It’s official, TOOL have finally released their catalog on I- tunes. And the band have dominated the I-tunes charts since the release. All charting in top five spots, plus their EP. It’s a wild testament to a band that has defied all odds since their inception. The fact that they’ve remained as popular as they are, even after 13 years of no new material, throws the logic book out the door. Through all the trends, all the fads, TOOL have remained a major A-list hard rock band. Still selling out giant stadiums all around the world.
Continue reading TOOL Destroy I-Tunes Album Charts
Rock ‘N Roll Movies – Top Gun
After burners, fighter jets, unbridled passion and rock ‘n roll. Those are the main ingredients that make ‘Top Gun’ a bad ass rock ‘n roll film. Released at the peak of 80’s hard rock, ‘Top Gun’ captured everything that the decade stood for. Not to mention the killer soundtrack that went along with the movie. Although it’s a stellar soundtrack, there are some songs that were considered for it that didn’t make the cut. Due to contract disagreements or what not. Some bands took advantage, some fell through the cracks. Here’s a look at the timeless 80’s action drama. Fueled by the soon to be released ‘Top Gun’ sequel, ‘Top Gun: Maverick.’
Continue reading Rock ‘N Roll Movies – Top Gun
Soundgarden – ‘Live From The Artists Den’ Review
It’s certainly one of the most bittersweet releases of the year. Soundgarden’s new live album, recorded on the final night of their epic ‘King Animal’ tour. Entitled ‘Live From The Artists Den’ due to the fact that the Artists Den are responsible for capturing the set. The title can actually be misleading. The show was recorded at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles. The concert captures the late Soundgarden at their finest.
Continue reading Soundgarden – ‘Live From The Artists Den’ Review
Metallica Representative Loses Money In Ticket Scandal
Recently, Loudwire, Ultimate Classic Rock and Billboard dropped a major story in ticket sales scandaling. According to the sources, Metallica ticket associate Tony DiCoiccio colluded with U.S. Live Nation ticket president Bob Roux; in a scheme to flood the U.S. market with secondary sale tickets for Metallica’s North American leg of the WorldWired Tour. According to Ultimate Classic Rock there are recordings of the conversations between the two that Billboard dropped a few days ago.
‘When this happens, 4,600 tickets into a single account, it might raise some eyebrows,’ Roux can be heard saying. ‘I’m trying to figure it out with Tony. You want to keep this quiet. There’s no good way for the light bulbs not to go off.’ The recording was acquired by a third party who was also on the phone with Roux and DiCoiccio. Vaughn Millette, an independent concert promoter, sent the recording to Live Nation executives. Ultimately, Roux lost money on the resale scandal.
Hear’s the thing about a ticket scandal like this, it’s not illegal. That doesn’t mean it’s not shady as hell or in general, a shitty thing to do. Buy, tickets, re-sell them independently and reap the benefits. But what’s so shitty about it, is that it waves a huge middle finger to those who paid full price for their tickets with their hard earned money. Usually resale tickets are sold a lower price, so the guy you’re sitting next to in the front on the floor section might have spent a fraction of what you spent through the proper channels. Which, of course, is shitty. Not that it’s not a great deal for fans who take advantage. But there certainly should be some law written about secondary ticket sales. This isn’t anything new. It just so happens that these guys got busted in the middle of doing it and they represented Metallica.
But this practice has been going on for decades. It’s essentially scalping. But now it’s on a major online market. The big question I think is, is did Metallica know about this or not? It’s really hard to say. All we know from the report is that Roux is apparently close to the band. With that being said I don’t think Metallica really knew what was going on. They have a history of fighting ticket scandals so I have a hard time thinking that they had anything to do with this scandal. The only positive conclusion to this is that Roux lost money on the deal. Which is what people deserve when they engage in ripping the people off.
KXM Blow Away the Competition With New Track ‘War of Words.’
