Between their debut, “This Was” in 1968 and their 21st in 2003 with “The Jethro Tull Christmas Album “, Jethro Tull has delivered albums with distinctive sounds crossing genres and styles, merging prog/art rock, hard rock, heavy metal, jazz, blues, folk, classical, Elizabethan, and world music. I heard Ian Anderson’s music for the first time with the 72’s album “Living in the Past” and even if I wasn’t an unconditional fan of Tull, Anderson, we have to admit it, delivered quality materials throughout the years. “Roots to Branches” released on 4 September 1995, probably is not as acclaimed as “Thick as a Brick” (1972) or famous as “Too Old to Rock ‘n’ Roll: Too Young to Die!” (1976), but definitively is a colorful trip into a musical universe filled up will all the spices from Anderson’s workshop. Read more Jethro Tull – Roots to Branches (1995)
Life and Living
hard rock
Alice Cooper – Welcome 2 My Nightmare (2011)
I love Alice. I loved his “Killer” from ’71, just like “School’s Out” and “Billion Dollar Babies” from ’72 and “Muscle of Love” from ’73. Then I loved “Welcome to My Nightmare” in 1975 and “Alice Cooper Goes to Hell” very next year. Later I loved “Special Forces” (’81), “Zipper Catches Skin” (’82), “DaDa” (’83), and “Constrictor” (’86). “Trash” (’89) and “Hey Stoopid” (’91) were both two great albums, “The Last Temptation” was alright and I really loved “Brutal Planet” in 2000 where Alice kind of give his answer to his followers and meanwhile new stars such as Marilyn Manson proving – once again – that he still have the power. But after that I kind of lost my appetite for Alice, “Dragontown” was at least a mediocre release while “Dirty Diamonds” sounds like a lost material from the 70s, not bad for that times, but quite outdated for the 2000s. Honestly, Alice didn’t really convinced me in 2008 with his concept album “Along Came a Spider”.
Then Alice planned to release a sequel of “Along Came a Spider”, but producer Bob Ezrin proposed instead the idea of a sequel to “Welcome to My Nightmare”, part of the thirtieth anniversary of its original release. Read more Alice Cooper – Welcome 2 My Nightmare (2011)
Snurfu – Bag of Bones – EP (2011)
There’s not too many things to say about a band formed only three years ago and delivering their first EP. Watching their video for “372nd Military Police” on YouTube I was thinking they are a punk band juggling between New Model Army and The Exploited, later listening their four songs from the EP I realized this is (only) Rock (And Roll), there’s something raw, garage and punk taste-like about it, but still, this is unpolished, good-old Rock and it feels alright.
The opening “Your Sister Too” have a kind of Velvet Revolver after-taste, it’s right in the middle between Guns N’ Roses and Stone Temple Pilots, between Rock and Post-Grunge. “My Empty Song” bring to the surface some Southern/Stoner roots and sounds, it’s quite classy and the guitar riff is actually pretty wicked. Read more Snurfu – Bag of Bones – EP (2011)
The Rolling Stones – Tattoo You (1981)
Perhaps this was their last classic record, one nice, less polished, Rock And Roll album. Released on 24 August, 1981, 30 years ago, “Tattoo You” was put together of outtakes from previous recording sessions to promote the band’s follow-up worldwide tour 1981/1982. The band didn’t want to kick off the road without having a new record and the time was too short to write enough new songs, one the other hand, that period was marked by tensions between Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, so working on new songs probably would be a pretty difficult task at the moment. Still, “Tattoo You” was ranked #34 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 100 greatest albums of the 1980s and number 211 on the list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Read more The Rolling Stones – Tattoo You (1981)
The Who – Who’s Next (1971)
The Who became known for their energetic live performances which mainly were finished by smashing their instruments and ended up by selling over 100 million records. If this isn’t Rock’N’Roll, what is it?
Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips said, “I already believed in rock & roll, but seeing The Who really made me feel it” while Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder said, “The one thing that disgusts me about The Who is the way they smashed through every door in the uncharted hallway of rock ‘n’ roll without leaving much more than some debris for the rest of us to lay claim to.”
Influencing artists from Led Zeppelin and The Clash to The Stooges, Queen, U2, Nirvana and Green Day, The Who managed to merged Blues-Rock with the aggressive and explosive energy of what later was labeled being Protopunk and often they have been called “The Godfathers of Punk”.
