Saturday, February 27, 2010

Black Robot

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Rocket Science
2010


The fact that Black Robot includes three former Buckcherry member sin it's ranks might lead one to expect the sound here to be similar to Buckcherry. There are a few AC/DC inspired tracks, but not as much of a Buckcherry sound as I might have expected. The overall feel to this album is a cross between 70's blues rock like AC/DC, Zeppelin and Aerosmith and more modern hard rock polish on top. The results didn't click with me at first in fact I am still completely in love with nor do I expect to be, but it is growing a little on me. It's an energetic presentation of familar ideas. What I like about it is the energy and the slightly retro flavor that is weaved throughout. The problem I had was they often times rush through a few parts where they could have gotten more out of it by taking their time and buiding up the grooves. I felt like they glossed over some parts more than they needed to. A part of that is the production, but I think that the sound would have beniffited greatly if they tightened up around the edges. That might just come on the next release. It's a decent release that is likely to appeal to a wide audience.

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Friday, February 26, 2010

Battle of the bands

There were plenty of glam bands pouring out of America in the 1980's and many of them were lame, talentless or unoriginal. However there were a few leaders of sorts. Here are two of the top ones.

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Guns -n- Roses

vs.

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Motley Crue

***Which band do you prefer? Why?

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Thursday, February 25, 2010

Clash of the album covers

It is...


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Heathen-Breaking the silence


Vs.
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Nuclear Assault-Game Over


***Which cover do you prefer?

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What's coming up?

I finally got a new computer yesterday, but did have not had much time to do anything with it due to a sick child and other things. I hope to get back to more regular posts with pics soon posisble even tonight. So I will aim to have out reviews of the latest from Robin Brock, Black Robot and Dirt Mall plus maybe double doses of Clash of the album covers and Battle of the bands in the next week.

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Wednesday, February 24, 2010

The unknown

I have hear a lot of bands over the years. The good, the bad and everyone in between. Still there are of course a multitude that I have not heard because of lack of time, money or just general lack of interest on my part. However back in the 80's I would spend so much time in record stores looking at all of the choices even if I didn't have the funds to buy anything. Some of these bands I heard back then, some I heard years later and some I have still never got around to hearing. Here are some that fall in the last category that I remember seeing albums for back in the 1980-early 90's.

Tarzen-I saw the s/t debut from this Spanish band in a local record store around 85-86 and was curious. Never heard or really pursued it. Most reports say I am not missing anything.

Darkness-No, not the Darkness, but rather a German thrash outfit that knocked out several albums. I loved Kreator, Sodom and the like years ago and several times I had albums by this band in my clutches, but always opted for something else.

Warlord-I remember seeing "And the cannons of destruction have begun" at one point and had even heard of this band in the metal mags. I don't know why I passed on them, but most sources say they are worth checking out.

I am sure there are countless others I passed on, but those are the top ones that come to my mind right away.

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Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Tunnel-s/t

Driver Wild Music
2009

I wasn't too pleased when vocalist Robert Mason went Warrant last year. Not just because it meant that Warrant would continue to make music, but rather because Mason had been with Big Cock and I think that after three albums they had started to gel. The first two Big Cock albums with both raw even clunky at times although the second one definitely showed far more tightness around the edges. Then came "Motherload" in early 2008. Okay, it had all the goofy sexual lyrics just like the previous outings, but what had changed was that the music had jumped several levels in quality. It was if everything had fallen into place and the sound just flowed. Then Mason went to Warrant and I figured that was the end of Big Cock and in a way it was. So what does that history lesson have to do with disc? Well, guitarist David Henzerling bounced back fast, pulled in some help and put together an album that picks up in the same tracks of where Big Cock left off. The cock and roll lyrics of Henzerling's former project are gone, but music, vocal style and overall direction are very similar to Motherload. For influences I hear a mixture of Lynch Mob, Tesla, Van Halen and even Henzerling's early band King Kobra. The rhythms are basic, but smooth. The powerful vocals of Scott Hammons push to get as much out of the material as possible. The solos are normally right on the money with plenty of control and variation in tones. The rhythm section (including Henzerling handling bass duties too) are exactly what they need to be with is loud and providing a great backdrop. There isn't a whole lot here that you have not heard before, but it's played extremely well with a lot of confidence and very little filler. With all of the above going for it Tunnel's debut comes across as a good hard rock album that all involved should be proud of.

