Winger ~ Pull (album review) ... Pull this one out of your ear!

Style: hard rock
Label: Atlantic
Year: 1993
Home: New York City, New York

Members: Kip Winger ~ vocals/bass/acoustic guitar/keyboards
Reb Beach ~ guitars/b. vocals
Rod Morgenstein ~ drums/b. vocals

Additional: Frank Latorre ~ harmonica
Alex Acuna ~ percussion


I consider Winger a guilty pleasure. Big hair rock with some awesome guitar playing courtesy of the creative Reb Beach. They remind me of Dokken in some ways in that respect. Basically straight ahead 80's rock with all the clichés we all both love & hate, but underneath is some magical guitar playing that is quite creative. Almost too creative for the mold of the music ... to be honest ... another hint at Dokken there. Pull is Winger's third album & finds the boys already in the land of grunge & it's not a surprise to say they'd break up after this release, like so many of their peers who chose not to struggle on. This album finds them as a three piece, rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Paul Taylor leaving from exhaustion after a long tour. John Roth would take his place on tour & also in their reunion albums. In some ways Pull is the transition album. It doesn't have the slick sound of the earlier albums, less pop & more harder edged, though Beach always has had a metal influence in his chops. The lyrics also begin to go a bit more serious (i.e. "Blind Revolution Mad", "In For The Kill"), though never too serious for their own good. At the time, the sound developed here could have been seen as the what if moment - what if the band had continued to develop & record what would it sound like? In hindsight, their reunion actually answers that question as the follow-up of IV in some ways builds more on this album than the earlier 80's releases. This later Winger is far heavier & less pop in some ways, moving away from the hair metal template. Actually, there should be a new category of music for old bands rediscovering their music as they now sound like the next generation that was once inspired by them. Pull wasn't commercially successful at the time, probably due more to the grunge influence, though its actually a bit more creative & heavier than what Winger pulled out before. But, really if you like one Winger album you'll probably like the others. It's interesting to note one direction that they creativity went here is in the heavy use of acoustic guitars, on most of the ten songs actually, as either part of the layers & more often than not the focus of a bridge or intro. It's as if they're trying to pull away from the hair metal sound or expand it, while the world has changed where the acoustic guitar is no longer just the power ballad instrument. Listen to "Down Incognito" with its thumping bassline, acoustic guitar bits & a harmonica for a fusion of styles, along with a highlight of the album. Though, there is a bit of an acoustic excess that keeps the album more mellow than many might want & makes it very pop ... in a way that Bon Jovi is today for a quick comparison. There are a few weak songs on the album, but they suffer more because of the lyrics than the songs themselves which are trying to rise up. The template is just too small for these boys. Sort of the same problem I've had with Dokken, to mention them a last time.

Howl ~ Bloodlines (album review) ... Allen Ginsberg & Dracula approved!

Style: heavy metal, black metal, doom metal, stoner metal
Label: Relapse Records
Year: 2013
Home: Rhode Island

Members: Vincent Hausman ~ lead vocals/guitar
Josh Durocher-Jones ~ guitar
Robert Icaza ~ bass/b. vocals
Timmy St. Amour ~ drums



Okay, the shared title with an Allen Ginsberg poem got my attention, I'll confess, while I was expecting sheer torturous metal of the most carnal zero listenability, aka a distortion fest of chaos. My surprise when the first few notes came out & I find myself shocked. I wasn't shocked because my instincts were proven right & the band granted me the gift of immediate boredom, the gift so many of these extreme metal bands, but truly shocked at how fast they blew my expectations out of the water. I'm anything but bored but listening attentively & enjoying every song. I'm often writing how a band doesn't need to go fast to be angry or menacing, but can accomplish the same if they drop the tuning, drop the speed, tune the distortion off a bit, use the double bass drums sparingly, give the bass some room & write a good riff that has some variety & tempo changes & actually let me hear the lyrics instead of just growling them out. Then you'll have my attention. Howl has done all the above. Thank you Howl for getting my attention immediately with the opener "Attrition" & just following that with a strong ten track release. It reminds me of some of the major bands of the past with the idea of how you've done your homework finding out what many of us enjoy in our metal ... I'm not thinking you need to go back & re-listen. I love the tempo changes, like Danzig or White Zombie, & the different parts (for example, the refrain & instrumental bridge of "Midnight Eyes" that leads the song out) that keeps the songs moving, repetitious & interesting & unpredictable. Some might even say there's a bit of a prog element here, depending on how you define music. All I know is I hear a sense of direction & climactic moments & not just one long crunch. But, really, the fact you're not playing at full speed & the fact I get to understand all the lyrics, the second vocal line being a great addition (for example, "Down So Low"), just hits home with me. The technical will call Howl a stoner doom metal band. I'm not very good with labels, particularly metal labels, but if I needed an introduction to the style I just found it. Though, having said all this. If you like your music pumped & wild, System Of A Down or something akin, this is not for you. But, for those of us that don't need every metal album to rediscover the genre & play super fast, but just play some moody black down to earth metal this will work quite well.

Jorn Lande ~ Dukebox (hits comp) (album review) ... If Dio & Coverdale had a love-child!

