metalmaniac777

Herman Frank is a great guitarist, but the samples for this aren't grabbing me.

Which is exactly why they lost a potential customer in me. And me as well. I put this CD on my Want List as soon as I heard the samples, but then the horror stories began rolling in and now I refuse to order it. I hate waiting 4 or 5 days for CDs I order to arrive...waiting 4 or 5 weeks would drive me batshit crazy and I'd end up in a sanitarium doing terrible things to furry mammals that would make Ozzy cringe. Jones Street should change their name to Jackasses.

OK, the title track ("Heaven Hell or Hollywood") kicks some ass, but the others need a little work, though there's definitely some potential there. They either need to take the time to craft better songs or bring in an outside songwriter to beef up the hooks and give the tunes that extra oomph they're currently missing. Yep, I daresay with a little help, they could be contenders.

Nope, I believe there's 2 or 3 of ya in the fan club...

Pete. Pete! PETE!! Wake up, Pete! You are soooooo going to want a copy of this. Didn't you see? It's got an acoustic version of "Blue Suede Shoes"!!! Acoustic, man! Frickin' sa-WEEET!!!!

I don't particularly care for either album, but I prefer Ozzy over Black Sabbath.

I'll back you up on that, my good man. "Secret Society" was kind of weak, but "Start From the Dark" was pretty good, IMO, and ranks right behind "Prisoners in Paradise" as my favorite Europe CD. All their other stuff is waaaaaay too fluffy for my taste.

I feel dirty voting for Van Halen, as I can't stand the band, but they pulled off a clean sweep. It still feels so wrong to have voted for them though. I'm shuddering right now at what I just did, kind of like that time when my creepy uncle took me on a pony ride. Shower time. Which is going to be kind of awkward, seeing as I'm at work right now...

AC/DC every step of the way except for '95, where I chose "To Rock or not to be" (my favorite Krokus album) over "Ballbreaker."

First 3 got to the debuts, last 3 go to the sophomores... 1. Babylon A.D.'s 2nd CD features "Redemption," my favorite B.A.D. song, but based on sheer consistency, I gave my vote to the debut. 2. Bonham = garbage. But if I have to choose one, it's "Disregard of Timekeeping." 3. Firehouse is one of my all-time favorite bands, so this was a tough choice, but ultimately, after much chin-rubbing, head-scratching, and ball-stroking, I went with the debut. 4. "Time to Burn" was a giant improvement over "Last of the Runaways." 5. My taste for Steelheart has waned over the years and I have since parted with both CDs, but before trading the discs, I made sure to burn a couple songs off "Tangled in Reins," whereas I didn't bother burning any songs off the self-titled album, so I think my choice is pretty obvious. 6. Trixer: "Hear" is awesome. The debut, aside from a great ballad ("Surrender") is just OK. No contest.

Man, I was all over the place on this one... 1. Baton Rouge: "Shake Your Soul" is a classic. "Lights Out on the Playground" is good as well, but not up to the standard set by its predecessor. 2. Bang Tango sucks, IMO, but "Dancin' on Coals" is the best of the worst, or, uh, something like that. 3. No competition. "Hungry" is a killer slab of hard rock while the debut is...uh...well...(searching for something nice to say here...) 4. "Stick to Your Guns" is hard rock filet mignon. "Temptation" is a low-grade hotdog. Comprende? 5. I've never understood the adoration for the Shotgun Messiah debut. It's decent but nothing more. "Second Coming," however, knocked it out of the f--king park. 6. Couldn't care less about Bad English, but went with the debut for the purposes of finishing the poll.

The debuts swept this one, until the very end... 1. Not a Little Caesar fan (unless we're talking about pizza), but when forced to listen to them, prefer the debut over "Under the Influence." 2. Lynch Mob. "Wicked Sensation" over self-titled. 'Nuff said. 3. Love me some Southgang. Two great albums, but the better songs are on "Tainted Angel," so they get the edge over "Group Therapy." Both are justifiable choices, however. 4. Yet another band that does about as much for me an an enema witha porcupine, but I rate "Surprise Attack" ahead of "Wild America." 5. When it comes to Love/Hate, ya gotta go with "Blackout in the Red Room." 6. Here's where the sophomores finally garnered a vote, as "Powertool" is lightyears better than the debut. For comparison, if "Screwed, Blued & Tattooed" is Geoff's microscopic gnat of a dick, then "Powertool" is John Holme's legendary mammoth member.