KXM are roaring back hard with yet another killer new single. ‘War of Words’ is a perfect teaser for what’s sure to be a great third outing from the supergroup. Consisting of: Doug Pinnick (bass, lead vocals), George Lynch (Guitar, Lynch Mob & Dokken) and Ray Luzier (Drums, Korn). The new track sounds like an appropriate expansion of 2017’s ‘Scatterbrain.’ Which was one of the strongest albums of that year.
The song opens with an amniotic echo of what’s to come. The the riff drips with 12 megaton heaviness coupled with a classic thrash element. It’s immediately established that this is a headbanger. The thrash melody switches back and fourth from the verse melody. The chorus brings in a progressive drum thom beat. Accompanied with prominent lyrics about our divisive nature in the United States.
After the chorus is a short guitar break full of accidentals. Similar to the main riff of ‘Scatterbrain.’ The title track to the bands amazing 2017 album. But what makes the song really pop is the stellar guitar solo. It’s perfectly crafted. Starting with a passionate, George Lynch wail. Then the jam builds up to the perfect shredding moment. The song finishes out with the chorus and a heavy attitude.
If this track is any indicator of how good the new KXM album will be, then sign me up. Some supergroups don’t live up to the hype. But KXM lives up to the hype and then some.
Rant – Black Sabbath Grammy Snub
Earlier this year Black Sabbath were honored by the Recording Academy with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Iommi, Butler and even original drummer Bill Ward showed up. But there was a prominent absence at the ceremony, original frontman Ozzy Osbourne. The absence left the band and attendants bewildered. Well, finally Ozzy’s wife Sharon shed some light on the subject on Celebrity access. Basically she wouldn’t let Ozzy attend because the Recording Academy refused to air the award. While still showing other lifetime awards during the televised ceremony. In fact, Sabbath weren’t even honored on sight. They had some side space reserved for the band. They couldn’t even give Sabbath, a band that created a genre, the dignity of being on site. So, the academy then doesn’t get the pleasure of having Ozzy there.
Honestly, I completely agree with Sharon Osbourne on this one. It’s ridiculous that they couldn’t give the band air time during the televised ceremony. But not only that, they couldn’t even provide the space on the site of the Grammy’s for the creators of an entire genre. It’s just another prime example of how heavy music gets swept under the rug by mainstream validators. And, for the most part, it’s always been that way. Which is crazy because most of the artists in the hard rock and metal genre are the most talented ones playing modern music. It’s the only form of current, popular music that still requires some degree of classical music theory training. You don’t have to be like Beethoven or anything. But the genre does require discipline and practice much more so than any other genre out there right now. Particularly TRAP and electronic music. And while those get worshipped in spades, heavy music still has to take a back seat. Despite all the hard work the musicians do for the love of their craft. It really pisses me off. And Black Sabbath’s snub from the Grammy’s might be the prime example of how hard rock and metal are simply looked down upon.
Well, fuck ’em, if they can’t honor a band that literally created a genre then they don’t get Ozzy. I get it, there’s other bands out there in other genres that deserve recognition. That’s not what this is about. This is about the continuous bias against heavy music in all its forms. There’s plenty of other artists in other genres that deserve recognition. And that recognition is honored. There’s nothing wrong with that. But we’re talking about a band that had a number one album in several countries just six years ago. But as long as quality hard rock music is still looked down upon, there’s going to be a backlash from the base. And that’s totally understandable.
Most Underrated Bands – Bang Tango
They were one of the best bands of the Sunset Strip circuit. In an over saturated market, they managed to stick out by utilizing alternative funk sounds that would dominate the music market of the 90’s. I’m talking about Bang Tango. One of the most overlooked and underappreciated bands of a generation. Continue reading Most Underrated Bands – Bang Tango
Desert Island Albums – The Cult’s ‘Sonic Temple’
A straight down, high quality, hard rocker. The Cult’s fourth album and most commercially successful; ‘Sonic Temple’ is a monster album. From the opening moments of ‘Sun King’ all the way through ‘Medicine Train,’ ‘Sonic Temple’ is a feast of excellent production, high quality song writing and pure, bad ass riffs. Not to mention the jam elements. And much of it is layered with a decent portion of groove. The Bob Rock produced masterpiece still remains the bands strongest effort. In a pretty long string of albums. Here’s a look at why it would suffice as a desert island album.