Style: tribute, hard rock, classic rock, heavy metal
Label: AFM
Year: 2009
Home: Norway

Members: Jorn Lande ~ vocals
Jorn Viggo Lofstad, Tore Moren ~ guitars
Sid Ringsby, Morty Black ~ bass
Willy Bendiksen ~ drums

Additional: Stian Kristoffersen, Jan Axel Blomberg ~ drums
Magnus Rosen ~ bass


Norwegian metal singer JL should be more known. Those I've encountered who know his name or one of the many bands he's been a part of - Vagabond, Masterplan, Allen/Lande, Avantasia, The Snakes & Ark - praise him without hesitance, everyone else should discover him. His music ranges from power metal to more bluesy metal to thrash, but the range is smaller than not. He's got a groove that keys right into 70's metal & its Judas Priest or bust in his book & he's not interested in wavering from his focus. His solo output doesn't waver too much from the influences of his musical mentors & that might be what makes JL so pleasurable. He might be nearly obsessed with Ronnie James Dio & David Coverdale, I've earlier reviewed his album Dio of covers of guess who, & could step into Dio's shoes with no problem ... & he did play with Heaven & Hell after Dio's death actually alongside Glenn Hughes ... but what makes JL's vocals & music so pleasurable is how comfy a fit that is. JL is no weak imitation. He might be influenced by Dio right down to song structure & lyrical subjects, but JL makes it his own all the way. When he's not in Dio mode he's in Deep Purple era Coverdale mode. The problem though is the imitation, deliberate or just organic, is its sometimes a bit too imitative. Songs begin to sound more alike then not, which means they sound more like Whitesnake bootlegs than not, or more properly when Whitesnake went power metal, which they didn't do & that's where JL picks up where Coverdale leaves off. But, on the whole JL has the pipes to always keep it high quality if not the most interesting & sometimes the imitator is worth checking out just as much as the original. Dukebox collects sixteen of his solo hits together from his first five solo album spanning 2000 to 2008, excluding his 70's classic rock covers album Unlocking The Past. It seems like an obvious place to start when discovering JL, but it has some interesting quirks. It is a good introduction to JL, without doubt, for the new fan, but there's nothing here for old fans. There's no unreleased, B-sides or demos. It fails in providing for old fans. Maybe JL was disappointed too many times spending money on an album for one iffy new song. If that's the case I can forgive him as he's thinking smart & not greedy like every other musician. Okay, there is sort of something here for old fans in that two songs from his third album Out To Every Nation are new versions & while all the songs are previously released they have been remastered. It's not much, but its something. But, even for new fans there's a quirk. This is JL's second compilation. His first The Gathering brought together both solo songs & songs from some of his bands, making that a more diverse compilation. But, due to contractual issues he re-recorded his solo hits with his new band for that release. Though, I can't say which version is better as I've not heard many of the originals, but The Gathering is loved by JL fans so he certainly didn't do any damage to his catalog & maybe improved it. Old fans thus might find The Gathering interesting if they want alternative recordings with a different line-up, so that's the album for them. The quirk with Dukebox is that for all but the last two solo albums JL collects here The Gathering re-recordings. So, this ends up being a collection of a collection with two solo albums featured instead of the band songs. We get JL the songwriter but not how the music has changed over the decade. But, this is JL. It really hasn't changed as mentioned already. Even with the originals here instead it would sound as one cohesive set of songs, unlike what many compilations sound like, now it just sounds a bit more cohesive since all the songs are by the same band. Thus, for listenability it's a strong release. My thinking is if you're a casual fan you might be happy with this one album & that's all you'll want. With sixteen tracks this is thus a good buy & its just JL & not his bands. If you're a casual fan you won't necessarily care if you don't have the original versions. If you do want to go back & hear the originals, start anywhere. If you like this you'll love everything else JL has done & all the albums get good reviews. Just maybe avoid The Gathering, no reason to duplicate now that you've gone from new fan to old fan.

Don Henley ~ Actual Miles: Henley's Greatest Hits (hits comp) (album review) ... Remembering the last worthless evening!

Style: soft rock
Label: Geffen
Year: 1995
Home: n/a

Members: Don Henley ~ vocals/drums/keyboards/guitar
Danny Kortchmar ~ keyboards/bass/guitar/b. vocals
John Corey ~ guitar/keyboards
Pino Palladino, Larry Klein, Neil Stubenhaus ~ bass
Vinnie Colaiuta ~ drums
Jai Winding ~ keyboards

Additional: Steve Madaio ~ trumpet
Mike Boddicker, Scott Plunkett ~ keyboards
Waddy Wachtel, Frank Simes ~ guitar/b.vocals
Jimmy Rip ~ guitar
Tim Drummond, Bob Glaub ~ bass
Scott Crago, Ian Wallace ~ drums
Martha Davis, Maxine Waters, Julia Waters, Mindy Stein, Carmen Twillie, George Gruel ~ b. vocals

Guests: Joe Walsh ~ lead guitar
Steve Lukather, Roger Linn ~ guitar
Mike Campbell ~ guitar/keyboards
Timothy B. Schmidt ~ bass/guitar/b. vocals
Bruce Hornsby, Benmont Tench, David Paich ~ keyboards
Stan Lynch, Jeff Porcaro ~ drums
Axl Rose, Sheryl Crow, Patty Smyth, Take 6 ~ b. vocals
Wayne Shorter ~ saxophone
Michael Fisher ~ percussion


