metalmaniac777

My review of the new solo album from ex-Babylon A.D. vocalist Derek Davis, entitled "Re-Volt," is now available over at Hardrock Haven. Click the link below to check it out: Derek Davis review It's not the Babylon A.D. of old, instead hewing a little closer to the sound of "American Blitzkrieg." Since I was one of the few people that liked that album, I also happened to like this one, but I won't be surprised if there is disagreement with my review. And this time from more than just Tim...

Well, paint me impressed (preferably with edible fingerpaints wielded by hot Swedish supermodels). Best song Kissin' Dynamite has ever cranked out and hopefully an indication of the new album as a whole. As Matt said, definitely has a little Crashdiet vibe goin' on, but since Crashdiet are awesome, I'm OK with that!

I'm not the world's biggest Accept fan, though I certainly don't mind them, but I have to say, that was another damn fine article, my friend. Excellent writing.

I like the album, but it's not an essential purchase by any means. That said, given how badly bands usually flunk at this kind of album, the Scorpions really did a good job. Considering that "Sting in the Tail" was supposedly the last thing we would hear from the band, I'm just happy to have anything new. It's an unnecessary album, but not an unwelcome one.

My review of the latest offering from Scorpions, "Comeblack," is now available over at Hardrock Haven. Click the link below to check it out: Scorpions review Half re-recordings of their hits, half covers, and while generally that sort of stuff doesn't work, I think the Scorps pulled it off quite nicely.

Tim, Tim, Tim...you gotta warn me when you're gonna post something like that. I damn near had a heart attack when I read those words!! Don't worry mate, am sure there'll be a new Destrophy album (or some other such garbage) that we'll disagree on pretty soon... God, I hope so...things just don't seem right with the world when you agree with my reviews.

Yeah, whether or not you rate the back half as fillers is all going to depend on what your ears like. This sort of AOR/melodic rock is not my forte--I prefer my music with a harder edge--but for the genre, this is very good stuff. I stand by my rating, but I completely understand why others will rate it higher.

It may not be the best show on TV, but it's the best ZOMBIE show on TV. And that "two guys in a bar" scene was a pitch-perfect exercise in escalating tension with a very nice cap-off (pun intended). I do agree, however, that Lori running off alone to go after the guys was as one of the dumber moves the series has pulled. It doesn't help that I am not a big fan of Lori's character anyway; she kind of annoys me. But again, it's the best (only) zombie show on TV, so that alone makes it worth watching. If I wasn't watching that, my wife would just be making me watch "The Real Housewives of Wherever the F*ck," so I'll take "Walking Dead" every time.

Tim, Tim, Tim...you gotta warn me when you're gonna post something like that. I damn near had a heart attack when I read those words!!

Well, to me, a filler is a song that isn't a dud by any means, but is nothing special either, and that's what those songs sound like to me. They just seem to pale in comparison to the excellency of the first half of the album. By the way, saying a song by Michael Bolton is better than the same song by Joe Lynn Turner is borderline blasphemy.

I don't actually state this in my review, but for what it's worth, I do think this is the best of the 3 Sunstorm albums.

I know it's being discussed on another thread, but my review of the new Sunstorm album, "Emotional Fire," is now available over at Hardrock Haven. Click the link below to check it out: Sunstorm review In a nutshell, despite a drop off in quality during the second half, this is still a pretty solid piece of AOR/melodic rock.

Pete is a helluva guy and more than deserving of b-day wishes. Not so sure about this Bkue Charvel dude...something just seems off about him...

My review of the new upcoming Mad Max album, "Another Night of Passion," is now available over at Hardrock Haven. Click the link below to check it out: Mad Max review In a nutshell, a very worthy companion piece to the band's classic "Night of Passion" album.

The sad part is, reading this thread is more entertaining than listening to their new album...

I dunno, Geoff...I enjoy watching a good rumble once in awhile. But I do agree that it should be over a band far better than Van Halen. Never have understood this band's appeal.

At last, someone talking some sense!

Can't order it anywhere yet...doesn't get released until March 16th. I do think a lot of folks around here are going to like this album. Chris Laney does an excellent production job as always, and while some of the songs are a little more subdued than I prefer, at least half the CD is made up of great tracks. Personally, I can't stop playing "Deliberately Wasted"; big, fat, sing-along anthem.

My review of the Swedish melodic hard rock band Casablanca's debut album, "Apocalyptic Youth," produced by Chris Laney, is now available over at Hardrock Haven. Click the link below to check it out: Casablanca review Lead vocalist reminds me a little bit of Davy Vain and it's produced by Chris Laney...what more do you need to know??

