Tag: Rudy Sarzo
2 Will Wallner & Vivien Vain – S/T (2012)
On their debut CD, Will Wallner & Vivien Vain have recruited some of hard rock’s finest musicians to help craft their songs. The end result is a remarkable hard rock CD that I can’t stop listening to. Will Wallner may not be a guitarist whose name you recognize. One listen to this CD, and I think he could possibly become an overnight sensation. Wallner delivers some of the best hard rock riffs I have heard in 2012, and that includes the recent works from Eddie Van Halen & Vinnie Moore (in UFO). Wallner’s style reminds me of a cross between Randy Rhoads & Jake E. Lee. That is pretty good company to be in, in my opinion.
Vivien Vain, where have you been hiding? Vain is easily one of the best new female hard rock vocalists that I have heard in quite some time. Her powerful pipes are a very good match for Wallner’s heavy riffs. Of course it doesn’t hurt when you attract the likes of Carmen Appice, Tony Franklin, Rudy Sarzo, Vinny Appice, Jimmy Bain, Tony Carey, Brian Tichy and Derek Sherinian to play on your songs. These hard rock legends help to craft some very cool tunes. I can’t begin to tell you how good it is to hear Tony Franklin and Carmine Appice (two-thirds of Blue Murder) playing on some songs together again. This is very cool stuff indeed!
The best songs on the CD are “Dreamstealer”, “Streets of Rage” & “Miles Ahead”, but there really isn’t a bad song in the bunch.
If you are a fan of 80’s hard rock, you ought to check out this CD. You won’t be disappointed!
For more information on Will Wallner & Vivien Vain, please check out their website. You can purchase the CD from CDBaby at this link or a signed copy from the Wallner Vain website. Check it out!
Rating: 
Out of 10
Track Listing:
- The Dream
- Dreamstealer
- Streets Of Rage
- Fourteen Twenty Eight
- All That I Want
- Miles Ahead
- Soul Monster
- Rising
- Indestructible
Vivien Vain – Vocals
Will Wallner – Guitar
Guest Musicians:
Tony Carey – Keys on Tracks 1, 2, 8, 9
Jimmy Bain – Bass on Track 2
Vinny Appice – Drums on Tracks 2, 3, 4, 6
Carmine Appice – Drums on Tracks 3, 5, 9
Tony Franklin – Bass on Tracks 3, 5, 7, 9
Rudy Sarzo – Bass on Tracks 4, 6
Brian Tichy – Drums on Track 7
Derek Sherinian – Keys on Track 7
3 Whitesnake – Slip of the Tongue (1989)
It is hard to believe that it has already been two decades since Whitesnake’s CD, Slip of the Tongue, but 2009 marks the twentieth anniversary of this very successful release for Coverdale and company.
The funny thing is, (to me at least) this album rarely comes up in my play list, and I consider myself a pretty big Whitesnake fan. After listening to Slide it In and the self titled disc from 1987, I can understand why Slip of the Tongue is greatly missing something. It lacks that bluesy edge that made the previous two albums so great. Coverdale is the only remaining member from the previous two recordings, and Slip of the Tongue shows just that. Coverdale’s vocals are great, but his vocals alone can not carry the band.
Steve Vai is an incredible guitar player, and I loved his stint in David Lee Roth’s band, but his style of playing is so different from John Sykes that it gives Whitesnake a completely different sound. I am not knocking Vai as a player, but I am not so sure that he was the right fit for Whitesnake. There is lno bluesy element in Vai’s guitar work, and that is what Slip of the Tongue greatly needed.
Whitesnake’s lineup for Slip of the Tongue was like an all star band of hard rock musicians. Tommy Aldridge (Ozzy Osbourne), Rudy Sarzo (Ozzy, Quiet Riot), Steve Vai (Frank Zappa, Alcatrazz, David Lee 
Roth) all recorded with Coverdale for the first time on this release. Even with all of this talent at this disposal, Coverdale could not capture the magic from his previous two releases with this disc.