Listening to this CD after so long makes me ask the question: whatever happened to DH? The Eagles reunited & then I remember his solo hits vanished. A read through wikipedia says he kept low due to a lawsuit against his record label & then went into the direction of an advocate for artist rights. Good for him & his causes, but sad for us fans as he made great music, both with the Eagles & on his own & he's only released one album since. There's not too many singing drummers who are in successful bands then have equally successful solo careers with both catalogs holding up against the test of time. Though, maybe his songs haven't really withstood the test of time & its my nostalgia remembering hearing them on the radio that keeps me interested. "Dirty Laundry", "The Boys Of Summer", "All She Wants To Do Is Dance" are of the adult contemporary soft rock genre that might not exist anymore, while the heavy keyboards dates the songs when metal was still more underground than mainstream. This is the world of Dire Straits, Stevie Nicks, Bruce Hornsby, who also co-wrote "The End Of The Innocence", & a template for feel good radio hits for a nice drive in the car. This is the world when a ballad didn't mean a power ballad nor shallow (for example, "Not Enough Love In The World", "The End Of The Innocence" & "The Last Worthless Evening"). DH made songs everyone could like that weren't too hard rock, yet not too light weight pop. Maybe a bit forgettable at times, but what keeps them afloat is you either have a basic soft rock song or you have a deeper message. Just like "Hotel California", DH's songs can be taken for fun or serious, depending on how much you want to look. The strong rhythmic hook versus the standard guitar riff also keeps these from falling into total obscurity or a nostalgic treasure of the past. I've always found interesting the odd duck track "I Will Not Go Quietly" with Axl Rose on backing vocals & a funky guitar part straight out of the Red Hot Chili Peppers & far more raw than we expect DH to be. The album includes three new songs of mixed results, as is often the case with greatest hits extras. "The Garden Of Allah" was the big single but the riff repeats too much, the song goes on too long, too many voice-overs & it's just far too heavy with its message to be fun. Creative but not fun. In it's attempt to give a message it verges on losing the listener. It's nice to hear a Leonard Cohen song, but "Everybody Knows" not only suffers from bad singing but gets long, though a nice little muffled guitar. Then there's "You Don't Know Me At All" that fits nicely with the past songs. This is a collection & artist well worth remembering.

Bone Sickness ~ Alone In The Grave (EP) (album review) ... No cure for the sickness!

Style: death metal, black metal
Label: 20 Buck Spin
Year: 2013
Home: Olympia, Washington

Members: n/a

 

 

 For me bands like this always sound better in concert where someone on stage yelling or growling incoherently doesn't seem unusual with the bad sound systems some clubs have, or where all you hear is a distorted rhythmic jumble so why even try for anything melodic, where solos are less about playing something interesting with direction & more about headbanging while just clearing the air with a bunch of notes in a row. This is wild mosh pit music for a drunken revelry, but I just can't imagine myself listening to this music outside of seeing it live. It's obnoxious live, while the good studio production values make me realize how uninteresting & noisy the solos really are, how simple the riffs are if they have their distortion turned down, how the growling lyrics are completely indecipherable so why even bother writing words at all & ... well, I do hear the bass a few times which I don't in the club. But, the studio version of this drunken metal attack only makes me realize how bad it really is. Death metal that is as brutal & messy as it gets, creative not really, coherent not even & crushing I've heard done better by Pantera as they turn the distortion up just enough to not fry but still let the riff shine through. I don't have a problem with death metal, those who have read this blog may know I have many favorite death metal bands. What I do have a problem with is the desire to do nothing but be angry, obnoxious & make noise in two minutes. Is that the best creativity you have? Of course, I'll say this now & someday find myself in a death metal band doing the same ... I know how life goes! You can be noisy & have something interesting going on. Those aren't contradictions. While you can also make interesting noise. BS touch on it for one moment with the title track which is a slow plodder where the notes ring out allowing them to be clear in between the distortion & there becomes two sounds playing off each other, the note & then its cast-off. But, that's the only track that leaves me with anything. Is there a point to this other than be noisy, disruptive & shocking with song titles about death like "Tied To The Stake" that sings out: "Feeling the wires cut into your wrists/you know that there is no escape/Screaming for death as limbs fall to the floor/you will die tied to the stake" ... not that you can understand any of that or really need to. I find it hard to endorse bands like this when I do hear black metal bands really doing something interesting that's more than just making noise ... & actually have rhythm & melody & interesting lyrics. The Militants & the Kalling both come noisily to mind.

Mick Powell ~ Long Overdue (album review) ... Good ol' AOR is long overdue.

Style: AOR hard rock
Label: self-released
Year: 1993
Home: n/a

Members: Mick Powell ~ vocals/guitars/keyboards/drums
Ken Sutherland ~ Vocals
Bob Catalano ~ bass

Some albums have no pretensions, no big plans for world invasion, no intentions other than to reflect the music of their era & provide a solid listening experience. I'm not talking about the by the book looking for a hit imitation outfits. I'm talking about that musician who wants to put something out they can be proud of & they know will have a small fan base but feel the urge to create anyways. It's for them, nobody else. Long Overdue is one of those albums. AOR rock that's hard not to like. It's got the guitar solos, but isn't trying to be Yngwie. Memorable hooks that by another band might be put into orbit, but here provide a reliable a traditional reliable listening experience. Lyrics you can sing along to with a great vocalist guiding you along the way. This now collector's item was the first outing of multi-instrumentalist MP, privately released & distributed in deliberately limited copies. I can't even say if the cover art is the original. I don't know where he went after this, though I've read his main push was as a producer, so this is a rare treat from him. Treat it certainly is making it worth hunting up ... or looking for boot downloads on the net where it now resides. The production is so clean & the arrangements so nearly AOR perfect I wouldn't be surprised if he was a producer. It's even hard to believe he recorded all but the bass & backing vocals, as I've heard other one-man outings & they've suffered from overdosed arrangements. I'd like him to produce my album as this is polished but not in the way that word has come to mean with emotionless songs. It also doesn't try to go into the flash level that so much AOR/hard rock of the 80's/early 90's did. It's of it's era, without doubt, with all the power ballads, but it's an enjoyable flashback moment. It's rare when I find an album I can just call a good solid listening experience.

Celine Dion ~ The Colour Of My Love (album review) ... Singing of the power of love!

