Tag: Rare Rock Rewind
0 Badd Boyz – S/T (1993)
When most people hear the name Bad Boys, they immediately think about the them song from the show COPS. Well back in the early nineties, there was a short lived band named Badd Boyz that featured former Quiet Riot members Paul Shortino and Sean McNabb, as well as Mitch Perry (Talas, Steeler, Heaven), Michael Guy (Shark Island, House of Lords) and Rich Carlton.
This self titled effort was released in Japan after the band split up, and has been out of print for years. So it this CD worth tracking down? If you are a fan of Paul Shortino, chances are you are going to like this. In my opinion, Paul Shortino has a very cool, and unique voice that truly stands out. I enjoyed the stuff he has recorded with Rough Cutt, and Quiet Riot, so it was only natural for me to finally track this CD down.
There are some really cool tunes on this disc including, “Leave It To The Law”, “No Time For Cryin” and “Straight To My Heart”. I would put these songs up against anything else Shortino has ever recorded. They are that good!
Some of the songs that the band put together were not available at the time this CD were recorded, so Paul fleshed out the rest of the CD with the songs, “This Must Be Love”, “Hard To Say Goodbye”, “You’re Mine Tonight” and “Save Our Land”. The only problem with doing this is, it made the CD seem a little uneven. The whole disc is solid 80’s / early 90’s style hair metal, the second half is not quite as heavy, and isn’t as good. There really isn’t a bad song on the CD, I just enjoyed the first half a lot more.
If you can find this at a reasonable price, I would definitely recommend picking it up. Ebay or Gemm may be the the only way to find this rare CD from Badd Boyz!
Rating: 
Out of 10
Track Listing:
- Leave It To The Law
- No Time For Cryin
- I Don’t Want to Hear Your Heart Break
- Straight to My Heart
- You’re Mine Tonight
- This Must Be Love
- Hard To Say Goodbye
- Save Our Land
Badd Boys are:
Paul Shortino – Vocals
Mitch Perry – Guitars
Sean McNabb – Bass/Vocals
Rich Carlton – Drums
Michael Guy – Guitars
Other Members
Steve Fister – Guitars
Matt Abts – Drums
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.
Rating: 
Out of 10
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 Manitoba’s Wild Kingdom – …And You? (1990)
Digging deep into my collection, I found this lost gem, Manitoba’s Wild Kingdom. I recently loaded this CD into my play list as I completely forgot about this band. Manitoba’s Wild Kingdom was formed from the ashes of the legendary punk band The Dictators. They released one CD under the Wild Kingdom moniker, before reforming the Dictators in the late nineties.
..And You? is a cool blast of punk metal, led by the cool party anthem “The Party Starts Now”. This CD is ridiculously short. Only two songs are longer than three minutes. The total playtime is just a little over 26 minutes. Even though it is short, it is still a pretty fun CD to listen to.
Dick Manitoba probably will not ever be considered a great singer, but he makes these songs work. Former Manowar guitarist Ross “The Boss” Friedman dishes out some cool guitar licks, and give the songs on …And You? a metal edge.
“Haircut and Attitude” almost sounds like a lost Beastie Boys song. D.W.I. is so catchy, it almost sounds like a KISS tune. “Fired Up” is more metal, than punk, and is a good tune to fire you up! …And You? sounds good when played loud. I think I am getting more enjoyment out of this CD now, than when it was originally released.
You can score copies of this CD dirt cheap at this link. The ultra low price makes this a CD worth checking out. Don’t miss out on this lost classic.
Rating: Out of 10
Track Listing:
1. The Party Starts Now
2. Haircut And Attitude
3. New York, New York
4. D.W.I.
5. I Want You, Tonight
6. Fired Up
7. The Perfect High
8. Had It Coming
9. Prototype
10. Speedball
Manitoba’s Wild Kingdom is:
“Handsome” Dick Manitoba – Vocals
Ross “The Boss” Friedman – Guitars
Andy Shernoff – Bass
J.P. “Thunderbolt” Patterson – 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 Jamilya – Over The Edge (1997)
One of the better melodic rock CD’s that you never heard is Jamilya’s Over the Edge.
