Category: Rare Rock Rewind
0 Underground Moon – S/T (2001) (2008 – Reissue)
How many of you have heard of Underground Moon? (insert crickets chirping here). Underground Moon is a little known side project of Jeff Pilson (Dokken, Dio, Foreigner). Pilson was using the name Dominick Moon for this project. He met producer/guitarist Tommy Henriksen (Alice Cooper) and the two proceeded to record and release an interesting modern rock CD that has a sound that is more in common with bands like Nine Inch Nails, Stabbing Westward and Gravity Kills.
Underground Moon’s self titled (and only) CD was put out in 2001 by Rebelution Entertainment and reissued in 2008 by Metal Mind Productions. So how is it? It takes some time getting used to hearing Pilson sing using distortion and other vocal effects. The song writing is solid, and songs are definitely above average. If you go into this CD expecting something Dokken- like, you will be GREATLY disappointed. It is nothing like that at all.
The music reminds me mostly of Stabbing Westward, and maybe Rob Zombie (to a much lesser degree). It seems like the music would have been right at home on the radio in the late 90’s or early 00’s. It blows my mind that Pilson, whose career was deeply rooted in 80’s hard rock & metal, can do something so cool and yet extremely different from his normal style.
Some of CD highlights include the songs “Backslide”, “Imaginary Jesus”, “Open Circles” and the cover of Midnight Oil’s “Beds are Burning”.
If you want to check out something cool, yet different, you could do far worse than Underground Moon. It may not be something I will listen to all of the time, but I am glad I checked it out. If you are interested in Underground Moon, you can pick the CD up at a reasonable price, at this link.
Rating: Out of 10
Track Listing:
1. Backslide
2. Gray
3. Suicidal Maze
4. In Cinema
5. Beds Are Burning
6. Unknown
7. Shed the Skin
8. Acid Superman
9. Shakti
10. Imaginary Jesus
11. Open Circles
Underground Moon is:
Dominick Moon (aka Jeff Pilson) – Drums, Bass, Vocals
Tommy Henriksen – Guitars
Produced by Tommy Henriksen
0 Shy – Welcome To the Madhouse (1994)
In 2011, There aren’t too many pop metal CD’s that I don’t own, so I stumble across a really good one that I didn’t have, I get pretty excited about it. With TNT’s recent release of A Farewell To Arms, Tony Mills vocals reminded me a lot of the 1989 Shy (England) CD Misspent Youth. This was a really cool CD that I enjoyed a lot. I started wondering why I never heard anything about the follow up CD, Welcome to the Madhouse. Like many bands on MCA, Shy lost their deal, and Welcome to the Madhouse was originally only released in Japan. It was reissued in 2001 with a couple of bonus tracks, but has never had a proper release in the United States. Tony Mills was unhappy with the direction of the music, and the band brought in John “Wardi” Ward as the singer.
Wardi is a completely different style of singer than Tony Mills, but he is really good. His voice combined with the back up vocals of Alan Kelly and Gary Dallaway made for a perfect combination on this CD.
The first song I heard off of this CD was Shy’s cover of the Rolling Stone classic “Its Only Rock ‘N’ Roll” (See Video Below). I loved Shy’s hair mail twist on that song, so I had to seek this CD out.
I am quite glad I found this CD as Welcome to the Madhouse has moments that remind me of a lot of cool bands including Extreme, RATT, Dokken and more. If you are fan of hair metal, you are going to love this CD. Finding this CD can be somewhat of a challenge, but it does show up on Ebay from time to time, at semi reasonable prices. If you can find it, buy it, I highly recommend it!!
Vodpod videos no longer available.Track Listing:
1. Parasite
2. Crazy Crazy
3. Its Only Rock ‘N’ Roll
4. What Would Your Daddy Do
5. Tonight (Your Mine)
6. Girls Like You
7. Angel
8. Who Do You Think You Are?
9. Everybody
10. Something for the Weekend
11. Don’t Know Why I Love You
12. Somebody
13. Money [Live]
14. Its Only Rock ‘N’ Roll [Live]
Shy is:
Wardi – Vocals
Steve Harris – Guitars
Roy Davis – Bass
Paddy McKenna – Keyboards
Alan Kelly – Drums
0 Bang Tango – Love After Death (1994)
It is a crying shame that Bang Tango’s third effort, Love After Death has not had a proper release in the United States. This disc is the last to feature the band’s original recording lineup of Joe LeSté, Mark Knight, Tigg Ketler, Kyle Kyle, and Kyle Stevens. This was released after the grunge scene hit it big, and was released in Europe under the Music For Nations label.
It took months for me to track down a reasonably priced copy of this out of print CD. As they say, good things come to those who wait. Bang Tango’s Love After Death is another good release indeed. Does it stand up to Psycho Cafe or Dancin’ on Coals? Probably not, but there are some pretty good songs worth checking out on this CD.
The opening track “New Generation” is full of the all the fire & energy that made me love this band in the first place. “My Favourite 9” is another cool tune that is filled with that funky bass from Kyle Kyle that gave Bang Tango their semi-unique sound in the late 80’s and early 90’s.
“Crazy” starts off slow and finishes big. Joe LeSté and company takes the listener on a fun ride. If this would have been released earlier in Bang Tango’s career, it could have been a huge hit.
The only song that really doesn’t seem to work on Love After Death is the ballad “A Thousand Goodbyes”. The rest of the CD is pretty good, but this song I could have lived without. Nonetheless, Love After Death is a pretty good effort from Bang Tango, and seems like a natural bridge for Joe LeSté’s jump over to Beautiful Creatures in the mid nineties.
I can’t understand why this CD didn’t get a proper release in the United States. Bang Tango fans will without question love this disc. Sadly, it is a hard disc to track down, and it out of print. It often sells for over 25 bucks on eBay regularly. It is a cool CD, and one worth tracking down if you can find it at the right price. Happy Hunting!
(I found a couple of song clips on Youtube, you can check them out below.)
Track Listing:
1. New Generation
2. My Favourite 9
3. Feelin’ Nothin’
4. Don’t Count Me Out
5. Live On The Moon
6. Crazy
7. The Hell I Gave
8. Conversation
9. So Obsessed
10. Gonna Make You Feel Like
11. A Thousand Goodbyes
Bang Tango is:
Joe LeSté – Vocals
Mark Knight – Guitars, Electric & Acoustic, Slide, Sitar
Kyle Stevens – Guitars, Electric & Acoustic, Mandolin
Kyle Kyle – Bass
Tigg Ketler – Drums
1 Two-Bit Thief – Another Sad Story…In The Big City (1990)
Remember the band Two-Bit Thief? If you are a fan of sleaze rock, you will definitely want to give this band a look.
Two Bit Thief’s singer Andy Andersen was part of the pre-Metallica thrash scene in San Fransisco prior to Two Bit Thief. Needless to say, Andersen has been around the live circuit for a long time, and was a veteran on the scene by the time the band Two Bit Thief was formed. Two Bit Thief was formed by former Attitude Adjustment members Andersen, Rick Strahl, Chris Scaparro, and Eric Brecht. Unlike Attitude Adjustment, Two-Bit Thief was the band’s entrance into the hard rock world.
With their album Another Sad Story…In The Big City, the band had a near hit with the song “Broken Hearts” (See Video Below). The rest of the album is packed full of sleazy rockers that remind me of a blend of Dangerous Toys, Jetboy, Vain with a dribble of Metallica here and there.
The band cranked up the tempo on their cover of the Johnny Cash classic “Folsom Prison Blues”. This is a truly rockin’ version of this song.
Some of my favorite cuts on this CD are “City Boys”, “Desperado”, the thrash fueled rockers “Broke Again” and “Modern Revolution”.
Another Sad Story…In The Big City has some cool tunes worth checking out. It has been out of print for years, but you can find copies of it dirt cheap at this link. Check it out!