Style: soft rock, pop rock
Label: Sony
Year: 1993
Home: n/a

Members: Celine Dion ~ lead vocals
Steve Piggot, Claude Gaudette, Simond Frangler, Ren Klyce ~ programming
Gary Cirimelli ~ programming/b. vocals
Walter Afanasieff ~ keyboards/synth bass/programming/synth guitar
Rich Tancredi, David Foster, Russ Desalvo ~ keyboards
Bob Cadway, Tim Renwick, Michael Thompson, Dean Parks, Bob Mann ~ guitars
Peter Zizzo ~ guitar/b. vocals
Andrea Proulx ~ violin
John Pierce ~ bass
Randy Kerber ~ synths
Guy Roche ~ drums/synth
Jimmy Greco, Jimmy Bralower ~ drums
Lenny Castro, Mike Fisher ~ percussion
Jean McClain, Pauline Wilson, Larry Jacobs, Maria Christensen, Claytoven Richardson, Skyler Jett, Pam Sayne, Laquan Carter, Eddie Stockley, Kenny Bobien, Earl Robinson, Jackie Rowe, Kitty Beethovan, Charlie Dore, Jeanie Tracy, Sandy Griffin, Terry Taylor ~ b. vocals

Guest: Aldo Nova ~ guitar
Clive Griffin ~ lead vocals


CD's third English album, back in the days when she had more French albums than English, was her international breakthrough moment. From now on she would be part of the definition of what 'Adult Contemporary' music means. There's a few songwriters whose appearance on an album signals nothing but that a big chart hit, or in some cases a comeback, is desired. Desmond Child is such a name, known for boosting at an important time the careers of Bon Jovi, Aerosmith & Alice Cooper, amongst countless others. While today T-Bone Burnett is the man everyone wants to work with. But, if you don't do hard rock or folk but more soft rock then you turn to songstress Diane Warren whose magic fingers have worked with Michael Bolton, Air Supply, Gloria Estefan, Cher & countless other softer edged crooners. With four songs here from Warren's pen is it safe to assume that CD was looking for increased chart success? There should be no doubt about that. The Warren equation works out to the end. Though, arguably, has CD ever aimed for music that wasn't incredibly slick with all rough corners trimmed, commercially as perfect as one can get, with heavily textured & melodic production & screaming make me successful? No, that's CD's default moniker. Actually, it might be to her detriment as it's hard to pinpoint what exactly makes her music distinct outside of her voice. What is the CD sound? So much of her output is as by the book as it gets, Warren penned & Ric Wake produced, potentially interchangeable songs & sound with any number of other singers. Sometimes I find it hard to imagine listening to this type of super clean keyboard heavy pop on a regular basis ... then I remember I like George Michael. At least with him an acoustic guitar shows up once in awhile. I realize then it's all about whose voice you connect with the most. Do you want something sly & playful like Michael, dance pop like Tiffany, bluesy like Taylor Dayne or Lisa Stansfield or mature like CD? She fits a nice niche in the soft rock spectrum aiming for the crowd that doesn't want any of the other choices. Due to the interchangeable sound of her music none of her albums really rate too high with critics in general & this early release is as good an album to pick up as any, & includes the hits "The Power Of Love" & "When I Fall In Love" featured in the movie Sleepless In Seattle. Personally, I find this album better than later releases because it's while her reputation was still untainted by: time, her husband's gambling, Las Vegas, an overblown career & was still a diva in the making, pre-motherhood, & might say before she wore out her welcome for a lot of the audience & became a bit repetitious musically. Though, while her voice is good, none of the songs really climax or go anywhere & their imitative nature of CD's peers is more obvious than not. While there's a lack of cohesiveness to the album as each track gets a different producer & while the band isn't too extensive & many faces re-appear it's an album done piecemeal, typical for this genre, leaving a cohesive sound out of the picture. My personal favorites are "The Power Of Love", "Misled" I enjoy though it sounds like Taylor Dayne, the pop ballad "Only One Road", "Everybody's Talkin' My Baby Down", "Next Plane Out" ... it's interesting that I would list so many favorites, considering this really isn't my style of music for regular listening ... but then I do like Lisa Stansfield, Dayne, Tiffany, so I shouldn't be surprised I end up liking more than I expect! "Refuse To Dance" is a personal favorite with its dance beat & violin. I've heard Al Pitrelli recorded guitars with CD, I assume it was an album & not a show, but I can't find any album with his name in the credits though, such as this album, I find many of the Rick Wake crew who he was working with post-Alice Cooper. If anyone can direct me to which songs I would be most appreciative. Your reward is free reading of this blog for a year.

Dan Fogelberg ~ Greatest Hits (hits comp) (album review) ... Far from the same old lang syne!

Style: soft rock, pop rock, classic rock, jazz rock
Label: Epic
Year: 1982

Members: Dan Fogelberg ~ vocals/keyboards/guitar/bass/mandolin/percussion/vibraphone
Tim Weisberg ~ flute/oboe/piccolo/percussion
John Leslie Hug ~ guitar/harp
Willie Weeks, Brian Garafalo, Norbert Putnam ~ bass
Kenny Passarelli ~ bass/sousaphone
Paul Harris, Neil Larson, Mike Utley, Mike Finnigan ~ keyboards
Jim Keltner, Kenneth A. Buttrey ~ drums
Andy Newmark ~ drums/keyboards
Russ Kunkel ~ drums/conga
Jody Boyer, Heart Of Darkness, Marie Ouhrabka, Florence Warner ~ b. vocals

Additional: Jimmie Haskell ~ accordion
Al Perkins ~ pedal steel guitar
David Breinenthal ~ bassoon
John Ellis ~ organ/oboe
David Duke, Vincent DeRosa, Jerry Hey, Earl Dumler ~ horns
Tom Scott ~ saxophone/lyricon
Marty Lewis, Bobbye Hall, Gary Coleman ~ percussion
Jody Linscott ~ conga
Joe Lala ~ conga/timbales
Jesse Erlich ~ cello
Ann Mason Stockton, Gayle Levant ~ harp

