tts42572

12 minutes ago, Glen said:

another band where you only need 2 albums - both A's tho

 

Agree.

For me it's going to be 3 soon though 

I'd probably put Diamond Star Halos in the "like" category as for me that one falls in line with Slang, Euphoria and X.

15 hours ago, Glen said:

the second half defo sounds better

Agree.

I checked the 90 second samples on I Tunes...

I'd say 3-4 tunes that we haven't heard yet grabbed me from the samples....If I Could Fly, Scream, Shot In The Dark and Last Man Alive.  I'm guessing Scream might end up being my favorite song from this based upon the samples but we'll see.

Definitely not one I'll be purchasing but I could see myself enjoying a handful of tunes from this.

New song is okay and it definitely rocks. 

But at the same time, it's not overly grabbing me either and haven't found it getting stuck in my head or being all that memorable after a couple listens.  I don't think it's a song I'd add into my playlists.

9 hours ago, auslander said:

I remember I once bought a 60 stacker Sony carousel player in the late 90s. Then I convinced myself that hitting random and having 20 second gaps between tracks as different cds loaded was "awesome". 

LOL.

I used to have one of those 12 disc CD changers in the back of my car and remember thinking how awesome that was on random.  Same thing....CD's would take like 30 seconds to load and settle on a song.  And bumps would always cause skips.

Spotify definitely accomplishes the same thing much easier today 

Review of the album.  I enjoy watching this guys reviews and reactions.

13 hours ago, auslander said:

He is right about the Def Leppard album. I find that it took me 4 listens to fully appreciate it. It's a good album. I could do without the two Alison Krauss tracks, but other than that there are some really good songs deeper in the tracklist. I know it is popular to hatd on the Leps in HH, but I feel people are missing a good album. 

Same here.  

The Krauss tracks are well done and "nice" songs I guess but they do zero for me and are easy skips.  And the two piano ballads (Goodbye for Good This Time and Angels) are basically the same....nice songs, but pretty boring and ultimately skips for me.

I'm good with the rest though and feel like the album flows way better when those 4 songs are lopped out.

45 minutes ago, lettard said:

Thats pretty good...he even sounds like Bach in the opening line or two...but for me its more HEAT than Skid Row if i'm honest...which isn't a bad thing  

Agree.  Basically sounds like edgy H.E.A.T to me which is just fine.

That said though, have to remember most people here in the USA have no idea who H.E.A.T is so it's new sounding to them.

Here's some audio also.

Digging the tune.  Just some catchy melodic hard rock.  Expecting to really enjoy this album.

4 hours ago, Glen said:

I listened to the album and whilst decent I doubt I would ever return to it 

Same here.

2 hours ago, heavyharmonies said:

It's... ok. Admittedly only one listen through, but not memorable IMO.

Agree.

Gave it one listen and have zero desire to listen again.  

I feel like if this was some other band not titled "Journey" then nobody would even bother with it.

And a huge band like them has no business putting out an album with this kind of production.  We listen to many bands here with a fraction of the budget/resources doing way better sounding albums.

First review I've seen of the new album.  It's brief but it's something lol.  

I'm looking forward to this one and have enjoyed the first 3 singles way more than I expected I would.    

http://heavyparadise.blogspot.com/2022/07/review-heat-force-majeure-ear-music.html

"Force Majeure" is entitled the brand new opus by these incredible Swedes!! Yes, H.E.A.T. is back with a new record which is going to be released through ear Music this August!!! 

Original singer Kenny Leckremo is back on board and that's a thing that gives more interest to the final result. The first three singles that came out earlier this year are all three some great samples of what's to expect from "Force Majeure"!! "Back To The Rhythm" is an ass-kickin', a fist-on-the-air rocker with a larger than life chorus line in it!!!  "Nationwide" is faster, heavier and edgier with, again, a mind blowing chorus while "Hollywood", the latest one, is a classic H.E.A.T. tune, period!! 

"Tainted Blood" rocks in some more U.S. Hair Metal style while "Harder To Breathe" is yet another 'typical' Leckremo era song. A track that Kenny shows his amazing vocal skills. The 'punchier' "Not For Sale" reminds 80's Scandi melodic hard rock and bands such as Europe and TREAT while the power ballad of "One Of Us" is just great!!!  "Hold Your Fire", "Paramount" and the heavy (one of the heaviest tunes that H.E.A.T. ever wrote....) "Demon Eyes" are pure delight!!! The album closes with yet another 'classic' H.E.A.T track; "Wings Of An Aeroplane"! 

Bottom line is that H.E.A.T. strikes back with yet another inspired, ass-kickin' and in-your-face album that stands proudly next to every previous release of this incredible band. "Force Majeure" is a great record, well done!!! 

Songwritting : 10
Production : 10
Songs : 10
Musicianship : 10

Overall Rating : 10 / 10 

Sounds okay but at the same time I don't really find myself being very intrigued by it.

And that's a terrible band name IMO.

For me at the midway point:

1.  Kissin' Dynamite - Not The End of The Road

2.  Crashdiet - Automaton

3.  Def Leppard - Diamond Star Halos

4.  Degreed - Are You Ready

5.  Black Swan - Generation Mind

H.E.A.T, Shiraz Lane and Skid Row are probably the releases I'm most looking forward to in the second half of the year.  

Never really got into these guys.  I dug a few tunes back in the day like Another Rainy Night, Empire & Jet City Woman but that's about as far as I ever got with them.

This new song sounds okay but it'll be a pass for me.

Sounds like a nice, well done tune and all but just not my taste.....too light and mellow for my liking.