Rating: Out of 10
Track Listing:
1. City Boys
2. Industry
3. Love/Hate
4. Hard Times
5. Broken Hearts
6. Folsom Prison Blues
7. Desperado
8. Broke Again
9. One Sad Day
10. Modern Revolution
11. Crime
12. Remedy
Two Bit Thief is:
Andy Andersen – Vocals
Chris Scaparro – Guitars
Ron Shipes – Guitars
Rick Strahl – Bass
Eric Brecht – Drums
1 The Golden Gods – The Thorny Crown of Rock and Roll (2005)
I am not sure how I manged to miss The Golden Gods magnificent piece of revival rock, but I am glad that I have found it now.
This San Francisco three-piece has a sound that borrow heavily from the mid 70’s, without sounding overly dated.
The Golden Gods tap into their influences like Led Zeppelin, and Deep Purple to create eleven new tunes that rock hard.
I have read where people have compared singer Simon Scott to Justin Hawkins, as well as Eric Martin, and he does kind of sound like a mixture of the two. Judging from the album cover, you might think this band falls into some of the over the top styling of The Darkness, but The Golden Gods are more of straight forward classic hard rock band.
If you want to hear an album full of hard rocking stadium anthems that will get your blood pumping, you need to make it a priority to check out “The Thorny Crown of Rock and Roll”. My reaction every time I hear this is the same. Holy crap?! This band is amazing.
If the opening tracks “Even I Don’t Know”, and “Dynamite Lady” don’t get you rocking, there may be no hope for you. The band’s live energy comes through in their music, and makes a big statement on these songs. It sounds as if The Golden Gods have been infused with soul of Grand Funk Railroad and Humble Pie, and found away for that funky 70’s groove to work for them. One thing is certain, The Thorny Crown of Rock and Roll is packed with high energy tunes that are a lot of fun to listen to.
I don’t know if it the funky bass, the cowbell, soulful background singers, or just the overall tempo that captivates me with this CD, but is a very happy sounding disc, and quite frankly, I could use quite a few more of these! “Even I Don’t Know”, “Dynamite Lady”, “Midas Touch”, and “Stone Fox” are my favorites, but there really isn’t a bad tune on this disc.
The Golden Gods close out this album with a cover of the Carole King classic, “I Feel The Earth Move”. This version is so rocked out, you will hardly recognize the song as a cover tune. Cool stuff indeed!
It is a shame that The Golden Gods have broken up, but Simon Scott, and Richard Shelton Davis have formed a new band, called The Resurrection. You can check out The Golden Gods on their myspace page. You can find The Resurrection here. You can purchase “The Thorny Crown of Rock and Roll” at this link.
My only disappointment with “The Thorny Crown of Rock and Roll” is that I didn’t hear this album sooner. Highly Recommended!
Rating: Out of 10
Track Listing:
1. Even I Don’t Know
2. Dynamite Lady
3. Funny Lookin’ Mama
4. Rock And Roll Salvation Part II
5. Midas Touch
6. Un-Ltd. Baby
7. Stone Fox
8. Trouble And Bad Women
9. Liver’s On Fire
10. Test The Fire
11. I Feel The Earth Move
The Golden Gods are:
Simon Scott- Vocals and Guitar
Dynamite Dan Trilk – Bass and Vocals
Richard Shelton Davis – Drums and Vocals
6 Heaven – Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door (1985)
When I first heard the samples of new reissue of Heaven’s CD, Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door, my first reaction was, “How in hell have I never heard this band before”.
Heaven is a hard rock band that started in Adelaide, Australia, and later relocated to the U.S.A. They have three albums under their belt, and yet I have never heard a single tune from these guys until now. Judging from the tunes on Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door, I need to find the back catalog from this band and fast.
“Show on The Road” starts the album off right with a rocker that sounds like a kick ass blend of RATT & KEEL. Every time I play this song I want to rip the knob off my stereo. I love this!!
“Wink of An Eye” is a super catchy rocker that will have you signing along in no time. The keyboards on the song are alittle dated, but they add just enough quirkiness to this song to make it fun.
“Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” is Heaven’s rendition of the Bob Dylan classic. No Guns N’ Roses didn’t do this cover first, although I like the G N’ R version better.
“No Turning Back” is another song that reminds me of early Def Leppard. The guitar that opens this song reminds me a lot of the guitar intro from “Die Hard The Hunter”.
“Last Laugh” is another hit worthy tune with that would not have sounded out of place on any of the KEEL records. Cool stuff!
“Rock On” is a bonus track that was added to the reissue of this CD. It is a such a great tune that I can’t figure out why this would have ever been left off of the original CD.
Overall, I am greatly surprised by Heaven. Singer Allan Freyer sounds like a cool combination of Ron Keel and Marc Storace. The band is way above average on the talent meter. I am greatly surprised that they weren’t a bigger part of the 80’s hard rock scene. I don’t know how I managed to miss Heaven back in the day, but I am damn glad that I found them now. Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door is a CD that I recommend picking up. It has been out of print for years, but reissued in 2010 by Old Metal Records.
For more information on Heaven, check out the band’s website at this link. You can score a copy of Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door through The Omega Order here.
Rating: Out of 10
Track Listing:
1. Show on the Road
2. Wind of an Eye
3. Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
4. No Turning Back
5. Last Laugh
6. Burn
7. Keep the Fire
8. Without Your Love
9. No Where to Run
10. Rock On
11. Hard Life [Live]
12. Where Angels Fear to Tread [Live]
13. Love Child [Live]
14. In the Beginning [Live]
15. Madness [Live]
16. Rock School [Live]
Heaven is:
Allan Fryer – vocals
Mitch Perry – guitar, keyboards
Tommy Dimitroff – drums
Mark Cunningham – guitar
Dennis Feldman – bass guitar
12 Salty Dog – Every Dog Has Its Day (1990)
If there has a been a hard rock CD that desperately needs to be reissued, Salty Dog’s Every Dog Has Its Day would have to be it. With such classics like “Come Along”, “Ring My Bell” and “Where The Sun Don’t Shine” this is a CD that still needs to be heard by all rock fans.
Amazingly, “Come Along” still gets airplay from my local rock station even today. This is an amazing feat for a relatively unknown band. After this kick ass single from Salty Dog, one might be quick to discount this band as another AC/DC clone, but if you dig deeper into this CD, you are going to hear the influences of other massive hard rock bands like Led Zeppelin, and Aerosmith.
Pete Reveen’s guitar work on this CD is excellent, and Jimmi Bleacher’s vocals are perfect for this style of rock. Both of these guys are musicians that I would like to hear perform again. Both Reveen and Bleacher have been missing from the rock world far too long. Reveen’s bluesy licks get better every time I listen to this CD.
Overall Every Dog Has Its Day has lots of excellent rock to feast your ears on. Even the slower tunes “Just Like A Woman” and “Sacrifice Me” are great on this disc.
I am a sucker for this old school bluesy hard rock, and I know a lot of you are too. If you are a fan of this genre, you need to seek this disc out. This CD was originally released by Geffen Records, but has sadly been out of print for years. You can sometimes find copies of it through Ebay, and Amazon.com. Grab this if you can find it! You won’t be disappointed!
Rating: Out of 10
Track Listing:
- Come Along
- Cat’s Got Nine
- Ring My Bell
- Where The Sun Don’t Shine
- Spoonful
- Just Like A Woman
- Sim Sala Bim
- Keep Me Down
- Heave Hard (She Comes Easy)
- Lonesome Fool
- Slow Daze
- Sacrifice Me
- Nothin’ But A Dream
Salty Dog is:
Jimmi Bleacher -lead vocals, acoustic guitar
Pete Reveen – lead and rhythm guitar
Michael Hannon – bass
Khurt Maier – drums
3 McQueen Street – S/T (1991)
A few weeks ago on the Hard Rock Hideout Radio show, Brian Basher played a tune from the band McQueen Street. I immediately went scurrying through my collection of music to revisit this CD. I haven’t listened to McQueen Street in years, and never got around to loading it onto my drive.
