Category: CD Reviews Q-Z
9 Riot – Thundersteel (Release Year – 1988)
Exit Rhett Forrester, Enter Tony Moore!
Thundersteel marked a new era in Riot history, as singer Tony Moore joined the band, and for the first time, Riot moved from a hard rock sound to more of a heavy/power metal outfit. This was the first of two discs featuring a solid lineup of Mark Reale on guitar, Tony Moore on vocals, Don Van Stavern on Bass and Bobby Jarzombek on Drums
Thundersteel should have put Riot on the map in a big way in , but this disc went largely unnoticed by hard rock fans in the U.S. CBS did not promote this, so it crashed and burned quickly. At a time when most labels were promoting their bands with music videos etc, the little band that could, Riot, continued to struggle but move forward.
Thundersteel had all the makings to become a top seller. It has the awesome vocals by Tony Moore and Mark Reale’s over the top guitar playing.
Lack of promotion or a radio hit lead to rock fans passing this disc up. Sadly they missed out on a great heavy metal release.
The opening cut Thundersteel is a huge power metal offering that has more in common with the power metal sound in 2007, than the hard rock of 1988. Nonetheless, you can not deny the power of this song, or the soaring vocals of Tony Moore.
Fight or Fall keeps the pace moving with a full out attack of chugging guitars and the pounding drums of Bobby Jarzombek. This is another great head banging track.
Sign of the Crimson Storm takes the tempo down a notch from the first two songs. I like this track a lot. Mark Reale cuts loose and has some great solos on this track. This song mixes well with today’s hard rock and metal and is always a good listen.
Flight of the Warrior cranks it back up again. The chugging bass of Don Van Stavern gives this track a remote Iron Maiden like feel to it. It is another great head banger.
On Wings of Eagles doesn’t let you catch your breath. At this point I was hoping that Riot would throw in a slower track. Mark Reale cuts loose big time on this track. It is a little repetitive after Flight of the Warrior, but it is still a solid track and the guitar work is excellent.
Johnny’s Back is an ultra cool headbanger with ultra fast bass riffs and guitar licks. Tony Moore approaches Tony Harnell octave level on this song. I can’t begin to tell you how cool this song is.
Bloodstreets is the closest thing to a radio friendly hit on Thundersteel. This is another highlight on this album.
Run For Your Life is a solid rocker leading up to the closing track Buried Alive. It isn’t my favorite track here but it is good.
Buried Alive (Tell Tale Heart) is the longest song on this disc, clocking in close to nine minutes in length. This song has a heavy Judas Priest feel to it. This song to me is a little too lengthy, but it does have its moments. It features a great melodic intro, and some Halford like screaming by Tony Moore. The song has some creepy Sabbath like elements at times, and Reale’s guitar work shines here. It is an interesting heavy track to close out Thundersteel.
After listening to Thundersteel again in 2007, it is amazing to me that this music was written and played back 1988. Tony Moore’s vocals really help to make this disc shine, and the music by the band is very tight. Thundersteel is a lost metal classic that deserves a few new ears today. You can often find this disc for around 10 dollars today, and is well worth the price. Check it out!
Rating: 
Out of 10
Track Listing:
- Thundersteel
- Fight or Fall
- Sign of the Crimson Storm
- Flight of the Warrior
- On Wings of Eagles
- Johnny’s Back
- Bloodstreets
- Run For Your Life
- Buried Alive (Tell Tale Heart)
2 Shaw-Blades – Influence (Release Year – 2007)
I think Tommy Shaw and Jack Blades are one of the better vocal tandems in rock music today. I have enjoyed their music with Damn Yankees and their solo material, as well as their work in Night Ranger and Styx. With this in mind, I expected to like their new covers disc Influence, but I am honestly having trouble getting into it.
Even on paper, this sounds like a bad idea. 80’s rock stars sing covers of 60’s and 70’s hits in 2007. In my best Bill the cat voice, I can only say “ACK!“.
I have spun this disc a few times, but I must admit that this does not mix well with the music I have been listening to as of late. It lacks that harder edge that I need from music purchases today.
I will admit that Tommy and Jack have probably improved upon most of these songs, but I was hoping for a little more rock and a little less of soft rock feel. Basically, these are faithul renditions of the original versions, not the souped up rockers I was hoping for.
Quite frankly, this disc may be a bit too sugary sweet for my tastes. I like syrup on my pancakes and waffles, but not in my music. Tommy and Jack are two of the coolest guys in rock, and I really don’t want to insult either of those guys. Without saying any more, this disc was not for me, but may appeal to those that don’t like their rock with a harder edge.
Rating: 
Out of 10
Track Listing:
1. Summer Breeze (Seals & Crofts, 1972)
2. Time Of The Season (The Zombies, 1968)
3. Your Move (Yes, 1971)
4. I Am A Rock (Simon & Garfunkel, 1966)
5. Lucky Man (Emerson, Lake, & Palmer, 1970)
6. The Sound Of Silence (Simon & Garfunkel, 1964)
7. California Dreamin’ (The Mamas & The Papas, 1963)
8. On A Carousel (The Hollies, 1965)
9. Dirty Work (Steely Dan, 1972)
10. For What It’s Worth (Buffalo Springfield, 1967)
11. Dance With Me (Orleans, 1975)
6 Testament – The Legacy (1987)
The Legacy is the debut by San Francisco thrash metallers Testament. I must admit that I am not a large fan of Thrash metal, but I have enjoyed songs by the big 4 (Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax). I can honestly say that before 2007, I have not heard or listened to the Legacy.
I was first exposted to Testament back in 1990 through the MTV Headbanger’s ball, and specifically their song Souls of Black. I picked up that disc back in the day, but never picked up any of their other discs.
What do I think of The Legacy? It is a pretty good damn thrash metal disc that easi
ly stands up to any of the early material put out by the big 4 mentioned above.
Off the Wall starts this disc off with a hyper speed thrash attack. Louie Clemente sounds like he is going to pound the drums through the floor, and 19 year old Alex Skolnick surprises the world with his incredible heavy guitar playing.
I really like the heavy guitar riff on The Haunting. Chuck Billy’s fast paced vocal delivery on this track can only send the masses into a moshing frenzy.
Burnt Offerings teases you with an Iron Maiden like beginning before blasting off into a high speed assault on the ears. The main guitar riff on this track is quite simplistic in nature, but is still very cool. Skolnick and Peterson shred like crazy on this track.
I immediately felt the need to break out the air guitar on Raging Waters, and I think ended up with whiplash from headbanging to this tune. Thrash metal doesn’t get much better than this.
C.O.T.L.O.D. or Curse of the Legions of Death was more enjoyable for me after I read the lyrics. Its an extemely short track, but a good listen. This track is one that needs to grow on you.
First Strike is Deadly and Do or Die are the kind of thrash songs that I usually don’t like as much. The frantic pace of these songs is so high that I can’t enjoy the guitar work as much as I normally would. First Strike’s saving grace is the awesome guitar solo towards the end of the song. With a few more listen’s Do or Die started growing on me a little more. You can almost sing along with Chuck Billy’s chant on this one.
The beginning guitar work on Alone in Dark sounds so good, it makes me wonder how good Testament could sound if Alex Skolnick slowed his playing down below light speed. This song has grown on me a lot more after several listens.
Apocalyptic City reminds me very much of old Metallica. It starts off slow and builds into a furious, head banging, full speed fret flailing monster. I really like this track a lot. It is a pretty amazing way to end (or in some senses start) The Legacy.
