New band Review - Black Country Communion

 

I decided I would start a new band review to coincide with album reviews and to start it out I am taking a look at a new band Called Black Country Communion. I came across this band through Eddie Trunk's show "That Metal Show." Eddie, Jim, and Don have mentioned this band several times and recommend checking this band out. Black Country Communion is an English-British rock supergroup that consists of Glenn Hughes (bass, vocals - Mk. III & IV line-ups of Deep Purple, Black Sabbath), Jason Bonham (drums - Son of Led Zeppelin Drummer John Bonham), Derek Sherinian (keyboardist - Dream Theater), and Joe Bonamassa (guitar, vocals - Solo work). They formed in 2010 through a Guitar Center King of The Blues event in Los Angeles and have two albums out, "Black Country" (2010) and "2" (2011). The sound of Black Country Communion is a mix between American and British classic rock bands such as Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, & southern rock music such as Lynyrd Skynyrd. Upon listening to Black Country Communion you can hear influnces of other rock music such as Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles, Pink Floyd, ect. If your into classic rock and like a heavy, dark, bluesy, modern twist to it then you will want to check out Black Country Communion.

"Black Country": Take southern rock and give a shot of Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, add some screaming lead that mixes Lindsey Buckingham, Jimmy Page, Toni Iommi, David Gilmore,ect. and you have a pretty hard rockin' album with a few killer slower almost haunting tunes as well. While this album isn't a commercially mainstream ready album and has no tracks that would appeal to mainstream popular/top 40 music, its still very much a solid body of work that fans of this kind of music will love. I would say that I am very rooted in mainstream popular music and rarely listen to the non-mainstream/underground music such as this but I dig this group and album very much. It brings back that classic rock sound into a more modern take on it. Classic rock and hard rock fans will appreciate and like if not love this album.

Favorite tracks: "Song of Yesterday", "The Revolution In Me"

"2": "2" is for me a better album in terms of song writing and the music in general on the album. On this album you can really hear the Led Zeppelin influence. Especially on the tracks "The Outsider", "Man In The Middle" and "Little Secret". Also, influences of Fleetwood Mac/Pink Floyd with the signature Lindsay Buckingham/David Gilmore lead guitar can be heard on the track "Cold." A few more slower songs than on "Black Country" but they are dark and catchy and really put the pieces of the puzzle together on this album. Also here and there you can notice a slight influence of Lynyrd Skynyrd in there. Overall this album really packs a punch of that classic rock sound and delivers a monster sound that is sure to be appreciated by classic rock and hard rock fans. Again there is no real maintream popular, top 40 tracks on this album and the album isn't commercially mainstream ready. However, The songs are definitely radio friendly if played on a classic rock station. I would recommend "2" to start out with and then listen to "Black Country" cause overall I believe the listener will be more pleased with "2" than "Black Country." 


Favorite tracks: "The Outsider", "Man In The Middle", "Little Secret", "Cold"

Nickelback - "Here and Now" Review

Nickelback releases there seventh album "Here and Now". If you're expecting to hear classic Nickelback songs such as "Photograph", "How You Remind Me", "Rockstar", "Figured You Out", "If Everyone Cared", "Gotta Be Somebody", ect. then you might as well just pick up their previous albums or download the classic songs and make your own "Best of" playlist. Nickelback fell short of producing any of the classic catchy tunes and ballads on "Here and Now". I ended up just skimming each song and moving on. There was only two songs that I liked, "Lullaby" and "Trying Not To Love You". But neither song was in that classic Nickelback form. I was disappointed in this album for not having anything that was catchy that makes you rock out to it or a classic ballad like "Photograph." I started looking up their previous albums on wikipedia and looked at the reviews for all of Nickelbacks albums and most of the reviews were negative. Most of the critics seems to think that Nickelback sucks and pose the question of, "how did they become big in the first place?" I however, do not see Nickelback in the same way. I consider myself a fan of Nickelback and love their music. I have also seen many other people who are fans of Nickelback. But I think those fans who listen to "Here and Now" are gonna start to wonder if they can continue to write the classic hits or if there time is done, at least for awhile anyways. Or maybe they just hit a rut in their writting as many bands do and often end up creating one bad album or two. Or perhaps Nickelback is trying to go in a different direction and experiment with their music. Whatever the case, "Here and Now" doesn't live up to it's expectations and if you really want this album, go download it for free around the internet. You'll be glad you didn't waste your money!

