Arkona ~ Stenka Na Stenku (EP) (album review) ... Pagan folk metal leaves for the new world!

Style: folk metal, heavy metal, experimental
Label: Napalm records
Year: 2011
Home: Russia

Members: Masha "Scream" Arhipova ~ vocals/keyboards
Sergei "Lazar" ~ guitars
Ruslan "Kniaz" ~ bass
Vlad "Artist" ~ keyboards/drums
Vladimir "Volk" ~ ethnic wind instruments

Additional: Varg ~ vocals

Let Russians black metallers Arkona introduce you to a new world of music - Russian/Slavic pagan folk metal ... at its best. Like Alestorm is the best of pirate metal, Arkona are clearly candidates for the same title in their field of folk metal. Traditional instruments & arrangements, including chorus vocals on top of the female lead singer & gypsy dance breaks are explored by Arkona in their newest release that will have you dancing immediately. Some people may find the new & exploding trend of folk metal a joke, but it's a joke of quite an impressive & addictive sub-genre of some of the most upbeat & creative approaches to thrash/speed metal, let alone some highly skilled playing & composing. But, alas, for Americans the hundred year old tradition of pagan folk tunes is a foreign concept which is partially to blame for making folk metal a hard to grasp concept ... Woody Guthrie & Civil War laments aren't quite the same as the epic music that comes out of the lost cultures of northern Europe & Russia. In many ways Arkona are reminiscent of symphonic metal for the intricate nature of the arrangements, which is often lost in slash & burn metal, here even including an haunting acoustic arrangement of their hit "Goi, Rode, Goi!" with guitars, didgeridoo & mandolins. As for the language barrier it's barely noticeable. You almost expect something like this to be in a strange & unfamiliar tongue. Arkona are an absolute must to check out. If you like folk metal you'll love this band. If you don't know folk metal Arkona will hook you in. & don't hesitate as they've already had a song featured on the U.S. version of 'The Office' on TV so people are paying attention to them.

Europe ~ Super Hits (hits comp) (album review) ... Start the final countdown!

Style: hard rock
Label: Epic
Year: 1998
Home: Sweden

Members: Joey Tempest ~ vocals/guitar/keyboards
Kee Marcello, John Norum ~ guitars/b. vocals
John Leven ~ bass
Ian Haugland ~ drums/b. vocals
Tony Reno ~ drums
Mic Michaeli ~ keyboards/b. vocals

Additional: Nate Winger, Paul Winger ~ b. vocals
Mats Grahn ~ bass/guitar/keyboards

Keyboards dominated the 70's prog scene to a large extent which was continued into the 80's New Wave & hard rock scene posing as much a challenge to music as overdone guitar pyrotechnics let alone making the instrument seem as cool as when Fats Domino or Jerry Lee played it. But, the immobility of the instrument, let alone its preferred use as a texture adding instrument & not a lead instrument, caused it to go out of style in the 90's except for a minority of bands or those looking to add sound effects behind their guitar riffs. Europe might be just another hard rock/glam band that from the 80's, though since reunited, most famous for their Top 10 hit "The Final Countdown" & the fact that they're from Sweden, but listening again today they provide a good nostalgia trip of music that made the keyboard a prominent instrument with its emphasis on melody vs. distorted riffing & brought together the best of 70's prog & 80's hard rock in an under-looked mix that has since been lost. There's better greatest hits collections available for Europe, but for a band with essentially one big hit & a few small ones what makes for a good or bad compilation is close to splitting hairs on the level of fan favorites. The essential thing to know is that it's worth picking up any of the compilations. In many ways Europe is similar to Savatage who relied heavily on keyboards with the guitar often taking a backseat yet they also have the approach of the Scorpions or Journey where the power ballads are the norm & not forced like so many of their 80's peers once it was determined that slow love songs were chart-toppers. With strong melodies with hints of both prog & hard rock & the flashiness of the 80's Europe crafted memorable songs that should be more recognized than they are. It should be mentioned that this particular compilation excludes anything from their self-titled 1983 debut while the three albums done since should also be looked for, though there's more focus on the guitar today as Europe has clearly moved with the trends against what made them so unique.

Smashing Pumpkins ~ Machina II/The Friends & Enemies Of Modern Music (album review) ... If there is a god you won't find him here!