The songs on this band’s 1991 debut area good mix of sleazy rockers, pop metal and even the dreaded ballads.
“In Heaven” is a tune that should have been a modest hit for McQueen Street. This song is worthy of a few replays.
“My Religion”, “Stick It” and “Money” are all solid tunes. I have played “Time” a few times, and I have grown to like this one quite a bit. There are parts of this song that have a real Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora type of style to it.
It almost sounds as if the band was trying to tap into the Aerosmith/Guns N’ Roses vibe with “Going Back To Mexico”. It doesn’t come close to achieving that level of greatness, and falls flat. The opening of this song reminds me of the Lionel Richie song “Dancing on the Ceiling” (insert shudder here).
“Woman In Love” features the six string wizardry of Steve Stevens, and this song rips as a result of his amazing fret work.
Derek Welsh’s vocals are quite noisy on the closing song “When I’m In The Mood”. This is fairly average stuff.
Overall, there a few good songs on this CD, and I am sure the hair metal fans will enjoy it. I wouldn’t consider this CD essential listening, but is worth picking up if the price is right.
It has been out of print for years, so eBay and Amazon.com are the best places to f ind it.
Track Listing:
- Only The Wind
- Two Worlds
- In Heaven
- Going Back To Mexico
- My Religion
- Stick It
- Money
- Time
- Woman In Love
- When I’m In The Mood
McQueen Street:
Derek Welsh – lead vocals and guitar
Michael Powers – lead guitar and background vocals
Richard Hatcher – bass and background vocals
Chris Welsh – drums, percussion and background vocal
Additional Musicians:
Jeff Scott Soto – background vocals
Steve Stevens – additional guitar
C.J. Vanston – keyboards
1 Johnny Crash – Neighbourhood Threat (1990)
One of the harder to find CD’s in my collection is the debut effort by hard rockers Johnny Crash. This CD has been out of print forever and brings down big bucks on Ebay and Amazon.com. Finding a copy of it in 2010 will be a daunting task for any hard rocker. I finally tracked down a copy of this CD last year, after searching for this for months.
Was it worth the wait, and all of the searching? Absolutely!! Neighbourhood Threat kicks ass. Once upon a time I owned this cassette, but never replaced it on CD. It is every bit as good as I remembered it to be.
This band was fronted by former Tokyo Blade singer Vicki James Wright. If you haven’t ever heard him sing before, he has a cool raspy voice that fits this music to a tee. Fans of bands like Rhino Bucket, Dirty Looks and AC/DC are going to love this CD. This is sleazy good blues rock that does not disappoint. The band had a modest hit on MTV with “Hey Kid”, but like many of their peers in the ’90’s, Johnny Crash has little to no label support, and they broke up. They did release a follow up effort, Unfinished Business a couple of years ago, but it is not even in the same class as Neighborhoud Threat.
While the music on this disc is far from original, it is extremely good. There truly isn’t a bad song on this CD, as a result it is highly sought after release. Buy it, if you can find it! Happy Hunting!
Rating: Out of 10
Track Listing:
1. Hey Kid
2. No Bones About It
3. All The Way In Love
4. Thrill Of The Kill
5. Axe To The Wax
6. Sink Or Swim
7. Crack Of Dawn
8. Freedom Road
9. Halfway To Heaven
10. Trigger Happy
11. Baby’s Like A Piano
Johnny Crash is:
Vicki James Wright -vocals
August Warchell – guitar
Christopher Stewart – guitar
Andy Rogers – bass
Stephen Adamo – drums
3 Wendy O. Williams – WOW (1984)
The greatest KISS CD never made? That is what some folks consider punk rocker Wendy O. Williams debut CD, WOW.
Why is that you ask? Gene Simmons produced the album, and wrote five of the nine song on the disc. Ace Frehley plays lead on the tune “Bump and Grind”, Paul Stanley plays guitar on “Ready To Rock”, Eric Carr plays drums on “Legends Never Die”. Stanley, Carr and Vinnie Vincent also have partial song writing credits.
So how is the album? It is quite a departure from the music that Wendy O. Williams did with The Plasmatics, but it is good nonetheless. “I Love Sex” sounds like a distant cousin to “I Love It Loud”.
If there is one song that should have been a hit on WOW, it is “It’s My Life”. This tune written by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley is ridiculously catchy. (See the video below).
If the title “Thief in the Night” sounds familiar, it should. This song appears on the 1987 KISS CD, Crazy Nights. I kind of like the version Wendy O. Williams did a little better. Her coarse vocals are a better match with this song.
There are a few more cool tunes on this disc, including the heavy rocker “Ready to Rock”, “Bump and Grind”, and “Aint None of Your Business”. This CD’s only fault, aside from pretty much being a KISS CD in disguise, is that it is a little on the short side with it being less than 37 minutes in length. Nonetheless, I love Wendy O. Williams voice with this type of hard rock. Her razor sharp vocals sound great with the heavy guitar riffs played on WOW. If you haven’t heard her sing before, this is a good place to start.
Sadly, Wendy O. Williams committed suicide back in 1998. Here death is a shame, but she did leave plenty of music for fans to check out. WOW is definitely a CD worth checking out. If you are a fan of KISS, or an 80’s hard rock fan in general, you will probably like this. WOW has been out of print for quite some time, but you can find copies of the CD at this link. For more information on Wendy O. Williams, check out this tribute myspace page.
Rating: Out of 10
Track Listing:
1. I Love Sex (And Rock and Roll)
2. It’s My Life
3. Priestess
4. Thief in the Night
5. Opus in Cm7
6. Ready to Rock
7. Bump and Grind
8. Legends Never Die
9. Ain’t None of Your Business
Wendy O. Williams – Vocals
Wes Beech – Rhythm & Lead Guitar
Michael Ray – Lead Guitar
Reginald Van Helsing – Bass Guitar
T.C. Tolliver – Drums
0 Masquerade – Surface of Pain (1994)
Long before the onslaught of Swedish glam & sleeze that is being released today, there was this kick ass metal band from Sweden called Masquerade. My first introduction to the band was with their second CD, Surface of Pain, that was released in the United States via Metal Blade Records. Masquerade has a sound that falls somewhere in between the sound of Dream Theater & Queensryche. The music is heavy with a touch of progressive metal for good measure.
Surface of Pain has a bunch of cool tunes including “Judas Kiss”, “Suffering”( listen to this song below), “America” and “Mercy Me”. In my opinion, there really isn’t a bad song in the bunch. Tony Johansson’s voice might not be in the same league as Geoff Tate’s, but his vocals have a huge impact on the songs here. He has a solid range, and his style seems to be a good mesh with Thomas G:son’s guitar work.
It is a shame that a CD this good was majorly over looked by the masses. This is a solid effort by
Masquerade. The band should have had a lot more success with Surface of Pain.
Although Masquerade is not together currently, a couple of the band members have been active in other bands. Singer Tony Yoanson was singing in the band Nocturnal Alliance, while Henrick Lundberg is playing bass for House of Heavy.
For more information on Masquerade, check out the band’s myspace page here.
You can find the CD Surface of Pain dirt cheap, at this link. You can download the entire album off of iTunes for less than $6.00. Check it out, you will be glad you did.
Rating: Out of 10
Track Listing:
1. Judas Kiss
2. Say Your Prayer
3. State of Grace
4. Suffering
5. End of Nothing
6. America
7. God of Man
8. Violation
9. Feels Good
10. Wasteland
11. Mercy Me
12. Free My Mind
Masquerade is:
Thomas G:son – guitar
Tony Johansson – vocals
Marco Tapani – drums
Henrik Lundberg – bass
7 Vamp – The Rich Don’t Rock (1989)
When I recently found Vamp’s debut CD, The Rich Don’t Rock, I had to buy it. I could only vaguely remember this hair metal act from the late 80’s. I use to own this on cassette ages ago, but I couldn’t recall anything about the music. Judging from the CD cover, I was pretty sure that the music on this disc was going to be pure cheese. My incessant need to find the rarest rock on the planet wasn’t going to stop me from picking this up.