I have found over the last few weeks that this disc mixes well with the other stuff I am listening to a regular basis, and I decided to keep this disc in my playlist. I think a little thrash music is good for the soul from time to time. Thanks to Ray Van Horn Jr. for picking this disc in March Metal Madness!
Check out what the Metal Madness Knights are saying about Testament’s The Legacy at the links below: Heavy Metal Time Machine, Heavy Metal Addiction, and Pulses, Verses and other Flotsam!
Rating: 
Out of 10
- Over the Wall
- The Haunting
- Burnt Offerings
- Raging Waters
- C.O.T.L.O.D.
- First Strike is Deadly
- Do or Die
- Alone In the Dark
- Apocalyptic City
6 Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow (Release Year 1975)
Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow is the first disc where Blackmore joined forces with Dio’s Elf band mates to create Rainbow.
This disc starts off with the essential Rainbow track, Man on the Silver Mountain. This track has been a staple in most of Dio’s live shows, and still gets airplay on rock radio stations today.
Man on the Silver Mountain
Self Portrait has an older Deep Purple feel to it. It is an ok track, but nothing ground breaking.
Something about Black Sheep Of The Family reminds me of a late 60’s era Janis Joplin tune. This isn’t the Ronnie James Dio that I am accustomed to hearing in 2007. Once again, it isn’t bad, but not earth shattering either.
Catch the Rainbow is a low tempo number that quite frankly, I find to be a snoozer.
Snake Charmer is a cross between the 60’s style of rock with a southern rock flair. This isn’t a sound that appeals to me.
Ok, after The Temple of the King, I can almost hear the bell bottoms swooshing. I am afraid that Danny Bonaduce is going to haunt my nightmares. I can’t get into this song either.
If You Don’t Like Rock ‘n’ Roll is actually a fun little boogie woogie piano based rock and roll track. This kind of reminds me of a Bob Seger track. It is pretty good.
Sixteenth Century Greensleeves is the only other track on this disc that has that hard rock approach that Dio has been known for. Blackmore’s guitar finally starts to show a little bit of prowess here.
Ritchie Blackmore woke up for the instrumental track, Still I’m Sad which closes this disc. He has some good Purplesque guitar licks here, but the over emphasis of the cowbell kills this track for me too.
Bottom-line, only 2 or 3 cuts off this disc are about all you need. It is an OK listen, especially if you want to hear where Ronnie James Dio came from. Man on the Silver Mountain is certainly essential, but the rest of the tracks on this disc vary quite far from the sound of this song.
This is a CD for the DIO and Blackmore diehards only.
Rating: 
Out of 10
Track Listing:
- Man On The Silver Mountain
- Self Portrait
- Black Sheep Of The Family
- Catch The Rainbow
- Snake Charmer
- The Temple of The King
- If You Don’t Like Rock ‘n’ Roll
- Sixteenth Century Greensleeves
- Still I’m Sad
7 Whitesnake – S/T (Release Year – 1987)
Very few discs today can install such a passion for music, as the one generated in me by Whitesnake’s self titled disc from 1987. This disc was released the year I graduated high school. The fondness and memories that accompany this disc are like none other that I own today.
This is a disc that turned David Coverdale into a superstar, and made Whitesnake a household name amongst rock fans. Sure Whitesnake had been around for years, but this disc was a career maker for this group, and the strength of the songs on this disc has certainly kept the fans clamoring for more. Over Eight Million Copies sold, and four big hits spawned from this disc, Still of the Night, Here I Go Again, Give Me All Your Love, and Is This Love! This band had it all at the time. Killer Songs, kick ass music videos and awesome tours to go along with it.
Sadly, there is always a back story with every disc. By the time this disc was released, all of the members in the band were gone besides David Coverdale. There are tons of rumors out there as to what happened. Nonetheless, the guitar player that reenergized this band was none other than John Sykes. His awesome guitar playing and song writing are all over this disc. Sadly, David and John were trading barbs at each other when this disc came out, and it is highly doubtful that they will ever work together again.
How much do I like this disc? Let me put it this way, I have Still of the Night as a ringtone on my cellphone. In my opinion, this disc is absolutely killer. There are no filler tracks, and is disc that I consider a must own. This disc has made me a huge Whitesnake fan, as well as a huge John Sykes fan (his material after Whitesnake is well worth seeking out, more on that later).
If you have not picked this disc up, you need to run to the music store and pick this up!
You will not be disappointed! Stroll down memory lane and check out the videos below from this disc, and then stop over and check out the reviews by the other March Metal Madness Knights, Heavy Metal Time Machine , Heavy Metal Addiction , and Pulses, Verses and other Flotsam
RATING: 
Out of 10
Still of the Night
Is this Love
Here I Go Again
Crying in the Rain
Track Listing:
- Crying In the Rain
- Bad Boys
- Still of the Night
- Here I Go Again
- Give Me All Your Love
- Is This Love
- Children of the Night
- Staight For the Heart
- Don’t Turn Away
7 RIOT – Rock City (Release Year – 1977)
How fitting that the 100th Review at the Hard Rock Hideout, is a review of the 30th Anniversary debut of RIOT, Rock City.
Before Van Halen became a household name, before Quiet Riot released their U.S. debut, and before Ronnie James Dio sang a note with Black Sabbath, there was the great unknown band from New York City, RIOT. Rock City is the debut by Riot featuring Guy Sperenza on vocals and Mark Reale on 
guitar.
At this early stage in the band’s career, they had a sound that was similar to April Wine and Blue Oyster Cult at the time, instead of the heavy/power metal offerings of today’s lineup.
This disc spawned several killer tracks including Rock City, Tokyo Rose, Warrior and This is What I Get. This is not hair metal. This is hard rock in its purest form, before the onslaught of 80’s hard rock bands came along. The guitars are raw and heavy. The drums and loud and pounding, and the bass rhythm’s are deep and heavy, especially for 1977. Mark Reale showed back in ’77 that he had awesome guitar chops back in the day. Take one listen to the guitar solos on Warrior, and you will be amazed that this was released in ’77.
Rock City is truly one of those discs that you have to listen and absorb to truly appreciate.
Mark Reale’s playing was stellar in 1977 and it has only gotten better over the years. Guy Sperenza’s vocals were pretty good. Overall, this debut is one worth hearing. I can’t even imagine what rock fans thought of this disc at the time. It sounds great in 2007 as long as you have an open mind, and understand hold old the tunes are.
Take a listen to a couple of the cuts off Rock City below, and let me know what you think!
Warrior
Tokyo Rose
Rating:Out of 10
Track Listing:
- Desperation
- Warrior
- Rock City
- Overdrive
- Angel
- Tokyo Rose
- Heart of Fire
- Gypsy Queen
- This is What I Get
1 Snakeryder – Back For the Kill
If you want to hear some good new 80’s style hard rock, you need to give Snakeryder’s new disc, Back For the Kill a listen. To give you a quick idea what this band sounds like, if you were to put Dave Meniketti from Y&T, members of Cinderella and George Lynch era Dokken into a blender, they might sound like Snakeryder.
I decided to check these guys out after seeing their disc advertised over at Melodic Rock and previewing some of the tracks over there. To my surprise, this band and disc are far better than I expected them to be.
Back For the Kill is the 2nd disc by these New Jersey rockers. Judging from the great sounds here, I am going to have to pick up the debut as well.
Wake Up the Nation starts this disc off right by rocking hard right out of the gate. Something about this track kind of reminds of me of Keel, but that is all good.