I find it hard to fathom that an autographed CD could have less value than an unsigned one.  

I've had plenty of signed CD's that I've sold and they always seem to fetch at least some sort of a premium depending on the band.  I mean, if it's a band that's not overly popular, people probably don't care much.  But if we're talking Def Leppard or something, I think it definitely adds to the value.

At the end of the day though, the best part of signed CD's is when you're at the show and got them signed in person.  They end up being a nice keepsake and memory and I still enjoy getting CD's signed when the opportunity presents itself.

On 6/18/2022 at 6:49 PM, Glen said:

surely a digipak is more expense?? It usually has more artwork, sometimes opens 2 ways and still has the standard booklet.

The plastic case is manufactured for peanuts, and then they just tuck the same booklet in it??? 

even though you might not like them I would say more effort and cost goes into a digipak

Agree.  I think I read somewhere that they're a little more costly to manufacture than traditional jewel cases which baffles me even more as to why labels use them.

On 6/19/2022 at 7:16 AM, nyoilers said:

A digipak is the same form and size as a standard CD Jewel Case, however it is made mostly from environmentally friendly board. The difference with a digipak is that the CD wallet/jacket has a plastic tray which the disc snaps into – overall it is a sturdier product. 

Yeah, I can see that they're more durable in the short term as they won't crack if you drop them.  But if I crack a CD case, it's easy enough to replace it and have a brand new CD again.  Once those digipak spines start cracking and showing wear though....or those corners get bent, it's over and there's no replacing it.

Granted, much of my disdain comes from the days when I was grabbing 3-4 CD's and chucking them in my car's glove compartment or something while I listened to them in the car.  I'm not doing that anymore so I'm sure digi's would hold up better for me.

Still don't like them though and there's been plenty of CD's I've skipped buying solely because they were a digipak.

For me that's probably better than most of the last album but I've just found myself turning lukewarm to these guys for some reason.  I guess there's just a lot of other bands I find myself liking way more than these guys so they don't end up exciting me much.

7 minutes ago, auslander said:

Personally I much prefer jewel cases over the often flimsy and easily damaged digipaks.

I pretty much refuse to buy digipaks.  I just mainly stream these days anyways so the CD's I do buy are more of just a collectible than anything else.  

I'd rather pay $30-$40 for a japan CD in a jewel case than $15-$20 for a crappy digipak.

For the most part, if a band label can't bother with jewel cases, then I can't bother with buying it.

On 6/15/2022 at 2:55 AM, Glen said:

that's about it. Leaning towards the 2nd record rather than the debut so it's not doing much for me 

Kind of where I'm at too.

Basically, sounds fine and the heaviness is cool but at the same time just not all that catchy and not sure it has much replay value for me.  And that's basically exactly how I ended up feeling about their second album.

I hate to say it knowing Ronnie's situation but I think part of my problem also might be that I'm just a bit saturated on his stuff.  I mean, there was plenty of Pretty Maids music, 2 solo albums recently, the 2 Nordic Union albums...and now another Nordic Union album. 

I'll definitely still check the album out though and I'm sure there will be some good stuff on it but it's not overly exciting me at the moment.  

I'm the oddball but for me the older stuff hasn't grabbed me for whatever reason so far. 

Really digging Automaton and have been enjoying Rust also so I guess maybe I just dig Keyes vocals or something.

Sounding good.  

Think I like this slightly less than Back to the Rhythm but still good.

14 hours ago, lecko said:

For me it is still to early for full review. I would say that the top songs here are not so good as the top 4-5 songs on self titled. But I think the less good songs here are more interesitng and demand more effort then the less good songs on prevoious one. But I just dont get reviews that say...Allison Kraus songs I just skip ? Back in the day when you waited months to buy just one LP or CD, there was no skipping. You listned to the songs you didnt like for days, weeks until you hopefully liked them more. So if you have an open mind and listen to song  like Lifeless, it has one of the more catchy pop choruses they wrote recently. I struggle more with piano ballads, not because of arrangments or piano but because they have not really memorale verses or choruses.I like rockers more, all are nice listen but almost nothin stands really special. Top tracks maybe Kick, and then From here to Eternity.

It's kind of the opposite for me lol.  I honestly struggle to pick 5 songs combined from their last 2 albums that I like as much as my top 5 songs here.  

My top 5 here are Take What You Want, Kick, SOS Emergency, Gimme A Kiss and Fire It Up.  I just really dig these tunes and they're exactly what I want from Def Leppard....just fun, catchy, melodic tunes with some Def Leppard sounding harmonies and guitars.....They all just work for me and really like all these songs.

On their last album, I had Dangerous and Wings of An Angel that I loved and that was it.  In fact, those are the only 2 songs that have survived into my playlists.  And from Sparkle, I have the Joe only version of Nine Lives and Tomorrow in my playlist currently.  I kind of like Go too but that's really about it. 

I'm struggling with the piano ballads mightily though for the same reasons as you.  I just basically find the songs boring and they're definitely missing something.  First of all, only need 1 piano ballad like that on an album.  And I wish they would've just expanded one of those songs into something like a November Rain from GNR where it sort of explodes a bit more.

As for the Krauss tunes, they just aren't for me.  It's not her that I don't care for as I think she sounds perfectly fine in the songs and she does add to the tunes.  But the arrangements are just too Country for me and turn me off almost immediately. There's decent tunes there but they both needed to be "rocked" up a bit with more electric stuff going on or something for me.

Overall, I'm enjoying the album though and IMO it still feels like some combination of the Slang, Euphoria and X albums to me.