Category: Music Reviews
22 Whitesnake – Good To Be Bad (Release Year – 2008)
Could 2008 be the Year of the Snake?
Whitesnake has returned with their first new studio album since the 1997 album, Restless Heart.
Before I go any further in this review, I will admit, I am biased towards Whitesnake. They have been one of my favorite bands for years, and I have been anxiously awaiting this disc. I am also a long time fan of guitarist, Doug Aldrich. I am quite familiar with his work prior to joining Whitesnake (Lion, Bad Moon Rising, House Of Lords, Hurricane, Burning Rain) and am also a little biased towards him as well.
With that being said, I have played Good to Be Bad several times, and have found it quite to my liking. Aldrich’s guitar sound on this record is fairly close to that of John Sykes playing on the Slide It In, and the multi-platinum, self titled album from 1987. John Sykes is not an easy guitar player to imitate, and I am not sure if that is what Adrich was trying to achieve with his playing. Nonetheless he shreds on this disc, and his guitar work is absolutely killer! He has achieved that signature guitar sound that was present on the two most successful Whitesnake albums of all time.
David Coverdale is no spring chicken at 56 years old, and yet his vocals are excellent as always.
The band could have a bunch of hits on their hands, especially with the tracks, Best Years, All I Want All I Need, All For Love and Good To Be Bad.
The song All For Love sounds so much like a lost Thin Lizzy tune, it is scary, and yet, incredibly cool. This is an amazing new song, and one of my new favorites.
I can hear some 70’s style Whitesnake in the songs, Summer Rain and ‘Til The End of Time. Both tunes have more of a bluesy feel to them. It is good to hear Whitesnake revisting their roots, even if it is an different set of musicians for this record. I can see the lighters and cell phones coming out, if the band chooses to play either one of these songs live.
The cool thing about Good To Be Bad is, I hear different things each time I listen to it. I will not tire of hearing guitar work this good in a long long time. This album is already on top of my play list and is going to take a monster of an album to surpass this disc in 2008!
Don’t hesitate to pick this one up! This is an awesome return to form for Whitesnake, and is easily one of their top discs ever! Good Job Whitesnake! Now bring your tour to the U.S. soon please!!
You can buy a copy of Whitesnake’s Good To Be Bad CD, at this link.
Rating:
Out of 10
Track Listing:
Disc: 1
1. Best Years
2. Can You Hear The Wind Blow
3. Call On Me
4. All I Want All I Need
5. Good To Be Bad
6. All For Love
7. Summer Rain
8. Lay Down Your Love
9. A Fool In Love
10. Got What You Need
11. `Til The End Of Time
Disc: 2
1. Burn-Stormbringer (live version)
2. Give Me all Your Love Tonight (live version)
3. Walking In The Shadow…. (live version)
4. The Deeper The Love (live version)
5. Ready & Willing (live version)
6. Don t Break My Heart Again (live version)
7. Take Me with You (live version)
8. Ready To Rock (enhanced video)
Whitesnake is:
David Coverdale – Vocals
Doug Aldrich – Lead Guitar
Reb Beach – Rhythm Guitar
Chris Frazier – Drums
Uriah Duffy – Bass
Timothy Drury – Keyboards
1 Aesthesia – Serious Conspiracy (Release Year – 2007)
Sleaze metal is a genre of rock that wont ever be forgotten, and will certainly not die.
New bands from all over the globe are putting out new releases all of the time. Case in point is France’s Aesthesia.
France isn’t known for its sleaze metal, but Aesthesia could change that soon.
One listen to Serious Conspiracy, and you will quickly find a band that is heavily influenced by Guns N’ Roses. Singer Nico Marlyn has a vocal style that is similar to Axl Rose. It isn’t exact, and his French accent makes him sound similar to some of the sleaze/glam singers coming out of Sweden.
Aesthesia lacks the swagger of G ‘N R, but they are still pretty good. Some of the songs on Serious Conspiracy are a little on the repetitive side, but I have found a tracks that I like quite well.
The best songs on this record are Cold Case, 11:00 One Way Express, Bad N’Pretty and Hungry Dog.
Aesthesia is a very promising band, and hopefully more rock acts from the land of wine, art and fashion will follow their path. For more information on Aesthesia, and to get your own copy of Serious Conspiracey, check out their website, Aesthesia Rocks!
Rating:
Out of 10
Track Listing:
1. Cold Case
2. 11:00 One Way Express
3. Follow
4. Poison Dice
5. Hit A Snag
6. Burned Macadam Road
7. Your Snazzy Side
8. Bad N’ Pretty
9. No Flowers From My Friend
10. Hungry Dog
11. One Way Step Ahead
12. Too Bad Too Sad
Aesthesia is:
Nico Marlyn – lead vocals
Julien Gatter – Lead Guitar and Backing Vocals
Voodoo – Rhythm Guitar and Backing Vocals
Dim Obolensky – Bass and Backing Vocals
Mike Marcia – Drums
4 Whitefire – E.P. (Release Year – 2006)
There is a new wave of classic rock bands that are making some big noise in the music scene. Bands like The Answer, and Wolfmother have experienced new levels of success. More and more new bands are strutting their stuff with a sound that has more in common with 70’s hard rock, than the latest sounds of today.
Whitefire from the U.K. is the latest band with that great classic rock sound. Judging from the sound of three song E.P., Whitefire is a band that will be going places in the near future.
On the three songs on this EP, I can hear the influence of bands like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Thin Lizzy. It is that riff heavy sound that takes me back to hard rock’s roots. It excites me to hear a new era of bands influenced by this awesome era of rock.
Whitefire shows that they can deliver the goods with this EP. Jon Sibley is a solid vocalist, and the dual guitar sound of Chris Mills and Stephen Mee is one that I can really get into. My only problem after listening to the three songs here, is I am left wanting more. I can’t wait to hear a full length album by these U.K. Rockers.
You can check out Whitefire on their myspace page here! A copy of Whitefire’s EP is available at the band’s website at this location.
Rating:
Out of 10
Track Listing:
- S.L.R.
- Wishing Well
- Yesterday’s Sorrow
Whitefire is:
Jon Sibley – Vocals
Chris Mills – Guitar
Stephen Mee – Guitar
Robert Cocks – Bass
John Maughan – Drums
