Forever And More" and "The Storm" - both featuring Schenker at his best, and strong vox from Keeling (who's outta the band already), the latter being a very powerful tune! Schenker's a brilliant soloist as well, and his solos provide a load of the highlights on this disc. Unfortunately, I think the production here lacks an edge, and is a bit too nice. My only other question is why they call this a "group" when all we see is 4 seperate pics of Schenker's mug throughout the packaging!?
CALIBAN - Caliban (Magna Carta)
Side project of Celtic-rock band 'Tempest' members Lief Sorbye and Michael Mullen. This being far from any 'rock', but rather a very intimate set of more traditionally based Celtic-folk tunes. Using primarily mandolins and fiddles, the duo journey through original arrangements with covered songs ranging from "The JourneyMan" (traditional words) put to music written by Sorbye, Billy Connoly's "Oh No" (Scottish born Connoly was big back in the 60s), the Norwegian tune "Jeg Lagde Meg Sa Silde", and the British tune "What Put The Blood?" - which is without any instrumentation, just vox. An interesting experience musically and lyrically (not that i've sat through much of this sort of music!)! Actually, found it pretty enjoyable, rock or not! Great performances, and a neat selection of tunes! Also includes guest appearance by Robert Berry.
WASP - Helldorado (CMC)
Call it ironic that here Blackie Lawless and company are doing the 'back to our roots' thing after the damned awful "Kill, F**k, Die" milarky of a few years ago! In a phrase - the old Wasp is back! For better or worse, the band has revived it's ruff, guitar, and growl sound of the 80s. Tracks like "Helldorado", "Damnation Angels", and "Saturday Night Cockfight" will appease many old Wasp fans. Only drawbacks being Blackie's screaming vox on a few cuts, and his perverted lyrics and use of profanity. (Although old fans probably like this sort of stuff!). The guitars are heavier, the production is cleaner than the early albums, and there's no goofy experiments or soupy ballads to slow the thing down! Features great art, but what's with all the hats, t-shirts, and signed junk for sale in the CD booklet? I sense a Kiss - inspired fan hosing here!
For more info check out > www.waspnation.com
UNION - Live At The Galaxy (Standback)
An interesting surprise here from a band that got a lot of attention when they formed (featuring John Corabi - ex Motley Crue, and Bruce Kulick - ex Kiss), and their excellent debut album from last year got little air-play (around here anyway), and here the band are between studio albums with a live disc! Well, it's not a waisted release 'cause the band sound good live as well, doing about half of their debut album plus a Scream tune, 1 Motley Crue tune, and 2 Kiss songs. There's also a cool cover of Cheap Trick's "Surrender", a studio cover of The Beatles' "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away", and an alternate acoustic version of the excellent "October Morning Wind" from their debut album. The choice of tracks and the band's heavy guitar dominated live sound make this a nice stop-gap and treat for fans.
Check out on-line > www.unionasylum.com
ALLDARON WEST - 69 Devil Dog Road
AlldoRon West offers up his own release of 15 tracks showcasing a very interesting cross of earthy, blues and classic rock inspired originals and a few covers that should gather a fair bit of interest for West's new and refreshing approaches to them. The title track leads off the disc, and it's an upbeat piano lead story tune that reminds me of Steve Earle for some reason. Vocally, this guy sounds a heck of a lot like Jon Bon Jovi, albeit a bit less dramatic. Many of the songs are story based, and the piano plays a prominent role throughout the album, on the ballads and upbeat rock tunes as well. (Although this album leans more towards the ballads). Standout original tracks include "Time To Say Goodbye" and "Scared Of Losing You".
Covers here include Dylan's "Knockin On Heaven's Door" (a song that's been done numerous times, but this version is quite interesting!), "Runaround Sue", Mac Davis' "In The Ghetto", and my own favorite "My Way", very cool, and a great vocal! For me, "69 Devil Dog Road" only lacks in more rock tunes, but hey the songs are pretty good, and the performances, vox, and presentations are all excellent and something unique.