Style: heavy metal, progressive
Label: Constantinople
Year: 2000
Home: n/a

Members: Billy Corgan, James Iha ~ guitar/vocals
Meliss Auf der Maur ~ bass
Micke Garson ~ keyboards
Jimmy Chamberlin ~ drums

For a band as popular as the Smashing Pumpkins it might surprise many to know that their sixth album remains largely unknown, let alone unheard by many, though it was released free online in 2000 ... what could be better than a free Smashing Pumpkin's album? Machina II/The Friends & Enemies Of Modern Music was originally planned to be bundled with the brooding concept album Machina/The Machines Of God, but the record label was uninterested in releasing a financially questionable double CD set after low sales of the previous SP album Adore. Following disagreements with the label Machina II was released by frontman mastermind Billy Corgan's own label. Only 25 copies were made, given to friends of the band & a few select prominent fans in the online community with instructions to release it immediately on the internet at no charge. The band would formally break up soon after & thus Machina II would not get heavily promoted or performed & thus lost to many casual followers of the band. It's a shame because it has some good music, particularly following the musical experiment that was Machina that alienated many fans with its moodiness & overly industrial approach let alone confusing indecipherable story of Glass. Machina II picks up the Glass story, but like the first album it's a trivial aspect as the story is the least interesting thing about the album. It's as trivial as the story of the Sgt. Pepper band in that so-called concept album. It doesn't help endorse the story any that some of the songs on Machina II are weaker alternative versions of songs found on Machina ("Try, Try, Try", "Heavy Metal Machine" & "Blue Skies Bring Tears") plus an outtake from Adore ("Cash Car Star") ... which makes it a new story with some of the same songs ... while other songs were meant for Machina but left out when it was not going to be a double album ... thus it's a story using songs meant for another story, plus alternative songs from that story. Doesn't say much for the story. There are some additional tracks that truly continue the story of Glass & the Machines Of God but they get lost in the shuffle like the idea itself. But, one doesn't go to SP for story time but for the great modern take on 60's psychedelic/garage rock. For those that lost interest in SP because of the changed direction of Machina Machina II offers an opportunity to return with a dynamic array of songs that couldn't have made Machina a much more powerful & less alienating album if included. Machina II offers both the modern experiments of Machina but also is a hearkening back to earlier SP days with their trademark blend of power pop & hard rock. Because it was not formally released Machina II got few reviews but they were unanimously positive, one even calling it an 'artistic high', showing the potential of SP had they continued. This release might essentially be a collection of outtakes but it does shine in its own way. It has everything Machina wasn't but which fans wanted - its warm yet introspective in that expected Billy Corgan way, lots of great ballads which are always a SP highlight, lots of memorable songs in an array of dynamic styles & though its 2 CD's it doesn't getting boring ... & it even includes a thrashy version of James Brown's "Soul Power" that sounds more like Iggy Pop than funky soul. There are a few odd tracks that show the experimental side of SP that came to the fore with Machina (i.e. "Saturnine", "Glass Theme", "If There Is A God" & the keyboard instrumental "Le Duex Machina") that often sound incomplete & verge on noise experiments, but with 2 CDs they are easily skipped over & a good album's worth of enjoyable songs is left if not an album & a half. You really can't ask any more from a double album as no double album is perfect. There's also a few tracks that need repeated listens to really get (i.e. "Speed Kills", "Lucky 13", "White Spider", "In My Body", "Here's To The Atom Bomb") but everything SP album has those. Requiring mention is "If There Is A God" with just acoustic piano & Corgan singing, complimented by a full band version for comparison. The solo piano take is obviously a demo version as it gets an abrupt end with studio chatter but it's an absolute must hear. Guitarist James Iha also gets lead vocals on "Go" which feels like waves against the shore & is completely relaxing in the midst of experimentation. More of that please. & if you like "Go" check out Iha's solo album. Machina II is an incredibly interesting compilation ... or compilation disguised as an album. If it had been given a little more time in the studio it could have been a great album. One can't help but wonder if this had been released instead of Machina ... a question never to be answered as we continue to ask the question surrounding Machina of what happened to the songs in Corgan's quest to experiment?

The August Infinity (She Said Fire) ~ To Whom It May Concern (EP) (album review) ... Voices of a generation!