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Monday, February 22, 2010

Judas Priest as heard by a five year old

Last week one night the kids were watching something in the living room. I went to out bedroom to get some laundry folded and put away. While there I decided to put in Judas Priest's Live Vengeance 1982 DVD to make the chore go faster. While I was watching in my five (almost six) year old came in to see what I was doing. She stayed for a few songs and had these observations.

(On Rob Halford) "Boy, he has a huge screaming voice" and "Does it hurt to sing like that?"

Next she asked if this was recorded a long time ago and I said yes. She followed with "Wow, they must all grandpas by now and I'll bet they don't go out an do this loud music anymore since they are all grandpas".

One she said more than once "I guess they aren't wearing shirts because they are so hot and sweating. I guess they didn't want to get their shirts sweaty so they took them off first".

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Saturday, February 20, 2010

Fatalist-The depths of inhumanity

Ibex moon
2009

I was a huge thrash fan in the 1980's and it seemed a natural for me to migrate into death metal in the late 1980's and early 1990's. I did to some extent and liked a number of acts of the time, but just like thrash there were a lot of bands who went through the paces but didn't do enough to define themselves. So many bands sounded the same and that was a large reason why I wasn't as big in death metal after a certain point. Fatalist remind me of those feelings I had almost twenty years ago. They go through the paces of old school death metal with the required heaviness, growls and lightning quick drums. Problem is that they don't reallty push enough to be anything other than adeuate. I heard a few brief moments where they stray from the routine and interject some different riff or even a few bass lines standing on their own. However those moments are very few and far between. I listened to this album in it's entirety twice and afterwards still had trouble remembering a whole lot about it. Even die hard fans of the genre will have trouble finding strong reasons for listening to this band. It's not bad at all, but all in all it's rather faceless attempt.

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Friday, February 19, 2010

The best bargains

As a companion piece to my post yesterday I thought that I would share a few bargains I got on vinyl because fortunately I didn't let them all get away.

The greatest yard sale ever-There is a yearly community yard sale/flea market thing at a nearby town and years ago it was better than it has been in recent years. In the spring of 1992 I stumbled upon one house on the strip of yard sale places that was back from the others and I think people skipped it because of that. That mat helped me because it was hours after the even started but this place had boxes full of albums. I didn't have a huge amount of money, but I did get Judas Priest's Sad wings of destiny on picture disc, Ozzy's The ultimate live picture disc, Grim Reaper's Fear no evil, AC/DC-Put the finger on you 12 inch single, Alice Cooper-Killer and Montrose-s/t. The picture discs were $3 a piece and the others were a buck a piece.

In the early 90's a lot of stores thought vinyl was on the way out so in 91-93 I picked up a lot of stuff cheap. I remember going to one store and buying a number of Twisted Sister, Dio, WASP, Venom and other 12 inch UK singles for .50-$1.00 each. Many of them were new and still sealed.

In 1989 a mall store was clearing out lots of metal on vinyl and I got King Diamond's Abigail and Slayer-Live undead on picture disc for like $4 each.

I am sure there were others, but those are some of the best ones that come to mind.

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Thursday, February 18, 2010

The ones that got away

This is about albums not fish. Now I first if I had not been such a lunkhead in the 80's and I had bought just a 1/3 of the things I bought on cassette on vinyl instead then I would be very happy. Instead I invested way too much into a very poor format. However that's not exactly what this topic is about. This is more about albums I saw at one point and could have had them for fair amounts new, but I passed on them and never ended up with them later on either. Here are a few I remember.

Guns and Roses-Live like a suicide
I saw this on vinyl at a mall store in probably early 1988 for like $8. I had it in my hands and put it back for Kreator's Endless Pain. Okay musicly the Kreator album is much better, but as far a rarity I made the wrong choice and could kick myself because I never saw that on in a store again.