Check out on-line > www.AlldaRon-West.com <
NICHOLSON - I Drive (Loggerhead)
Canadian band named after lead singer and main writer Wayne Nicholson. Pop - rock stuff that starts out with the title track like these guys wanna rock, but eventually wind down offering up ballads, rootsy rockers ala John Mellencamp / Bon Jovi, bouncy, with the hammond in the background, albeit some cool guitar breaks. The ballads (and there are many) are largely good, especially "Stealing Away The Years" - which has a good bit of commercial appeal to it. Closes with one odd southern blues tune - "13 Vultures".
LONG TOM & THE DUSTY DANGLERS - Country Girl (Alien)
Comedic country - rock side project by Phil Naro and friends featuring 5 tunes. The title track is simply hilarious, a cowboy ballad with lines like "She grabbed my bag....of chips....." and "I saw her snatch....her purse...." ... well you have to hear the whole thing to fully understand! There's also a cover of the Rolling Stones "Dead Flowers", and the funny bar-room country stomper "How Can I Miss Her". A nice depature from the norm, and the humour makes it accessable to everyone (non-country fans!), some great harmonies and playing to boot!
For more info check out >www.interlog.com/~pnaro
JEFF WATSON - Around The Sun (Deadline)
Solo outing from Night Ranger / Mothers Army guitarist which features vocalists Aaron Hagar and Steve Walsh (Kansas), as well as Mothers Army side-kick Bob Daisley, drummer Spike, a few others, and Watson doing a lot of bass, drums, keys, and vox as well. This one's a nice surprise: Sure a good bit of it is in the mold of the Night Ranger aor stuff, but it's a bit heavier in places, and Watson shows he really is quite the guitar player and songwriter. Rockers like "Life Goes On" and "Tightrope" will please any hard rock fan -- Walsh's vocals being a major highlight of the latter track! Other cool tunes include the opening melodic dreamy number "Glass Revenge" and the more progressive track "Follow". Lacking in rockers here though as the disc winds down with like 5 straight ballads (albeit not bad songs)! Watson, I would think is just trying to expand his own musical goals here with various guitar and songwriting styles, and he does a pretty good job. Here's hoping he'll do another and bring back Steve Walsh as well, and do some heavier stuff!
For more info on Jeff Watson write to The Jeff Watson Fan Club : 20 Sunnyside Ave, #149, Mill Valley, California, 94941.
PLATYPUS - When Pus Comes To Shove (Velvel)
'Super-group' consisting ofTy Tabor (Kings X), Derek Sherinian (ex Alice Cooper, DreamTheatre), Rod Morgenstein, and John Myung. This being a HR-Prog fans perfect combo, with tracks like "Standing In Line" with it's fast pace and hammond sound will make it appealing to old Heep fans, while this disc also branches out to progressive tracks like "Platt Opus", melodic rockers like "I'm With You", and smooth balladry in "Nothing To Say". Traces here of Rush, Saga, Purple -- all influences of many of the musicians involved here, I'd bet. Plenty of nice harmonies, outstanding performances without being over-done and over-produced. Numerous guitar styles, a killer rhythm section, and most notably Derek Sherinian's keyboards which he makes good use of paino, hammond, and synths on varying tracks.
STYX - Brave New World (CMC / BMG)
The first album featuring Tommy Shaw, Dennis DeYoung, Tommy Shaw, and Chuck Panozzo all back together again since 1984, and with new drummer Todd Sucherman (who's replaced the late John Panozzo). Shaw, DeYoung, and Young have been by and large the creative heart of this band since 1976, so many fans were dismayed when Shaw didn't participate in 1991's "Edge Of The Century", but here Shaw is the leading force in Styx '99! "Brave New World" is the most mature sounding and lyrical album the band has done to date, encompassing all the classic Styx aspects with 3 singers, harmonies, cool pop rockers, ballads, and more experimentatioon than usual -- making this probably the most diverse Styx album as well. Shaw contributes writing to 9 of the 14 tunes here, most notably "I Will Be Your Witness" (co-written with sidekick Jack Blades), "Everything Is Cool" (which borrows the intro from Tull's "Locomotive Breath"!), and the 2 heaviest rock tracks that he co-wrote with James Young (JY always being the Rcoker of the band!) - "What Have They Done To You" and "Heavy Water". DeYoung meanwhile adds some typical, yet classic ballads such as "Fallen Angel" and "While There's Still Time". This album being such a 'deep' album means that if you don't like much first listen -- put it on again, and again... it's a grower, and each listen is better than the previous! Styx have shown that they can still make a great album that will appeal to the old fan, yet be modern and fresh enough to appeal to new ones.