Style: alt rock, hard rock, indie rock
Label: self-released
Year: 2011
Home: Brooklyn, New York

Members: Joshua Hawksley ~ vocals
Frank Grullon, Peter Strzelecki ~ guitar
Chris Moss ~ bass
Ian Pierce ~ drums

Power pop used to refer to Top 40 easy listening with lots of ballads & no guts ... think Phil Collins or Simply Red ... but in the last decade its taken an oversized page out of the hard rock book, realizing that you can rock as hard as anyone but still craft melodic songs that appeal to a wider audience then guitar freaks & teenage headbangers ... like having girls as fans ... who, I believe, would gravitate to more hard rock if it was a little more tender & not so masochistic. Further, a band can sing a ballad without having to delve into the overly cliched melodramatic acoustic power ballad territory. While, hard rock doesn't have to ignore vocal & arrangement dynamics. The AI is one of the newer bands charting this hybrid direction tapping into power pop, the moodiness of Coldplay & the glam rock of fellow Fixer, the seediness of neighborhood bars but the cleanness of mainstream radio hits, with heavy guitars & dueling vocals finding a completely infectious outcome in the process. One of the most prominent features of AI is, as described on their press release, their "hooky harmonized vocals" which rotate between singing, shouting & vocalizations with dynamic overlapping backing vocals. The vocals are unpredictable & give a welcome added dimension to the music, actually make that a couple added dimensions that really set AI apart. To Whom It May Concern is AI's second album, having already released a self-produced full length ... aptly named Voices Of A Generation that belays into my description of their chosen musical path. Like every good EP this new album is a tight little affair of in your face songs that make you want to jump up & down & just party your face off ... really ... this is one of those albums that makes you want to see the band live. & like every good EP it's nearly impossible to chose a favorite song ... which I say having listened to the album at least a dozen times over a couple days. Which brings up another point ... I'm still getting excited about the music rotations later. That's not always a given, either. AI has a lot of potential to really find a large fan base with their music. I sincerely hope they do. The band would eventually changed members & sound a be known as She Said Fire

Neon Legion ~ Empire (album review) ... Art rock moodiness!

Style: electronica, experimental
Label: self-released
Year: 2011
Home: Germany/America/Canada/Argentina

Members: Philip Kurt Kressin ~ vocals/keyboards
Brett Caswell, Afie Jurvanen, Javier Bustos ~ guitar
Chris Lesso, Brad Kilpatrick, Kieran Adams, Alejandro Lopez ~ drums
Lincoln Hamlyn, Jon Hynes, Jeremy Little, Juan Huici ~ bass
Nicolas Ospina ~ keyboards
Daniel Bensi ~ cello/piano
Adam Crystal ~ violin/keyboards

NL is the rock ensemble encircling German composer/multi-instrumentalist Philip Kurt Kressin. NL is also more than a band but a cry for chivalrous moral living, painting this shout with rock, classical themes & electronica for their debut release Empire. Kressin comes from an electronica background with a reinvention of his music after a foray into classical music for a film soundtrack. With a partially deaf director Kressin was forced to add sub-bass frequencies so the deaf could feel the music, thus organically discovering new musical directions. A two year stay in Argentina added more musical dimensions leading to the first incarnation of NL. Kressin's project would eventually include both American & Canadian musicians transforming NL from just a band into an organically changing international ensemble. Recalling the art rock of the Flaming Lips, a little early Depeche Mode & other such avant-garde bands Kressin sings in a light almost tongue-in-cheek & slightly synthesized tenor over a background of generally soft electronica & beats that will recall for many fans the ballads of Erasure or other synth-pop bands of the past. But, what is absent is the heavy looping quality that dominates so much of electronica making the result more machine than human. For Kressin electronic loops are just one instrument among many & not the dominate sound as songs move from primarily electronic to live instruments including distorted guitars. Though some of NL would be welcomed on the dancefloor this is not dance music, though it might be welcomed in trance circles for its creative ethereal keyboards that reappear here & there between the guitars & beats. Empire is mostly an upbeat collection of three minute songs of hypnotic quality, never getting too maudlin or extremely moody though moments are there with the album getting darker as it progresses ... though the darker moments are, intentional or not, the definite highlights. But, everything takes a dive down with the seven minute coda-like concluding track "La Revolucion" that brings out all the moodiness that came before with its nearly instrumental mix of guitars/keyboards. It sounds like lonely soldiers going off to war. It doesn't attack but creeps while it opens up a whole new world just as the it lets the listener move on.