Most of the people at least heard about them because of “Tommy” and eventually their anthem “My Generation”. Youngsters maybe noticed the song “Behind Blue Eyes” on Limp Bizkit 2003’s “Results May Vary” which is actually a Pete Townshend composition and it was recorded in 1971 and released on 14 August, exactly 40 years ago on the album “Who’s Next”. Read more The Who – Who’s Next (1971)
Queensryche – Dedicated To Chaos (2011)
I cut the crap and I’m gonna tell you directly what to aspect: if you’re looking for a quality and quite exciting hard rock album, “Dedicated To Chaos” might just fit your taste. Those who still waiting for what actually meant till ’88/’90 (the genius “Operation: Mindcrime” (1988), respectively “Empire” (1990), well, maybe it’s time to accept that “this” Queensrÿche is not “that” Queensrÿche anymore and probably they will never be again. On the other hand, while I was absolutely disappointed by their previous effort, the quite pale “American Soldier” released two years ago, “Dedicated To Chaos” is an absolutely fair material, a mixture of hard and heavy schemes with maximum taste and the unquestionable skill of writing and playing of these guys from Seattle. Because it’s almost impossible to avoid comparison, it’s somewhere between “Promised Land” (1994) and “Empire” (1990) with a taste of experimental sounds from “Tribe” (2003). And I must say: this is far the best Queensrÿche album for almost two decades. Read more Queensryche – Dedicated To Chaos (2011)
Night Ranger – Somewhere In California (2011)
America’s 80s were characterized by PMRC (Parents Music Resource Center) controversy, bands such Mötley Crüe were banned and constantly hunted. The crusade against rock were leaded by four women: Tipper Gore (wife of Senator and later Vice President Al Gore), Pam Howar (wife of Washington realtor Raymond Howar), Susan Garrett Winston (wife of Treasury Secretary James Baker) and Sally Nevius (wife of former Washington City Council Chairman John Nevius). When men are leaving for a war or they are too busy with politics, their wife becomes frustrated and get strange occupations… The most famous invention is the Parental Advisory sticker (“Parental Guidance: Explicit Lyrics”), knowned also as “The Tipper Sticker”. The PMRC also released the “Filthy Fifteen”, a list of the 15 songs they found most objectionable which contains artists and songs such as Prince “Darling Nikki”, Judas Priest “Eat Me Alive”, Mötley Crüe “Bastard”, AC/DC “Let Me Put My Love into You”, Twisted Sister “We’re Not Gonna Take It”,Madonna “Dress You Up”, etc, but one of the albums to receive the “Parental Advisory” sticker was Frank Zappa’s Grammy-winning album “Jazz From Hell”, even though it is a collection of instrumental pieces and contains no lyrics at all while the sticker says “Parental Advisory Explicit Lyrics” 😆 😆 😆 I’ve been a little bit off-topics, but I also remembered this verses by Ice-T: “Yo Tip, what’s the matter? You ain’t gettin’ no dick? You’re bitchin’ about rock’n’roll, that’s censorship, dumb bitch.”
Well, we forget “things” too easily and boys and girls, not history repeat itself, but the dumb repeat over and over the same mistakes. Back then the American Senate decided what we should and what we shouldn’t listen, now days the censorship moved forward and “War on Terror” seems a pretty goddamn good excuse to let the governments to decide what’s good or bad for us and taking control over our lives.
But in that decade, the more “reasonable” rock acts such Midnight Ranger (Foreigner, Styx, Bon Jovi and other “good boys”) flourished. They 1987’s album, “Big Life” sold around 800,000 copies. Read more Night Ranger – Somewhere In California (2011)
Sixx: A.M. – This Is Gonna Hurt (2011)
“If you don’t deal with your demons, they will deal with you, and it’s gonna hurt.” – said Nikki Sixx and mainly this is the essence of this new album. Actually this is “an original soundtrack” to accompanied the book, part photo chronicle and part journal, a follow up to his New York Times bestseller, “The Heroin Diariesâ€, released on April 12th. This Is Gonna Hurt†chronicles Sixx’s experience, from references to his early years filled with toxic waste to his success with Mötley Crüe, his death from an over-dose and rebirth to his addictions to music, photography, and love along with the journey of photographing these images over the past couple of years.
The album debut at #1 in the Billboard’s “Hard Rock Chart”, and also charted on Billboard 200 on #10, #5 Rock Albums, #9 Digital Albums, #3 Independent Album and #16 Tastemaker Album. Another success story. Read more Sixx: A.M. – This Is Gonna Hurt (2011)
Nazareth – Big Dogz (2011)
It’s hard to believe, Dan McCafferty rocking since 1968 while Axl Rose and his Guns N’ Roses get tired after only a decade of being in the great Rock ‘N’ Roll circus and somehow Dan McCafferty at the age of 64 seems fresher than Axl at 49. Dopes are bad, dude… “Big Dogz” is Nazareth’s 22nd album and it rocks in the best possible good-old ways. We’ve got 11 brand new heavy, classic, convincing rock songs, a record that shows a strong, alive and kicking band. The other caterpillar is bass player Pete Agnew. Guitarist Jimmy Murrison joined Nazareth in 1994, replacing Billy Rankin, and Lee Agnew – the son of Pete Agnew – worked as a drum technician for Nazareth, and when Darrell Sweet died in 1999, he became the permanent drummer of the band. A nice generation gathering, isn’t it?
Their previous album “The Newz” was released in 2008, so, once again, they moving faster than Axl. Read more Nazareth – Big Dogz (2011)
Kingdom Come – Rendered Waters (2011)
Kingdom Come stir some interest back in ’88 when some of the listeners thought that Kingdom Come was actually a Led Zeppelin reunion. And their self-titled debut album was actually a nice piece of hard rock/blues rock collection of songs, almost similar to the sound and style of the legendary English rock band Led Zeppelin, actually they almost ripping their riffs right off.
The group was formed in 1987 after the breakup of Wolf’s previous project called Stone Fury. Wolf’s A&R man, Derek Shulman and record company, Polygram, allowed him exclusive freedom to assemble Kingdom Come’s lineup and direct its sound, and Wolf recruited Pittsburgh-based lead guitarist Danny Stag, guitarist Louisvillians Rick Steier, drummer James Kottak and from Northern Californian, bass player Johnny B. Frank. Stag and Frank had previously been members of the bands WWIII and Population 5.
In 1988, the band released its debut LP, Kingdom Come. The band’s first single, “Get It On,” was a big enough hit on AOR stations that the band’s eponymous debut went gold, meanwhile receiving platinum certificate.
In 1989, Kingdom Come released their next LP, called “In Your Face”. However, the album failed to sell well and all members other than Wolf quit the group. Read more Kingdom Come – Rendered Waters (2011)
