Captain Howdy

2 hours ago, tts42572 said:

Cool cover.  Kind of odd releasing preorders without dropping a single along with the announcement though IMO.  

I dig a lot of tunes from this band but at the same time their last release didn't do a whole lot for me outside of a couple songs.  I think Never, Switchblade Sister and The Last One are the only songs I really revisit in my playlists.  I I'd like to see them kind of turn up the production a bit, use more backing vocals, maybe add more variety in songs, etc.  For me, their more melodic songs like Paint By Numbers, Got It Bad, In Our Blood, Forever, The One, Cold Star Dancer, etc are some of their best stuff. 

Definitely will be checking this out as I feel like these guys are a talented band that's done some good tunes.

Seize the day is probably my fave song from them.

As for the last album, for me it suffers from one huge problem, and its the same problem for most albums I bought around the same time, I don't remember what its like and in some cases dont even remember buying them. This was smack bang in the middle of my cancer/brain issues. I have tried revisiting a lot from this period, but with so many new purchases since then its hard to play stuff I dont even remember.

Judas Priest - Firepower

So far I have:

Mick Mars

Judas Priest

Crazy Lixx

Durbin

Which were all cracking albums

Already on preorder or on the must buy list are:

The Warning

Rolling Quartz

Maverick

Sebastian Bach

Gun

Lipz

Diamante (no release date yet)

And the must not buy until its cheap list:

Bon Jovi

I should also say I was gonna buy the new Wicked album but they wanted $46 for postage, which is an absolute joke. And Strypers acoustic CD was overpriced as well.

So yeah, not looking like a bad year to me, and we have only scratched the surface with new album announcements so far.

21 minutes ago, lettard said:

That's disappointing news , he's a powerhouse drummer , they used to make changes quite a lot during the first few releases , been steady for a while , wish him all the best and they hopefully get a replacement of similar calibre.

I think him, Danny and Jens Anderson were the only ones to be there from the first album. After the self titled album they finally found a stable line up, but sadly things like this happen when you least expect them.

I did though like a suggestion in the replies on FB, Hessu Maxx is a free agent ha ha

I mean Finland and Sweden, it's all the same right?

Preorders are open. Due for release 21st June

https://www.maverickofficial.co.uk/store-1

From FaceBook

Not a video, but sure one will drop soon

13 hours ago, tts42572 said:

I feel like if I were artists who worked hard to create an album, I think I'd offer very limited/deluxe runs of an album with a bonus track or two.  Sell those for some marked up price, signed by the band on your website direct to fans.  Heck, you could probably sell those CD's/Vinyl for $25-$50....some range like that which is about double or triple what you normally would sell for.  And make sure they're jewel cases for the CD's and that the bonus tracks aren't just covers or alternate versions of a song already on the album lol!  I'd even number those releases for however many were printed like 1 out of 250 or however many were printed on the "limited" run.  Just don't make the "limited" run 5,000 CD's or something lol.

Then let the "regular" releases go to amazon or wherever else without the bonus tracks for the normal prices and chuck those in cardboard sleeves if you want too lol.

Heck, I'd have no problem paying double the cost of a regular CD for a limited issue CD like that, signed by the band.  I buy these things mostly as collectible items anyways these days, so do something to enhance the collectability and reward those fans the might want a more premium product.

I just think artists/labels should think outside the box a bit more these days.  Put out limited run physical products, maybe offer people a trial membership to some band you tube page or other web site/group where you post behind the scenes stuff with the purchase of an album, or give them a discount to your store on a future purchase.....Or whatever other ideas might make sense.

 

Funny thing is, a few years back when Pledge was a big thing, before it went under, Falling Red did a campaign for their Empire of the damned album. One of the options was to get a special edition of the CD that was only available to those who pledged specifically for it. It included an alternate cover, bonus track, signatures and your name and the name and photo of everyone who paid for it inside the booklet. Unsurprisingly, I have that version. And yes, it cost extra but was worth it.

classic python

4 hours ago, KarpetRydOFunk said:

Is that you, @Stefan? ;}

Stefan does love his budgie smugglers so I can see him going down under

8 hours ago, auslander said:

In the past it was the opposite, the bonus tracks and stuff were often on the first limited issues, thus rewarding the main fans who buy the album at launch. Now they only put extra tracks on deluxe editions or reissues. I feel cynical and think it is a ploy to just get more money out of the core group of fans who support the artist no matter what, trying to get them to buy the same album multiple times.