George Michael & Queen with Lisa Stansfield (live) (EP) (album review) ... These are the days of our lives!

Style: tribute, covers, hard rock, pop rock
Label: Hollywood Records
Year: 1993
Home: Britain

Members: George Michael, Lisa Stansfied ~ vocals
Brian May, Danny Jacob, Martin Bliss ~ guitar
Freddie Mercury ~ piano/vocals
Lynn Mabry, Shirley Lewis, Jay Henry ~ b. vocals
John Deacon, Deon Estus ~ bass
Roger Taylor, Peter Michael, Jonathan Moffett ~ drums
Chris Cameron, David Clayton ~ keyboardsAndy Hamilton ~ ewi

Additional: Maggie Ryder, Chris Thompson, Miriam Stockley ~ b. vocals
Mike Moran, Spike Edney ~ keyboards
Josh Macrea ~ drums

I remember when 'A Concert For Life: A Tribute To Freddie Mercury' originally aired ... I still have the VHS recording I did that day direct off of MTV, commercials & all ... though I sat glued to the tv all day I knew it would be something I'd want to watch again & again. To Queen fans like myself it was as important as Farm Aid or Woodstock in both the musicians it collected & the man/music who it celebrated. It was almost bigger than life ... it was certainly as big as Freddie himself. Everyone was there who was anyone in music. It was one of the first times I saw Spinal Tap & the first time I saw Metallica live, let alone it brought in so many musicians new & old where every performance was something special. Also, for those of us who were disheartened by the death of Freddie it brought hope that Queen would go on to make music once again. I remember thinking which singer I wanted to replace him. My choice was split between Gary Cherone of Extreme & George Michael ... Paul Rodgers was/remains no where in sight. For Cherone it was because of his light tenor & somewhat over-the-top energy & body movements, while for for GM it was the break some three minutes into "Somebody To Love" when he sends his voice soaring into falsetto after getting the audience clapping. It's a brief moment but has a tremendous impact towards showing GM's talents at their best. When GM released the Five Live EP sometime later I thought it interesting - he was the only performer to release any music from the concert, though far from the only person who should have ... I'm still waiting for Robert Plant's under-appreciated mystical take of "Innuendo" to be officially released ... & I thought this might be a sign of things to come with Queen. Sadly, it wasn't. But, without doubt, particularly listening almost 20 years later, this is a climactic moment for GM & one can see why he'd want to preserve as an album. I've always believed him to be one of the best rock singers of the past decades, sadly his studio output has been so varied & scattered that outside of his greatest hits collection it's sometimes hard to really get a feeling of his talent & overall range. But, luckily we have Five Live, which is GM at his best - live on stage with no overdubs to fool the listener or distort his voice & nothing to fall back on but emotionally powerful compositions. No originals but the covers are as strong as the originals. GM, though a great writer & studio wizard as is obvious from his untouchable Faith, has had a tendency to let the vocals be overwhelmed by the music, pulling away from from what makes him so great ... outside of his tight pants & sexy looks. In Five Live it's all about the voice - the way it should be. The focus & opening track is "Somebody To Love", performed with Queen at the tribute concert. This is followed by the R&B medley of "Killer" & "Papa Was A Rolling Stone", followed by the the lesser known "Calling You" from a Wembley Stadium concert which leans more on electronica than the rock as previously demonstrated by Queen. Inserted after the medley is Queen's "These Are The Days Of Our Lives", again featuring the remaining members of Queen but also with fellow Brit Lisa Stansfield. It's an under-rated nugget on the album, though there's really not a single bad track of the six selections. Today Stansfield has gone the forgotten way of many 90's singers whose musical style is no longer in vogue ... but in 1993 she was riding the wave of her successful album So Natural. Today her inclusion in the EP is almost nostalgic but listening again it should inspire one to go back & revisit her catalog & charming voice. The EP ends with "Dear Friends" from Queen's Sheer Heart Attack & is a somewhat odd inclusion particularly at but one minute & featuring exclusively Freddie singing & playing piano, though the lyrics belay the reason behind its inclusion. Overall, though musically delightful & a top-notch tribute that isn't forced, this is a strange little release. At first it feels almost like an unnecessary release that's just for publicity ... if it wasn't for the fact that all its proceeds were given to charity. While, it's so different than what GM had done until then ... though it does fulfill the requirement that every musician release a live album, something he didn't even do with Wham!. But, the secret to this release is in knowing what we do now about GM's personal life. At the time the general public didn't know GM was gay, let alone that his lover Anselmo died the month before this EP was released from AIDS complications. Today we realize that, like everything GM has done though it might not be immediately apparent, this EP holds a very personal statement. Of all the musicians who performed that day for Freddie & AIDS awareness here we had a publicly-closeted gay man who knew the threat of AIDS firsthand but felt he couldn't say a thing. Was there a moment when he wanted to speak up & share the news that his lover was at home dying from the decease? We'll never know but looking at this small release we can hope the answer is an affirmative. Today, some critics might call him a hypocrite for not speaking up, though at that time public perception of gay was different & coming out still potential career death, but there's a lot of closet gay men who have done much worse than make a tribute to a fallen friend, bring further awareness about a stereotyped gay disease & give all the profit to charity/research. Some might even say GM should be punished for not coming out but the anguish of making such an album for such a cause & not saying a word about his recently departed lover was probably mental punishment enough. Any further judgment is unfair ... so all that's left to do is enjoy the music.