Jamilya is a five piece band from Chicago, Illinois that features the awesome six string talent of Lou Jamilya, and the sensational vocals of Kevin Willison.
The opening song, “Run For Your Life” is a melodic monster. Kevin Willison’s voice resembles Michael Sweet of Stryper, but Jamilya’s keyboard based hard rock is far different from anything Stryper has ever done.
“Rock To the Edge” is another cool rocker with some catchy lyrics and some George Lynch like guitar parts from Lou Jamilya.
If “I Will Remember You” would have been released in the late 80’s or early 90’s, Jamilya would have had a massive hit on their hands. This song sounds like it fell out of Warrant’s song book. This is the type of arena song that would have thousands of people breaking out their lighters and cell phones in unison. This is an awesome tune, and one of the highlights on Over the Edge.
Over the Edge is a terrific melodic rock CD with great vocals and musicianship to match. There really isn’t a bad song in the bunch. It is a shame that Jamilya didn’t get the attention they deserved with this disc.
It is never to late to explore a lost classic. The CD is hard to find, but you can purchase the mp3 downloads of “Over the Edge” here. You can find more information on Jamilya on myspace at this link.
Rating: Out of 10
Track Listing:
1. Run for Your Life
2. Rock to the Edge
3. Sticky Situation
4. I Will Remember You
5. Knights of Glory
6. Can’t Stand the Heartache
7. Before the Moment
8. Moment of Silence
9. Steal Away
10. Like Father Like Son
Jamilya is:
Kevin Willison – vocals
Lou Jamilya – guitars
Stan Stocki – keyboards
Marc Ralston – bass
Tony Napolitano – drums
2 Hurricane – Over The Edge (1988)
It has been quite a while since I have listened to the band Hurricane. I thought I would dust off this CD to give another listen to singer Kelly Hansen’s vocals. Kelly’s career will soon be getting a boost as he is featured on the new Foreigner album, Can’t Slow Down that will be released on Sept 29th, 2009.
Hurricane’s initial claim to fame was the band had two siblings of Quiet Riot, Tony Cavazo, and Robert Sarzo.
How is the music on Over The Edge? I would consider this slightly above average hair metal, and this is being pretty generous. I have a very hard time getting into this disc. There are a couple of solid tunes sandwiched around a lot of filler, and one track that is completely abysmal at best.
The album kicks off with the title track “Over The Edge”. This tune has a ballad like feel to start off with, but turns into a harder rocking tune after a slow beginning. It is a solid start to this disc.
The cover of “I’m Eighteen” plods of along and does not surpass the original by Alice Cooper. I am not sure this one was needed. This was probably the wrong song for this band to cover. (Could you imagine if they did a cover of “Hot Blooded”?)
“I’m On To You” is a solid tune and easily the band’s biggest hit. (see video clip below).
“We Are Strong” showcases Hansen’s excellent vocals. Robert Sarzo throws in some cool guitar licks, although the opening riffs sound as if they were borrowed. It is a cool tune, and one of the highlights on this disc.
The album close, “Baby Snakes” might just be the dumbest example of a song that I heard in my entire life. This is four and half minutes of my life that I will never get back. Let’s listen to a guy get rejected by some girl over the phone, with background guitar riffs. What the hell were producers Mike Clink and Bob Ezrin thinking when they green lighted this crap. This is terrible!
Overall, I think Kelly Hansen’s vocals are better than the songs, and music on this CD. Die hard hair metal fans might enjoy this. All others tread at your own risk!
This CD was out of print for years, but was re-released in 2008 by Caroline Records. You can purchase a copy of Over The Edge at this link. For more information on Hurricane, check out their myspace page.
Rating: 
Out of 10
Track Listing:
01. Over The Edge
02. I’m Eighteen
03. I’m On To You
04. Messin’ With A Hurricane
05. Insane
06. We Are Strong
07. Spark In My Heart
08. Give Me An Inch
09. Shout
10. Baby Snakes
Hurricane is:
Kelly Hansen – vocals
Robert Sarzo – guitar and vocals
Tony Cavazo – bass and vocals
Jay Schellen – drums and 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
2 EZO – S/T (1987)
For two long years, I struggled trying to find a reasonably price copy of EZO’s debut CD. Finally, I decided to cave, and pay the import price from Japan. In the U.S., this CD is pretty scarce and extremely hard to find. I originally had EZO’s debut on cassette tape back in the day, but it eventually was worn out from too many plays. The CD was reissued in 2005, but only in Japan. In the U.S., this disc has been out of print for years.