Iron Maiden-Flight of Icarus
Lots of places had those Maiden twelve inch singles. This one was at a local store for $4.99 in 1985 I think. Again I had it in my hands and had just enough money for it, but I think I wasn't that big into vinyl yet so I passed. It was gone the next time I went back to that store.

Mercyful Fate-Curse of the pharoahs
I saw this for about $8 at a Sound Waves in 1987 and instead bought M.O.D.'s USA for M.O.D.
So I passed up a rarity for a goofy joke album.

Quiet Riot-Metal Health picture disc
I could probably get this for an okay amount if I wanted it that bad and if I combed eBay for a while. Not all that rare, but it was during a going out of business sale and I could have gotten it half price which would have been $5. That was all I had on me so I waited until I got paid a few days later, came back and it was of course gone.

Anything you regret missing out on?

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What's coming up?

I am still hoping to get a new computer soon.

In the next week I hope to have reviews of the latest from Robin Brock, Black Robot and likely 1-2 others. Possibly Ibex Moon bands since I have several of those I need to get to.

Have a great week.

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Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Surtr-demo

self-produced
2010

This French doom act just formed last year, recorded this three song demo in December and released it this year. The demo was done as a duo, but since recording it they have hired a full time bass player. Tracks one and two are parts of a "World of doom" concept which I am guessing is multi-part song that the band hopes to record as a whole some day when they do a full length album. Track one is a lumbering affair with a number of parts fill together loosely and even roughly, but they work as a whole. It reminds me of early Saint Vitus. The structure isn't as important to them as the tones that they create. There is certainly enough variation going on to pull you along for the over nine minutes that this song lasts. Track two follows a similar train of thought with many pieces shoved into the equation. Although this time around they sound much tighter and more comfortable. It's slow and winding at times, but there are chunkier riffs crammed into this sucker. The pace marks it as doom, but there are at times a casual approach that reminds me of someone like Ogre. This song clocks in a close to eight minutes, but with all the changes you feel more like you getting fifteen minutes of music. Closing out the disc is a cover of Sabbath's "Electric Funeral". Now I have heard so many Sabbath covers ranging from good to bad to forgettable. "Electric Funeral" isn't very subtle and it also rather basic even by Sabbath standards. That being said, I think Surtr do a decent job with it primarily because they put their own sound into it and put their spin onto the song. However with this being a demo I really wish they would have done another original rather than a cover. I liked their originals and wanted to hear more of what they had to bring. The cover seemed a bit anti-climatic. This is a fine start and I look forward to seeing what this band does next.

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Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Heathen-The evolution of chaos

Mascot
2010

Being the thrash metal dinosaur that I am I have been a fan of this band since their 1987 debut "Breaking the silence". The galloping, tightly spun riffs and thundering rhythm section of that album had me hooked right away. Their sound very much fit the mold of the "Bay area sound" of the time along with the likes of Exodus, Testament, Death Angel and others. Heathen's debut wasn't exactly a classic, but it showed definite potential. Unfortunately it was a long four years before they followed it up with "Victims of deception". It was a fine album, but truthfully it came as thrash was starting to wind down and other offshoots like death metal were rising instead. Heathen broke up and didn't reform until almost ten years ago with a largely original line-up. Now we get their second album since reforming. It begins with an intro called uh, yeah "Intro". After that we get into a few tracks that immediately sound like Heathen's early material only with even more guitar flourishes tossed in. After that the next few tracks few tracks remind me of a cross between And justice for all era Metallica and Master of puppets era Metallica. The album as a whole was going along steadily until about 3/4 of the way through when they hit a song or two where they slow down. I am not against a chance in pace if they are doing enough to make the songs worthwhile. Honestly they do not seem as comfortable with the slower or mid-paced songs and they do with the go for broke thrashers. They have the fast songs down as good as any veteran act going today and better than most retro-thrash acts. The biggest problem with me is that other than a few tracks I don't feel that the album as a whole does anything to further define this band. Perhaps that wasn't an intention on Heathen's part this time and it doesn't detract from this being another fine album. However I think that the "The evolution of chaos" started out being nearly great, but by the end of the album they had lost some of their power and it turned into a good album.