Hard Life is another good headbanger. The guitars by A.J. Fedz really kick ass on this track. Breakout is an excellent Dokken like sounding hard rock track.
I hate to keep comparing Snakeryder to other bands I love, but I hear little bits of other great 80’s hard rock acts in each of these songs. I mean this only as a high compliment.
Sweet Desire sound like it could have been on the Y&T disc Contagious. This is a killer mid tempo track, that would have been huge in 1990.
The title track Back For the Kill is an excellent rocker with killer guitar riffs and a cool bass groove.
Can’t Stop the Insanity is a track that is growing on me more with every listen. It has some excellent guitar noodling by by A.J. Fedz. The overall heaviness of this track reminds me of Skid Row.
Love Steals slows the pace down mid tempo. This is another track that could easily be a big hit.
You Never Knew Me is a moody song with the guitars toned down. At first listen, I didn’t care for this song, but it is slowly growing on me.
Shotgun is probably my least favorite track on this disc. It isn’t a bad song, but I just couldn’t get into this one.
Money on Her Mind is a good upbeat rocker. I found myself singing along with this one after a couple of listens. (always a good sign for me, but not for the people around me 😉 ) This is a very good track to end this disc with.
Overall, Back For the Kill is a quality slab of new 80’s style hard rock. This is sure to appeal to most fans of that genre. Y&T fans really need to give this a look. I think this will appeal to some Dokken and Cinderella fans as well. You can pick this disc up at Metal Mayhem as well as CD Inzane .
Check out Snakeryder’s myspace page. to check out some of their tunes, or you can visit Melodic Rock.com’s CD preview.
Rating: Out of 10
Track Listing:
- Wake Up the Nation
- Hard Life
- Break Out
- Sweet Desire
- Back For the Kill
- Can’t Stop the Insanity
- Love Steals
- You Never Knew Me
- Shotgun
- Money on Her Mind
2 Sinner – Mask of Sanity (Release Year 2007)
Mask of Sanity is the 18th release by the German Metal Band Sinner. I must admit, that before 2007, I have not ever heard of this band before. A few of the online metal shows that I listen to have been giving this disc some spins, so I decided to give this one a look. With a CD cover that Ghost Rider fans (like myself) had to love, my expectations were raised for this disc somewhat.
Lead vocalist Mat Sinner sounds like a cross between Udo Dirkschneider (Accept) and Kevin Dubrow (Quiet Riot). His voice is one that takes some getting used to. He wont go down in history as one of metal’s best singers by any means, but he wont go down as the worst either.
The band backing up Mat Sinner, Tom Naumann on guitar, Frank Rössler on keyboards, Klaus Sperling on drums, and Christof Leim on guitar sound great.
Its obvious that the band has been playing together for a long time, as the music is tight as hell. There are elements of 80’s
hard rock, a dash of power metal and sometimes progressive metal mixed in the songs on this disc. The band is so good, I wonder if Mat Sinner is holding them back. A better vocalist could possibly take this band to new heights.
Nonetheless, Mask of Sanity, is a good metal release, and worth checking out.
There are quite a few cuts off Mask of Sanity that I like including, Badlands, Black, Diary of Evil, The Sign, and Baby Please Don’t Go. Check out the videos below
For more information on Sinner, check out Mat Sinner’s myspace page.
Black
Diary of Evil
Rating: Out of 10
Track Listing:
- Badlands
- Black
- Cant Stand the Heat
- Diary of Evil
- Last Man Standing
- No Return
- Revenge
- The Other Side
- The Sign
- Thunder Roar
- Under the Gun
- Baby Please Don’t Go (Bonus Track)
13 Rhino Bucket …And Then It Got Ugly (Release Year – 2006)
There has been a pretty good buzz about the new disc by Rhino Bucket, so I had no choice but to check it out. It has been 12 long years since we have had a new Rhino Bucket disc, and judging from the killer tunes on this disc, I hope we will get a new disc with fresh tunes before another decade passes.
As you probably know, Rhino Bucket is often compared to Bon Scott era AC/DC, and the sound here has not changed. In 2007, AC/DC fans have three choices: they can a) play their old CD’s until they etch grooves into them, b) stick their head in a paper bag and scream loudly, or c) go buy the new Rhino Bucket disc. (I recommend c 🙂 )
This disc will not disappoint any hard rock fans out there. …And Then It Got Ugly features the kickass vocals of Georg Dolivo, and the excellent rocking guitar of former Kix axe slinger, Brian Forsythe. I have quite a few favorites on this disc including Welcome to Hell, Don’t Bring Her Down, She Rides, Smile and Blood Sweat and Beers.
This is a fine collection of 80’s style hard rock, that will appeal to all AC/DC, Kix and most Hard Rock Fans in general! Don’t miss this one!
Warning! The videos below, may make your credit card jump out of your wallet and order this disc from ITunes immediately.
Rating: Out of 10
Don’t Bring Her Down
She Rides
Smile
Track Listing:
- Welcome to Hell
- Dead and Well
- Don’t Bring Her Down
- Monkey Boy Highway
- Smile
- Word
- Invisible
- Hammer and Nail
- She Rides
- Blood Sweat and Beers
- I Was Told
Rhino Bucket is:
Georg Dolivo – Vocals
Brian Forsythe – Guitars
Reeves Downes – Bass
Jackie Inx – Drums
4 Skid Row – Revolutions Per Minute (Release Year – 2006)
I hesitated picking up the new Skid Row disc, Revolutions Per Minute, as I heard some awful things about it. I listened to the song, Shut Up Baby I Love You from the Classic Rock Magazine Sampler CD and I was surprised that it reminded me of Slave to the Grind era Skid Row.
I tend to be a little more open minded than the average music consumer, so I decided to give this CD a try. I like the first disc, Thickskin with Texas native, Johnny Solinger on vocals, so I figured why not.
If you go into this disc expecting to hear tracks like Youth Gone Wild, or 18 and Life, you will greatly be disappointed. This disc is more of a punk flavored disc than anything remotely similar to Sebastian Bach era Skid Row.
I am including a track by track run down so you can get a better feel for the CD.
Disease is a heavy track that could have easily been a left over from Slave to the Grind. This is a solid track and a crank worthy one at that.
Another Dick In the System is a pretty good rocker. I like this track a lot. You can’t deny the catchiness of this track. This is actually better than the first track.
Pulling My Heart Out From Under Me starts moving in the punk direction. It is a mid tempo number, but its not bad.
When God Can’t Wait is the first track that made me say,”what the fuck?” This sounds like a part punk, part country, part Irish Beer swaying kind of song. This song is just bad.
Thank God Shut Up Baby I Love You was the next track after that last filler crap song. This is one of the better tracks on this disc, and reminds me the most of older Skid Row material.
Strength is a cover of an Alarm track. This is a pretty good song. I do not remember the Alarm version of this song, so I can’t tell if this is faithful to the original track or not. This is one of the better tracks on this disc.
White Trash is in the punk vein. I’m not crazy about the music style, but I like the lyrics of this song.
You Lie is a country rock toungue in cheek sort of track. It is hard to take this track seriously, but I bet they have fun playing this live. (I am wondering if this song is about Baz.) This is one of my least favorite tracks on this disc.
Nothing is a pretty good upbeat rocker. I have listened to this track a few times, and it is growing on me more.
Love is Dead is just ok to me. It isn’t bad, but I couldn’t get into it.