Guests: Glenn Frey, Emmylou Harris, Chris Hillman, Joni Mitchell, Michael Brewer, Graham Nash, Richie Fray, Randy Meisner ~ b. vocals
Don Henley ~ drums/b. vocals
Joe Walsh ~ guitar/bass/b. vocals
Gerry Beckley ~ guitars
Michael Brecker ~ saxophone
Jimmie Fadden ~ harmonica
Don Alias ~ percussion


I found this album tucked away in a box after a decade. A musician friend is a big fan of DF, greatly inspired by him & even got in touch bearing gifts with his widow, so I thought it was time to pull out the old cassette & take a listen & recall what the bragging was about. DF belongs to a world long gone, or at least to my ears long gone. The age of thickly textured soft rock made for a drive in the car, ballads that aren't pretentious shallow guitar rock or under the banner of power ballad, love songs without obligatory guitar solos, a bit of country, a bit of folk, a bit of pop, a bit of jazz & no attempt to throw around the fusion label but just create memorable music. It's the era when the airwaves were ruled by Warren Zevon, Jackson Browne, Cat Stevens, CSN&Y, Steve Miller & the Eagles, or at least such names brought respect not confusion. The era when music appealed to the masses. Some might even say the era when art & finely honed skills were still a part of music, but I can pull up some exceptions to that. DF's career was at its peak in the 1970's, but six of the ten tracks on this little collection are from the 80's, making it eligible for this blog. That might seem like a heavy weight on what is but two albums, but 1981's The Innocent Age was a breakthrough moment for DF commercially, critically & creatively & didn't change his trademark sound very much. It would also mark the end of his peak. Those who loved his 70's soft rock sound & carefully constructed lyrics wouldn't stop listening but the radio DJ's weren't spinning anymore as the musical landscape was changing & there was no room for this type of music. Music now had to be in your face, noisy or with a dance beat. It's easy to forget that for a few years the folk scene was in hibernation & acoustic guitars were frowned upon expect for the obligatory power ballad on every album. DF was a tragedy of the music business for no fault of his own, like hundreds of others from the biggest names to the smallest. Though, he never really got his comeback so many other bands have enjoyed & I don't even know if someone under 30 even knows his name or would like the heavily textured pop of shimmering landscapes. This little album a great starting point for that comeback. He might be gone, but its not too late. There's more compilations of his music than number of studio albums he put out, but no big chart hits would appear after 1982 so this compilation is not just his first hits compilation to be released but also sets the template for all that would follow. His 2001 Very Best duplicates all but one song even. It's a safe collection, providing the basics, nothing more, good for the casual or curious listener. The only problem is its brevity that later collections quickly make up for. Further, this is not a career overview by far, as it draws on only four albums spread across two decades, truly just focusing on the greatest hits. It includes: "Part Of The Plan" from his second album Souvenirs from 1974, "Power Of Gold" from 1978's Twin Sons Of Different Mothers, "Longer" & "Heart Hotels" from 1980's Phoenix, while from 1981's The Innocent Age is "Leader Of The Band", "Run For The Roses", "Same Old Lang Syne" & "Hard To Say." There's a lot of time there in the 70's not accounted for here. It includes two unreleased tracks, "Make Love Stay" & "Missing You", that might break the rule of being greatest hits, but were both released as singles at the time & charted in the Billboard Top 30. So, if you want to hear the best of DF & not worry about much else this is a good compilation, though I'd also recommend his studio album The Innocent Age which includes my favorite song "Leader Of The Band". While mention his name to anyone over 40 & I think you'll get a fast & unexpected reaction of praise.

Foster N Friends ~ Conrad (album review) ... But, who is Conrad?

Style: AOR rock, blues-rock
Label: self-released
Year: 1996
Home: Bellingham, Washington

Members: Joe Foster ~ guitars/lead vocals/percussion/sound effects
Eric P. Rush ~ guitars/sound effects
Brice Beard ~ bass
Rob Sanabria ~ guitars/b. vocals

Additional: Don Anderson ~ sound effects

Joe Foster is a Gilmour & Satriani influenced guitarist who grabbed some musically minded co-workers & put together this little album, available on cassette only. It was the only formalized output by Foster before relocating from Washington to San Francisco & everyone else went their separate ways. This album was left to memories & if anything else ever came from his hands is unknown. What's shocking is that this is everything but what one might expect from a Satriani fan. It never cries like Satriani, though it does get moody like Pink Floyd, but is more folksy & bluesy than hard rock or a instrumental solo guitar fest. It's more ballads than rock with a mix of instrumentals & vocal songs. It's almost as if he was trying to show he liked other music, or do something that would allow contributions from players other than himself, who maybe didn't play as fast or as flashy or with the same musical interests ... or maybe the inner songwriter, as he penned all the songs, didn't match the inner guitarist ... but then, again, there's only one Satriani & only one Gilmour. Yes, it's layered with guitars & its easy to feel that this was created by a guitar player, though sometimes that's to its detriment as there's too many layers when simplicity would be better, but it does everything but show-off as expected. Actually, it could use some more push as it really plays hard to get versus here I am grab me. It's a soft sentimental little outing & suffers from any real direction & any climactic moment either with the album as a whole or with individual songs. It tries to be laid back but only drags along with listlessness. Perhaps F&F didn't want to be showy ... I recommend in retrospect that the boys should have been & let themselves go crazy. A lot of the songs have a strong rhythm on acoustic guitar, though not necessarily grooving or unusual chord-wise, with the lead lines tucked in the mix the opposite of where my ears want them to be. The result is the songs are pushed by a repetitive rhythm & not by the lead lines which should be taking charge. The other problem is Foster is just not a strong or distinctive singer, though he does try for a faux southern accent on one song so he's not sitting on his hands, just playing it too safe. The mood often echoes the contemplative side of Pink Floyd & given a reworking & a tightening the imitation has the potential to be very interesting. "Sidetracked On A Sidewalk", the only song written by guitarist Eric P. Rust, is a low-key blues groove of at least four guitar lines over a basic blues rhythm. It never really goes anywhere & sounds more like a jam where nobody knows whose soloing next but instead just trading off short licks. The guitar lines never dominate over the rhythm as the little riffs never last long enough to grab your ears before the next guitar with the next lick pops up. It's trying to be this psychedelic blues but it's just lack-luster with no climax, emotion, groove or direction other than meandering with too many potential endings. It's an interesting idea but poorly executed. An interesting inclusion is Jim Croce's "Roller Derby Queen" on slide guitar. But, the track is cluttered with too many guitars including a 12-string that makes the song sound muddy & crowded compared to Croce's two guitar original. But, being a fan of Croce I do get a kick hearing someone cover his songs. I don't hear it happen enough.