Slash Featuring Myles Kennedy Live - Made In Stoke 24/7/11 Review

The former Guns N' Roses ax slinger Slash goes out on the road with Myles Kennedy, whom is most notably from the band Alter Bridge, in support of his self titled album "Slash". This live CD was done entirely in Slash's hometown of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, United Kingdom at the Victoria Hall. Not many people know that Slash is not originally from the U.S. He is actually British. But you'd never know it from the way he talks. What makes this live album worth reviewing? Well, quite simply it's Slash. One of the most famous guitar players in rock music! One listen to this album and you can instantly tell why Slash is one of the most famous guitar players in rock music and why this album is worth reviewing.


     Slash's licks and chops are spot on and played with seemingly effortless ease. And lets not forget Myles Kennedy on vocals. If I was listening to this from a distance or had no clue that it was Myles Kennedy singing on the Guns N' Roses tracks "Night Train", "Civil War", "Rocket Queen", "Patience", "Sweet Child O' Mine", "Mr. Brownstone", & "Paradise City", I would never know that it wasn't Axel Rose singing. That is how good Myles Kennedy is. Honestly, if you put Duff Mckagan & Matt Sorum in the band, this could be an incarnation of Guns N' Roses. On the Slash, Slash's Snakepit, and Velvet Revolver tracks, Myles Kennedy comes in full form and is easily recognized. This high energy, high octane rock concert is nothing short of amazing! Myles and Slash deliver to the crowd at Stoke and to the listener at home a truly killer concert. I have seen Slash live with Velvet Revolver twice and he always brings high energy and killer guitar playing to the concert. Add that with Myles Kennedy's high energy vocals and you have yourself one of the best live albums since "The Big 4 Concert".

Breaking News: Black Sabbath 11-11-11 Reunion Announcement!

Black Sabbath have announced on 11-11-11 they are reuniting once again but this time they are recording music for their first studio album in 33 years with producer Rick Rubin on board. They will also be headlining the Download festival June 10, 2012 and a worldwide tour to follow! Sabbath made the announcement via there website through a youtube video seen below. The second video is the band making the announcement at the Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, CA.

Disturbed - "The Lost Children" Review

Disturbed's "The Lost Children" is a collection of B-sides that the band previously recorded while recording each of their previous 5 albums but these tracks were ultimately not included on the album. Disturbed released these songs as B-sides to each of the 5 albums singles. However, "3" was originally released as a digital single on disturbed's website to benefit the West Memphis Three, "Midlife Crisis"  is a Faith No More cover from the compilation album "Covered: A Revolution in Sound", "Living After Midnight" is a Judas Priest cover from the compilation album "A Tribute to Judas Priest: British Steel Vol.1", and the song "Mine" was not previously released.


All of these tracks with the exception of "Midlife Crisis" and "Living After Midnight" sound as though they could be carried on a true studio album instead of just a B-sides compilation album. Each of these songs works really well together on this album. I do however have to agree with Disturbed that none of these songs could really make it on any of their previous 5 studio albums. They work so much better together on a separate album.  "The Lost Children" sounds as though it was taken out of the vault similar to what recording companies are doing with Jimi Hendrix's previously recorded but unreleased works. "The Lost Children" is as heavy as any of their previous albums and really takes on a life of it's own. "Hell", the albums first single and first track brings on a catchy riff along with the very well written lyrics. Disturbed always had a knack for writing great lyrics. "Hell" is a very heavy song and the most commercial song on the album. Other songs from the album that could be potential singles include, "This Moment", "Monster", & "Run". I personally find the entire album completely worthy with the exception of the two cover songs, "Midlife Crises" and "Living After Midnight." Disturbed has done cover songs before ("Shout" & "Land of Confusion") and they were done in full Disturbed fashion having that signature Disturbed sound. However, The two cover songs on this album do not come in full Disturbed fashion. For the most part they lack that Disturbed sound. While you can hear Disturbed's sound kind of peeking in from around the corner, the songs as a whole sound much like the original recordings and fail to put on that unique Disturbed stamp as you would expect from Disturbed.