To start it’s a straight down album. Meaning there’s no track that you skip. Each song is strong and serves a purpose to heighten the album. ‘Sun King’ is one of the most bad ass album openers ever. A simple, yet effective song. It’s sly and sleek. Yet rocks hard in your face. And it’s statement opening track saying, ‘get ready, this album is gonna kick your ass.’ The follow up, ‘Firewoman’ is a nearly perfect single. The opening guitar melody is iconic for a reason. The album coasts on strength for the next tracks. Including the hit ‘Edie (Ciao Baby)’ and the sexy concert staple ‘Sweet Soul Sister.’
The back side of the album is just as good as the front. At times even better. ‘Automatic Blues’ is one of the catchiest riffs I’ve ever heard. It’s one of those all day riffs that you can listen to over and over again. Plus the groove gives the song a hot twist. Not to mention Billy Duffy’s guitar solo. Super glad the band have thrown it back into the setlist. ‘New York City’ is a high energy, straight forward rocker. And again, just a killer guitar solo. With a great instrumental jam in the background. ‘Wake Up It’s Time For Freedom’ has a pre-alternative hard rock sound almost. In fact, even though the album is recognized as an 80’s hard rock classic. It also has moments of where hard rock would go in the following decade.
What also excellent about the album is the production. It’s Bob Rock at his peak. It has that recognizable phat drum sound he is known for. And the bass is mixed in nearly perfectly. He captured The Cult at their very best. And The Cult at their very best is a force to be reckoned with. So celebrate this record in all of it’s excellence. As the band are on a 30th anniversary tour of the perfect album. I just wish they would release a 30th anniversary edition of the album with a live album from the tour attached.
In Defense of…Van Halen III
Alright, I know I’ve been posting a lot about Van Halen lately. But I’ve been listening to this album and I feel like it deserves it’s due. Not only is it most likely the last Van Halen album of all newly written songs, it’s a misunderstood gem that gets thrown under the bus more often than it should. Don’t get me wrong, there are song really strange moments on the record that do not work well in any capacity. But there’s also some pretty sick moments on the album.
For starters, the opening track and lead single ‘Without You’ is a classic, funky Van Halen track. The riff is strong and AVH’s drums sounds crisp and phat. The prelude is a nice acoustic piece. But it doesn’t really serve too much. Particularly with the one, two, three, four punch of ‘Without You,’ ‘One I Want,’ ‘From Afar’ and ‘Dirty Water Dog.’ And honestly, those songs might not be completely up to par with some of the greats. But they’re a far cry from what people say about the album. They’re quality tracks. They sound like Van Halen. Eddie is using both is classic distorted and clean tone. And he puts it to good use.
The first real misstep of the album is ‘Once.’ It’s hard to explain. It’s a far far cry from a quality Van Halen ballad. It’s just not that good. And it really doesn’t feel like Van Halen. I think it’s tracks like this that drag the quality of what does work down. People hear songs like ‘Once’ and go, ‘this is awful, this isn’t Van Halen.’ And they certainly have a point. But the album recovers with the very overlooked ‘Fire In The Hole.’ It’s such a bad ass Van Halen classic. Excellent groove, feel good melodies and heavy riffs that dig under the funk skin. ‘Josephina’ is not a strong track. Again, dragging down what makes the album work. ‘Year To The Day’ is a hard song to pin point. The first movement of the song doesn’t really light any fires. But it does move into a killer, bluesy song with a pretty decent EVH solo. ‘Primary’ is an unnecessary interlude that doesn’t add anything to the album. But god damn if ‘Ballot Or The Bullet’ isn’t one of the most killer Van Halen tracks I don’t know what is. Don’t dismiss songs like this because it’s not DLR or Sammy Hagar singing. It’s so funky and heavy and really just what was all great about 90’s hard rock. Unfortunately the album ends on a very very low note. The piano ballad ‘How Many Say I?’ Sung by Eddie Van Halen. It’s just mindblowingly horrendous. Eddie can’t sing, the song arrangement is boring a bland, not only that it actually just sounds bad. The chords doesn’t work. The lack of melody is offensive. And the song lasts for six minutes!! It’s without a doubt Van Halen’s biggest misstep in their entire career. To the point that it pretty much ruined it. It’s the prime example how bad the album can be. And it’s red meat for the haters of the album.