Erik Norlander ~ The Galactic Collective (album review) ... Space Force won't protect you from this galactic assault!

Style: instrumental, prog-rock, hard rock
Label: Think Tank Media
Year: 2010
Home: California

Members: Erik Norlander ~ keyboards/guitars
Mark Matthews ~ bass
Nick LePar ~ drums
Freddy DeMarco ~ guitar

Additional: John Payne ~ guitar/vocals
Mitch Perry, Mark McCrite, Ron Redfield ~ guitars
Lana Lane ~ vocals


I've reviewed the live DVD of this album, but what about the original studio version? Live versions are never an exact replica of their studio counterparts as there's always a difference, whether it be instrumentation or augmented instrumentation, performers, pacing, recording & production quality, mistakes or just the sheer energy of the performer or audience at the gig. Well, take your pick whether you want to enjoy the live concert with narration & a few less guest guitarists or the studio album that inspired the concert ... you're not going to be disappointed with either of these EN releases & you might even want them both ... the DVD comes with a CD too, so you're all set for a long car ride. Both have great production quality, so that's not an issue, plus the same core group of musicians. The other fact is being instrumental music, except for some chorus vocals, with a non-improvised background, keeps the arrangements very similar in both settings. I'm sure there's a difference in the number of keyboards EN uses here versus on stage & there might be some guitar overdubs missing, but I believe only a diehard fan will get particular or anxious over those things ... the rest of us will hear the essence & not the individual tonal changes. So, all that being said, is there is a difference? Yes, this has a more layered feeling so its sounds thicker & fuller at times. Further, while the obvious focus is EN's keyboards, for me the live show with less overdubs gives a bit more prominence to his melody lines, or I should properly say they stand out more, whereas here sometimes they float into the mix & it's just this wave of sound where at times you don't know if you're a hearing a guitar or a keyboard or both. It should be noted the live DVD includes the "Astrology Suite" of "i. Astrology Prelude/ii. Secrets Of Astrology", but here's its only the "Astrology Prelude", while this album includes "Dreamcurrents" but the live concerts features the complete "Into The Sunset Suite" of "i. Sunset Prelude/ii. Into the Sunset/iii. Dreamcurrents/iv. Hymn/v. Into the Sunset Reprise/vi. Sunset Postlude". But, this CD includes "Capture The Sun" which isn't on the live DVD. Now that list might make you want to get the live album over this studio album. For those that like a prog song going into double digits of length, three of the songs here hit the ten minute mark & nothing is less than five minutes ... & never once does a song sound like it drags or needs some scissors, even with the contemplative sounding "Dreamcurrents". The live concert is obviously longer, but I personally like my prog short & to the attack. I'm more likely to listen to something for five minutes that is tight, in your face & leaving you wanting more than ten minutes that leaves me satisfied. So, if what is here or not is an issue for you consider, then do you like your prog to the point & never potentially going on too long or do you like when things are given their full fare & really developed out? As I said, either way will lead to a good buy. I do have to do a special mention of one musician in this line-up. They're all great, though I find it interesting John Payne contributes guitars & not his trademark bass, reminding us he's also quite a proficient guitarist & has played guitar on all the Asia albums. But, I find myself particularly fascinated & engrossed with the driving force & the tonal quality of bassist Mark Matthews who lays down these underlying repeated grooves for EN & the rest of the troop to play off of, but they're unlike anything I've heard. When I think prog bass I think of Chris Squire of Yes, but sadly I've never gotten into his lines as they were cosmic without the groove. This is more akin to Billy Sheehan but without the unnecessary flash. Just a nice deep low-end that keeps the songs grounded. I find myself wanting to pick up my bass to learn what he's playing. For those not familiar with this project, that spurred not just the live DVD/CD but also a DVD/CD of this album being played in the studio with great 'behind-the-scenes' explanations of each song by EN & his different keyboards, no it's not a compilation, even though that's what the word collective brought to my mind until I went through the detailed liner notes ... but, on the other hand, it is a compilation ... just with a different approach. This is a collection of EN's favorite instrumental tracks from his catalog of work including both his solo albums & bands he's been in, including going back to his first solo album Threshold in 1997. But, as is typical, these have not been haphazardly pulled together & given a greatest hits compilation ... but re-imagined & re-recorded. Basically, new versions of songs given anything from new arrangements, to new instrumentation, to a new feeling, to a fusion of the studio original with later live versions ("After The Revolution") & to songs created on the road not recorded in the studio before ("Garden Of The Moon"). All the songs have appeared repeatedly over EN's career usually through different live versions popping up with different band configurations on different albums, though "Neurosaur" & "Fanfair For Absent Friends" have actually been given new studio versions in the past. Though, as I said on review of the live DVD, I've not heard all of the source albums for the included tracks, so I can't say if these are better than the past or, except for a few I have heard, how different they are. I will assume many reading this album might be in the same position, so I'll just say on the whole you won't be disappointed. This is a prog rock album with a bit of an edge. Most prog fans that I've met love EN's work, so if you're new the comeback of the genre or like out of the ordinary rock or instrumental albums, though this is not easy listening, you won't be disappointed with this collection. & it'll be your homework to hunt up the originals & compare. For those not familiar with EN he's in my book one of the best prog-pianists in the scene, right there with Jordan Rudess of Dream Theater. His career is long & winding moving beyond his own solo albums with his band Rocket Scientists & work with his wife Lana Lane whose albums I also highly recommend, plus more famously as the keyboardist in Asia Featuring John Payne & a long catalog of session work. He also works with the Moog organization developing their new keyboards ... & even educates through his career about Moog, an instrument I never thought much of beyond a name until getting into EN. A Moog Ambassador or Ambassador of Moog? Maybe best to forget about titles & just stick with the music ... & the title for that is The Galactic Collective.