Almost--but not quite--a clean Bon Jovi sweep... 1. Bon Jovi all the way. "On Through the Night" is sonic rubbish. 2. Neither album was particularly good, and neither resides in my collection, but if forced to choose, I would much rather listen to "7800 Farenheit" than "High N Dry." But really, I hope to never have to listen to either one ever again. 3. No contest. "Slippery When Wet" is a masterpiece. While "Pyromania" is good as well, it doesn't achieve the lofty heights where "Slippery..." resides. 4. Two classic albums, but "New Jersey" is a few notches better than "Hysteria." 5. Here's where I strayed from the Bon Jovi fold, as unlike most, I quite like "Adrenalize" and rate it higher than the good-but-slightly-overrated "Keep the Faith." 6. I don't hate "Slang," but I really like "These Days," so this was an easy vote for me. It probably helps that "Something for the Pain" is one of my all-time favorite Bon Jovi songs.

Def Leppard swept this poll cleaner than my front porch. 1. "Crush" has a few songs that make me feel euphoric, but "Euphoria" absolutely crushes it. 2. "X" hits the spot on this one, and gives the bounce to "Bounce," even though I think that's a perfectly acceptable Bon Jovi album. 3. "Yeah!" was an aural abomination equivalent to a diarrhetic elephant shitting loudly into my auditory canal, but "This Left Feels Right" was so vile that the Antichrist has made it his official album. 4. This was a close one for me, as both were pretty solid (albeit unspectacular) offerings, but in the end I went with "Songs from the Sparkle Lounge" simply because I tend to play it more than "Lost Highway." No real reason why...just the way it is. 5. No contest here. "Crossroad" is lucky to see my stereo once a year. Plus "The Vault" has "When Love & Hate Collide," a truly awesome Def Lep song.

How's the new Red? Pretty good. Continues in the same vein as their debut, so if you liked that one, you'll like this one. If I had to rate them, I'd probably give a slight edge to this newie, but really, it's pretty much just more of the same; they found a sound/style that works for them and made no effort to alter it.

Now that, sir, is just nasty. Do you have any idea how filthy the average American floor is?

I'll second that. My thoughts on the album as a whole, having now lived with it for a few months, is that it's remarkably consistent without delivering any true knock-out-oh-my-god-that-is-awesome songs. But sometimes start-to-finish consistency is better than having 2 or 3 killer tunes surrounded by a bunch of filler.

Latest acquisitions... Nailpoint: "Falling to Pieces" Red: "Innocence & Instinct" Crashdiet: "Unattractive Revolution"

Latest acquisitions... SAW V (Uncut/Blu-Ray) MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN (Uncut)--one of the slickest, most stylish gore/horror films I've seen in a while.

Mark....last I heard he was stilling gigging with Dogface and Fatal Force (a bit of an obscure melodic rock band). Not to be nitpicky, Del, but I'm Mark...my brother, hardrockhaven, is actually Chris. It's understandable that you forgot his name, however, as I am clearly the cooler brother and therefore the one you would choose to refer to, if given the choice.

Real old tunes revisited. How about "Passable hair metal songs that weren't that great to begin with now re-recorded in the faint hope they turn out better this time around"? Too long, ya think?

Sample played fine for me. I personally didn't care for the song, but that's a whole 'nother matter.

Citing influences such as Skid Row, Guns 'N Roses, & Kiss, albeit with beefy modern production, I suspect a whole bunch of people here (OK, maybe just a few) will like what they hear when they check out this band. Click on the link below to go to their MySpace page and crank the tunes: Steadlur MySpace page Driving, catchy, energetic, melodic...and plenty of backing vocals!!! From what I can find, album comes out on May 18th. Anyone else digging this?

OK, maybe I'm an idiot (I heard that, Pete!), but I'll be damned if I can find any sound samples for Rapidfire on the website. If they exist, can someone assist a blind, stupid, non-computer-savvy buffoon and point me in the right direction? I'd love to hear what this band sounds like...

I recently got my copy off eBay, but if you go to www.nailpointmusic.com and make your way to the merchandise section, you can buy it for $10. Hope that helps.