Tag: Ray Luzier
1 RPR set to release KXM featuring members of Korn, King’s X, and Lynch Mob!
RAT PAK RECORDS SET TO RELEASE DEBUT ALBUM FROM THE NEW SUPERGROUP “KXM” FEATURING: GEORGE LYNCH, RAY LUZIER (KORN) AND dUg PINNICK (King’s X)
A new musical force to be reckoned with is about to turn the rock world upside down with the release of their self-titled debut, KXM. KXM is comprised of dUg Pinnick of King’s X on vocals/bass, George Lynch of Lynch Mob/Dokken on guitars and Korn’s drum maestro, Ray Luzier, rounds out the powerhouse trio. The band takes its name from the combination of the member’s other projects: K from Korn, X from King’s X and M from Lynch Mob.
The self-titled debut of KXM is something truly unique and special. The songs are powerful, precise, and transcend beyond the boundaries of the imagination. In today’s overpopulated music arena, true gems become harder and harder to find, but KXM’s unified vision rises above the normal and creates its own space. From the opening drum riff of “Stars” to the final chord on “Human Friction,” KXM is an album that is sure to resonate with fans from the band’s original projects, while garnering new ones as well. Songs like “Gun Fight,” “Faith Is A Room” and the first single “Rescue Me” are sure to be instant favorites among fans. The band shows their softer side on the ballad “Never Stop” along with their dark side on the tale of domestic violence, “Sleep.”
KXM formed in early 2013 when dUg, George and Ray spoke about trying to jam together. At the time it wasn’t clear what would come from those jams. The only thing that was clear was that these 3 musicians, at the top of their game, wanted to play together. The self-titled debut, KXM, was born from those jam sessions and is now an important piece in each band member’s musical legacy. In a world that constantly searches for new and unique music, KXM delivers all the power and punch that one would expect from these high level players! Official release date is set for March 11, 2014
0 Billy Sheehan – Holy Cow (Release Year – 2009)
Billy Sheehan is back with a brand new solo CD. This time around Billy brought an all star cast with him. Holy Cow features Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top), Paul Gilbert (Mr. Big), Dug Pinnick (King’s X), and Ray Luzier (David Lee Roth, KORN).
I have always had a lot of respect for Billy Sheehan. He blew me away when I saw him when he was a member of the David Lee Roth band in 80’s. Since then I have always considered Billy to be one of the top bass players in hard rock. I must admit that I had low expectations with Holy Cow. I haven’t had a whole lot of luck with the solo CD’s I have picked up in the past. They are typically hit or miss, and they usually get shelved fairly quickly. I don’t think that is going to happen with Holy Cow.
Sheehan has crafted some pretty cool tunes on this disc. I wouldn’t consider Billy Sheehan a great singer but he does do good job on the tunes here. His music is far better than his vocals, and his bass work as well as guitar playing is superb on this disc.
“In A Week or Two”, “A Lit’l Bit’l Do It To ‘Ya Ev’ry Time” (with Billy Gibbons on guitar), and “A Bloodless Casuality’ are amongst Holy Cow’s best moments.
The instrumental tracks are better than I expected them to be. “Dynamic Exhilarator” features Sheehan’s long time Mr. Big band mate, Paul Gilbert on guitar. “Theme From An Imaginary Sci Fi” is fun, only to hear Sheehan go off on his bass.
There are a few songs that I prefer to skip through as they just didn’t do it for me. I think a couple of instrumental tracks is fine, but five is a bit overkill in my opinion.
The Bottom line: this isn’t a perfect CD by any means, but it does have some good songs and definite replayability. It is definitely a CD that will appeal to Billy Sheehan’s long time fans.
For more information on Billy Sheehan, and “Holy Cow”, check out the Billy Sheehan myspace page.
Rating: Out of 10
Track Listing:
1. In A Week or Two
2. A Lit’l Bit’l Do It To ‘Ya Ev’ry Time
3. Dynamic Exhilarator
4. A Bloodless Casuality
5. Make It To Another Day
6. Just Another Humanoid
7. Turning Point
8. Theme From An Imaginary Sci Fi
9. Another Broken Promise
10. Two People Can Keep A Secret
11. Cell Towers Listen
12. She Goes from Cruel To Missionary
13. Sweat on an E String
14. Swimming Underwater
1 We Wish You A Metal Xmas…And A Headbanging New Year (Release Year – 2008)
Twisted Sister seemingly opened the floodgates for a new batch of hard rockin’ Christmas tunes when they released their album, “Twisted Christmas” in 2006. “We Wish You A Metal Xmas, and a HeadBanging New Year” has more hard rock and metal stars than any other Christmas compilation in history (Yes, even more than Monster Ballads Christmas from 2007). With that being said, it has to be awesome right?!