Rob Zombie ~ Hellbilly Deluxe 2: Noble Jackals, Penny Dreadfuls & the Systematic Dehumanization of Cool (album review) ... The dehumanization of the zombie stomp!

Style: heavy metal, shock rock
Label: Roadrunner
Year: 2010
Home: n/a

Members: Rob Zombie ~ vocals
John 5 ~ guitars
Piggy D. ~ bass
Tommy Clufetos ~ drums
Chris Baseford ~ keyboards/programming


The first album, in hindsight I'll call it volume 1, I played so much & so loud my friends & parents probably thought I was crazy. Thankfully, my parents excused my music choices however strange. It was a musical experience all it's own that was too good to not listen to repeatedly. The music was memorable & interesting with a great guitar stomp, the lyrics you could sing along with, it was shocking but not perverse like a lot of heavy metal & it was something new, or at least it was like RZ's former band White Zombie, but clicked perfectly perhaps making it the best Zombie album. The long titled Hellbilly Deluxe 2: Noble Jackals, Penny Dreadfuls & the Systematic Dehumanization of Cool, arriving over a decade later when a music career at times seemed like an afterthought for RZ, picks up the music with the same feel, industrial plod, B-movie sound effects, corny monster lyrics, shock rock tongue-in-cheek comedic vision ... but, doesn't quite reach the same heights or addictive quality as volume 1. When it comes to shock rock, a style I've always loved, I consider the first album setting the bar than & now. RZ took the Alice Cooper gimmicks & the Marilyn Manson shock into a new direction & became the father of all who would come after, in my book. But, these new grooves don't hit me like the original album. The first album did suffer from monotony as it wore on, but this ends up feeling monotonous very quickly where no song really jumps out like a "Living Dead Girl" or "Dragula" did. It's in the same mold with all the musical variations leaving nothing out including the kitchen sink, even more musically experimental than the first album, particularly cool is the acoustic guitar & piano break in "Jesus Frankenstein" but the instrumentals I could do without. But, the whole ends up sounding more like a soundtrack album than a grinding industrial metal album. It also feels more like one long piece then individual songs. The whole is developed more than the individual. Then there's the lyrics. We're not doing John Lennon here, but the original had some great shock-rock songs to sing with that just stick in your head, but these sounds like RZ has written this type of song so much he's run out of enthusiasm for the topic or anything more to say. At times it feels like RZ had a good idea for a lyric but instead of really developing it out just repeats the line over & over & over ... & it's not really that interesting of a line (i.e. "Sick Bubble Gum"). There's no substance to the shock & that's what makes good shock, not just an idea that's a little off. There was also a more realistic appeal on the first with the characters, but what exactly is a Jesus Frankenstein? While "Werewolf Women Of The SS" sounds too much like a B movie from the 60's. I'm sure it was a great movie, but ... RZ's previous album was in 2006 with the later part of his career dedicated to films & running a record label. This album, a sequel but maybe not really, is like trying to show us he's still a musician at heart, but it feels too cold, too calculated, too on assignment, too by the book, too unenthusiastic. It's an album where I would probably recommend individual tracks but after listens & listens I can't pull any truly out of the mix.

Omniscient Foe ~ Demiurge (EP) (album review) ... A stomach churning metal foe!

Style: black metal, death metal
Label: self-released
Year: 2012
Home: Portland, Maine

Members: Thor ~ vocals
Jan ~ guitars
Ben ~ drums

Stomach churning dark metal is the first description that comes to mind listening to OF's three song debut EP Demiurge. I mean that in the fact that I'm losing my appetite for dinner listening to this dark & nearly demonic metal ... though don't think demonic in the theatrical sense like Mercyful Fate but just when riffing distorted guitars are so heavy the next step down is Hell. "Red Hole" & "Hypersentient Implosive Afterbirth" both charge ahead with almost nauseating double bass drumming - a bit too strong in the mix as they actually drowning out the guitars - & distorted guitars chugging away at top speed. Though, giving it full attention after the shock you actually hear some interesting little riffs that move up & down the fretboard trying to break through their own self-created wall of sound. It's almost like their trying to be melodic, but at the same time trying not to be. "Rat Viscera" has the best riffs & the least onslaught & is proof of my theory. Though, a lot of folks won't get this far, honestly, as the prominent sound of the band, & thus the most attention grabbing or distracting, is the growling gorilla-like vocals that are as coherent as an actual gorilla speaking English. They are less vocals & more a non-melodic thick cloud of sound. Personally, I would leave out the vocals & become an instrumental band, but I understand this is part of the deal with this genre ... & at least they don't pull any fancy punches & just go all the way, as guttural dark as can be.

Alice In Chains ~ MTV Unplugged (live) (album review) ... Alice breaks her chains!