Many of you probably aren’t familiar with EZO. They are a Japenese metal band that was signed to a record contract by Geffen Records in the eighties, and produced by Gene Simmons. The band had a couple of albums released via Geffen, and a few music videos in support of their albums which got quite a few plays on MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball.
EZO was originally known as Flatbacker in Japan, and had released a couple of discs under that moniker as well.
So was this CD worth the wait? Most definitely yes. It has been a long time since I have listened to these songs, but I am still enjoying them after all of these years. I have to give some credit to Gene Simmons, as he really got the most out of this band. The production on this CD is top notch, and sounds fantastic. I get a kick out of hearing Masaki’s howling vocals on “House of 1,000 Pleasures” and his growly delivery of “Flashback Heart Attack”.
This disc is actually a lot heavier than I remembered it to be and all of the songs are pretty solid all of the way through. The musicianship of EZO is surprisingly better than a lot of the hair metal acts that followed them. EZO’s guitarist, Shoyo Iida was a pretty big talent on the six string. I really like his playing on this disc a lot. Where did this guy disappear to?
If this CD has any detriment to it. It is a little on the short side. Nine songs clocking in at a little less than 36 minutes. But is nine very good songs! The bottom line is this, if you can fine EZO’s debut CD, buy it, you won’t be disappointed. I like this one a lot, and I think you will too!
Rating: 
Out of 10
Track Listing:
1. House of 1,000 Pleasures
2. Flashback Heart Attack
3. Mr. Midnight
4. Here It Comes
5. I Walk Alone
6. Destroyer
7. Big Changes
8. Kiss of Fire
9. Desiree
EZO is:
Masaki Yamada – Vocals
Taro Takahashi – Bass
Shoyo Iida – Guitar
Hirotsugu Homma – 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.
Rating: 
Out of 10
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
Rating: Out of 10
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!
Rating: 
Out of 10
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.
Rating: 
Out of 10
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!
Rating: Out of 10
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.
Rating: 
Out of 10
Track Listing:
- 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
2 Black Eyed Susan – Electric Rattlebone (Release Year – 1991)
Unhappy with the direction Britny Fox was heading in, singer “Dizzy” Dean Davidson, left that group to form a brand new band, Blackeyed Susan.
From a musical perspective, Blackeyed Susan was probably a couple of steps above Britny Fox. The band had more of a bluesy rock sound in the vein of Aerosmith, that the hair metal sounds of Britny Fox. The metal screams that were commonplace on the Britny Fox albums were also gone. Dean Davidson sings in his natural voice on “Electric Rattlebone”.
Blackeyed Susan did have a song that was a minor hit called “None of It Matters”. This song incorporates a middle eastern flair in the guitar sound, which is kind of cool. Check out the video “None of it Matters” at this link.
“Sympathy” is a bluesy rocker that has a very cool slide guitar, mixed with some funky ragtime style piano playing.
“Ride With Me” reminds me a lot of the more acoustic bluesy numbers that Cinderella was doing on their album, “Heartbreak Station”.
“Old Lady Snow” is one of those songs with simple lyrics, but it is upbeat enough for it to get in your head and stay there.
“She’s So Fine” should have been a hit for Blackeyed Susan. It has catchy lyrics, good guitar work, and a very good beat. This song is one of my favorites on this record.
Even though the music on this disc was superior to anything else Dean Davidson had done previously, this album was a commercial failure. Mercury Records pulled the plug on their tour, and Blackeyed Susan crashed and burned. When this album originally came out, I expected this to be another hair metal CD, and this is nothing of the sort. I didn’t enjoy this very much back in the 90’s, but over the years, my taste has changed. I have grown to appreciate the music on “Electric Rattlebone”.