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Saturday, February 13, 2010

Short update and snowed in play list

Still no computer and we were snowed in from Tuesday afternoon until today as we got hit by the second blizzard in less than a week. I am not back to work until Tuesday so I am just stopping by to clean up e-mails and check in. I hope to get a new computer soon and have some reviews next week.

Snowed in play list for the last few days
In between entertaining the kids with books, movies, card games, coloring books and other stuff I did find time to listen to a few things.

Slough Feg-Atavism
I didn't take to this immediately, but it has grown on me. A bit more direct and even simplified, but as a whole it works very well.
Slough Feg-Sly Stack grows
Double disc of demos and live material. The first disc is early and very, very raw in the production department. The second disc is far closer to the quality we know this band for. Good set though.

Robin Brock-Monsters
I will have a proper review on this soon. Pop/hard rock in a very early-mid 80's style. Strong vocals help it a lot.

Heathen-The evolution of chaos
I didn't know this was coming put until it showed up in my mail box. Pretty cool so far. I need to give it another spin or two before I can put together a review.

Mercyful Fate-Return of the vampire
Not always big on early demo collections, but I bought this one when it first came out and took to it right away. You can really hear the potential and the talent.

I won't be back with another post until at least Tuesday. Have a happy valentines and stay warm. I passed a gas station where a poet obviously works because their sign said "give from the heart, buy roses at Jiffy Mart". Take care and I will be back soon.

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Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Acheron-The final conflict:The Last days of god

Ibex Moon
2009

Florida classic style death metal outfit Acheron have been ripping and tearing at the scene for about twenty years. Lead by found member/bassist/vocalist Vincent Crowley this outfit still sounds like they have some life left in them. "The final conflict" is an excellent example of searingly brutal death/thrash that dominated the Florida scene two decades ago. Only this is not simply a retread of the past because this band has enough control and variation in their sound to make it sound a step above a lot of the band who merely copy the old sound. This trio pull out all the stops as they grind their way through these attacks. At times they mix together sounds similar to Obituary, Morbid Angel, Slayer and others. Other times they put their own stamp onto some songs too. I don't know if is the pace or the energy or what, but many of these songs seem to go by very fast. At the beginning of the first few tracks I was expecting this to be just another example of school death metal, but this band move beyond that easily. They control the songs and build on them with tight pieces melted together by solid, chugging riffs and hammering drums. Certainly worth hearing if you are a fan of classic style death/thrash metal.

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Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Ten things I think about hard rock/metal in 1990

Here are some random thoughts on the scene twenty years ago.

1-I still can't believe some of the bands that got major label deals that year.

2-Iron Maiden's decline at the time still seems sudden to me because their stretch of greatness lasted so long.

3-Steve Vai's "Passion and warfare" is still fantastic album twenty years later.

4-I don't know what came over Prong prior to "Beg to differ", but it was a major transformation because this was the beginning of a stretch of four of the better metal albums of the decade.

5-"Lock up the wolves" was probably the first (but not the last) time I heard Ronnie James Dio sound tired.

6-It's a shame that Anthrax booted Joey Belladonna because the direction they were heading in on "Persistance of time" could have really lead them to something.

7-If the Desperado album with Dee Snider had been released rather than shelved it would have made my list for the top ten albums of the year.

8-No matter how many chances I give it Slayer's "Seasons in the abyss" still comes across as a dry turd of an album.

9-Cinderella unfairly were and are still sometimes unfairly lumped in as a hair band. They were a fine blues/hard rock band as Heartbreak demonstrated.

10-There were so many hard rock/hair bands that got far more credit and hype than they deserved in 1990, but Spread Eagle were a good band that I wish had gotten more of a push in 1990 because they were the real deal.

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Monday, February 08, 2010

Technical difficulties

Okay, I have to get a new computer at some point which means I will be doing these during my lunch break which means there may be less posts until I get a new computer. Also for some reason the work computer won't let me put images in. So for now the reviews won't have pics, but I'll got back and add them once I get a new computer. Until then stick with me I do have quite a few interesting releases to review.