That being said, it’s not Gary Cerone’s fault. He was a hired gun who did his job. And to be frank, he did it really really well. Just look at the live footage from the era. He can sing all of Van Halen’s discography flawlessly. And he’s also a great frontman. Watch some live Extreme footage from the Beacon Theater. Recorded in 1992. He slays. And he sings on one of the most overlooked hard rock albums of all time. And the proof is in the tour in the international markets. Examples below. Unfortunatly, due to the failure of the album in the American market, this would be Van Halen’s final album of all new songs.
What are some of your favorite tracks on the album?
Def Leppard CD/Vinyl Collection Vol. 2 Review
The second collection in a series of four covers Def Leppard’s 90’s material. And there’s really some great gems from that decade from the Sheffield natives. Everything from traditional top tier albums like ‘Adrenalize’ to more experimental albums like the underrated ‘Slang.’ Yes, the second collection has the goods. And it’s delivered in excellent packaging. Complete with hardcover booklet with unseen photos and essays on each album. Plus there’s the three rarities discs added to the set. Really the only direct criticism I can think of is that they didn’t put an audio version of their full 1999 concert in Tokyo. Or a remastered audio of the massive Johannesburg, South Africa show from the ‘Slang’ tour. But I would say that if you’re a fairly big Def Leppard fan, the box set is worth the money. The remasters sound good. Some of the albums in the set haven’t received remasters, so it’s nice to get some higher bit masters.
Adrenalize
Really really good album. Not quite as strong as ‘Pyromania’ or ‘Hysteria.’ But it’s a very strong effort none the less. And as we all know it’s dedicated to the late Steve Clark. Phil Collen handles all the guitar parts seamlessly. And while some tracks travel into self parody (‘Make Love Like A Man’ and ‘I Wanna Touch U.’ Not to mention the music video for the smash hit ‘Let’s Get Rocked’), there’s a consistent strength in the songwriting. The riffs and grooves are top notch. The vocal harmonies are off the charts as usual. Particularly on the introduction to ‘Tonight.’ And, as always, the production is up to the classic Def Leppard standard. The albums centerpiece ‘White Lightning’ may be in Def Lep’s top ten tracks. I sure wish they’d play it more. ‘Personal Property’ and ‘Tear It Down’ keeps the hard rocking side of the band alive and well. While the ballads: ‘Tonight,’ Stand Up (Kick Love Into Motion) and ‘Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad?’ show that Def Leppard still have the sensitivity to capture the magic of ‘Headed For A Heartbreak.’
Retro-Active
This album serves a few purposes. First, it kept the momentum of ‘Adrenalize’ alive by being released a short year later. Which would prove to be imperative to the bands survival through the 90’s music scenes. Second, it introduced Vivian Cambell to the studio album world of Def Leppard. And third, it’s a compilation of strong b-sides along with unreleased and newly recorded outtakes. There’s certainly enough fresh recordings to call the album ‘new.’ Not just a rehash album. ‘Desert Song’ and ‘Fractured Love’ are one of the strongest one, two punches on any Def Lep album. Their cover of ‘Action’ is loaded with passion. ‘Ride Into The Sun,’ ‘Ring Of Fire’ and ‘She’s Too Tough’ hold the heavier side of the band down. The former being a track from their original Ep. Some of the best rockers of the post classic era. ‘Two Steps Behind’ was a hit ballad and is still a concert staple. ‘From The Inside’ has an interesting classical vibe to it. With excellent use of the mandolin and other classical instruments. ‘Only After Dark’ has a really killer vibe. Think of a heavier David Bowie. Just a great groove. A solid album that kept the band alive for the 90’s.