With that being said, Whitesnake still ripped out a few hits off of this CD, including “Now Your Gone”, “The Deeper the Love” and the band’s reworking of the 1980 Whitesnake classic, “Fool For Your Loving”. (Is Whitesnake the only band to cover themselves?) Some of my favorites from Slip of the Tongue, are the tunes that got less attention, including “Cheap and Nasty”, “Wings of the Storm” and “Judgement Day”.
Slip of the Tongue is far from bad. It just doesn’t quite live up to the Whitesnake legacy. From a hair metal perspective, it is very good, but as a Whitesnake release it is slightly above average. You can score copies of this CD for under $3.00 at this link.
Rating: 
Out of 10
Track Listing:
1. Slip Of The Tongue
2. Cheap An’ Nasty
3. Fool For Your Loving
4. Now You’re Gone
5. Kittens Got Claws
6. Wings Of The Storm
7. The Deeper The Love
8. Judgement Day
9. Slow Poke Music
10. Sailing Ships
Whitesnake is:
David Coverdale – Vocals
Steve Vai – Lead Guitar
Rudy Sarzo – Bass
Tommy Aldridge – Drums
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!!
Rating: 
Out of 10
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
0 New Monster Circus Live Footage Available
Video footage from the MONSTER CIRCUS show at The Masquerade Showroom in Las Vegas, NV on December 9th is available below. The band consists of Dee Snider, Rudy Sarzo, Bruce Kulick, Tony Montana, Bobby Rock, John Corabi.
Source: Bravewords.com
0 Live Video – Whitesnake – Still of the Night
The following video is from Whitesnake’s 1987 tour. The video features David Coverdale, Adrian Vandenberg, Vivian Campbell, Rudy Sarzo and Tommy Aldridge.
0 A Message From Bruce Kulick
Well the big day with MONSTER CIRCUS came and went fast, and it was simply amazing. No one really knew what to expect (including me) but the idea of having great players rocking on stage backed by a totally cool Vegas style experience was pulled off without a glitch at the HILTON in Las Vegas on December 9th.
Monster Circus was formed by Tony Montana (who played bass in Great White but is also a fantastic singer and lead guitarist), Rudy Sarzo (Ozzy, Whitesnake, Quiet Riot and many more) and John Corabi, who needs no introduction for my fans. These three asked Bobby Rock (Nelson, Slaughter, Vinnie Vincent Invasion) to play drums and myself to join them on stage, with Dee Snider (Twisted Sister) and Dave Kushner (Velvet Revolver) as the special guests to play 9 classic hits along with a great show that included fire breathers, pyro, dancers and tight rope style performances in a totally Vegas over-the-top manner.
Read the rest of the article at Kulick.net
0 BRINGING BACK THE “VOODOO VIBES” TO HARD ROCK!!!
AFM Records is very pleased to announce the signing of Alex Beyrodt´s Voodoo Circle.
Alex is well-known throughout the Rock & Metal scene as the mastermind of Silent Force, former guitarist of Sinner and tour guitarist of Primal Fear. His exceptional compositions and instrumental skills secured him highest respect from other musicians and a strong worldwide fan base. In Japan, where quality is still the most important aspect when it comes to music, he is hailed as a “guitar hero” and fills the venues. Alex chose to walk in huge footsteps with Voodoo Circle, because the immense impact and influence that bands like Rainbow and Deep Purple had, are undeniable. But if there is just one German musician who can fill this big boots and arouse with new energy, we definitely talk about Alex Beyrodt.
Not to forget, it needs a special kind of stage presence, charisma and the ability to “let the guitar do the talking”, so every listener can feel it deep down in his spine. Alex´ 60´s Strat guitar can give you exactly this – all in the tradition of the true heroes of Rock guitar.
Now Alex has founded a new band, that is deeply rooted in classic Hard Rock: Voodoo Circle. The band´s name will soon be known for first class musicianship and the ability to evoke pure magic. Here we have Alex Beyrodt (guitars), David Readman on vocals, Mel Gaynor (drums), Mat Sinner (bass) and Jimmy Kresic on keyboards.
“The legendary bands of the 70´s raised their best song ideas in extensive jam sessions and they possessed the gift to express something through the music. Nowadays this spirit seems to got lost somehow. Now I follow this “ideal” with Voodoo Circle. Back to vintage sounds, extensive jams of great musicians, sweaty live gigs and pure delight in playing.”
