Monthly Archives: August 2009
HALESTORM – Halestorm
Halestorm – Halestorm (2009, Atlantic Records)
1. “It’s Not You” … 2:55
2. “I Get Off” … 3:04
3. “Bet U Wish U Had Me Back” … 3:43
4. “Innocence” … 3:16
5. “Familiar Taste of Poison” … 4:04
6. “I’m Not An Angel” … 3:15
7. “What Were You Expecting?” … 3:34
8. “Love/Hate Heartbreak” … 3:19
9. “Better Sorry Than Safe” … 3:12
10. “Dirty Work” … 3:17
11. “Nothing To Do With Love” … 3:32
Band:
Lzzy Hale – Vocals, Guitar
Joe Hottinger – Guitar
Josh Smith – Bass
Arejay Hale – Drums
Produced by: Howard Benson
I don’t listen to the radio, in fact, I try to avoid it all costs, but apparently Halestorm is an up and coming act and “I Get Off” has been a hit on rock radio. How I came across this band is thanks to Steve at Heavy Metal Addiction, who listed them as a recent purchase. Believe it or not, I’m always on the look out for NEW bands. The album cover looked interesting, so I hit up their MySpace page and I was truly impress by Lzzy’s (yes, there is no “i” in Lzzy) voice and “It’s Not You” and “I Get Off”.
I decided to hit up Best Buy to pick up a few other CDs and kept my eye open for this one. Unfortunately, it was sold out and was on sale for $7.99. I ended up picking it up at Walmart for $9 (and getting the other CDs cheaper there than at Best Buy anyway, so it all worked out financially).
The most impressive thing about this band is Lzzy’s voice. I’m usually not into rock bands with female lead singers, but her voice is just too powerful and awesome to ignore. If her performances on “It’s Not You”, “I Get Off” and “What Were You Expecting?” don’t give you chills, I don’t know what will. This is one of the best female rock voices I’ve ever heard.
As for the music, it’s a mix of some great ready radio hard rock, some generic “post-grunge” rock (complete with weak “hit” ballads) and a few songs that sound like something Kelly Clarkson would sing. Lyrically, there’s just enough sleaze and bravado (yes, all of it coming from a female) to keep things interesting. Nothing is too bad, half of the album is just average modern hard rock at best, but there’s enough great rockers to balance it out. This album is well worth the $9 or $10 most places are charging for it.
I’m not a fan of any of the slower songs, but if “Bet U Wish U Had Me Back” gets released as a single, I see that blowing up on the pop and rock stations.
Highlights: “It’s Not You”, “I Get Off”, “Innocence”, “What Were You Expecting?”, “Dirty Work”, “Nothing To Do With Love”
www.halestormrocks.com
www.myspace.com/halestorm
HOLY WATER – The Collected Sessions
Holy Water – The Collected Sessions (2009, Perris Records)
1. “I’m Not Worried Anymore” … … 4:06
2. “If I Knew Then…” … 5:39
3. “Some Things Have To Happen” … 4:39
4. “Once Is Not Enough” … 4:11
5. “If I Knew Then…” … 4:40
6. “MonsteR Iff” … 6:06
7. “Crocodile Rock” … 4:22
8. “Living For The City” … 3:53
9. “All I Need” … 4:02
Band:
David Knight – Vocals
Thomas Jude – Guitar
Freddy Villano – Gass
Tony Galtieri – Drums
Additional Musicians:
Matthew Bradley – Guitar, Bass
Michael Harmon – Guitar, Tamborine
Patrick Klein – Guitar
Chuck Bonfante – Drums
Rich Ferrara – Drums
Charlie Ambrosia – Drums
Tyrone Cannon – Drums
Bobby Marks – Drums
Al Greenwood – Keyboards
Kenny Hamberg – Keyboards
Jay Davidson – Keyboards, Saxophone
Produced by: Al Greenwood, Dave Greenberg, Matthew Bradley, Michael Harmon
Holy Water is a melodic rock/AOR band that I had never heard of until this album was passed along to me by Perris Records. According to the press release, the band is made up ex-players for Quiet Riot, Doro Pesch, Widowmaker and Saraya.
So The Collected Sessions is a compilation of their works going as far back as 1982 and running up to current years. It’s been very tough to find any information on this band, so I’m not sure if any of these songs ever had an official release before now. Near as I can tell, the first three tracks were part of period of recording called The Green Sessions. Due to the nature of this album, there’s varying levels of production, though “Living For The City” is the only song where there’s a noticeable (slight) dip in quality.
It’s a shame it appears the band never had a full-length release at some point. The band delivers some fantastic songs like “I’m Not Worried Anymore” and “If I Knew Then…” and everyone owes it to themselves to check out the self-explanatory “MonsteR Iff”. Amazing instrumental that shows displays some great guitar work and shows the band could do more than AOR songs.
There’s two versions of “If I Knew Then…” here. I’m not sure when either was recorded, but I’m enjoying the second version a lot more (though I like both). There’s a harder rocking edge to it. The only song that’s a heads cratcher is their cover of “Crocodile Rock”. Track 9, “All I Need”, was curiously left off my review copy.
Anyone with a passing interest in AOR would be well off to add this album to their collection. AOR is usually a tough sell for me, but I gotta say, this is one of the betters bands from that genre and The Collected Sessions has been one of the most listened to albums of this past week for me. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for any new material the band comes up with or any older material that gets released.