Die Krupps ~ A Tribute To Metallica (EP) ... Metallica should be jealous they didn't make this!

Style: industrial, electronic, hard rock, progressive, experimental, tribute
Label: Hollywood
Year: 1992
Home: Germany

Members: Jurgen Engler ~ guitar/synthesizer/vocal
Ralf Dorper ~ keyboards
Rudiger Esch ~ bass

Additional: Bjorn Lucker ~ drums

Die Krupps is an electric/industrial band that has swung the pendulum from the electronic coldness of Gary Numan to the industrial attack of Rammstein to find an interesting mix with their covers EP of Metallica. As might not be a surprise, it also verges on the ege of being a lot more interesting that than Metallica has been since they dawned black nail polish, loaded, reloaded & took the gun apart to clean it. A Tribute To Metallica includes the classics "Enter Sandman", "Nothing Else Matters", "The Unforgiven", "Blackened", "Battery", "For Whom The Bells Toll" & "One". Now, 'interesting' is the keyword because Metallica fans are greatly mixed on whether this is better or worse. If you don't like Gary Numan or similar techno artists you probably will find this as awkward as if Britney Spears played heavy metal. If, on the other hand, you understand that dark music is defined differently when played by Metallica versus Charlie Mingus you might find this an enjoyable experiment. One of the problems is that with slashing guitars replaced by keyboards/electronic drums it loses the intensity & speed of Metallica along with putting a heavier focus on the vocals, plus nothing can quite replace the full sound of two slashing guitars & bass. But, those who follow Die Krupps know they can be just as heavy but here have chosen to give Metallica a complete workout by reigning in their industrial leanings. What's the point of just playing Metallica but just with electronic drums? Metallica have probably already thought of doing that themselves. Certainly, it wouldn't have been above Megadeth at one point in their goal to be more commercially viable. James Hetfield is the better singer & the slower pace does affect weaken some songs (ie "Enter Sandman", "One"). But, that being said, "Nothing Else Matters", already a ballad, is highlight not to be missed that is a haunting walk through the song. While "Blackened" & "For Whom The Bells Toll" are probably the most distinct interpretations from their originals, particularly with the synthesized vocals of "For Whom The Bells Toll".

Vanilla Ice ~ Hard To Swallow (album review) ... But, addictive to hear!