Slang
This album is without question the most underrated and misunderstood album in all of Def Leppard’s catalog. I honestly freakin’ love this album. It’s a near perfect record from top to bottom. Strong songwriting throughout. My only criticism is that it has one too many ballads. But one of them, ‘All I Want Is Everything’ ranks among one of Def Leppard’s best ballads ever. I think that some people didn’t know how to react to the more organic production of the album. It is the first album that Rick Allen played an acoustic drum set on an album since his accident. There’s a more raw production to the album that serves the band. Particularly in this era. The first five songs: ‘Truth?,’ ‘Turn to Dust,’ ‘Slang,’ ‘All I Want Is Everything,’ and the Vivian Cambell written ‘Work It Out,’ are one of the strongest starts to any Def Leppard album. The grooves, the melodies are all there. The back end of the album isn’t quite a strong. But the grunge like ‘Deliver Me,’ the hard rocking ‘Gift of Flesh’ and the enigmatic ‘Pearl Of Euphoria’ are enough to keeps the album among Lep’s strongest.
Euphoria
1999’s ‘Euphoria’ has the distinction of being what I would call the last great Def Leppard album. Sure, there’s some really good songs after this album on ‘X,’ ‘Songs From The Sparkle Lounge’ and the self titled album. But for the most part those albums, along with their 2006 cover album, just don’t hold up to the first nine records. ‘Demolition Man’ and ‘Promises’ really kick off the album right. A classic Def Leppard one, two punch. A hard rocking opener followed by a ‘Photograph’-esqe ‘Promises.’ The only low point on the album is ‘Back In Your Face.’ It’s just a little too polished. The clap snare is extremely annoying. But the album gets right back on track with the classic ballad ‘Goodbye’ and the Prince like track ‘All Night.’ The latter really sounds like something you might have heard Prince do on his Batman soundtrack. The incredible ‘Paper Sun’ follows. It’s pure gold Def Leppard. From the darker mood of the intro, verses and chorus, to the bad ass breakdown that comes out of nowhere. ‘It’s Only Love’ shows where the band would go on their next album ‘X.’ Then classic, blasting through your speakers, 80’s hard rock Def Lep blows the electricity. It’s one of the most overlooked songs in their entire catalog. Despite the elementary lyrics. ‘To Be Alive’ has a similar vibe to U2. ‘Disintegrate’ is a killer instrumental piece. Really just a great piece of music. ‘Guilty’ brings back the greatness of the ‘Hysteria’ era ballad. ‘Day After Day’ and ‘Kings of Oblivion’ close the album superbly. The bridge on the former is one of the tastiest Def Lep moments. And the latter closes the album with high quality energy. Yes, ‘Euphoria’ is truly Def Leppard’s last great album. And it truly is a great album.
Rarities Vols 2, 3 & 4
These are pretty much the reason to get the box set. The unreleased studio and live material. Like I said before it would have been better if they had attached an audio of their 1996 South Africa show or their 1999 show in Tokyo. But there’s enough live material to make it worth the purchase. Def Leppard have released audios of a plethora of live material in the past few years. And when you combine them in a playlist with the newly released live material consisting of performances from ‘Live…In The Club In Your Face,’ ‘Live in Singapore,’ ‘Live In Montreal’ and a few cuts from the 1999 Tokyo show. When you put them together it’s a pretty legit collection of live tracks. 19 in all, which is great because Def Lep is so good live. And it’s cool to see all the live eras of the band during the decade. The Montreal tracks offer a glimpse into the ‘Slang’ tour. One of the most interesting times for the band. The club tracks create an intimate surrounding without compromising the energy of a big show. Plus, there’s countless unreleased material, demos and other treats hidden in the set.
All in all the new CD/Vinyl collection from Def Leppard is absolutely worth the price of admission. It’s got some the bands strongest material on it. Complete with so much bonus material it’s almost worth the price for just those. What are your favorite Def Leppard albums and songs from the 90’s?