Highlights: “I’m Not Worried Anymore”, “Some Things Have To Happen”, “If I Knew Then…” (Track 5), “MonsteR Iff”
THIN LIZZY – Thunder and Lightning
Thin Lizzy – Thunder and Lightning (2001, Wounded Bird Records)
Original Release: 1983, PolyGram/Vertigo Records
1. “Thunder and Lightning” … 4:54
2. “This Is the One” … 4:03
3. “The Sun Goes Down” … 6:18
4. “The Holy War” … 5:11
5. “Cold Sweat” … 3:06
6. “Someday She Is Going to Hit Back” … 4:05
7. “Baby Please Don’t Go” … 5:08
8. “Bad Habits” … 4:04
9. “Heart Attack” … 3:39
Band:
Phil Lynott – Lead Vocals, Bass
Scott Gorham – Guitar
John Sykes – Guitar
Brian Downey – Drums
Darren Wharton – Keyboards, Backing Vocals
Produced by: Thin Lizzy and Chris Tsangarides
I’ve slowly been acquiring Thin Lizzy albums and this one was near the top of my list because I kept reading that it was their heaviest and had an “80s sound” to it. I don’t think any of the critics meant “80s sound” as a compliment, but terms like that attract me to albums, not repel me. And just take a look at that cover! That’s metal, baby!
At this point, I’m not expert of Thin Lizzy, but from everything I’ve heard from them, this is by and far my favorite release. What a note to go out on! From beginning to end, this album does not let up. It still sounds like Thin Lizzy but from the opening track, you KNOW the band is packing a lot of punch and aggression on this release along with that “80s sound” and some great guitar playing, no doubt helped along by the band’s new guitarist John Sykes (Whitesnake, Blue Murder).
This release isn’t really pointed at as essential Thin Lizzy, but I don’t see why not. Listen to “The Holy War”, “Cold Sweat” and “Bad Habits” and tell me they don’t deserve to be ranked against any other Thin Lizzy song!
Highlights: I honestly cannot pick just a handful of songs. This may now be one of my favorite albums EVER. Infectious and hard rocking nonstop.
Classic Thin Lizzy:
www.thinlizzy.org
www.myspace.com/phillynott
Scott Gorham/John Sykes Thin Lizzy tribute band:
www.thinlizzyonline.com
www.myspace.com/thinlizzynow
FAITHFULL – Light This City
Faithfull – Light This City [Reissue] (2009, Perris Records)
1. “Light This City” … 4:06
2. “There’s No Turning Back” … 4:29
3. “All I Want, All I Need” … 4:22
4. “I’ve Been Missing You” … 4:18
5. “You Won’t Get Me Now” … 4:22
6. “Ending Song” … 4:59
7. “Melting Your Ice” … 4:27
8. “Learned My Lesson” … 4:54
9. “Like A Shadow” … 4:17
10. “The Way I Am” … 3:12
11. “Way Back” … 4:40
12. “Please” … 3:30
13. “Cast Out The Rain” … 5:01
Band:
Sergio Sabino – Vocals
Rui Martins – Guitar
Mario Barbosa – Bass
Sergio Ramos – Drums
This is a reissue of Faithfull’s 2003 album (which was previously only available in Japan and Europe) along with two bonus tracks “Please” and “Cast Out The Rain”.
The influences for this AOR band are obvious: Bon Jovi, Danger Danger, House of Lords, Firehouse and the like. On some tracks, Sabino does a good job channeling Jon Bon Jovi and Paul Laine. The sound, for the most, part brings Danger Danger to mind (minus the heavy use of keyboards).
These songs are very accessible from the start and the melodies encourage you to sing along to right off the bat. My only issue is I think the slower songs are kinda weak, but the more uptempo songs are high quality melodic hard rock.
Highlights: “Light This City”, “There’s No Turning Back”, “All I Want, All I Need”, “You Won’t Get Me Down”, “Cast Out The Rain”
RAINBOW – Down to Earth
Rainbow – Down to Earth [Remastered] (1999, Polydor Records)
Original Release: 1979, Polydor Records
1. “All Night Long” … 3:49
2. “Eyes of the World” … 6:39
3. “No Time to Lose” … 3:41
4. “Makin’ Love” … 4:36
5. “Since You Been Gone” … 3:16
6. “Love’s No Friend” … 4:51
7. “Danger Zone” … 4:27
8. “Lost in Hollywood” … 4:51
Band:
Graham Bonnet – Vocals
Ritchie Blackmore – Guitar
Roger Glover – Bass
Cozy Powell – Drums
Don Airey – Keyboards
Produced by: Roger Glover
Don’t get me wrong, I like Dio-era Rainbow, but it’s their more AOR/commercial-minded efforts that I enjoy most. I’ll put the slick mainstream hard rock of “Since You Been Gone”, “Street of Dreams” and “Stone Cold” against anything they did when Ronnie James Dio was in the band.
And Dio wasn’t the only Rainbow member to exit the band: Bob Daisley and David Stone were replaced by former Deep Purple bandmate Roger Glover and keyboardist Don Airey. With journeyman Cozy Powell on the drums, this is an incredibly strong line-up.
It’s a shame things didn’t work out with Graham Bonnet (this is his only Rainbow album) because he’s a fantastic vocalist turning in some great performances on “Makin’ Love”, “Eyes of the World” and “No Time to Lose” especially.
The sound is different from the medieval so-called “dragon rock” of the Dio years, but as far as I’m concerned this is another classic release and is fantastic from start to finish it… even if my woman said she didn’t like it and “they should like they’re trying to be KISS”.
I love the album’s cover. It’s so very 70s and happy thanks to the use of the cosmic rainbow. =-) It would be the last Rainbow album to feature a rainbow on the cover though. =-(
Highlights: All of it