If you enjoy good bluesy hard rock, “Electric Rattlebone” is a disc you will want to pick up. This under rated gem has been out of print for years. You can find used copies of this CD, for next to nothing in the HRH music store.
Rating : Out of 10
Track Listing:
1. Electric Rattlebone
2. Satisfaction
3. None of It Matters
4. Sympathy
5. Ride With Me
6. Old Lady Snow
7. Don’t Bring Me Down
8. Indica
9. She’s So Fine
10. How Long
11. Best of Friends
12. Holiday
13. Heart of the City
Black Eyed Susan is:
Dean Davidson – Vocals
Rick Criniti – Guitar
Tony Santoro – Guitar
Eric Levy – Bass
Chris Branco – Drums
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.
Rating:
Out of 10
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
0 The Answer – Live At Planet Rock Xmas Party (Release Year – 2008)
“Live at Planet Rock Xmas Party” is an official bootleg released by Irish rockers, The Answer. This CD captures the gig the band played for the radio station, Planet Rock in December of 2007.
Paul Rodgers from Free, Bad Company and Queen sings on a couple of Free songs with the band, “I’m a Mover”, and “Hunter“. The Answer also unleashes some of their brand new, unreleased tunes “Revolutions” and “All I Know“.
Why is this rare? The Answer is only releasing 1500 copies of this CD. If you don’t order it now, chance are you won’t see this CD again, except for high prices on eBay. This disc is obviously not sound board quality, with it being a bootleg, but it is way better than I expected it to be. The back up vocals are not quite as audible, as Cormac Neeson’s awesome vocals, but this doesn’t really pose a problem for me. The Answer’s set is tight, and getting to hear Paul Rodgers is an added bonus. If anything, this disc is a nice little warm up for The Answer’s opening set for AC/DC. The new songs as well as the old favorites are all good. This CD has made me anxious to hear The Answer’s new disc that is due in 2009.
If you are a fan of The Answer, you have to act now if you want a copy of this disc. You can purchase it off of The Answer’s website at this link. I am enjoying this disc, and I think you will too.
Rating:Out of 10
Tracks:
1. Never Too Late
2. Revolutions
3. Come Follow Me
4. All I Know
5. Keep Believin’
6. I’m A Mover (feat. Paul Rodgers)
7. Sometimes Your Love
8. Under The Sky
9. Hunter (featuring Paul Rodgers)
10. Preachin’
The Answer is:
Cormac Neeson – Vocals
Paul Mahon – Guitar
Micky Waters – Bass Guitar
James Heatley – 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.
Rating:Out of 10
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
5 Warrior – Fighting For The Earth (Release Year – 1985)
How I managed to miss Warrior the first time around is beyond me? There were a ton of bands from the 80’s that didn’t get the attention they deserved, and Warrior is definitely one of them.
Fighting For the Earth is Warrior’s debut CD, that has been long out of print, until its reissue in 2008.
Singer Parramore McCarty is a classic metal singer/screamer that falls somewhere in between Ron Keel, and Rob Halford. I don’t recall hearing him sing until I picked this CD up. I am pretty amazed that he is still virtually unknown. He also sang on the Steve Stevens Atomic Playboys CD from 1992.
Guitarists Joe Floyd and Tommy Asakawa are both pretty good metal shredders. Their guitar work is very good on this disc.
This disc has it all. Great vocals, killer guitar work and good songs. I recommend this CD to all of the metal heads that want to hear some classic metal done right. If your are looking for a cool metal CD, in the vein of Keel and Judas Priest, you ought to give Warrior’s Fighting For the Earth a look.
You can pick up Fighting For the Earth at NEH Records at this link.
Warrior has reformed in 2008. You can check them out on myspace here.
Rating:Out of 10
Track Listing:
1. Fighting For The Earth
2. Only The Strong Survive
3. Ruler
4. Mind Over Matter
5. Defenders Of Creation
6. Day Of The Evil (Beware)
7. Cold Fire
8. PTM1
9. Welcome Aboard
Warrior is:
Parramore McCarty – Vocals
Joe Floyd – Guitars
Tommy Asakawa – Guitars
Rick Bennet – Bass
Liam Jason – Drums
Hard Rock Hideout 