For the most part it is, and I would go so far as saying they have one upped, “Twisted Christmas” with this compilation.
First and foremost, I am a Jeff Scott Soto fan and he can do little wrong in my eyes. He helps rock out this rocking version of “We Wish You A Merry (Metal) Xmas”. My step daughter likes this one too. I caught her singing “We Wish You A Metal Christmas”. 🙂
You either have to love or hate Lemmy Kilmister. His rendition of “Run Rudolph Run” is pretty fun for the most part, but you know what to expect from his vocals. I have officially started a new holiday tradition by singing “Run Rudolph Run” in my best Lemmy Kilmister voice. What a great way to annoy the spouse and siblings.! 🙂
“God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” is a creepy and cool rendition of this tune. Ronnie James Dio and Tony Iommi make this sound like a lost Black Sabbath cut.
“Silver Bells” is one of the weaker moments on this disc. Geoff Tate’s lack of vocal fortitude really shows up badly on this song. He can’t hit the notes that this song requires, and that is a shame. He used to have an awesome voice, but it is severely lacking here.
Dug Pinnick from King’s X turns in a semi soulful version of the Little Drummer Boy. George Lynch adds some pretty tasty guitar licks to this version.
You have to love Ripper Owens. He may not be the best singer in the world, but he can really metalize Christmas songs like no one else. Steve Morse provides the tasty guitar licks on “Santa Claus is Back In Town”, and Ripper drives it home with his metal screams. I love it!
Chuck Billy destroys “Silent Night” with his death metal growl, but I think this is more tongue in cheek, than anything else. I can’t say I ever expected to hear a death/thrash metal version of “Silent Night”, but the unit of Scott Ian, Jon Donais, Chris Wyse and John Tempesta somehow manage to pull this off. The shredding on this tune is pretty awesome.
Every time I hear “Deck the Halls” I think it is Geoff Tate back for another dose. It is actually Lynch Mob’s Oni Logan. I don’t know if is just me, but his voice also sounds worse for wear here. I don’t remember him sounding anything like this in the 90’s.
RATT’s Stephen Pearcy pulls off a pretty good version of “Grandman Got Ran Over By A Reindeer”. As it turns out, Pearcy has a pretty good voice for this tune. Who would have thought that?
As a whole, I have enjoyed this CD, and have replayed this quite a bit . This is easily the best hard rock Christmas CD released in 2008. Buy it!!
Track Listing:
- We Wish You A Merry Xmas – (Jeff Scott Soto, Bruce Kulick, Bob Kulick, Chris Wyse, Ray Luzier)
- Run Rudolph Run – (Lemmy Kilmister, Billy F. Gibbons, Dave Grohl)
- Santa Claws Is Coming To Town – (Alice Cooper, John 5, Billy Sheehan, Vinny Appice)
- God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen – (Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi, Rudy Sarzo, Simon Wright)
- Silver Bells (Geoff Tate, Carlos Cavazo, James Lomenzo, Ray Luzier)
- Little Drummer Boy – (Dug Pinnick, George Lynch, Billy Sheehan, Simon Phillips)
- Santa Claus Is Back In Town – (Tim Owens, Steve Morse, Juan Garcia, Marco Mendoza, Vinny Appice)
- Silent Night – (Chuck Billy, Scott Ian, Jon Donais, Chris Wyse, John Tempesta)
- Deck The Halls – (Oni Logan, Craig Goldy, Tony Franklin, John Tempesta)
- Grandma Got Ran Over By A Reindeer – (Stephen Pearcy, Tracii Guns, Bob Kulick, Billy Sheehan, Greg Bissonette)
- Rockin’ Around The Xmas Tree – (Joe Lynn Turner, Bruce Kulick, Bob Kulick, Rudy Sarzo, Simon Wright)
- Happy Xmas (War Is Over) – (Tommy Shaw, Steve Lukather, Marco Mendoza, Kenny Aronoff)
Produced by: Bob Kulick and Brett Chassen