New and casual fans of Disturbed may want to stick with the 5 studio albums for a better representation of Disturbed's work but avid fans of Disturbed will understand and appreciate the music of "The Lost Children." Not disturbed's finest work but is a very nice edition to the body of work that Disturbed has done.  

Anthrax - "Worship Music" Review

Let me first warn you that "Worship Music" is technically the first full Anthrax album that I have ever listened to. Sure, when I was younger I had heard of Anthrax. I knew of Scott Ian and Joey Belladonna. I had first seen them featured on the 90's cult cartoon "Beavis and Butthead" through Beavis wearing a t-shirt that said Anthrax on it and of course Beavis was a huge fan of Anthrax as he always mentioned them. But it wasn't until   the "Last Action Hero" soundrack in which I heard my first Anthrax song, "Poison My Eyes." I hated the song. I couldn't get past the intro to actually listen to the whole song. I really didn't care for Anthrax after that experience. I never bothered to listen to Anthrax since. It wasn't until years later when Ozzfest came out with the dvd "Ozzfest: 10th Anniversary" in which Anthrax performs a song called "Caught in a Mosh" that I actually heard a good Anthrax song and I really liked it. However, I still had no desire to actually listen to anything else by Anthrax or check out an album or anything. In January of 2011 I went to the Jagermeister Tour in which Scott Ian's other band "The Damned Things" performed. Scott was killer that night! Still, no desire to check out Anthrax. It wasn't until a few weeks ago when I started checking out Eddie Trunk's "That Metal Show" on VH1 Classic that I started getting a piqued interest in Anthrax. Eddie and his co-hosts would continuously mention Anthrax and how good they were in many episodes, mostly on their TMS Top 5 Lists. They also had Scott Ian and Charlie Benante on an episode of "That Metal Show" in which both Scott and Charlie talk about Joey Belladonna returning to the band for the "Big 4" shows and they had a new album coming out with Joey on vocals. The album was already out when I saw the episode. This really got me wanting to check out the new album and see what the hype about Anthrax is all about! So boys and girls... here is the review for "Worship Music."

"Worship Music" in one word is "EPIC"! Being my first Anthrax album, "Worship Music" has solidly piqued my interest in Anthrax. Currently downloading "Among The Living" to check out as well. Reason I am checking this one out being that I know very little about Anthrax is that this was the album that Eddie Trunk had featured in his "Throwdown" on "That Metal Show" alongside "Spreading the Disease" to ask the question "which Anthrax album was better?" It's no surprise that "Among The Living" was voted best Anthrax album over "Spreading The Disease." Anyways, "Worship Music" really is a killer album. The production is just picture perfect. Honestly, I love Joey's vocals on the album. They just fit very well. I cannot compare it to other Anthrax singers as I haven't heard the other vocalists. "Earth on Hell" Starts off the album on a very high note with a killer riff. WHile all the songs on the album are fan-damn-tastic!, other high points to this album include "I'm Alive" which reminds me very much of the Orleans song "Still The One". It's a very high produced song and is just a massive killer song. Kind of surprised Anthrax wrote the song but it works extremely well. Another high point is "In The End", which sounds like a war song as you march into hell to fight an epic battle! It's another high produced well put together song. Sounds like a massive metal song from the 80's/early 90's.     "The Giant" has a killer opening riff and is a very monstrous song to mosh to! In fact the whole album is one big mosh pit. Any of the songs on "Worship Music" would be killer to hear live. You could probably do a whole set of nothing but this album and fans would just go nuts the entire time! To end the album Anthrax puts on a hidden song called "New Noise" at the end of the last track "Revolution Screams". This could easily be a song by itself on the album but Anthrax makes this song a hidden gem. Anthrax dishes out what I think   is possibly their best work on "Worship Music". I say possibly cause as you know I'm unfamiliar with their previous works. After hearing this album, I can say it ranks right up their as one of the best metal albums of 2011 maybe even in the last few years. Just sad that it hasn't gotten more promotion cause had it not been for Eddie Trunk and his show "That Metal Show", I would of never known that this was out! Definitely think Anthrax should go on tour with Machine Head. Two really killer albums by two killer bands would make for a really killer concert! If you havent seen my review for Machine Head's "Locusts" go check it out! Killer album! You'll see what I mean.