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Mad Max-Night of passion

Metal Mind

1987/2010



Following their 1985 release Mad Max toured Europe with Pretty Maids, Stryper and Yngwie Malmsteen while writing material for their fourth album. The band cut down to a four piece opting for just one guitarist prior to recording "Night of passion". The band ran into some problems with their line-up as the band wanted Dirk Steffens (Accept, Sinner) to produce, but they were overruled by their label who put Dan Johnson (Savatage, Crimson Glory) in charge. The production sounds fine to me, but this move created tension between the band and their label. "Night of passion" marks the first that the band did albums that were very similar in style as the melodic metal of this release compares well with the band's previous album the 1985 release "Stormchild". Perhaps the consistency and stability in style had something to do with the fact that all involved here played on the previous album because line-up changes had been an all too frequent occurrence in this band's first several years. The guitars are solid despite being down to just founding member Jurgen Breforth. Michael Voss once again shows off his wide range and remains in control as goes along. The rhythm section of Roland Bergmann and drummer Axel Kruse work off one another creating a well need foundation for many of the songs. At this point Mad Max very much sounded like a band who had found their comfort zone. Unfortunately this was to be the last album of their first run as they would disband in 1989, but would reform years later and are still going today. This re-issue includes a bonus track and booklet with pics and a band biography.

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Sunday, February 07, 2010

Mad Max-Stormchild

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Metal Mind

1985/2010

Things were happening fast for Germany's Mad Max after their second album and to keep up they changed 3/5 of the band line-up prior to recording "Stormchild". Guitarist Jurgen Breforth was now the only original member left and vocalist Michael Voss was going into second album as the band's frontman. The band's image changed as well with them pulling away from the simple black leather look and opting for a more colorful, semi-glam look. The music picked up on the melodic metal sound that they began working with on "Rollin' Thunder". Only this time around they are not quite as heavy and they had began to subscribe to an even more melodic sound. In fact they sound most similar to some American bands of the time including Leatherwolf, Dokken, King Kobra and Icon. They had toned down on the traces of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest that been present before, but one only has to listen to songs such as "Never say never" and "Return of the hunter" to realize that Mad Max were playing the kind of songs they were comfortable doing and they excelled at it. In fact for 1985 they were certainly one of the best bands playing this kind of metal. Makes me wish I had actually hear this album back then because I would have been all over it. The lyrics are about as cliche as it gets, but the music and the powerful vocals make up for it. At this point "Stormchild" could be certainly be seen as their tightest and most consistent release. This remix includes the bonus track "Can't stop taking" and a lyric booklet with a band biography.

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Saturday, February 06, 2010

Battle of the bands

Super Bowl weekend is a good time for one of these match-ups. It is...
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Celtic Frost

vs.
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Mercyful Fate

Celtic Frost came out of the ashes of Hellhammer and for most of the 80's progressed from album to album. They had one clunker, but rebounded well enough. They displaced a uniquely heavy sound and were not afraid to experiment.

Mercyful Fate emerged in the early 80's and progressed fast behind a duel guitar attack and one of a kind vocals of King Diamond. Unfortunately their first run was all too brief. They did come around again in the 90's.


***Which band do you prefer?

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Friday, February 05, 2010

Lesser of two evils

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The worst thing about committing to writing one of these is that I actually have to listen to these albums and it was a real task this time. It's like volunteering to go into the sewer and then once you are there you realize just how much shit is around you. One album was every bit as bad as I remembered it being and the other was even worse. I swear the second album I am referring to felt like it went on three hours instead of the under 50 minutes that it really lasted. Anyways here are two crown princesses of rotten hard rock. It is..

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Poison-Flesh and Blood (1990)

vs.

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Warrant-Dog eat dog (1992)

This is Warrant's third trip here and they are currently 1-1. This is the beginning of my forth year of writing this column and it's most surprising that this Poison's first trip here. I mean Judas Priest have been here twice and even the mighty Iron Maiden have been here once, but one of the poofiest, lightest, sappiest hair bands of their time are now just getting here for the first time. Well they have waited long enough so let's tear into these heartless mounds of syrupy pulp and see what we have.