Oddly enough, this band is far better than I expected them to be. Vamp is not a Sunset Strip, Van Halen wanna be. They are a German hard rock act whose musical roots seem to stem deeper than the rock coming out of Los Angeles in the 80’s. Ricolf Cross dishes out some wicked six string work on this CD. I am extremely impressed with his playing. Where is this guy now?
Singer Tom Bellini’s voice takes a little bit to get used to, but it grows on you. He kind of reminds me of a higher pitched Kevin DuBrow. Drummer Dicki Fliszar gets some moments to shine too. He has a pretty cool drum solo in the tune “All Nite”. I thought that was unusual, and cool all at the same time.
The best songs on this CD are “Like I Want” (my personal favorite), “Rich Don’t Rock”, “All Nite” and “Stand By Me”.
Very little information is available on the guys in Vamp. The Rich Don’t Rock is their only CD. Drummer Dicki Fliszar went on to play drums in the band SKIN. The rest of the gents in the band are at large in the musical world. If you know what these guys are up to today, let us know.
Is The Rich Don’t Rock worth picking up? If you can find it, absolutely. This CD has been out of print for a long time and is very hard to find. There are a bunch of quality rockers on this disc, and I am definitely getting a kick out of them. I am glad I rediscovered this band in 2009. Everyone needs a little Vamp before Halloween right?!
You can listen to the song, “Heartbreak, Heartache” and “Renegade” at the band’s myspace page.
Rating: Out of 10
Track Listing:
1.Heartbreak, Heartache
2. Like I Want
3. Rich Don’t Rock
4. Love Games
5. Renegade
6. All Nite
7. Lonely Nights
8. Stand by Me
9. Bleeding
10. Talk Is Cheap
11. Shout
12. Why
Vamp is:
Tom Bellini – vocals
Ricolf Cross – guitar
Oliver Scholz – bass
Dicki Fliszar – drums
0 Jim Gillette – Proud To Be Loud (1987)
With all of the hoopla over Lita Ford’s new CD, Wicked Wonderland, I wanted to step back and check out her husband’s solo debut from 1987, Proud To Be Loud.
This CD features the talent of Michael Angelo Batio on guitar. If you have ever heard this guy play, then you know his skill falls somewhere between Vinnie Vincent and Yngwie Malmsteen. He is an impressive shredder, who can play at a ridiculous speed. On Proud To Be Loud sometimes his style of playing works and sometimes it doesn’t.
I would never consider Jim Gillette a great vocalist. He does have an impressive range, and can hit some notes that most singers would never try for. In fact, the only thing higher than the notes coming out of his mouth, is his hair. His lower range where most of his vocals fall is similar to, but not as good as Mark Slaughter. Overall, his voice takes some getting used to, and you will either love it, or hate it. Personally, I am not a fan, so I struggle with his vocals.
There are a couple songs on this CD that I did like, but not much more. On the song, “When the Clock Strikes 12” Gillette really belts the notes out. Michael Angelo Batio’s playing is top notch as well. The band slows things down somewhat for the song “Angel in White”. This isn’t what I would consider a power ballad, but probably the closest thing you will find to a hit on this CD.
If you grab the 2003 reissue of this CD, you will find 5 bonus tracks, some of which come from Gillette’s bands Nitro, and Organ Donor. The Organ Donor songs show Gillette singing in a lower tone that is very similar to his range on Lita Ford’s new CD. It is more of an alternative metal sound, which I could live without. For more information on that group, check out www.myspace.com/organdonorfresno. The bonus tracks don’t really add anything to the CD, but if you must have it, at least you get to check out a few more tunes.
Overall, I can’t recommend Proud to Be Loud. Batio’s playing would probably be the only true reason to grab this disc. As a whole, the majority of the songs on this disc make my head hurt.
This CD is now out of print once more, but you can find copies of it on Ebay from time to time. Tread at your own risk!
Rating: Out of 10
Track Listing:
- When the Clock Strikes 12
- Head On
- Angel in White
- Flash of Lightning
- Proud To Be Loud
- Never Say Never
- Nitro – Guitar Solo
- Red Hot Rocket Ride
- Make Me Crazy
- Show Down
- Mirror – Mirror
- Nitro – Bitch on My Back
- Organ Donor
- D.Marks & J. Gillette – Out of Time
- Organ Donor – Six Feet Deep
- Slut – Dr. Monster
7 I, Napoleon – S/T (1991)
One of the lesser known bands in my vast CD collection is I, Napoleon. This band’s self titled debut was released towards the end of the hair metal era. Judging from the perfect coiffures the band members have on the back cover of this CD, they were certainly trying to appeal to the hair metal crowd. The music on this CD is so completely random, I don’t think I could truly classify them as one.
When I picked this up in the 90’s on cassette, I remembered not really getting into this very much, but couldn’t remember the tunes at all. I recently replaced this CD, and found that I liked this a lot more than when it was first released.
Singer Steve Napoleon’s voice sounds like a cross between Richard Black from Shark Island, and Steven Shareaux from Kik Tracee but the music is nothing like either one of those bands.
The opening track “Perfect Absolution” kind of sounds like a White Lion tune with a different style of singer. It is an o.k. opener, but there better songs on this CD.
The keyboards on “Go To Pieces” sounds like they should be in a Honeymoon Suite song, than from I, Napoleon. The vocals are pretty cool on this tune.
“Come Back Soon” fires off with a bunch of La, La, La’s. My first reaction was “What the hell is this?”. That part of the tune is kind of annoying, but catchy in an odd way too. The rest of it is pretty good.
“Everytime I See Your Picture” is a keyboard based power ballad that could have had a little bit of hit potential, assuming the band got some radio airplay, of which they received very little. This is a cover song from the Canadian singer Luba, who did have a top 40 hit with this song.
“Whipped Silly” is easily one of my favorite tunes on this CD. You have to love the Cowbell!
“I Am The Idiot” is cool rocker that blasts out a saxophone solo towards the middle of the song. You have to love the classic lyrics “Life’s a bitch and I’m a whore, at least I’m not some goddamn bore”.
“Sweet Cyanide” is a pretty straight forward sleazy rocker, and good tune at that.
“Concerto in D Minor” is a piano instrumental that pretty much adds nothing to this CD at all. Its inclusion here is just weird.
This CD has been out of print for years, but you can still find copies of it, at this link. Back in the 90’s, I didn’t care for this CD, but now I think its kind of cool. The low price makes it a CD worth checking out.
Rating: Out of 10
Track Listing:
- Perfect Absolution
- Go To Pieces
- Don’t Wanna Sleep Alone
- Come Back Soon
- Everytime I See Your Picture
- Love I Hate
- Whipped Silly
- Feels Like Suicide
- I Am The Idiot
- Sweet Cyanide
- Concerto in D Minor
- My Backyard
I, Napoleon is:
Steve Napoleon – Vocals, Keyboards, Backing Vocals, Percussion
Joe Fazio – Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals
Dave Imondi – Drums, Percussion Backing Vocals
Doug Stratton – Guitars, Backing Vocals
0 Thunderhead – Ugly Side (1999)
I first heard of singer Ted Bullet in the band Son of a Bitch featuring the former members of Saxon. I liked that band’s release Victim You so much that it was only natural for me to seek out Ted’s other work. When I saw that Thunderhead’s release Ugly Side also had current House of Lords members, B.J. Zampa and Jimi Bell, it was pretty much a no- brainer. I had to have this CD.
Much to my surprise,Thunderhead put out their first disc back in 1989, but I never found out about the guys until long after the breakup.
Ugly Side is Thunderhead’s sixth and final release, and judging from the tunes on this CD. The band went out the way they came in, rocking hard!