Well, at least you acknowledge the guitarist can shred, unlike that Tim bloke who dared to call the band talentless. I continue to disagree that they are still trying to merge metalcore with glam, because aside from a handful of screams/growls, this is a straight-up hair-metal album. Funny you should mention Reckless Love, as they are the band I think this new Blessed By A Broken Heart album most sounds like. As for which one is better...I'm not gonna call it, but I will say that I don't give a hoot about a band's looks, I only care about their music, and Blessed By A Broken Heart is cranking out some great pop-metal on this latest CD. Kind of seems like the band is being judged for what they did in the past rather than what they are doing now. If this was the debut of some new band on Frontiers Records, this thread would be lighting up with praise. I like RECKLESS LOVE but I don't like this cliched drivel. It's like they've hopped on the bandwagon of modern bands realising that Metalcore is now dead and trying to decide what they do next. Give up is what they should do. Or rather, learn to play with a bit of feeling and melody (the guitarist might be able to "shred", but having fast fingers doesn't make you talented). Their last album was mildly entertaining bubble-gum rock that worked for a couple of songs and then got boring quickly. Bands like ESCAPE THE FATE do this stuff a million times better, and last years FALLING IN REVERSE got the balance of 80's melody and modern production just about right. Even the last HINDER album saw them finally match enough hooks/melody with a powerful modern sound. And if those bands are too modern for you or you hate even the tiniest bits of screaming then just go listen to "Slave to the Grind" for the rest of your days... P.S. I realise these posts make me seem like a grumpy old git, but (and if you google this band you'll realise I'm far from on my own with this opinion) I just frankly think bands like this are a joke, and they emphasise the fact that you don't need to have much playing or songwriting ability to start a band and get signed. Reckless Love embrace every cliche of the '80s and do so in catchy fashion, which is why I like them, and that exact same thing is all Blessed By A Broken Heart is doing. I don't care if it's derivative or authentic or trend-hopping (really? releasing a hair-metal album is trendy? since when?), I only care if it sounds good, and thanks to BBABH's huge hooks/choruses/harmonies, that's exactly how they sound to my ears. Escape the Fate is a decent band, but BBABH no longer play that style; aside from a few negligible screams/growls, "Feel the Power" is a straight-up hair-metal album. Even their debut had a few smidgens of glam influence, then they went half-hair, half-metalcore on "Pedal to the Metal," so this newie is a very natural progression into a full-fledged '80s pop metal band. It's not trend-hopping, it's a pretty obvious and natural evolution; the band has never concealed their love of '80s poodle metal and now they have gone ahead and made an album full of it. As for the Google comment...sure, this band has its detractors, just like it has its fans, but that applies to any band out there. I could take all your favorite modern metal bands, even popular ones like Killswitch Engage, Lamb of God, or Job For A Cowboy, and find plenty of people tearing 'em to shreds. Let's face it, Tim, anyone can find other people on the Internet who agree with their opinions. Does Killswitch Engage fellate camel dick simply because plenty of haters on the 'Net say they do? Bottom line, nobody is wrong and nobody is right--it's all subjective opinion. I think this album kicks ass, you think it sucks ass, and to each their own, my friend.

Just received my copies of Murder Bay & Rattleshake from Eonian today and while I haven't had a chance to listen to Rattleshake yet (other than the samples I was provided when I wrote the band's biography for the liner notes), I did give Murder Bay a front-to-back spin this evening and I can assure you plenty of people around these parts will be pleased to get their hands on this puppy.

When are the press promos going out? Must...hear...this...album. My editor is probably hogging the thing for himself...

Well, at least you acknowledge the guitarist can shred, unlike that Tim bloke who dared to call the band talentless. I continue to disagree that they are still trying to merge metalcore with glam, because aside from a handful of screams/growls, this is a straight-up hair-metal album. Funny you should mention Reckless Love, as they are the band I think this new Blessed By A Broken Heart album most sounds like. As for which one is better...I'm not gonna call it, but I will say that I don't give a hoot about a band's looks, I only care about their music, and Blessed By A Broken Heart is cranking out some great pop-metal on this latest CD. Kind of seems like the band is being judged for what they did in the past rather than what they are doing now. If this was the debut of some new band on Frontiers Records, this thread would be lighting up with praise.

Uh, Tim? "Feel the Power" IS their 3rd album, so you already lost that bet. And "talentless"? Heck, man, even this band's detractors acknowledge that the guitarist can shred like nobody's business. As far as I'm concerned, these guys are leaps & bounds ahead of Black Veil Brides, and that's coming from someone who likes Black Veil Brides. That said, if you don't appreciate the cheesy hair-metal of the '80s, then there's no way in hell you're going to like "Feel the Power." Please return to your death metal and scream-core and leave the fluffy pop-glam-metal to us less-serious minded folks.

Hmmmm...are we listening to the same album? This new CD is pure '80s hair-metal to these ears, with very minimal metalcore influence (some occasional screams here & there, but nothing major, used very sparingly). Yeah, their last album was a metalcore-glam hybrid (glam-core), but this is retro pop-metal served mostly straight up: shredding guitars, huge hooks, sing-along choruses, monster harmonies. As I mentioned in my review, I think they should get rid of those screams altogether, but any modern metal influence is overpowered and drowned by the hair-metal heroics. My stance is that any glam-metal fan that throws out this album because of a few modern metal touches is akin to a man kicking a nyphomaniacal Swedish supermodel out of his bed because she hada pimple on the sole of her foot.