Style: heavy metal, rap, punk
Label: Republic
Year: 1998
Home: n/a

Members: Rob Van Winkle "Vanilla Ice" ~ vocals
Shannon Larkin ~ drums
Scott Borland ~ keyboards/bass
Doug Ordito ~ bass
Sonny Mayo ~ guitars
DJ Swamp ~ scratches

Guests: Casey Chaos, Zero, Jimmy Pop Ali, Rod J, Cyco ~ vocals

I can remember my middle school dances where once an hour "Ice Ice Baby" would ring out from the DJ. It was considered cool to request the most popular white boy hip-hop dance track on the charts. Sadly, through a mix of bad business decisions & fickle fans Vanilla Ice quickly crashed from his high perch. Facing insurmountable hurdles to reclaim his fame, fortune or at least self-respect, Ice abandoned his glossy over-commercialized image & music replacing it with hardcore rock/punk, continuing to release new music every couple years ... between stints on reality shows ... all to little fanfare that tends to be more focused on what he was than what he is. But, credit is owed him for being nothing less than a dedicated & creative showman looking for new musical styles to exploit & bend to his own voice & ideas. Few have had the stamina to keep going like Ice, particularly when most of his fan base left him seemingly overnight not long after getting their membership cards. Many, if not most, musicians have done the same & Ice shouldn't be faulted for trying but because the glossy image he debuted with was everything but reflective of his true persona fans hesitate to now trust the honesty of his later incarnation. Beyond just creating interesting music he faces a challenge greater than any in making fans trust him again. That his current image is who is truly is is something many fans will find ... hard to swallow. The gig isn't helped any by his being overly vocal about his fall from fame, which at times seems more of interest than any artistic integrity or creative expression. But, in many ways reputation is all he has because Ice doesn't play any instrument, isn't the greatest of singers or lyricists or most dynamic of performers, thus resuscitating his career is more in the hands of creating good material, getting a good producer & lots of old fashioned luck ... & lots of hard work. Hard To Swallow, his second release post "Ice Ice Baby" & fourth total, presents a hardcore/punk image that chases the same sound & attitude as Korn, Slipknot & Limp Bizkit, due to a shared producer. As opposed to the looping beats of his earlier music, Ice now works with real instruments as distorted guitar riffs clobber each other over electronic drum beats & scratches mixed with Ice's own shouting/rapping making for an hour long angry rap metal pill. It might sound corny at first, but it's far from being as bad or as hard to swallow as one might expect. If anything it sounds corny because we remember where Ice came from, but actually the some of the metal/rap moments are no different then what Eminem would do years later but much heavier ... though Eminem is the greater lyricist & singer. Ice has even remade "Ice Ice Baby" into a hard rock anthem rechristened as "Ice Cold", marking this album as a highlight let alone template of his hardcore output, which isn't that bad compared to the corniness of the original & might in some ways be better. It's definitely more emotional. Though, there's songs on the album that are far more interesting so "Ice Cold" shouldn't be one's only incentive to check out Hard To Swallow. Sadly, few are probably going to check this out for anything more, let alone with any interest that isn't nostalgia based. This is too bad because it's so far beyond what has come before that Ice deserves a second chance, particularly as this is quite a labored release with lots of dynamics that are far more interesting than a good chunk of the hardcore rap & metal artists of similar sounds. Let alone, it's far more emotional than many of his musical peers as lyrical themes include discussing his drug addiction, abusive childhood & fall from fame. The Eminem comparison should make more sense now. It's the most honest music Ice has made. If anything bad can really be said about this album it's that there's no ups or downs. It's pretty much one long angry rant with no soft moments, which, according to press releases at the time wasn't deliberate but Ice had so much venom that in its cathartically release the anger become the dominating sound. While Limp Bizkit fakes anger Ice gives us the real thing. Though, he obviously forgot that even the heaviest & angriest bands drop back sometimes to just chill because sometimes the soft spots can be often more angry sounding. The ballads of Nine Inch Nails are a good example. While, at times there is a bit of boredom hearing yet again his rise & fall story. It's not really an album's worth of material, but the music is so heavy & dynamic with lots of instrumental breaks & guest rappers that its easy to overlook this fault ... considering his peers aren't exactly doing any better lots of time. They never reached the highs Ice did & when you go that high the world no longer treats you fairly when you come down. It's really a shame because this isn't as hard to swallow as one might think.

Imari Tones ~ Victory In Christ (album review) ... Walking with the original rising sun!