Let me start off by saying that Jimi Bell’s guitar work on this CD is phenomenal. If you are a fan of virtuoso type of players, you need to listen to him cut loose on Ugly Side. This disc is filled with a ton of solos and guitar noodling that will keep a lot of rockers happy.
To me, Ted Bullet’s vocals are an acquired taste, but I like them a lot. He has a raspy voice that reminds a little of original AC/DC singer Dave Evans.
Ugly Side starts off with a high speed rocker, “Liar”. There are a some really cool guitar riffs on this song!
“Rock Bottom” reminds me a lot of the House of Lords song with the same name. The lyrics are different, but the chorus
is practically the same. It is a great song nonetheless.
“Blood” is a killer balladesque tune that transforms itself into a high octane rocker, and then back again. Cool tune!
Jimi Bell shows off his guitar wizardry once more on “Pull the Plug”. I don’t really care for the lyrics on this song all that much, but Bell’s guitar work makes it required listening anyway.
“High and Don’t Care” is an acoustic based instrumental. The guitar playing is good, but it doesn’t really add anything to Ugly Side.
The album picks the pace back up with the rocker “35 Minutes” and doesn’t let up again.
Ugly Side is a solid effort from Thunderhead and worth checking out.
Copies of this CD are available for sale at this link. Get it and play it loud! You won’t be disappointed.
Rating: Out of 10
Track Listing:
- Liar
- Rock Bottom
- Footsteps Of Fear
- Blood
- Pull The Plug
- Ugly Side
- High And Don’t Care
- Pieces Of Pain
- 35 Minutes
- Got 2 End It
- A Real Hard Time
Thunderhead is:
Ted Bullet – Vocals/Guitar
Jimi Bell – Guitars
Mark Franco – Bass
B.J. Zampa – Drums
1 Welcome To the Nightmare: An All Star Salute To Alice Cooper (2005)
Typically, I don’t like cover discs, and I usually I like tribute CD’s even less. In most cases songs are often watered down, and rarely live up the originals. For this reason, I missed “Welcome To the Nightmare – An All Star Salute To Alice Cooper” when it was released back in 2005. As luck has it, I stumbled across this lost gem by accident, which I heard the Vince Neil and Mick Mars cover of “Cold Ethyl”. After hearing this song, I had to see this CD out. Man oh mercy, am I glad I did!
To say that this CD has an All Star cast is probably the understatement of the year. The sheer amount of talent on this CD is absolutely insane. On vocals you will find Ronnie James Dio, Bruce Dickinson, Phil Lewis, Dee Snider, Joe Elliott, Roger Daltrey, Vince Neil, Don Dokken, Dave Mustaine, and Glen Hughes. On guitar you will find, Marty Friedman, George Lynch, Mick Mars, John Norum, Zakk Wylde, Phil Collen, Adrian Smith, Slash, Paul Gilbert and Billy Duffy. Iced Earth, and Icarus Witch also complement this roster with their full band versions of the Alice Cooper classics. Amazingly, this is only a portion of the incredible talent on this disc.
What does all of this talent add up to? One cool cover CD, with some great songs that possibly one up, the iconic shock rocker they are meant to be a tribute to. The Vince Neil/Mick Mars version of “Cold Ethyl”, could easily work as a Motley Crue cover. This kick ass tune is far from the lone highlight on the CD though.
Dio howls on “Welcome to My Nightmare”, Phil Lewis and George Lynch knocks “Billion Dollar Babies” out of the park. The Joe Elliott/Phil Collen version of “Under My Wheels” could have easily been on the Def Leppard cover CD, “Yeah!”. It is better than some of the songs they released on that disc. The Icarus Witch version of “Roses on White Lace” was far better than I expected it to be. The only major disappoint to me on this disc, was Children of Bodom’s version of “Bed of Nails” that I found a little too screechy for my tastes.
As a whole, this CD rocks and I keep hitting replay, which is the sign of a great CD! “Welcome To the Nightmare” has give me all new respect for these Alice Cooper classics.
All of this great music was cool enough, but as a bonus, my copy came in a really cool, blood red, textured digipak. Very cool indeed!
You can snag copies of this CD, dirt cheap at this link. If you are an Alice Cooper fan, I highly recommend it. All others rockers ought to give this one shot. You will love it! Highly Recommended!
Rating: Out of 10
1. Welcome to My Nightmare – Ronnie James Dio/Steve Lukather
2. Dead Babies – Iced Earth
3. School’s Out – Dave Mustaine/Marty Friedman
4. Black Widow – Bruce Dickinson/Adrian Smith/Tony Franklin/Tommy Aldridge
5. Bed of Nails – Children Of Bodom
6. Go to Hell – Dee Snider/Zakk Wylde/Rudy Sarzo/Frankie Banali
7. Roses on White Lace – Icarus Witch
8. Cold Ethyl – Vince Neil/Mick Mars
9. Under My Wheels – Joe Elliott/Phil Collen
10. Elected – Steve Jones/Billy Duffy/Duff McKagan/Matt Sorum
11. No More Mr. Nice Guy – Roger Daltrey/Slash
12. Billion Dollar Babies – Phil Lewis/George Lynch
13. Eighteen – Don Dokken/John Norum
14. Only Women Bleed – Glenn Hughes/Paul Gilbert
3 SKIN – S/T (1994)
A band that I recently discovered through the live streaming of the Download Festival a couple of weeks ago is the band SKIN. I enjoyed their live set, and had to learn more about this band.
Who is SKIN? Myke Gray and Andy Robbins are former members of the bands, Tokyo Blade and Jagged Edge. Neville MacDonald is the former singer from the band Kooga. When these guys got together to form SKIN, there was no market for this type of music. This is probably why I missed them the first time around. Nonetheless, I am glad to hear them for this first time in 2009. This is a really cool band that has a sound that reminds me of a cross between Thunder and possibly Extreme. Neville MacDonald has an awesome voice that truly powers the songs on this disc.It blows my mind that I have not heard him sing before now. Myke Gray’s guitar work is a pleasure to listen to as well. If you listen closely, you can even hear current Warrant front man, Robert Mason signing back up vocals on this CD.
The Bottom Line: You won’t find a bad song on SKIN’s debut. If you like the videos below, you need to seek out a copy of this disc. You wont be disappointed. There are several great songs including “Colourblind”, “Look But Don’t Touch”, “Tower of Strength” and “Raised on Radio”.
For more information on SKIN, check them out on myspace at this link or at the band’s website here. The only place I could find a copy of this CD at a semi reasonable price was through Amazon France. It is well worth the import price! Highly Recommended!
Rating: Out of 10
Track listing:
1. Money
2. Shine Your Light
3. House of Love
4. Colourblind
5. Which Are the Tears
6. Look But Don’t Touch
7. Nightsong
8. Tower of Strength
9. Revolution
10. Raised on Radio
11. Wings of an Angel
Skin is:
Neville MacDonald – Vocals
Myke Gray – Guitars
Andy Robbins – Bass/Vocals
Dicki Fliszar – Drums/Vocals
5 Kill For Thrills – Dynamite From Nightmareland (Release Year – 1990)
Before Gilby Clarke became a super sub in Guns N’ Roses, he was the guitar player and front man for the band Kill For Thrills. This band also features, Jason Nesmith, who is the son of Michael Nesmith from the Monkees. Bassist Todd Muscat, is the brother of former Faster Pussycat guitarist, Brent Muscat. Aside from the ton of connections this band has, the $25,000 question is, are they any good? The answer is, absolutely yes!
All of the songs on Dynamite From Nightmareland were written, or co-written by Gilby Clarke. He proves to have some pretty strong song writing talents, as the songs on this disc are quite good. If you have ever heard any of Clarke’s post Guns N’ Roses material, you will have an idea of what to expect with Kill For Thrills. The music on this disc is completely untypical when comparing it to the many new bands that were releasing music in the early nineties. This isn’t a hair metal band by any means. The tunes on this disc offers up a good mix of sleaze, hard & classic rock. I I have found the harder cuts to be the more enjoyable ones, and “Motorcycle Cowboys” and “Commercial Suicide” deliver that one, two punch to really get this CD firing on all cylinders. “Brother’s Eyes”, “Something for the Suffering” and “Rockets” are also tunes that I like a lot on this disc. Gilby Clarke has a pretty cool voice, albeit a little on the nasaly side, but I have grown to like it. Jason Nesmith serves up some tasty guitar licks on some of the songs here.