Let it Ride is a punk flavored rock track. I couldn’t really get into this song at all. It was just noise to me. I thought this was a poor way to close this disc out.
If you compare this to Skid Row’s early work, you are probably going to hate this disc. If you can honestly listen without comparing the two, you might get something out of this CD. For me personally, I like Thickskin better than this disc. I don’t like the punk elements, and hope this was temporary insanity for the band. I consider them a hard rock band, not a punk band. At first listen, I did not like this disc at all. I decided to spin it a few more times before reviewing, and listening it at higher volumes. It honestly sounds like quite a few of these songs will translate well live. It just isn’t what Skid Row fans will be expecting. You can hear some of Skid Row’s songs at their myspace page.
Rating: 
Out of 10
Track Listing:
- Disease
- Another Dick in the System
- Pulling My Heart Out from Under Me
- When God Can Wait
- Shut Up Baby I Love You
- Strength
- White Trash
- You Lie
- Nothing
- Love is Dead
- Let it Ride
Skid Row is:
Johnny Solinger – lead vocals
Scotti Hill – lead guitar
Dave “The Snake” Sabo – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Rachel Bolan – bass guitar, backing vocals
Dave Gara – drums
1 Saliva – Blood Stained Love Story (Release Year – 2007)
Saliva is back with their 5th release, Blood Stained Love Story. Saliva has upgraded their sound for this record. This disc has more of a main stream sound than the nu-metal songs of their past. I decided to give this disc a look due to Saliva’s excellent debut at 19th on the Billboard charts. I have liked some of their songs in the past, and “Ladies and Gentleman” is a song that you can not ignore.
I am betting that you will hear quite a few cuts off of this “Blood Stained Love Story” on mainstream rock radio. This reminds me a lot of Stone Temple Pilot at times, but then at times ventures into something completely different.
I tend to lean towards the harder edged tracks like “Ladies and Gentleman”, “King of the Stereo”,”Twister” and “Black Sheep”. The Nickelback like “Starting Over” is also pretty good.
I found the slower tracks some boring, and I didn’t think there was enough to help Saliva stand out from the countless other sound-a-like acts on the radio.
This disc probably will not set fans of big hair hard rock on fire, but if you enjoy some of the groups enjoying main stream rock radio success today like Hinder, Nickelback and Daughtry, you will want to check this disc out. Is this Saliva’s best CD? No, not by a long shot, but those with an open mind will find some tunes to enjoy.
You can listen to some of the bands new tracks here!
Rating:Â 
Out of 10
Track Listing:
- Ladies and Gentleman
- Broken Sunday
- Never Gonna Change
- King of the Stereo
- One More Chance
- Going Under
- Twister
- Black Sheep
- Starting Over
- Here With You
- Is It You (Bonus Track)
- Write Your Name (Bonus Track)
Saliva is:
Josey Scott – Vocals
Wayne Swinny – Guitars
Jon Montoya – Guitars
Dave Novotny – Bass
Paul Crosby – Drums
1 St. James – Americanman (Release Year – 2003)
ST. James is the 2001 project of Black ‘N Blue and Warrant lead singer Jamie St. James.
I enjoyed the new Warrant disc so much, that I decided to see what else I could find from Jamie St. James.
I was hoping that Americanman would be something comparable to Black ‘N Blue or Warrant, but sadly, this is not the case. I can’t put my finger on it, but I could not get into this like I have so many others from Jamie’s discography. I don’t know if it is the writing, or the music style, but this disc just didn’t live up to my expectations.
Don’t get me wrong. Americanman isn’t terrible, by any means, but after listening to Warrant’s Born Again a few times and Nasty Nasty by Black ‘N Blue, this disc doesn’t live up to either of those. I kept waiting for a cool anthem to jump out at me, and it didn’t happen.
This is a disc for the Jamie St. James die hards only!
Rating: 
Out of 10
Track Listing:
- Testify
- Generation Suicide
- Deaf, Dumb, and Blind
- Hello Halo
- Magical Taxi Cab
- Losing Your Man
- Spinnin’
- Die Like A Star
- Americanman
- Light of Love
St. James is:
Jaime St. James – vocals
Jimmy Maguire – guitar
Joe Frietchen – bass, backing vocals
Danny Morris – keyboards
Todd Shelley – drums, backing vocals
0 Riot – Nightbreaker (Release Year 1994)
Nightbreaker is the 11th release by the band Riot, and the debut of their now ex-singer, and current Masterplan vocalist Mike DiMeo.
Nightbreaker features everything a hard rock fan could want: great guitar work, excellent vocals, and well written songs.
On this CD, you will find a blistering cover of the Deep Purple track Burn, as well as an amazing reworking of Outlaw, from the classic Riot disc, Fire Down Under. The rest of tracks are all killer hard rock tracks with no filler material, and no sticky sweet ballads. Mark Reale’s guitar playing shines all throughout this disc, as does Mike DiMeo’s vocals.
If you enjoyed Army of One, you ought to give Nightbreaker a look. This is another great disc from Riot. All hard rock and metal fans are going to find something to like on this must own disc. Buy It!!
Rating: Out of 10
Enjoy the video below, for the title track, Nightbreaker.
Track Listing:
- Soldier
- Destiny
- Burn
- In Your Eyes
- Nightbreaker
- Medicine Man
- Silent Scream
- Magic Maker
- I’m on the Run
- Babylon
- Outlaw
2 Izzy Stradlin – Like A Dog
I don’t think most of the music buying public out there knows that there is a new release by former Guns N’ Roses Guitar player, Izzy Stradlin. This was released on a very limited pressing in 2005 on one of Izzy’s fan sites, and to ITunes in September of 2006.
This disc is a blues infested slab of quality rock and roll. There are quite a few catchy tunes on this disc including, Bomb, Snafu, Hell Song, and Just Don’t Know. The style of guitar playing on this disc reminds quite a bit of Guns and Roses in places, but with Izzy on vocals, the music sounds completely different, but not in a bad way by any means.
I think this disc will appeal to all of the hard rockers out there, as well as old G N’ R fans. Check out the videos below and let me know what you think!
Rating: 
Out of 10
Hammerhead
Bomb
Track Listing:
- Bomb
- Hammerhead
- Snafu
- Hell Song
- Rollin On
- Just Don’t Know
- Chop Away
- Win U Lose
- On the Run
- Like A Dog
2 Vengeance – Back In the Ring (Release Year – 2006)
It seems as of late, every time I hear a cool new metal disc it comes from a different country. The new disc Back In The Ring, by Dutch rockers Vengeance does not break this pattern.
This is a pretty good disc that sounds like a cross between Accept and AC/DC. This is a straight forward 80’s style hard rock disc.
Frontman Leon Goewie does a great job belting these tunes out, while Peter Bourbon dishes out the killer guitar hooks.
There are a bunch of excellent songs on this CD. The tracks start off with the title track, Back In the Ring. This rocking track is going to be in my playlist for a long time. No Mercy is exactly the kind of track that I am afraid to play while driving. This is a pedal to the medal, jamming rock track!
Mind Over Matter doesn’t let up and keeps your speakers pounding.
Plenty of chugging guitars and crashing drums can be found on Captain Moonlight, Holy Water. Bad Attitude is a head banging delight.
Just when you think a wimpy power ballad is on the way, Had Enough comes along and hits you upside the head with another loud rocker.
Now & Then is a fun party rock song with keyboards added in giving this song a sound similar to old of Autograph.