Style: heavy metal, Christian
Label: self-released
Year: 2010
Home: Yokohama, Japan

Members: Tak "Tone" ~ guitar/vocals
Yuki "Hassy" ~ bass
Hide "Jake" ~ drums

People don't typically think of Japan as a Christian country, but it actually has a large Christian population though Buddhism remains the most obvious religious practice in daily life & the Japanese are considered Buddhist by birth until converted. This Buddhist dominance even extends to the artistic culture where the country itself seems more intent on continuing the idea that it's 100% Buddhist rather than accepting the fact that many religions live on its islands & have for a long time. The trio of Imari Tones is working towards breaking this stereotype through positive & inspirational 80's power metal & their claim, though unverifiable, that "they are one of very few bands in the world that can claim true originality. How so? They are the first Christian heavy metal band ever to come out of Japan." Victory In Christ is their latest of 15 releases, all independently recorded/produced ... something not as common in Japan as in America. Imari Tones understand the challenge they are facing, according to their press release, quoting founder/frontman Tak: "There are very few Japanese bands who say 'Hey, we're a Christian band.' A Christian band from Japan almost sounds like a joke, since most people in Japan are Buddhists or Atheists." But, these guys are no joke. Think of Christian rockers Stryper in a meeting with Van Halen & you'll get a feeling of the musical maneuvers being executed by Imari Tones. Highly skilled technical 80's hard rock that draws from the careers of Yngmie Malmsteen, Steve Vai, Eddie Van Halen, Eric Johnson & all the great power metal rockers of the time. Tak has done his homework well in crafting his soaring solos & an endless variety of riffs. He's also paid attention to song structure & knows that the best of his heroes is when they sit back & groove & not aim for one over-the-top hour long solo. Tak & company also shy away from the influence of speed & thrash metal, keeping things firmly melodic & accessible to more than just a minority of metalheads. Sadly, the production quality could be better as the guitar/vocals are upfront but the rhythm section is little low in the mix so their impact is less than it could be. The feeling is of a guitar, with some overdubs, with a basic backing band behind it & not a unified band with a shared spotlight. It would be nice to hear more of what the bassist is playing, along with more experimentation from the drums. Imari Tones likes to compare themselves to Rush in their press release but they could take some lessons from the Rush rhythm section. Just bringing the instruments up in the mix would help a lot towards this. As for the lyrics, Tak's somewhat predictable lyrics of love & Jesus are all in English, good for the international crowd ... as long as nobody minds a typical Japanese accent & a few mispronunciations such as the famed Japanese substitution of 'l' for 'r'. Though, for the folks interested in international sounds, Tak's accent is the only thing that sounds explicitly Japanese on Victory In Christ as this is one of those bands not hemmed in by natural or theoretical borders ... their role model is Jesus & Jesus has no borders.

Dr. Moe ~ Now Is The Time (album review) ... When you need a doctor for your soul!

Style: religious, experimental
Label: self-released
Year: 2010
Home: Ontario, Canada

Members: Dr. Moe ~ guitar/bass/keyboards/vocals
Michael Keyes ~ keyboards/bass

There are many people who are surprised when they hear that the father of modern avant-garde John Cage was an expert scientist in mushrooms or Queen's Brian May has Ph.D. in astro-physics. I also once knew a high school algebra teacher who who was a folk guitarist & published poet ... & a more interesting artist than some of the professional poets that were teaching up the hill at the college. The scientific with the artistic are often seen as contradictory but this is really a stereotype that does little justice to how much one field bounces off & inspires the other. Dr. Moe, or Dr. Maurice Turmel, is a retired psychologist of 35 years who has continued his healing via his original compositions of spiritually uplifting easy listening music. Robin Hitchcock is one name that first comes to mind for Dr. Moe with his simple guitar rhythms against ethereal keyboards, electronic drums & soft singing on personal issues, though vocally he's more akin to a young Levon Helm. Many of the songs are slow & almost hypnotic 4 minute moments but a few (i.e. "Remember When", "Let It Begin", "My Vision Of Heaven") are more upbeat with almost a 50's R&B feeling ... imagine if Buddy Holly took to George Harrison chanting & not drawing from the Devil's blues. But, at the same time, the music isn't Holly or Harrison, nor R&B, nor particularly bluesy though the modest solos belay this as Dr. Moe's roots, while at times the electronic foundation is a cross between the lighter side, if there is a lighter side, of Gary Numan mixed with the feeling of modern New Age music. Following his professional work Dr. Moe has crafted a set of humble songs of personal self-discovery, including: "Breathless", "Feels Like Home", "On My Way Again", "Let It Begin", "My Vision Of Heaven", "Dreamer", "Diamonds In The Rough" & "Twilight Time". The titles belay the themes found in the album. Now Is The Time is uplifting as it can get, let alone spiritual. It's not Christian but much more New Age oriented, as the linear notes say it aims for "connection with Source" by the "spiritually hungry sometimes known as LightWorkers, Starseeds, WayShowers & Seekers in preparation for Ascention 2012." Though, considering the specifics of his audience the lyrics aren't incredibly specific aiming more for generic New Age holistic thinking of world peace & self-enlightenment through love, which is the essential idea behind the LightWorkers & other groups. "Can't wait until tomorrow/to find out who I am" Dr. Moe sings in "Diamonds In The Rough" & in many ways that's the message of the album. Don't wait until 2012 to see how your life can change or, hopefully, be better.