I am not sure if it was MCA that killed this band, or if was just bad timing. It is a shame, as this ill promoted release deserved a a better fate than it received. Kill for Thrills is a band that could have easily gone somewhere with a little bit of help. This might not be a mind blowing release, but it does serve up some solid crank worthy tunes that are worth exploring from time to time.
This CD has been out of print for years, but it is definitely worth seeking out, if you can find a copy of it. It often shows up on Ebay, at fairly reasonable prices.
On the liner notes, the first person thanked is none other than Steven Adler. Pretty cool! Buy it if you can find it!
Happy Hunting!!
Rating: Out of 10
Track Listing:
1. Motorcycle Cowboys
2. Commercial Suicide
3. Brother’s Eyes
4. Paisley Killers
5. Something for the Suffering
6. Rockets
7. Wedding Flowers
8. Ghosts and Monsters
9. My Addiction
10. Misery Pills
11. Silver Bullets
Kill For Thrills:
Gilby Clarke – Guitar/Vocals
David Scott – Drums
Jason Nesmith – Guitar
Todd Muscat – Bass
6 Icon – S/T (Release Year – 1984)
If you were to ask the average hard rock fan about the band Icon, I am sure you would probably receive a blank stare by most folks. The die hard hard rock & metal fans know these guys, and know them well.
If you aren’t familiar with the band, they are a five piece act that started out with a look like early Motley Crue, and had a sound that was like a good blend of KEEL and Y&T.
If you like big bombastic guitar solos and screaming metal vocals, you will definitely enjoy Icon’s debut. Dan Wexler’s noodley guitar solos on this disc are great, and Stephen Clifford’s vocals could give Ron Keel a run for his money.
There are a few songs on this disc that get a lot of repeat plays by me including, the rocking anthem “On Your Feet”, “Under My Gun”, and”Rock and Roll Maniac”. Even the instrumental track “Iconoclast” is cool. This disc isn’t terribly long. It clocks in just a little over 37 minutes. Although, it is short, is a pretty fun hard rock disc.
Fans of mid 80s’s metal like RATT, Dokken & Keel are sure to love this. The debut CD has been out of print for years, but copies of it show up on Ebay on occasion. It is definitely worth seeking out if you can find a copy. Happy hunting!
For more information on Icon, check out the band’s myspace page.
Track Listing:
1. (Rock On) Through the Night
2. Killer Machine
3. On Your Feet
4. World War
5. Hot Desert Night
6. Under My Gun
7. Iconoclast
8. Rock ‘N’ Roll Maniac
9. I’m Alive
10. It’s Up To You
Icon are:
Stephen Clifford – Lead & Backing Vocals
Tracy Wallach – Bass Guitar
Dan Wexler – Guitars
John Aquilino – Guitars
Pat Dixon – Drums, percussion
1 Triggerdaddy – Stereosonic Meltdown (Release Year – 2005)
In 1989 Tim Karr released his excellent debut album “Rubbin’ Me The Right Way” and for all intents and purposes disappeared until 2005 when he hooked up with Gilby Clarke and reappeared with Triggerdaddy’s “Stereosonic Meltdown”. One could call Triggerdaddy a supergroup, at the very least a Sunset Strip Supergroup as it is rounded out with Gilby Clarke pulling double duty as producer and guitarist, Eric Singer on drums, and including the talents of such performers as Johnny Griparic (Slash’s Snakepit), Muddy Stardust (L.A. Guns, Starfuckers, Gilby Clarke Band), Brian Tichy (Billy Idol), Teddy Zig Zag (Guns n’ Roses), Ryan Roxie (Glamnation, Slash’s Snakepit, Alice Cooper), Chad Stewart (Faster Pussycat), and Jon E. Love (Love/Hate).
The music on “Stereosonic Meltdown” is heavily influenced by such 70’s artists as T Rex, David Bowie, and Alice Cooper. As a matter of fact the first time I heard “Gimme Sum Skin”, “Enemy”, “Shape of Things 2 Come”, and “Can’t Get High” I had to go back and look to see if Alice himself didn’t help out on the vocals. On “Jesus Cowboy” and “Price of Love” both have a strong Bowie influence and “Jesus Cowboy” is definitely one of the standout tracks on this album. Another standout is “Peach” which would be hard for one to guess is a cover of Prince, there is another cover of Marc Bolan’s 20th Century Boy but this song has been covered so many times it is hard for me to get excited about another cover version of it.
I know it has been 4 years since this album was released, but I am hoping there will be a followup because I am definitely looking forward to hearing more music from Tim Karr and/or Triggerdaddy. All in all “Stereosonic Meltdown” is a damn good album for something I found by complete accident while browsing through CDBaby.com.
You can purchase Triggerdaddy “Stereosonic Meltdown” by visiting http://cdbaby.com/cd/triggerdaddy and you can check some of the songs out by going to http://www.myspace.com/triggerdaddy
Track Listing:
1. Space & Time
2. Gimme Sum Skin
3. Enemy
4. Jesus Cowboy
5. Can’t Get High
6. Train 2 Nowhere
7. Shape of Things 2 Come
8. Peach
9. 20th Century Boy
10. Price of Love
7 The Scream – Let It Scream (Release Year – 1991)
John Corabi where are you now?!? The Scream’s debut “Let It Scream” was my first taste of John Corabi’s excellent vocals. In my opinion, “Let It Scream” was way ahead of its time. The CD was released towards the end of the hair metal era, and The Scream was unfortunately lumped in with a bunch of bands that was not nearly as good. Even when playing this CD today, I can’t really consider this hair metal, as it is so much better than that.
Every song on this disc is very good. From the killer opening cut “Outlaw”, to the rocking “Man In The Moon” to the excellent closing cut, “Catch Me if You Can”, there are plenty of songs to rock out to. Even the ballad, “Father, Mother, Son” is a stand out tune.
Listening to “Let It Scream” in 2009, it makes me wonder what would have happened if John Corabi stayed in the band, instead of joining Motley Crue. His vocals on “Let It Scream” are great. The guitar work of Bruce Bouillet is so good, it surprised me that we haven’t heard more from this guy over the years. I have to buy more of RacerX’s stuff so I can hear him play more.
Out of all of the projects and bands that John Corabi has been involved in over the years, The Scream remains my favorite out of all of them. “Let It Scream” is a CD that you should seek out if you can find it.
This disc has been re-released a couple of times and is out of print again. It is a shame as it is a great disc, and definitely worth picking up. You can still find some copies at Amazon.com & Ebay. Happy Hunting!
Track Listing:
1. Outlaw
2. I Believe In Me
3. Man In The Moon
4. Father, Mother, Son
5. Give It Up Listen
6. Never Loved Her
7. Tell Me Why Listen
8. Loves Got A Hold On Me
9. I Don’t Cry Listen
10. Every Inch A Woman
11. You Are All I Need
12. Catch Me If You Can
The Scream is:
John Corabi – Vocals
Walt Woodward III – Drums
Bruce Bouillet – Guitars
John Alderete – Bass
3 Tora Tora – Surprise Attack (Release Year – 1989)
Call Tora Tora hair metal or southern rock or whatever title you think fits them. One thing is for sure, their debut album “Surprise Attack” is one kick ass record. No matter what genre or label you slap on them, chances are you will love them.
I had the luxury of seeing these guys in their prime, shortly after their record hit the stores, and my god did they kick ass. I have always had a soft spot for “Surprise Attack” since I have seen the band play live in support of this record. It was great when it was released, and it still stands up well today.