As I said before, I get them reissuing the first two albums due to record label issues, and even kinda get adding bonus tracks to encourage people to buy the reissues, but there really is no excuse on the last two albums.

People are struggling for money and have to choose more carefully what they spend their money on. It's one of the reasons I stopped buying Japanese releases of Frontiers albums. I used to buy them for the bonus tracks, but since they changed to only including alternate versions of songs already on the album, the Jap imports are an unnecessary extra spend.

I can understand big labels pulling shit like this, but smaller labels and bands thrive on grass roots fans, and if they start taking advantage of them, they will lose them.

Another example I saw recently is a US based band charging $46 postage to UK for one CD. Most US based bands/labels charge between $20 to $30 but this bands answer to me was "We dont control postage costs". I ordered another CD from a US site and got charged $9 for postage.

1 hour ago, Darkstone said:

Yeah, Dusty Rhodes was unfortunate along with Chevy Chase's character in The Three Amigos being called Dusty Bottoms.

I also copped a bit of shit when this Aussie movie was released when I was about 11.

 

The thing is Rhodes real name was Virgil Runnels, and he chose that name himself. His oldest son is named Dustin though, and better known as Goldust.

1 hour ago, tts42572 said:

Agree 100% with the Richie part.  Lots of people ring the bell about him coming back and while that would be fun to see live, I don't think it would make any difference with the music.  I mean, it's not like the last couple albums with Richie were any better.  

I think their only hope would be to work with some outside producer and be willing to turn over control to that person to help guide them to more of a classic sounding melodic rock album kind of like Skid Row did with Nick Raskulinecz for example.  Heck, I think Bon Jovi even working with somebody like Steve Brown could really help a lot.  But I don't think they have any intention of doing something like that at this stage.

Jon has consiously decided to move in this musical direction and he is so controlling with the band that I really don't think anyone could sway him to do something even close to anything from their first 20 years or so. Even the likes of Desmond Child or Bob Rock would not be able to do it.

8 hours ago, Darkstone said:

Another Robert Mason post, but this time I really do feel a connection with it.

I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but my name is Dustin. 

Everybody calls me Dusty, so when I saw the new Warrant album (Rockaholic) featured not only one of my favourite vocalists, but also included a track called Dusty's Revenge, I couldn't believe it.

I then find out that it's a concept album about a "Rockaholic" called Dusty.

For obvious reasons, I love this album.

Here's a couple of tracks.

 

 

 

I have so far picked up four releases this year, and started as early as Feb. Last year the first albums I bought were not until March.

As I have said before, I am seriously behind on album pick ups from the last four years due to health issues, so it really does  not bother me that new albums are not pouring out like water as it gives me a chance to play catch up. Plus I also know I have several other albums coming out this year with Sebastian Bach, Rolling Quartz and The Warning all confirmed for new releases.

Four new albums and eight catch up albums so far this year has in my mind been great as it's allowed me to devote more time to new purchases rather than giving them one spin and then move onto something else.

If anyone really thinks this year is the year music has died, well quite frankly that is on you, not the bands and the music.

1 minute ago, tts42572 said:

Agree.....Just kind of "there" is a good way to describe it.  

It would be great if this were sort of a change of pace song and there were more "rocking" songs on the album.  But the sad thing is that this is probably THE rocking song on the album lol.

It just frustrates me so much.  I really dug this band back in the day and despite the feud with Richie and the whole corporate machine, I think Jon seems like a pretty good dude.  I mean, I've watched plenty of interviews over the years and he always seems to be a pretty down to earth guy and has done a ton of philanthropic work.  It's like I really want to like their stuff but I just can't seem to do it with the crap they've put out lol.

I don't think another great album is in the cards.  Maybe an album we don't absolutely hate is the best we can hope for at this point 

     

Couldnt agree more with this probably being the "heaviest" song on the album

And yeah I agree, Jon may be a bit of a ruthless business man when it comes to the band, but he is a decent bloke. The amount of work he has done for the homeless is admirable.