-Alex Beyrodt-
These are the bringers of the “voodoo vibes:
Alex Beyrodt (guitars) -Silent Force, ex-Sinner
David Readman (vocals) – Pink Cream 69
Mat Sinner (bass) – Sinner, Primal Fear
Mel Gaynor (drums) – Simple Minds, Gary Moore, Brian May
Jimmy Kresic (keyboards)
Guest appearances on the album:
Doogie White (Rainbow, Yngwie Malmsteen)
Rudi Sarzo (Ozzy, Dio, Whitesnake)
Norifumu Shima (Concerto Moon)
Richard Andersson (Majestic, Space Odyssey)
On December 5th the self-titled debut album will finally be available. Fans of the “old masters” like Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Yngwie Malmsteeen and Deep Purple, but also supporters of Silent Force, Pink Cream 69 and Sinner will be amazed by this Hard Rock jewel.
2 We Wish You a Metal Xmas and a Headbanging New Year?!
Wendy Dio is very excited to tell you about a Christmas metal CD that she, Bob Kulick and Brett Chassen have been working on since June, entitled “We Wish You a Metal Xmas and a Headbanging New Year”.
This is a METAL CD you will want to listen to all year round.
Wendy says, “It has been a very exciting and exhausting project, but we have managed to get an all star cast together.
”The hardest person to get was Ronnie himself, as he told Wendy he doesn’t sing Christmas songs, but after Wendy hounded him for days, he finally listened to the arrangement Bob had come up with for “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”, decided he liked it, added a few bits, recorded it at Bob’s studio, and then said that it needed Tony Iommi’s signature guitar sound. Wendy then sent the track over to Tony, who also liked the track, and behold! You have a very Sabbath Christmas song.
Also rounding out the circle of familiar characters on this track are Dio bassist Rudy Sarzo and drummer Simon Wright.
All of the tracks on the record are awesome and definitely have Wendy’s stamp of approval.
No word on when this will be released, but I am guessing this will be out in time for the ’08 Christmas Holiday Season.
0 New Tunes On The Way by Voodoo Circle
After a long and very enjoyable production the amazing debut album of Alex Beyrodt’s VOODOO CIRCLE is now ready. The masters will now be delivered to the record companies.
Voodoo Circle is:
Alex Beyrodt – guitars
David Readman – vox
Mat Sinner – bass
Mel Gaynor – drums
Jimmy Kresic – keys
Guest appearances on the debut from the following amazing musicians:
Doogie White (Rainbow, Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force)
Rudy Sarzo (Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake, Dio)
Richard Andersson (Majestic, Time Requiem, Space Odyssey)
Norifumu Shima (Concerto Moon)
Check out the three new songs by Voodoo Circle, “Spewing Lies”, “Desperate Heart”, “Kingdom of the Blind” at the band’s myspace page.
0 Manic Eden – S/T (Release Year – 1994)
I stumbled on Manic Eden’s debut CD by total accident while I reading about the past works of some of my favorite musical artists.
What a great find this CD was! This CD features former Whitesnake members Rudy Sarzo on bass, Tommy Aldridge on Drums, Adrian Vandenberg on guitars, and Little Caeser singer Ron Young.
If you were to put Whitesnake in a blender with a dash of Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughn, you may get a sound that resembles Manic Eden. It is a kick ass CD, that has been largely unheard of.
James Christian from House of Lords was briefly involved in this band, before Ron Young took over on vocals. Nonetheless, Ron sounds great singing with the former Whitesnake band mates.
Listen to the tune below, and see what you think. This is a very good blues rock effort, and worth picking up.
Rating:Out of 10
Track Listing:
- Can you Feel it
- Gimme a Shot
- Fire in my Soul
- Do Angels Die
- Pushing Me
- Dark Shade of Grey
- Keep it Coming
- When the Hammer comes down
- Ride the Storm
- Can’t hold it
Manic Eden is:
Ron Young – Vocals
Adrian Vandenberg – Guitars
Rudy Sarzo – Bass
Tommy Aldridge – Drums