For more on Styx check out > www.paradisetheatre.com <
RE-ISSUES
WHITE WITCH - White Witch (Capricorn)
The first of 2 albums from this US prog band, with some glam leanings in 1972. Classic 70s stuff throughout with loads of brilliant harmonies, hammond, moogs, acoustic and heavy guitar, and unforgettable melodies like "Don't Close Your Mind" and "You're The One", along with prog-rockers like "Illusion" and "Have You Ever Thought Of Changing", and the catchy dittie "It's So Nice To Be Stoned".
A forgotten great album now available again to check out for any self-respecting classic rock fans!
HYDRA - Land Of Money (Capricorn)
This was the 2nd of 3 mid-70s albums by this Southern - US band lead by the distinctive vocals of Wayne Bruce. Very guitar - riff based stuff, with classic songs like the opening rocker "Little Miss Rock N Roll", the heavy mid-paced title track, more progressive mid-tempo cut "Don't Let Time Pass By" (killer guitar solo), and the closing ballad "Take Me For My Music" (with nice hammond and slide guitar!). A cool album around, and recommended here!
WET WILLIE - The Wetter The Better (Capricorn)
The 6th album by this US R&B based rock band, which featured such hits as the funky "Bay Fat", and the smooth "Everything That 'Cha Do (Will Come Back To You)". Also contains the upbeat guitar-rock intro cut "No No No", the Sothern rock number "Walkin By Myself", and the closing beautiful ballad "Everybody's Stoned". Gotta love all the great guitar work (slide, acoustic, electric..), piano, moog, organ, harmonica and sax here, and then the fabulous vocals! Classic 70s stuff, love it!!
ALEX TAYLOR - Dinnertime (Capricorn)
The oldest of the 3 musical Taylor brothers (James being the most successful), Alex relied on covering other people's material. "Dinnertime" was his 2nd album originally released in 1972, and features a good mix of folk, country, southern, rock and blues styles. Most interesting cuts here include Scott Boyer's southern folk ballad "Comin Back To You" (love the organ!), Stephen Still's countrified "Four Days Gone", Charlie Rich's blues gem "Who Will The Next Fool Be", and Bob Dylan's "From A Buick Six". Taylor co-wrote the closest thing to a rock cut here - "Change Your Sexy Ways". Alex Taylor had one of those cool southern voices that's perfect for this sort of stuff, much in the vein of the Van Zant brothers, and various other great Southern rock singers. Simple production here, with most songs consisting of acoustic guitar, organ, and / or piano. I imagine a lot of people got stoned to this stuff in it's day!
LIVINGSTON TAYLOR - Over The Rainbow (Capricorn)
Livingston Taylor's 3rd album is significantly different to brother Alex's abums of the same era. Livingston was focused on songwriting, poetry, and used a wider vocal range that was very different as well. The songs here are still folky, but more productions, harmonies, less countrified, and numerous musicians appearing - most notably Tony Levin (bass), brother James (backing vox), and Carly Simon (backing vox). Includes largely ballads with a few standout tracks - from the gospel vocal display of "Loving Be My New Horizon", to the simple piano gem "Falling In Love With You", the more upscale "Lady Tomorrow", and the fine epic production of "Oh Halleljah", as well as covers of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow", and George Harrison's "If I Needed Someone". Nice stuff, but lacking in a few upbeat tunes to pick things up a bit.