Cowboy Style may be the silliest songs I have heard in a while, but it comes across sounding like Party Rock. As silly as it may be, but this would go over well live. A few beers and the whole audience would sing around with this one. Who can deny the lyrics, “Shut the Fuck Up, Do it Cowboy Style“!
This disc ends in good fashion with a fun rocker, Rip It Off. This track has a hidden bonus track at the end of it.
80’s Hard Rock fans will love this CD. Back In the Ring is a fun disc, and is a blast to listen to. It makes this listener happy that there are some bands out there that still know how to rock out in 2007! Buy this disc!!
You can hear a couple of songs at the Vengeance’s myspace page. For more information on this great band, go to their website at Vengeance Online..
Rating:Out of 10
Track Listing:
- Back In the Ring
- No Mercy
- Mind Over Matter
- Captain Moonlight
- Holy Water
- Bad Attitude
- Had Enuff
- Now & Then
- Cowboy Style
- Rip It Off
6 Riot – Restless Breed (Remastered 2006)
The Riot, Reckless Breed Remastered disc is like getting two discs in one. On this reissue, there are 6 tracks that originally appeared on the long out of print Riot Live EP.
This disc features the debut (1982) of the late, great Riot frontman Rhett Forrester. The cool thing about this remastered disc is not only do you get the studio tracks, but you get hear most of them performed live by Forrester. The live tracks really captures the energy of Riot.
As far as the studio tracks on Restless Breed, this disc was the beginning of a new sound for Riot. They were progressing towards a NWOBHM sound on this disc. Quite a few of the tracks sound in the vein of 70’s era Judas Priest musically. This is one of those killer hard rock discs from the early 80’s that often gets overlooked.
Hard Lovin’ Man and C.I.A are absolute classics. When I Was Young is a cool cover of the Animals track.
Loanshark is an explosive high tempo track that you will find the need to crank up the volume on.
Loved By You is a solid rock track. Showdown shows that Forrester can slow it down and still sound great.
There are some filler tracks on Restless Breed, but the addition of the live tracks have increased my rating over the original disc.
Rhett Forrester shows that he is one hell of a front man on this disc, and Mark Reale’s awesome playing shows that he is one very under rated guitar player.
This disc is essential for all of Rhett Forrester’s fans. Riot and Hard Rock fans in general ought to pick this up.
Rating: Out of 10
Here is the Video for Restless Breed Live!
Track Listing:
- Hard Lovin’ Man
- C.I.A.
- Restless Breed
- When I Was Young
- LoanShark
- Loved By You
- Over To You
- Showdown
- Dream Away
- Violent Crimes
- Hard Lovin’ Man Live
- Showdown Live
- Loved By You Live
- Loanshark Live
- Restless Breed Live
- Swords & Tequila Live
4 Winger – IV
I hesitated picking up Winger – IV based on some other comments I have read regarding this disc. I have always like Kip Winger’s voice and Reb Beach’s guitars, so I figured I may as well give this a chance.
If you pick up IV thinking you are going to hear songs similar to Seventeen, and Madalaine, you will be greatly disappointed. This release is a more modern sounding rock record. The bubblegum pop metal goodness of past Winger releases is gone. This a more of a more melodic/AOR rock album.
This disc starts off with a heavy yet melodic track Right Up Ahead. I have listened to this track a few times and have grown to like it more. Blue Suede Shoes is an acoustic driven track with a great vocal by Kip. This is one of those songs that needs to grow on you. Four Leaf Clover is a more upbeat modern rock style track. I am not crazy about this song.
I expected a song with a name like M16 to blow me away. The rhythm to this track is unmistakably Winger. I have grown to like this track with time.
Your Great Escape is an upbeat rocker. Reb’s guitars shine on this track. This is my favorite track from this disc.
Disappear is an interesting track with a moody sounding keyboard synthesizer to start the track off with, but flows into a sound that is more reminiscent of, In the Heart of the Young Era Winger. I like this track alot.
On A Day Like Today is a low tempo number. Kip’s vocals sound good, but this is a track that doesn’t stick with you for very long.
Living Just to Die is a heavier up tempo number. This is another track that has grown on me quite a bit. Short Flight to Mexico continues on a heavy pace, and is another enjoyable track.
Generica is one of those tracks that grow on you with time. I didn’t like this track the first couple of times that I heard it, and have grown to like this one too.
Can’t Take it Back is a low to mid tempo number that sounds better LOUD!
You can hear some of the songs at Winger’s my space page at www.myspace.com/wingertheband.
I have updated my review as of 2/14/07. Hearing some of these songs live has changed my perspective completely. I don’t think my initial review was fair, so I made some updates.
Rating: Out of 10
Track Listing:
- Right Up Ahead
- Blue Suede Shoes
- Four Leaf Clover
- M16
- Your Great Escape
- Disappear
- On A Day Like Today
- Living Just To Die
- Short Flight to Mexico
- Generica
- Can’t Take it Back
9 Sweet F.A. – Stick To Your Guns (Release Year – 1989)
One of the many bands lost in the shuffle of the grunge movement of the early 90’s was Indianapolis natives Sweet F.A.
I had the pleasure of seeing these guys live a few times before they broke up, and they always put on a good show.
Stick To Your Guns is the debut disc by this 5 piece unit of Steven David DeLong on vocals, Jon “Lightning” Huffman and James Thunder on guitars, Jim Quick on bass and Tricki Lane on drums.
This band has a great sound, which is a cross of sleaze metal and a dash of southern rock. 
They seemed ripe to make it big back in the early 90s but they never seemed to get the marketing push they needed by MCA to get them over the hump. They had the look, the swagger, the sound to get them there, but MCA didn’t really know how to market Hard Rock artists very well, and their success was cut short, way too early.
There are some excellent tunes on this disc that still hold up pretty well today. Prince of the City is a great high energy track to start this disc off with. Nothin’ For Nothin’ is another sleazy rocker that reminds me of the Bullet Boys quite a bit. The beat and groove of Rhythm of Action is killer. Whiskey River is a powerful rocker in the vein of Skid Row. The acoustic power ballad Heart of Gold is easily as good as anything you heard from the more successful bands of the era (Warrant, Poison, Cinderella). This disc ends with the acoustic track Southern Comfort. This is a very cool song to end this disc with.
This is one of those CD’s that 80’s hard rock fans can break out at any time and still enjoy. Great vocals, and musicianship by the Sweet F.A. guys. This is one of those discs that is out of print and is becoming harder to find, so pick one of these up if you can get your hands on it!
Rating: Out of 10
Here is the video for Rhythm of Action:
Track Listing:
- Prince of the City
- Nothin’ for Nothin’
- Rhythm of Action
- Do A Little Drivin’
- Daily Grind
- Stick To Your Guns
- Whiskey River
- I Love Women
- Breakin’ The Law
- Heart of Gold
- Devil’s Road
- Southern Comfort
Sweet F.A. is:
Steven David DeLong – vocals
Jon “Lightning” Huffman – guitars
James Thunder – guitars
Jim Quick – bass
Tricki Lane – drums
1 WWIII – When God Turned Away
I just never know what I am going to stumble on when I walk into my local music store. They always have a bunch of great metal offerings, so I never know what I will leave with.
I stumbled on this disc that was released in 2002, WWIII – When Got Turned Away. I had no idea that WWIII released another disc, so I had to give this a listen. Strangely enough, I didn’t really get into their self titled disc in 1990. Mandy Lion’s vocals were too abrasive for my musical taste at the time.