Vocals-Poison's Bret Michaels takes on Warrant's Jani Lane. If there was one bright spot to CC Deville era Poison it was Michael's voice and that definitely says something about this band as a unit. Michael's best days were on the debut and like the rest of the band he got worse as he went along. So by this album he was going through the motions to an extent, but he had a few moments where he steps up and does alright. If you look up bland in the dictionary there should be a picture of Jani Lane. I don't care if it's young skinny Jani Lani or old, fat bloated, drunken Jani Lane. Either way he still had the presence of a wet sponge and that's comes across on this recording. I hear his hollow voice come on and I immediately think "blech". That should say it all.

Point to Poison


Guitars-CC Deville is on for Poison and he goes against the Warrant pair of Joey Allen and Erik Turner. Now my usual comment would be to say that Deville might already be outmatched by it being a 2-1 scenario. Then again Deville's musical skills may be outmatched by a ten year old plucking on a rubber band, but it's the Warrant duo he has worry about this time. This whole Poison album is toned down from what wasn't a very solid foundation to begin with, but the whole guitar tone is barely present. Of course some solid riffing might help, but CC was always known for his hair and being an idiot more than his playing. This performance certainly re-enforces the above statement. The Warrant duo were riding two albums worth of grabage going into this album. While they do not end their streak of being incompetent they do get a solid "D" for effort. There are a few seconds here and there where they try to sound like a hard rock band. They don't succeed, but I hear the effort.

Point to Warrant


Rhythm section-Poison has Rikki Rocket on drums and Bobby Dall on bass going up against drummer Steven Sweet and bassist Dixon. As if the guitarists were not weak enough it's like rhythm sections for many of the hair bands of the days were all the same which is to say the drums are routine and boring while the bass is almost nonexistent. Both these sets certainly fit that mold. The rhythm sections for both bands just stand back and add nothing. The drums are soft and the bass might even be weaker for both bands. Neither set helped themselves, their band or their albumas. I guess they saved wear and tear on their instruments by doing next to nothing though.

Tie


Originality/production-By this point Poison were becoming more watered down than ever. I guess they still sounded like themselves for whatever that's worth, but they seemed to be laying back even more. Warrant never did much to create any sound that was worth hearing by anyone with any taste whatsoever. This time around they were trying to heavy up their sound and image. You can tell because they all wore black and put on their serious faces. Heck, I think some of them even crosses their arms or put their hands on their hips in the band picture to really show they meant business. The sound here is in places an attempt to be heavier and I guess get beyond where they were. I suspect the motivation had a lot to do with the fact grunge's increasing popularity so the band and their label likely thought tryiong to be heavier may help. It didn't. The production on Poison sounds like layers of gloss have been tossed on everything like too much bubble wrap trying to protect something fragile. The production on Warrant is adequate. They wanted this album to be more of a hard rock album so it's slightly crunchier. There isn't much there to push to the forefront, but the attempt is there and the production is consistant.


Who rocks more?

Maybe being able to rock is a relative term in that to rock you need to be able to play your instruments. That kind of lowers the chances that these bands could rock. Stinking less than the other band should win you a category if the stench is so bad to take. Thus I do something I have never done and award two ties in one match-up. I hate to, but after listening to these discs (twice no less) I feel it's the right thing to do.

Tie


So Warrant take it 2-1-2 in a match-up that ripped at my eardrums and sucked at my soul as I trudged through these two containers of mess. In my opinion both bands played parts in bringing about the end of hard rock becuase neither presented enough real talent to have any real staying power. However in some ways it may have been to have that time in the early 90's as to some extent it served as a musical enima that cleared out a lot of the shit. Unfortunately many fans of those bands now have more money so these hair bands keep coming back every summer to tour and get money from 35 plus year old people who wish it was still 1990.

***Be back with another one next week and it may even be done with a guest co-writer.

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Thursday, February 04, 2010

What's coming up?

For my area snow is supposed to be coming and lots of it. Then the Super Bowl is on Sunday. Rooting for the Saints, but have to predict the Colts. I still have a Lesser of two evils to write if I can convince myself to listen to Poison and Warrant.
In the next week I hope to have out the reviews of the other two Mad Max re-issues, Robin Brock-Monsters plus Tekhton-Alluvial. Also a Clash of the album covers and battle of the bands.