The best songs on “Surprise Attack” are “Walkin’ Shoes”, “Guilty”, “Phantom Rider” and “Love’s A Bitch”. There really isn’t a bad song on this disc.
Anthony Corder’s high range vocals may be an acquired taste for some, but I like his style. His voice is somewhat unique, and the band backing him up flat out rocks. These Memphis hard rockers may not be the most well known act from the late 80’s, but they are definitely worth checking out.
Surprise Attack has been out of print for years, and it is a real shame. You can sometimes find this disc at Amazon.com and Ebay. Grab it if you can find it, and check out how good this tragically under rated band was. For more information on Tora Tora, check them out on myspace at this link, or at facebook here.
Track Listing:
1. Love’s a Bitch
2. 28 Days
3. Hard Times
4. Guilty
5. Phantom Rider
6. Walkin’ Shoes
7. Riverside Drive
8. She’s Good She’s Bad
9. One for the Road
10. Being There
Tora Tora is:
Anthony Corder – vocals
Patrick Francis – bass
Keith Douglas – guitar
John Patterson – drums
4 Valentine – S/T (Release Year – 1990)
Towards the end of the hair metal era, Valentine released their debut album. Valentine’s sound was in the AOR/Melodic Rock style, with a little bit of hair metal flair for good measure. Valentine’s singer Hugo was a great new unheard talent, that should have propelled this band into mass appeal. He has a good range to his voice that is rarely heard amongst today’s rock singers.
This CD has it all, solid musicianship, great vocals and good songs. Those that got their hands on this disc treasure it, and those that didn’t get it while it was in print, have paid through the nose to acquire a copy off of Ebay or the like. This CD has been out of print for years and has been selling for $60.00 or more.
Sadly, this CD got very little promotion, and by 1994 the band had broken up. I vaguely recall Valentine being a guest on a second rate talk show ( I can’t remember which one) but that was about the extent of the promotion this band, and CD received. It is a shame as this is a very good disc that very few people got to hear.
This CD will likely appeal to fans of bands like Journey, Hardline and other of the melodic rock style.
Valentine reunited last year, and have a new myspace page, where you can find out about the band’s latest happenings.
Valentine recently put out a blog that their songs will be available for download via Amazon.com and I-Tunes, but they are not available as of yet. If you spot a copy of this CD, buy it, and give your significant other the ultimate Valentine!
Track Listing:
1. Runnin’ On Luck Again
2. No Way
3. Tears in the Night
4. Too Much Is Never Enough
5. Never Said It Was Gonna Be Easy
6. Where Are You Now
7. Naughty Girl
8. Once In A Lifetime
9. Someday
10.We Run
11.You’ll Always Have Me
Valentine is:
Hugo – Vocals
Neil Christopher – Drums
Adam Holland – Guitars
Graig Pullman – Keyboards
Gerard Zappa – Bass
2 Prunella Scales – Dressing Up The Idiot (Release Year – 1997)
Back in 1996 – 1997, Rachel Bolan had a side project with former Saigon Kick drummer Phil Varone called Prunella Scales. The band released their one and only CD, “Dressing Up The Idiot” on the now defunct Mutiny Records. Those of you who immediately associate Rachel Bolan with Skid Row will be surprised with the sound of this record. Prunella Scales sounds nothing like the early 90’s Skid Row with Sebastian Bach. In fact, their sound might have more in common with the later incarnations of Skid Row.
Their sound has a modern hard rock vibe, with a dash of alternative and an occasional punch of metal for good measure. Skid Row producer Michael Wagener helped mix this CD, and the songs flow well as a result. Bolan is not the strongest singer in the world, but he has some very solid musicians backing him up in this band.
The first couple of songs on this CD “Crisp” and “Deadman” show some promise. “Freak Machine” is the most rocking tune on this disc and easily my favorite. The song “When” even has some almost Clapton like guitar moments.
As a whole, this isn’t the strongest batch of songs I have heard, and by the time I get half way through “Dressing Up The Idiot”, I am ready to move onto something else.
In my opinion, this is a CD for Rachel Bolan die hard fans only.
This CD has been out of print for quite some time. You can purchase “Dressing Up The Idiot” for next to nothing at this link.
- Crisp
- Deadman
- Freak Machine
- When
- Fifty Tons of Life
- Don’t Let the Flowers Die
- T.V. is King
- Toms River
- Had To Look
- Talk Myself Down
Prunella Scales is:
Rachel Bolan – Bass, Guitars & Vocals
L. Wood – Guitars & Backing Vocals
Tommy Southard – Guitars & Backing Vocals
Phil Varone – Drums & Backing Vocals
0 Dirty Rhythm – Hard As A Rock (Release Year – 1991)
Back in the early 90’s, there were so many hair metal bands that released music, there were a few that never made a whole lot of impact. One such band is Canada’s Dirty Rhythm.
This is band is often referred to online as a Skid Row clone. I greatly disagree with that statement. Singer Jeffrey Michael Bonds is no Sebastian Bach. There are some guitar parts that might be a little Skid Row like, but as a whole, I don’t think they sound even close to the same. If fact, Dirty Rhythm sounds a lot more like another early 90’s band, Cry Wolf. With that being said, “Hard as a Rock” is still a very solid hard rock disc.
“Hard As A Rock” was produced by Loverboy’s Paul Dean. As a result the production quality is top notch, and the songs shine as a result. The music styling is typical pop metal. This is the sound that was quite common for hard rock acts in the early 90’s. Some of my favorite tracks are “Feel the Fire“, the awesome power ballad “I Can’t Wait“, the Warrant like “Hard As A Rock“, “Backside of Love” and “Bad Girls“.
This CD is very out of print. I finally scored a copy of the CD, after months of unsuccessful bidding on EBay. If you are a hair metal fan, it is worth checking out (if you can find it).
For more information on Dirty Rhythm, check out their myspace page at this link.
Track Listing:
01. Feel The Fire
02. I Can’t Wait
03. Blinded
04. Hot N’ Cold
05. Hard As A Rock
06. Backside Of Love
07. Reach Out
08. One Summer Night
09. Hold On (Forever Tonight)
10. Waiting For The Money
11. Burn Out The Night
12. Bad Girls
Dirty Rhythm is:
Jeffrey Michael Bonds – vocals and guitar
Brian Harrison – guitar & keyboards
Anthony Brian Greenham – bass
Troy Miller – drums
4 Johnny Diesel and the Injectors – S/T (Release Year – 1989)
I must admit that I never heard of Johnny Diesel and the Injectors until 2008. After I read about these guys, I felt compelled to seek out their 1989 self titled CD to see what they were all about.
I expected these guys to be a simple pub rock band in the vein of AC/DC. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Johnny Diesel and the Injectors has a sound that probably has more in common with John Mellancamp than with AC/DC. Johnny Diesel has a pretty good voice. His vocals have a slight bit of rasp to them. This really helps drive the harder rocking tunes on this disc.
There aren’t too many rock bands employing a saxophone player in today’s music. I love the saxaphone, and I think it adds a lot of character to the music on this disc. It often takes the emphasis off of the lead guitar, and even though Johnny Diesel is a solid guitar player, Bernie Bremond might be a better sax player.
There are several good songs on this disc including “Lookin For Love”, “Cry In Shame”, “Soul Revival”, “Don’t Need Love”. I really don’t think there is a bad song on this disc.
Something that surprised me about Johnny Diesel was the fact that there were several music videos released for this album (Check them out below). I don’t recall seeing any of these on MTV back when the station played videos. It is a real shame too. This album could have been huge in the United States, if was given a little bit of support.
You can practically steal this disc off of Amazon.com. If you are looking for something different to enhance your playlist, you ought to give Johnny Diesel & The Injectors a look. This disc was a nice surprise for me. I have enjoyed this disc quite a bit, and I think a bunch of you will to.