In 2007, my opinion has changed, because Mandy Lion’s voice is exactly what makes this disc work for me. For those of you haven’t heard Mandy Lion before, he had a voice that is somewhere between Udo from Accept, and Blackie Lawless from W.A.S.P, and a dash of Lemmy from Motorhead for good measure. He has a gravelly, alcohol soaked, sometimes growly delivery, but he is not one of those Death Metal grunters, which I personally despise. 
The music here reminds me of pre-Painkiller Judas Priest and Accept mixed together. This is air guitar causing, fist in the air, head banging heavy metal. I couldn’t find a track that I didn’t like, and I thought the cover”Fighting for the Earth” from another obscure metal band, Warrior, was very well done.Â
The last couple of tracks are remixes of Walk With Me and Let the Flesh Rule the Mind. Both tracks come across sounding like WWIII doing Rob Zombie. They are ok, but it is kind of a strange way to end this disc.
When God Turned Away is a strait forward Metal CD. This will likely appeal to Accept and some Judas Priest fans. All others may want to stop by the bands’ MySpace page and give some of these tracks a listen.
Rating:Out of 10
Track Listing:
- Rise
- Walk With Me
- The Last Days of the Empire of Ignorance
- Let the Flesh Rule the Mind
- Fighting For the Earth (Warrior cover)
- Garden of Stone
- The Hard Way
- Reason
- Kill the Lord of the World
- When God Walked Away
- Walk With Me (Remix)
- Let the Flesh Rule the Mind (Remix)
3 Sweet Cheater – Eatin’ Ain’t Cheatin’ (Release Year – 2006)
When I picked up this new Sweet Cheater disc, I must admit that I had low expectations. Just the name of this disc made me think I was going to regret picking it up. Much to my surprise, Eatin’ Ain’t Cheatin’ is far better than I ever could have imagined.
There are elements in every song that remind of just about every popular 80’s Big Hair Hard Rock act you can thing of. One might complain that they are a copy cat band, but they sound like so many different ones, its actually refreshing to hear.
Take one listen to All Fired Up and see if this doesn’t remind you of old L.A. Guns.
Summer kind of sounds like old school Kix. The keyboard driven One Love is a cool L.A. Guns meets Poison sounding ballad.
The very Kix like Money’s Tough is a killer track, as is the slower paced It’s Our Love.
One listen to Dancin on My Grave, and I thought singer Mike Chappel started sounding like Steven Pearcy.
Holding Out on Love is like a fusion of Poison and L.A. Guns. I’ve Got You sounds like a Poison track as performed by Kix (if that is possible).
Ratt shows up again on the very cool Romina. (Ok…its Steven Pearcy’s vocal clone Mike Chappel 😉 )
Subway Train is a good rocker and a great way to end this disc. This track actually sounds better than anything that was on the last Ratt CD.
This disc has to be the surprise of 2006. Perris Records has found one hell of a band in Sweet Cheater. Fans of the 80’s Big Hair sound, and pop metal in general, are going to eat this up. I expect that this will be in my play list for many years to come.
I have added a couple of videos below. You can also hear a few of their songs on their myspace page at: www.myspace.com/sweetcheaterband
Check these guys out! You will be glad you did!
Rating: Out of 10
Summer (Live)
All Fired Up (Live)
Track Listing:
- All Fired Up
- Summer
- One Love
- Money’s Tough
- It’s Our Love
- Dancin On My Grave
- Holding out on Love
- I’ve Got You
- Romina
- Subway Train
Sweet Cheater is:
- Charlie Leger – Guitar
- Tom Flaherty – Guitar
- Mike Chappel – Vocal
- Mark Rahilly – Bass
- Tommy Leger – Drums
7 Randy Piper’s Animal – Violent New Breed (Release Year – 2006)
Former W.A.S.P. guitarist Randy Piper, and Zan Clan guitarist Chris Laney connects for a very W.A.S.P. like CD in Randy Piper’s Animal’s “Violent New Breed”.
Vocalist Rich Lewis could be a Blackie Lawless clone vocally.
Chris Laney also lent his producing talents, so this is one great sounding disc, from beginning to end.
The track “Violent New Breed” will grab you immediately. This is one kick-ass, hard rocking tune.
The heavy pace continues on “Morning After”. I can hear some Zan Clan like backup vocals on this one. This track is very cool!
“Hey You” cranks it up again. This song reminds me of a KISS song, both sonically and lyrically.
“Eye of the Storm” may be my favorite song on this disc. This is a well written song and the guitars are absolutely killer.
The tempo slows way down on “Turn and Walk Away”. This power ballad really delivers. Rich Lewis delivers an excellent vocal on this track, and Randy Piper’s guitar shines greatly. This song screams radio hit!
Lyrically, “Animal In Me” could have used a little more work. The music is good, but it is my least favorite track on this disc.
“Hellchild” sounds like a W.A.S.P. anthem. The keyboards on this track kind of give it that screechy horror type of feel, but are strangely annoying at the same time. The rest of the song is very good though, and would translate well live.
“Salt” is another excellent, heavy track with Zan Clan like backing vocals. This track sounds as if could have been at home in the late 80’s. It is very cool!
“In The Mirror” is a low to mid tempo number that seems to get better with each listen. The guitar work here is superb.
Just the title of “B.O.O.M.” seems to carry the W.A.S.P. spirit. The keyboards return in a minor fashion on this track, and I think they should have left them out. It would have sounded better. Aside from that, this is a cool hard driving track and it ends “Violent New Breed” in good fashion.
There is more to like on this disc than I expected. Chris Laney’s addition to this group takes it over the top. Many of these songs would translate well live. For W.A.S.P. fans, picking this disc up is a no-brainer. For all other Hard Rock, and metal fans, you ought to stop by the band’s myspace page (www.myspace.com/randypipersanimal) and give some of these tracks a listen. I think this is a great disc, and well worth the price of admission!
Rating: Out of 10
Track Listing:
- Violent New Breed
- Morning After
- Hey You
- Eye of the Storm
- Turn and Walk Away
- Animal in Me
- Hellchild
- Salt
- In The Mirror
- B.O.O.M
Randy Piper’s Animal is:
Randy Piper – Guitar
Rich Lewis – Vocals
Chris Laney – Guitar
Jackie Livengood – Bass
Johan Koleberg – Drums
2 Violent Divine – S/T (Release Year – 2006)
Occasionally, I will plug a new band in my music reviews, if they fit in the Hard Rock and Heavy metal genre. When I read that the influences of Violent Divine, were Motley Crue, and Guns ‘N Roses. I had to give them a listen.
I listened to 3 tracks, one time each on myspace and I said, ok, where can I get this…..NOW! I don’t buy much from ITunes, but they actually had this, so I said why not, besides, it beats going to the local record store on December 24th.
This kind of sounds like a fusion between 80’s Hard Rock and today’s current hard rock scene. This comes across as a fusion of Metal and Punk and a dash of sleaze with big drum beats, great guitars and catchy lyrics. There are a few immediate stand out tracks: Let’s Go, Rush You, and Levitate, but there honestly isn’t a bad song on this disc. I dare you try to listen to this disc, and try not to head bang! It is a well produced, fun to listen to debut effort by this Swedish based 4 piece.
This is definitely worth your money if you are looking for a new band that kicks ass!
Here are a couple of video’s to give you a taste of Violent Divine!