Favorite Tracks: "Earth On Hell", "I'm Alive", "In The End", & "The Giant"

Check out Eddie Trunk - The best source for all things metal and hard rock!

For those of you who are new to metal and hard rock, you may want to start with Eddie Trunk. For those of you who are harden metal heads and hard rockers and just want more metal and hard rock stuff then check out Eddie Trunk. Who is Eddie Trunk you ask? Well, Eddie is a longtime radio DJ and now host of VH1 Classic's That Metal Show. I just recently started checking out That Metal Show on VH1 Classic and I'm already addicted to the show! Eddie works with two other guys on the show, co-hosts Jim Florentine and Don Jamieson. On this show he interviews popular hard rock and metal stars In addition to his show on VH1 Classics he hosts a radio show on Sirus/XM radio called Eddie Trunk Live. Eddie Trunk has a website EddieTrunk.com and his show website is thatmetalshow. Check out the show and check out Eddie Trunk!

Lou Reed & Metallica - "Lulu" Review

Before I begin I want to warn you that I know nothing about Lou Reed or his music. I've never heard his music before. The only thing I know about him is what he looks like. With that being said I kind of expected big things from Lou Reed & Metallica. I was kind of expecting something like Keith Richards meets Metallica kind of deal. And even that would of been more exciting than Metallica collaborating with Lou Reed. Even the Album cover and title looked really cool like some sorta of old school Rockabilly deal. I was sadly mistaken. The music isn't at all what I expected and not in a good way either.The music on "Lulu" is kind of like Metallica's St. Anger album with Lou Reed talking above the music. Parts of the songs however are really not music but more of a special effects kind of thing or background noise/music like you would hear in a movie for a dramatic or suspenseful effect or to scare you like in a horror movie.

The album as a whole is hard to swallow.  "Lulu" is a 2 disc album with most of the songs lasting over 6 minutes long. There is two songs lasting just over 11 minutes and one song that is just over 19 minutes long. There isn't any songs on here that you can really get pumped up too or dance to or head bang to or anything to. In fact all you can really do is get bored to it especially when the songs last well past the length they should. There is one song however that was actually structured as a real song without all the effects and background music or garbage that the other songs contain and is only a little over 4 minutes long. That song is called "Iced Honey." "Iced Honey" has some nice music and ok vocals in it. But what troubles me about the song is that it doesn't even come close to sounding like anything Metallica would do. I don't know about Lou Reed but if this album is any indication, I don't think it even comes close to anything Lou Reed would do. The two artists really come up with something completely different or in their case "experimental." I really think Metallica, ever since their sobriety have really been trying to experiment with their music. Which caused a complete failure on "St. Anger" and because of that they had to redeem themselves with "Death Magnetic" or face the reality that they were done for good. Now they decide to collaborate with Lou Reed and created a failure of epic proportions. Some say that this album has no effect on Lou Reed. Probably true. After listening to "Lulu" Lou Reed just seems like a weird character and would create weird music. This album couldn't be too far off from his previous work. But as for Metallica, this may not just simply put a dent in their career as St. Anger had. This may actually take the whole fender off the car and cause a whole lot of damage to their name. However, Metallica have stated that they are working on a new album and as far as I'm concerned, in being a huge fan of Metallica, they better come out with something epic that will make fans of the band forget that "Lulu" ever came out.