***Have a great week even if the Colts should win.

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A hero a fake-Let oceans lie

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Victory
2010

North Carolina's A hero a fake seem to be moving along very well on their sophomore effort. It's easy to immediately notice that they apply parts of progressive metal, modern hardcore and some death style vocals. However they manage to pull the strongest elements of those genres and pull them together into their own sound. The part that stands out first is their love of winding, steadily changing prog rock passages ala early-90's Dream Theater. However unlike some progressive rock/metal bands they mostly avoid the trap of getting too caught up in just tossing out sounds to seem impressive. The straight forward vocals and their often steady pace allow them a sense of balance as they strike out with some heavy punches too. The guitars flow and create a wide variety of sounds all in a relatively short amount of time. There were some moments where I think some heavier riffing mixed in might have helped tie the music into vocals more. Also sometimes there were some lighter backing vocals that attempted to add some melodies into the approach. At times tht worked at other times they just got swallowed by the busier sounds that were going on at the same time. There are certainly some minor adjustments that could be made, but there is no doubt that this band is on the right track. This is one of those albums where I hearing more that I enjoy about with each time I play it. I think that has a lot to do with there being so much going on at once that it's difficult to soak it all in right away. That's a big plus for them because I like albums that make me want to come back to them because I think that I discover more nuggets with repeated plays. Worth checking out.

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Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Mad Max-Rollin' Thunder

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Metal Mind
1984/2010

Mad Max were making changes fast after their 1982 debut. The biggest change being Michael Voss coming in on vocals. Gone was Andreas Baesler and his lack of style, power and range. The band obviously decided to commit to being a metal band for this album and brought in a vocalist to fit the style. Voss had a smooth, strong set of pipes an a fair amount of range. The band also changed bass players and record labels for this album. Once you hear it you realize they also changed musical style to some point too. Instead of the all over the place of the previous album they now seemed more focused. The style here is classic metal with melodic undertones. The band's love of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest works it's way into several songs and they do the best with these influences.Voss easily shifts from heavy, Hard charging attacks into the higher melodies and back with no problem. The guitars are much more organized this time around. They play very tight and the solos are much improved from the other album. The rhythm section falls into place and benefits from a seemingly more consistent production job this time around. Mad Max found a style for this album that not only worked very well, but they also sounded very comfortable doing it. The improvement from their self-titled debut is remarkable. It's almost like two entirely different bands. This re-issue includes a lyric booklet with a band biography.

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Mad Max-s/t

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Metal Mind
1982/2010

Germany's Mad Max formed back in 1981 and released their self-titled debut the following year. I will come right put and say this is a very uneven album in both influences and results. The sounds vary from containing bits as heavy as early 1980's Judas Priest down to rather pedestrian radio friendly rock. It's like they listened to a lot of different bands, but they couldn't decide what they wanted to play so they tried tossing everything in. The results are a bit messy. Some tracks are relatively tight while others sound like the band recorded them before they finished fleshing everything out. The end result is the band sounds like a club band who should have spent some more time figuring what they wanted to do. Now that's not to say there are not a few sparks because there a few riffs that pull forth from the tangle and show some potential. However there are too many times where they just can't build on those moments. Original vocalist Andreas Baesler is a large part of the problem too. He has spirit, but he doesn't have a great deal of range or presence. That's a shame because a better singer might have been able to elevate these songs to some extent. The good news was a better singer was coming and brighter days were coming for this band as well. This album did help the band get started and get some notice. They had a lot of problems, but they would soon address all of the problems I stated above. Nice re-issue from Metal Mind includes a band biography.

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Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Clash of the album covers

Here you go...
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The Lord Weird Slough Feg-Traveller
vs.
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The Sword-Age of winters
***Which cover do you prefer?

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Monday, February 01, 2010

Hey, where did this come from?

I have my CDs in no real order whatsoever. There I said and I do not care who knows it. Today I was sorting through one of the bins I have my CDs slopped into as I looked for the ones I was going to use for Lesser of two evils this week. I kept findin CDs that I do not remember getting or having, but I am sure the heavy metal disc fairy did not leave them there so I must have handled them at some point even if I did not play them. I guess because with the job and kids my music listening time is very limited for the most part. So even though I have many CDs I don't always get time to listen to them all that much. Do you ever come across items in your collection that you don't remember buying?

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