Rating:Out of 10
Track Listing:
- Let’s Go
- Love Revolution
- The Morning Show
- Levitate
- Enslaved
- Slow
- Rush You
- Apocalypse
- Ghost in the Machine
- Malfunction
- Misery
- Down the Line
3 Riot – Army of One
Mark Reale of Riot may be an Army of One. He is lone founding member of Riot, and has held this band together for over 30 years now.
Why Mark or Riot, hasn’t received more recognition in the music community is a mystery to me. With a style that falls between Joe Satriani, and Michael Schenker, you don’t have to listen to Army of One very long before you say “Wow”!
With that being said, how do the songs, on Army of One stack up. In my best Guiness Stout voice, they are “BRILLIANT!!“.
With Mark Reale’s and Mike Flyntz guitars and Mike DiMeo’s amazing vocals, I can’t imagine any hard rock or metal fan not enjoying this CD. This is melodic metal as good as you are going to find it anywhere! It is hard for me to pick out highlights on this disc, as I truly enjoy the whole thing. The Bonus Track of Road Racin’ Live, a track that was on the 1979 release Narita, is excellent. It sounds better now than it when it was first released. Johnny the Seal has something to smile out about when he hears this disc. 🙂
Check out this video of Reale and Flyntz dualing guitars….awesome!!
Rating:Out of 10
Track Listing:
- Army of One
- Knockin At My Door
- Blinded
- One More Alibi
- It all falls down
- Helping Hand
- The mystic
- Stay Alive
- Alive in the City
- Shine
- Stained Mirror (Instrumental)
- Darker Side of Light
- Road Racin’ (Live)
2 Twisted Sister – A Twisted Christmas (Release Year – 2006)
Finally! Another hard rock band gets into the Christmas spirit and releases a X-Mas CD in the big hair 80’s vein. Twisted Sister moves into an almost uncharted territory with this release. Sure Trans Siberian Orchestra (Savatage) did it first, but Twisted Sister was brave enough to do it in their name. Kudos to them for a releasing a CD that is fun to listen to. This is an X-mas CD for the headbangers out there! We finally have something that we can enjoy during the holidays, without falling asleep.
A Twisted X-Mas can be a little silly at times. Could you really expect to take this seriously? Nonetheless, Dee Snider and company sound as good as they did 20 years ago.
Personally, I find this CD a fun listen. If you are a fan of Twisted Sister, or 80’s hard rock in general, you have to pick this up.
Rating: 
Out of 10
Track Listing:
- Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
- Oh Come All Ye Faithful
- White Christmas
- I’ll Be Home for Christmas (With Lita Ford)
- Silver Bells
- I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
- Let It Snow
- Deck The Halls
- The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting)
- Heavy Metal Christmas (12 Days of Christmas)
Twisted Sister is:
Dee Snider – lead vocals
Eddie “Fingers” Ojeda – lead guitar
Jay Jay French – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Mark “The Animal” Mendoza – bass, backing vocals
A. J. Pero – drums, percussion
2 Quiet Riot – Rehab
New Quiet Riot in 2006? who would have thought these guys would still be around.
This lineup on the CD includes Kevin Debrow on vocals, Frankie Banali on the drums, Tony Franklin on bass and Neil Citron on guitar.
Whether you will like this release or not is highly dependent on how much you like Kevin Dubrow. To me, Dubrow’s voice is like a fine wine. You may have to savor it, in order to like it. Unfortunately, I am a beer drinker, and I do not enjoy wine.
I really enjoyed a lot of Quiet Riot’s past material, but haven’t really heard anything since QRIII that has excited me too much. Rehab has not changed my opinion.
Musically, Rehab comes across as a classic rock sounding record. The music is good, but Debrow’s voice does not work well with the music being played here. There are too many mid tempo, modern rock songs. Gone are the stadium anthems of Quiet Riot’s past that made them so popular.
Here is a breakdown of the tracks: Free is a mid tempo almost modern sounding rock song with an occasional guitar squeal. Tony Franklin’s bass is quite audible here. It isn’t a good enough song to start this disc off with.
Blind Faith is another mid tempo rock song, and is rather forgettable. South of Heaven sticks with the mid tempo rock formula. It is a tad bit better than the first two songs, but its not enough to stop the tail slide.
Black Reign ups the tempo (finally). You can really hear Banalli pounding the drums in this one. This is the best tracks so far.
Old Habits Die Hard slows it back down again. Dubrow croons to this almost blues song with a background choir. I liked this song until the choir chirped in. That ruined it for me. This does not sound like a Quiet Riot song.
Strange Daze once again ups the tempo (thank God). This is one of the heavier tracks on the CD, and probably sounds the most like older Quiet Riot material. Lots of drums and guitars on this one.
In Harms Way goes back to the mid tempo modern rock formula once more. Sounds like filler to me.
Beggars and Thieves is a good song. It is one of the better tracks on this CD. Citron’s guitars finally show up on this track.
I didn’t care for Don’t Think at first. This song may be one that needs to grow on you. Neil Citron shows up more on this one as well.
It Sucks To Be You sounds more like a classic rock song to me, that it does a QR tune. I kind of like this track.
Evil Woman ends this record on a high note and is the major highlight on Rehab. Glenn Hughes shares the vocals with Dubrow, and he really shines here. There are some keyboards on this one, giving this track an almost Deep Purple feel.
Aside from a couple of tracks, the guitars seem to be anemic and the music strays away from what made Quiet Riot so popular. I think the absense of Carlos Cavazo and Chuck Wright really takes away from the Quiet Riot sound. They are greatly missed here. As a whole Rehab comes across as a very average sounding record. I don’t think its going to appeal to a lot of Quiet Riot fans.
Rating: 
Out of 10
Track Listing:
- Free
- Blind Faith
- South of Heaven
- Black Reign
- Old Habits Die Hard
- Strange Daze
- In Harms Way
- Beggars and Thieves
- Don’t Think
- It Sucks to Be You
- Evil Woman
5 Warrant – Born Again (Release Year – 2006)
When I saw that the new Warrant CD was out, I was a little hesitant about picking this up. I didn’t really enjoy the last couple of releases by Warrant, and I was afraid that this CD would be like the last two instead of the initial albums that made me love this band.
At no point was Jamie St. James a deterrent for me at all. I liked Jamie in Black ‘N Blue and I always thought that band was underrated. The last couple of discs with Jani Lane didn’t set my world on fire, so why not give Jamie a chance.
Thankfully, Born Again is a nice surprise! This CD has the vibe of the first 3 CD’s and is the best thing the guys have done since Dog Eat Dog.
Some could argue that the music is a little dated. I would argue, hell yes, its 80’s Hard Rock, and it still sounds great in 2006. I love this stuff! Why didn’t Warrant do this sooner?
Jamie St. James is a great addition to this band, and the return of Joey Allen has helped to strengthen the Warrant sound!
There are plenty of songs on here to like. My personal favorites are Devils Juice, a song that sounds like it could have been on DRFSR. I also like the rocking Dirty Jack, and Bourbon County Line. Angels is a pretty good song as well.
The amazing thing is, the whole vibe of this CD sounds like Warrant in their heyday, and that is hard thing for any band to reproduce. With each successive listen this CD has gotten better. The guys in Warrant have crafted a very enjoyable disc.
The future is certainly bright for Joey Allen, Erik Turner and company.
Here is the video for Bourbon County Line. I think if you like this song, you will enjoy this CD. I know I did!