I know his voice is shot and he is having some kind of throat surgery that he says may end his touring career but I don't think that is really an excuse why his music has been so mid the last decade or so.

As for Richie, I would love to see him back in the band but I don't think he would fix anything. I mean Phil is a great guitarist, and he is being wasted in the band and Richie has barely put anything out since leaving the band, with the only thing I can think of being that awful RSO album he did with Orianthi, where two fantastic guitarists seemed to almost give up on actually playing guitar.

His last solo album was twelve years ago when he was still in the band, and even that was a let down with only a few stand out tracks on it.

Plus his history with alcohol has done him no favours.

10 hours ago, whiplash1972 said:

I'll have to investigate that Durbin.

I'd count Striker and Mick Mars among the best metal releases as well now that I think about it. 

Yeah Mick is metal, but Durbin and Priest are classic metal where Mick is more modern imo.

All great albums though.

45 minutes ago, whiplash1972 said:

I wasn’t thrilled with the singles as they came out, other than “The Serpent and the King”, but I’ll be damned if they haven’t grown on me while listening to them as part of the cohesive package that is “Invincible Shield”. I broke down and picked up the Target exclusive to get the three bonus tracks, and I enjoy them too. Overall, a damn fine addition to the JP discography. Is it better than “Firepower“? I’m not there yet, but time will tell. 🤔

This one and Saxon have set the bar pretty high for metal this year. 👍

Haven't picked up Saxon yet, but as far as metal goes, I love the new Durbin album as well.

I remember my early days on the internet joining a group on Yahoo (yeah thats how long ago it was) and the woman who created the group was trying to persaude me how great Creed was, so much so that she sent me the first two albums on CD. I had no idea what they sounded like. When I played them all I could think is that they sounded like Pearl Jam, and I fucking hate Pearl Jam.

I ended up trading them for something better. I can't remember the ins and outs of it, but I somehow shared my CD collection online and she noticed straight away that the Creed CDs were not listed. She asked me why and I said I sold them as really did not like them, and got something I did like. She never spoke to me again after that

I have always been an on/off fan of Priest. Loved Ram it down and Painkiller, then kinda lost interest when Rob left. Only newer albums I ever got around to picking up were Angel of retribution because I saw it real cheap and Nostrodamus as I found the deluxe edition cheap as well.

With this one though I was interested in what I heard and saw the deluxe edition looked cool. I then saw they were selling copies on the JP website with a signed art card in both standard and deluxe format, but baulked at the price of the deluxe as they were charging an extra £10 over the unsigned version, and postage was lumpy ... plus I was a few days from getting paid. By the time I went back on there the signed deluxe was gone but they had the standard version with the signed card and it was the same price as the unsigned version (guess nobody was buying it) so decided to buy that and order the deluxe from Amazon, keep the artcard and sell the standard CD on eBay as it is still sealed.

So yeah, been playing the album today and on my third (or is it fourth) playthrough, and absolutely loving it.

When bands like Bon Jovi are  getting soft as shit with age, Rob and the guys are still full on metal gods. At 72, Rob should not be able to still perform like this, but he fucking well is, so more power to him.

Really good start to the year so far with the 2024 albums I have picked up.

35 minutes ago, Stefan said:

 

My order from Bad Reputation just arrived.

Skin - Skin (3 CD)
Jagged Edge - Fuel For Your Soul / Trouble (2 CD)
Dreams - Dreams (2 CD)
Blackeyed Susan - Electric Rattlebone / Just A Taste (2 CD)
Hydrogyn - Judgement
Hotcakes - Excess All Areas
Rock City Machine Co - Rock City Machine Co

 

 

 

I still have the  original version of Skin that came with a bonus CD with a lot of those tracks on. Take me down to the river was always  a bit of a weird one back in the day as was unusual at the time for an artist to release a single that did not feature on any albums or soundtracks, but has become more common place these days. I have the two CD singles and maybe still have the 12" picture disc if it wasn't one of the ones I sold, and a lot of the live tracks on this reissue are from the b-sides of the single (all three formats had different tracks)