"Lulu" is one of those albums better left in the vault for another time period actually into this kind of music. "Lulu" is like masturbation, better left in private to yourself (or with a partner) in the bedroom with the door closed. Cause 99% of the population on earth doesn't want to see you masterbate in public! 

Megadeth - "Th1rt3en" Review

Thirteen is known as an unlucky number, But for Megadeth "Th1rt3en" busts the myth of the unlucky number.
"Th1rt3en" marks a return for bass guitarist and founding member Dave Ellefson, who's been gone since his last Megadeth studio album "World Need's A Hero" in 2001. Everybody knows or should know that Megadeth is known for its various band members that tend to come and go and sometimes come again. The current lineup of Megadeth I truly believe to be the best lineup since Marty Friedman (guitar 1990-2000) and Nick Menza (drums 1989-1998) were in the band. It's really great to finally hear that classic Megadeth sound again which I think Dave Ellefson really brings to the table. During Ellefson's departure, Megadeth just didn't sound like the classic Megadeth. It was Megadeth for a new generation of which I never really payed attention too. The entire band really brings 120% to the table on "Th1rt3en".

Out of all of the metal albums that have come out this year, Th1rt3en" has been the one metal record of which I have listened to the entire album several times without skimming the songs. "Th1rt3en" really reminds me of the classic Megadeth sound on "Rust In Peace", "Countdown To Extinction", and "Youthanasia." "Rust In Peace" being my absolute favorite Megadeth record. Since the first single "Public Enemy No. 1" was released, I've heard it live several times through Youtube and seeing the band perform the song on Jimmy Kimmel and I've been excited to hear the new album. Upon my first listen of the entire album, I was already singing along to "Public Enemy No. 1." It has that "Symphony of Destruction" feel to it which makes it an instant classic Megadeth song. Other notable songs on the record: "Sudden Death", "We The People", "Wrecker", "13", & "Millennium of The Blind". "Sudden Death" has that "Rust in Peace" sound to it and quite honestly it feels as tho Megadeth puts the song at the beginning to kind of go from "Rust..." to "Countdown..." to "Youthanasia." Almost like a unreleased tracks compilation album but yet they rework many of the songs to make them full album worthy! I love how Megadeth takes "We The People" and ends the song on a lighter note with what I'm assuming is Chris Brodrick, showcasing his classical guitar knowledge by playing a really cool, ballady, clean guitar part which sounds as though it should be in the beginning of the song instead of the end but it really works well being at the end of the song. "Wrecker" is very reminiscent of "Dread & The Fugitive Mind" with almost the same opening guitar part minus the vocals. Amongst all the thrash metal in this album is a really nice ballad reminiscent of "Forclosure Of A Dream" from the "Countdown To Extinction" album. However, I see fans liking this ballad more so than "Forclosure Of A Dream." To round out the album, Megadeth ends it on a high note with "13". It's ballady and thrashy all in one song. Definitely one of the high points of the album!

So you may be asking yourself, Why do all the songs sounds almost like "Countdown..." and "Rust..." and "Youthanasia"? Well It's simple, Megadeth have had many of these songs lying around since the days of those albums and those songs just didn't make the cut. Take "Millennium Of The Blind", according to the wikipedia.com page for "Th1rt3en", Dave Ellefson has said that song has been around since 1991. Megadeth didn't necessarily write brand new material for this album but rather reworked many of their older songs that didn't make the cut back then and it worked extremely well for their thirteenth album. Megadeth has created yet another album which in my mind as a fan will go down as one of the best albums in the arsenal that is Megadeth!

Favorite Tracks: "Sudden Death", "Public Enemy No. 1", "We The People", "Wrecker", "Millennium Of The Blind", "13"