Track Listing:
1. Lookin’ for Love
2. Parisienne Hotel
3. Cry in Shame
4. Comin’ Home
5. Since I Fell for You
6. Don’t Need Love
7. Burn
8. Soul Revival
9. Fire Without a Flame
10. Get Ya Love
11. Never Last
12. Thang II
Johnny Diesel and the Injectors Are:
Johnny Diesel – Guitars and Vocals
Bernie Bremond – Saxophone and Background Vocals
Yak Sherrit – Drums
Johnny “Tatt” Delzel – Bass
4 Hardline – Double Eclipse (Release Year – 2008)
One of the better hard rock albums to see the light of day in 1992, was the debut by Hollywood, California’s Hardline.
Hardline’s quick claim to fame was having Journey guitarist Neal Schon play lead guitar for the band. There are also a couple of songs that have partial writing credits by Journey’s Jonathan Cain.
Aside from Schon’s guitar work, the highlight on Double Eclipse are the vocals of Johnny Gioeli. He is definitely one of the better singers to come out of the hair metal era.
If this album was released five or six years earlier, Hardline, would have made a bigger impact on the scene. This is an extremely fun to listen to melodic hard rock disc, where every song is exceptionally good. Some of my favorite tunes on this CD are Life’s A Bitch”, “Dr. Love”, “Takin’ Me Down” and the Danny Spanos cover song, “Hot Cherie”.
If you haven’t check out Hardline before, Double Eclipse is still in print, and available at Amazon.com. This album will easily appeal to fans of bands like Journey and Damn Yankees. Check them out, you will be glad you did!
Rating:Out of 10
Track Listing:
- Life’s a Bitch
- Dr. Love
- Rhythm from a Red Car
- Change of Heart
- Everything
- Takin’ Me Down
- Hot Cherie
- Bad Taste
- Can’t Find My Way
- I’ll Be There
- 31-91
- In the Hands of Time
Hardline is:
Johnny Gioeli – Vocals
Neal Schon – Guitars
Todd Jensen – Bass
Deen Castronovo – Drums
Joey Gioeli – Rhythm Guitar
2 Love/Hate – Let’s Rumble (Release Year – 1993)
Let’s Rumble is the their effort by L.A. Rockers Love/Hate. The band was dropped by Columbia, and this album was financed by Love/Hate’s bass player Skid, who sold his corvette for 20K, in order to put this album out.
This CD features the guitar playing of Darren Householder who joined Love/Hate after the bands’ original guitarist Jon E. Love quit the group.
I like Love/Hate’s debut album, Black Out in the Red Room, and sophomore effort Wasted America a lot, so I was really hoping for more of the same with Let’s Rumble.
After spinning this a few times, I can’t help but to thing something is missing from their initial releases. Love/Hate was able to write and record a bunch of sleazy good tunes on their first couple of albums, but Let’s Rumble is missing the groove that made their initial recordings so good. Jon E. Love played great on those discs, and his absence can be felt on this disc.
Don’t get me wrong, Darren Householder’s playing on this disc is very good, but I believe the chemistry between him, Jizzy Pearl and Skid is missing. I just don’t get the same vibe from Let’s Rumble.
Love/Hate did have a minor hit on this disc with the tune “Spinning Wheel”, and I like that tune well enough. “If You Believe In Miracles” has a much more stripped back sound than the other tunes on this disc, and is definitely one of the highlights here. The other songs on this disc just don’t get much of a reaction from me. It is like the guitar work is better than the songs, or the songs don’t mesh with the guitar playing. Either way, it all sounds very average to me. I bet Skid wishes he could get his Corvette back after recording this. Love/Hate has done much better than this.
Let’s Rumble has been out of print for quite a while, but you can find copies of this disc through Amazon.com and Ebay. This is a disc for Love/Hate die hard fans only. If you prefer digital downloads, Love/Hate has made this album available for download on their website for free at this link.
Rating: Out of 10
Track Listing:
1. Let’s Rumble
2. Spinning Wheel
3. Boozer
4. Wrong Side of the Grape
5. Devil’s Squaw
6. Black Iguana
7. Beer Money
8. Here’s to You
9. Sexical
10. If You Believe in Miracles
11. Flower
Love/Hate is:
Jizzy Pearl – Vocals
Darren Householder – Guitars
Skid – Bass
Joey Gold – Drums
3 Sleeze Beez – Insanity Beach (Release Year – 1994)
The majority of the hard rock loving public are probably not aware their was a band called Sleeze Beez. Hair metal fans know them, (most of them love this band) but very few are aware that Sleeze Beez put out a fourth studio album in 1994.
The hair metal scene was on life support by this time, and new releases such as this one, got very little, if any mentions in the press.
The tunes on Insanity Beach have a much harder edge than the Sleeze Beez previous releases.
Insanity Beach isn’t so heavy that Sleeze Beez fans wont like it. In fact, those taking the time out to check this disc out, will be greatly surprised.
Many hard rock acts from the late 80’s and early 90’s tried to update their sound in an effort to keep going. The change in the Sleeze Beez sound isn’t quite as drastic as the updated sounds from Warrant, Shotgun Messiah, or Asphalt Ballet. It may be a harder approach, but its very listenable.
My favorite cuts on this disc are “Human Zoo“, “Sacrifice“, and the title track “Insanity Beach“. While I don’t think this CD is as good as Screwed, Blued & Tattooed, it is better than previous effort, Powertool.
This disc has been out of print for a while, but you can still find copies of it on eBay. Happy Hunting!
For more information on the Sleez Beez, check out this link.
Rating:Out of 10
Track Listing:
1. Tell It to the Judge
2. Save Myself
3. Gun Culture
4. Youth is a State of Mind
5. DUI (Intoxicated)
6. Human Zoo
7. Best Things in Life Are Free
8. The Long Goodbye
9. Sacrifice
10. Hate Rock and Roll
11. Insanity Beach
12. Scream (Encore)
Sleeze Beez are:
Andrew Elt – Vocals
Chriz Van Jaarsveld – Guitar
Jan Koster – Drums
Don Van Spall – Guitar
Ed Jongsma – Bass Guitar
18 Lion – Dangerous Attraction (Release Year – 1987)
Lion’s Dangerous Attraction has been a compact disc that was my achilles’ heel, so to speak. I have been trying to track down a copy of this CD for close to a year now, and finally snagged a copy of eBay. Why should I (or anyone else) care about the band Lion? This is the some of the earliest recorded work by current Whitesnake guitarist, Doug Aldrich. If you own the new Whitesnake CD, Good To Be Bad, you are well aware of the kind of awesome axeman Doug Aldrich is.
Aside from Aldrich, the rest of Lion is pretty impressive. This band also features Kal Swan from the band Tytan, and drummer Mark Edwards from Steeler. Dangerous Attraction is considered by many as Lion’s best work, and I would not disagree. The music on Dangerous Attraction is fairly typical 80’s hair metal, but it is really good stuff. I would describe Lion’s sound as a cross between RATT and Whitesnake.
Swan’s voice is fairly unique. His English accent propelled by his deep throaty screams and melodic tones makes this music stand out. Aldrich’s guitar work on Dangerous Attraction is superb. This guy was shredding like no tomorrow 21 years ago, and is still getting it done today. His talent shines on this album, and as a result there isn’t a band song on Dangerous Attraction.
Lion is one of the lesser know acts of the 80’s and this CD, has been out of print for a long time. Copies of the CD turn up on eBay from time to time, but they usually sell for crazy amounts. If you are fan of Swan or Aldrich, this disc is worth seeking out. 80’s hair metal fans will like this too.
You can listen to a couple of the songs off of this album below.
Rating:Out of 10
Track Listing:
1. Fatal Attraction
2. Armed and Dangerous
3. Hard and Heavy
4. Never Surrender
5. Death on Legs
6. Power Love
7. In the Name of Love
8. After the Fire
9. Shout It Out
Lion is:
Kal Swan – Vocals
Doug Aldrich – Guitars
Jerry Best – Bass
Mark Edwards – Drums