Rating: Out of 10
Track Listing:
- Devils Juice
- Dirty Jack
- Bourbon County Line
- Hell, CA
- Angels
- Love Strikes Like Lightning
- Glimmer
- RollerCoaster
- Down in Diamonds
- Velvet Noose
- Roxy
- Good Times
Warrant is:
Jaime St. James – Lead Vocals
Joey Allen – Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals
Erik Turner – Rhythm Guitar, Backing Vocals
Jerry Dixon – Bass, Backing Vocals
Steven Sweet – Drums, Backing Vocals
4 Queensryche – S/T (Release Year – 2003)
Ok, you are probably asking yourself, Why is he reviewing a CD that had music that is 23 years old. (Well the music is anyway)
Well, I stumbled on this CD in my local music store to find that this ’83 classic has been re-released in 2003, totally remastered with 10 additional tracks from the 1984 Live in Tokyo that was only available on Laserdisc and never released on compact disc.
I figured the live tracks had to be worth the price of admission, especially to hear Geoff Tate when he could still hit the high notes.
If you are a metalhead like myself, the first few songs on this disc need no introduction. Queen of the Reich, Nightrider, Blinded and Lady Wore Black are all Queensryche classics. Its great to hear these songs in their finest form. Its amazing how much the band sounded like Iron Maiden in its initial incarnation.
You get the same tracks live plus The Prophecy a rare track that recorded for Rage for Order but never released, and a few tracks that ended up on The Warning.
This has pretty good sound for a live disc. I only had this on cassette previously (I know, some people are probably saying, what is a cassette? or course they probably said, whats a laser disc too!) LOL!
Bottomline, the live tracks were worth picking this one up again! When Geoff Tate and company were in their prime, very few bands were better than them. This CD is a great listen for any Queensryche fan.
Rating: Out of 10
Track Listing:
- Queen of the Reich
- Nightrider
- Blinded
- The Lady Wore Black
- Nightrider (live)
- Prophecy (live)
- Deliverance (live)
- Child of Fire (live)
- En Force (live)
- Blinded (live)
- The Lady Wore Black (live)
- Warning (Live)
- Take Hold of the Flame (live)
- Queen of the Reich (live)
1 Whitesnake – Live… In The Shadow Of The Blues
How does 4 new Whitesnake tracks sound to you? Worth the price of two CD’s? Do you like live CD’s?
Typically, I don’t usually go after live CD’s, but I had to make an exception for Whitesnake. I love this band and I always will.
The lineup for this version of Whitesnake could arguably be the best of them all.
Coverdale on vocals, Tommy Aldridge bashing the hell out of the drums, Doug Aldrich (House of Lords, Lion, Dio) on guitars, as well as Reb Beach (Winger), Marco Mendoza (Thin Lizzy, Blue Murder) on the bass, and Timothy Drury (The Eagles) on the keyboards. I saw this same six members play live, and it was nothing short of an amazing experience. I had no problem picking up this CD after seeing that show.
You have to hear this CD to appreciate it. Coverdale is in fine vocal form here. Doug Aldrich may be every bit the guitar player that John Sykes is (and John is one of my favorites). He is absolutely awesome!! Tommy Aldridge how the hell do you do it after all of these years?!? This is truly great stuff for any Whitesnake fan!
The 20 Live tracks and 4 new studio tracks. How can you pass this up? The four studio tracks are pretty decent too!!
Ready to Rock is a fast paced kick ass rocker with some serious axe shredding by Aldrich. If You Want Me – I’ll Come Running is another great rocker, which is a little heavier on bass, and sounds great. All I Want Is You slows it down mid-tempo and sounds like it could be the cousin of Is This Love. It is another great track! Dogturns the heat back up another fast paced rocker with the trademark Coverdale howl! Excellent stuff!
I can’t say enough about this release by Whitesnake. I love this lineup. The live tunes kick ass and the new tunes leave me wanting more. You have to be crazy not to pick this one up! 
Rating: 
Out of 10
Track Listing:
CD1
- Bad Boys
- Slide It In
- Slow An’ Easy
- Love Ain’t No Stranger
- Judgement Day
- Is This Love
- Blues for Mylene
- Snake Dance
- Crying in the Rain
- Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City
- Fool for your Loving
- Here I Go Again
- Still of the Night
CD2
- Burn
- Give Me All Your Love Tonight
- Walking In the Shadow of the Blues
- The Deeper The Love
- Ready An’ Willing
- Don’t Break My Heart Again
- Take Me With You
- Ready To Rock (New Track)
- If You Want Me – I’ll Come Running (New Track)
- All I Want Is You (New Track)
- Dog ( New Track)
0 Wig Wam – WIG WAMANIA
As you can probably tell by the cover off this CD. Wig Wam is an 80’s parody band much like the Darkness and the Poodles.
The major difference here, they sound almost as good as their Big Hair peers.
There are lots of songs to like on this CD. Rock My Ride is a fun rocker. Gonna Get You Someday and Slave to Your Love could have been on a Bon Jovi CD. Dare Devil Heat and Kill My Rock N Roll reminds me a little of the Scorpions musically (but not lyrically) and are very upbeat. A R ‘N’ R Girl Like You starts off with this My Sharona guitar lick, but turns out to be a superior song. The closer Breaking All the Rules reminds of a mix between Bon Jovi and Savatage, if there could be such a thing.
I don’t know what it is about this CD that I like so much. The musical style comes across as sounding very familiar, but when I try to figure out which band they sound like exactly, I can’t put my finger on it . If you can get past the cheese factor here, you might like this disc.
Rating: Out of 10
Track Listing:
- Wig Wamania
- Rock My Ride
- Slave to Your Love
- Gonna Get You Someday
- Bygone Zone
- Dare Devil Heat
- Kill My Rock ‘N’ Roll
- The Riddle
- At the End of the Day
- A R’N’R Girl Like You
- Can’t Get her (Out of My Bed)
- Breaking All of the Rules
2 Zan Clan – We Are Zan Clan…Who the F**k Are You??! (Release Year – 2005)
Here is another CD that totally took me by surprise.
I stumbled on this CD, thanks to Sleazeroxx.com a few months ago, and I still listen to this one today.
Zan Clan consists of singer Zinny Zan from Shotgun Messiah and Pontus Norgren (Talisman, The Poodles). If you have ever liked Shotgun Messiah back in the 80’s and early 90’s you will know what to expect vocally. Personally, I liked those guys, but the reason I picked this up, is Pontus Norgren is playing on this disc.
I first discovered Pontus on a Talisman disc with Jeff Scott Soto. I thought then, and still think he is a great unknown talent to people in the U.S. He is one of the best guitarists I have heard for a while.
Zan Clan sounds like a band stuck in the big hair 80’s era, and all I can say is THANK GOD! I love this type of music!.
This CD is filled with infectious songs that you will like on the first listen. My Current favorites are “Go Go Go”, “High Speed Junkie”, “Mess ya up”, and the blazing cover of Cheap Trick’s “Surrender“. A fun CD that will appeal to all big hair era Hard Rock fans.
For more information on Zan Clan, check out the band’s website. You can buy this CD at the Hard Rock Hideout Amazon.com Storefront at this link.
Rating: Out of 10
Track Listing:
- Go go go
- Heart n soul
- High Speed Junkie
- So Damn Good
- Mess Ya Up
- Silver Bullet Toy
- Heart Died Young
- Deja Vu
- Jinxed
- Can’t Get You Out
- Outro
- Surrender
Zan Clan is:
Zinny Zan – vocals
Pontus Norgren – guitar and backing vocals
Chris Laney – guitar and backing vocals
Eggy Egberg – bass and backing vocals
Johan Koleberg – drums