Style: alt rock
Label: Columbia
Year: 1996
Home: Seattle

Members: Layne Staley ~ vocals/rhythm guitar
Jerry Cantrell ~ lead guitar/vocals
Mike Inez ~ bass/rhythm guitar
Sean Kinney ~ drums

Additional: Scott Olson ~ guitar/bass


Getting unplugged, or acoustic, is today a common event for bands, almost too common. Though, only a few decades ago when Tesla did it for their breakthrough album it was a rarity limited to the obligatory once per album power ballad ... & the folk world was suffering because of the shunning of all acoustic songs/albums/concerts in the weird thing that is called music trends. When MTV decided to create a show focusing on being unplugged, basically coining the phrase for the mainstream, the concept turned into something great, intimate ... & at other times anti-climactic. Too often already primarily acoustic bands would be on the show & perform as they always did (i.e. John Mellencamp). They need to plug, not unplug. Other acts took advantage of the format to reinvent their careers (i.e. Rod Stewart & Eric Clapton), whether deliberately or accidentally, & to dust off lost songs of the past to the delight of all. Other bands would use the show to be inspired to do their own unplugged moments (i.e. Megadeth did an acoustic tour in Canada). Others used it as a platform to continue their social message (i.e. Pearl Jam). For others it was a hypnotic moment that defied expectations & worked when it shouldn't have (i.e. Nirvana). While for others ... well, they should stay plugged in. But, there's countless MTV Unplugged episodes & but a handful that are real classics, but that's what we have come what we expect. It became a gig where classic status was going to be the description of every gig. No, that's not reality. Okay, there's always going to be something interesting in every episode as many of the songs performed had never had an acoustic workout before. Sometimes the experiment added to the song, usually that was the case, & sometimes it just stripped it down for an interpretation, & once in awhile it just didn't click but was a good try anyways. But, like all concerts, so much of the magic was not just in the songs & the new or unusual instrumentation but also what the band themselves brought to the fold in terms of their performance. This is where the winners & losers of the TV series are to be determined. That last note is the key to AIC's moment on MTV Unplugged. I've never met anyone who doesn't have accolades to say about AIC. Outside of the personal members own interesting biographies, the duel vocals rough & personal & almost progressive music was & is unlike anyone other band out there. They were truly a unique band. I remember when I first got Dirt I couldn't stop playing it. Even their contribution to the Singles soundtrack, "Would?", I would play over & over to the detriment of hearing the rest of the album which is just as good. But, I don't think AIC's unplugged moment is one I'm going to be recommending highly, nor is it something I'm going to be repeatedly listening to. It's like the songs became stripped down & very personal, but lose all the feelings that I like about AIC. I like the swirling guitars, the jagged electric riffing, the texture. I lose so much of that here the songs don't grab me like their studio originals. Normally I get the feeling of darkness & personal demons from AIC, here for some reason it becomes more human & less super-human. The concert also feels like it lacks energy. Even with the bank joking it sounds more like they're going through the motions. It feels like a rehearsal rather than a show. Live came out after this & is a far more valuable recommendation & more properly reflects the band I want to hear & maybe others. This was AIC's first show in three years, which might have something to do with the feeling of the album, & sadly they would do only four more live shows before it was abruptly over. Some people rate this as one of the highest moments of the series. I think it doesn't get close to that rank. Maybe it ranks high because it's different, though different doesn't mean great otherwise Metallica's Lulu would be their climactic moment, or maybe it rates high because it was the first show in years & seems like a band not suited for the format. But, let me ask & answer honestly, if you had a choice of this or Dirt to buy/listen to over and over what would you choose?

Carnal Agony ~ Carnal Agony (aka debut) (EP) (album review) ... The secret to agony!

Style: heavy metal, death metal
Label: self-released
Year: 2012
Home: Sweden

Members: David Johagen ~ vocals
Mathias Wallin, Robert Hedlund ~ guitar
Marcus Nygren ~ bass
Roger Andersson ~ drums


I'll confess this blog undoubtedly reveals the changes in my listening interests & they have indeed changed over the years since I started writing. I started with more extreme metal & have been going more mainstream & melodic, reflecting changes in my own life that are a blog of their own. Today, I want more introspective & clean over brash & raw. I've also been reviewing less & less indie bands as they neither get the page views nor do I find a lot of them as creative & interesting as they say they are. I end up feeling like I'm just reviewing a band I've heard a hundred times & I'm too busy to do that & feel productive. So, when I find an indie extreme metal band I'm interested in reviewing you can be sure they're enjoyable or at least have something of interest beyond the same drudgery. I came across CA's little four song EP & it wasn't what I was expecting. I thought thrashy in your face death metal, but its not. Its far more laidback melodic with riffs that aren't too thick, i.e. aiming for a wall of one sound, even with two guitars, though nothing particularly out of the ordinary. The fact that the guitars don't play the same thing but intertwine like Mercyful Fate or more particularly Iron Maiden is what makes it musically interesting. While non-growling quite decent singing, or at least interesting with its almost Glenn Danzig wannabe feel, really knocks this album up a notch. The songs also include fast moments & slower moments, a trait that could be even further developed I feel. The opening of the guitar solo on "Rebels Lament" brings the song to a crawl before things kick back to the double bass approach. While "Secrets Within The Shrine" allows the bass to first get heard out of the shadow of the guitars & it's a good moment that should be developed more often. The result is a band that tries to bridge a gap between normal heavy metal & death metal with a hint of thrash, but without the speed. Musically it's not as carnal nor as agonizing as the band might want. They might be disappointed, but it works for me quite well & by sounding more like early Iron Maiden rather than Slayer I stay interested. CA was formed in northern Sweden in 2011 & do include Maiden & Fate as mentors in their publicity ... & for once a band that sounds like who they say they like. While taking a few more risks on further recordings, as this is their debut, I believe will really move this band to greater heights. They've already got a strong foundation.