Whitesnake ~ Greatest Hits (hits comp) (album review) ... Can't stop this snake from biting!

Style: hard rock
Label: Geffen
Year: 1994
Home: n/a

Members: David Coverdale ~ vocals
Mel Galley, John Sykes ~ guitar/b. vocals
Micky Moody, Dann Huff ~ guitar
Rudy Sarzo, Neil Murray ~ bass
Tommy Aldridge, Aynsley Dunbar, Cozy Powell, Denny Carmassi ~ drums
Claude Gaudette, Jon Lord, Don Airey, Bill Cuomo, Alan Pasqua, David Rosenthal ~ keyboards
Tommy Funderburk, The Fabulosa Brothers, Richard Page, The Big 'Eads ~ b. vocals

Guests: Steve Vai ~ guitar
Glenn Hughes ~ b. vocals

There are numerous albums in the Whitesnake catalog that are great purchases but their Greatest Hits is a great starting point & for many might even be all that's ever needed. This collection lives up to its name with all the MTV certified hits until 1994, plus unreleased mixes and recordings that never made it to an album. The one problem is that it's a hits collection not a career retrospective. In the mid-70's singer David Coverdale formed the White Snake Band that toured two albums before the name was combined into a single word. Under the new name Whitesnake formally debuted in 1978 & included Coverdale's former bandmate from Deep Purple keyboardist Jon Lord. This early line-up was more blues & progressive covering B.B. King & Bobby "Blue" Bland songs. After a break Coverdale reformed the line-up in 1982 with the sound moving more towards the hard rock that was dominating the scene. They'd get their first hit with "Here I Go Again", setting the tone for what would follow with hard rock sex-laced power ballads to find their biggest success with the creation of MTV & the dominance of lots of sexy models along with Coverdale's own Robert Plant-like good looks. The band would go through regular line-up changes with Whitesnake eventually becoming Coverdale's own personal set of rotating chairs, though the sound would largely remain the same to the present day. Whitesnake has always featured some great musicians who have been greatly responsible for making the band into what it was, but they were never able to share the spotlight, thus, outside of diehard fans, for all intensive purposes David Coverdale is Whitesnake. If you like one you'll probably like the other. After 1989's Slip Of The Tongue the hits stopped, the recording slowed down with only three studio albums through 2011, Coverdale did a solo album ... basically the same sound but less flashy & more ballady but where he cut his hair short & like other musicians who did the same found little commercial success ... joined with Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin for the quasi-successful Coverdale/Page & basically tried to stay alive in a music scene that turned its back on 80's hard rock. The thing about Coverdale is that he's largely never varied the Whitesnake sound after 1982. One might even call the post-1982 Whitesnake a different band than earlier outings. It's also the hit making band & pretty much all that's featured on this album. Though there is some unreleased tracks from the Jon Lord line-up this is primarily a look at the later hard rock era. This is good in the sense that if you like that era you'll like the whole album as there's a uniformity to the music and not disjointed as some compilations are, but if you want to hear the diversity of Coverdale that's largely not going to happen. Some of the unknown tracks are clearly not hits, so you will get both highs & lows, if that matters & if anything just reflects the fact that for certified greatest hits Whitesnake basically has few. If you don't like Whitesnake with its Robert Plant-esque vocalist but with a darker rasp ... doing the music many of us wish Robert Plant had done ... you probably won't be turned on to them as you might with a career retrospective. There's other compilations that are a more authoritative though the intense career boxset has yet to be released, but Greatest Hits is the most easy to find.