tts42572

Agree with Glenn in that a couple standout singles in 2019 are from 2020 releases as H.e.a.t in particular released two great songs that would be in my top songs of 2019. 

I always have a tough time listing my favorite songs and ranking them is even tougher.  I'd say my ten favorites in no particular order (from albums released in 2019) might be:

Pretty Maids - Will You Still Kiss Me/Firesoul Fly/Undress Your Madness

Degreed - Summer of Love

Crazy Lixx - Silent Thunder/It's You

Defiants - Hollywood In Headlights/Fallin' For You/Standing On The Edge

Roxy Blue - Collide

On 1/5/2020 at 12:29 PM, Crazysam said:

I am a big fan of the H&D album as well.  And I used to think the same as far as Collen vs. Willis.  Then later on I thought about Collen coming from Girl and Willis returning to the scene with a very polished, more AOR style band like Roadhouse.  Not to mention Vivan's input starting with Slang and him writing much mellower music than he played with Dio.  The change in guitarists over the years understandably shaped their overall sound.  But I think going in a more commercial direction was more of a decision made as a band especially after Mutt Lange got involved and they realized the success that could be achieved.

Agree.  I really feel like this band shake down two ways....Pre and Post Mutt.  And I'm sure Steve Clark played a big role too.  There's no denying though that they lost something in terms of creating music after the early 90's.  They've still had some good tunes from Slang and forward but they're a little bit all over the place.      

These guys were far and away my favorite band in my youth though and I'd probably still list them as my favorite band even though H.e.a.t is probably making my favorite music right now.  As for my top 10 songs, not sure on the order but the ones popping in my head are:

Animal

Photograph

Let It Go

Rock Of Ages

Bringin On The Hearbreak

Hysteria

Pour Some Sugar On Me

Armageddon It

Stagefright

Women

No surprise that all 10 are from HND, Pyromania and Hysteria.   

Interesting question....

I'd say for me that my band of the decade is H.e.a.t.  They've just been on another level for me and they really were responsible for heightening my interest in the European bands.

I'm not sure what my top 10 albums are but H.e.a.t would probably have the top 2 with Tearing Down the Walls and Address The Nation.

The rest of my top 10 would be some combination of albums from Crazy Lixx, Midnite City, Pretty Maids,  Eclipse and the Defiants.  These bands have all basically had my top 1 or 2 albums yearly over the past 8-10 years so they'd surely make up my top 10 of the decade. 

So what do you guys have for your top albums of 2019?  Top 5, 10 or whatever

For me the year got off to a real slow start for my tastes.  It picked up in the last few months of the year though.  

1)  Pretty Maids - Undress Your Madness:  I was late to the party on these guys so maybe there stuff still sounds fresher to me for that reason.  But for me this one sounds fantastic and is very melodic.  I'd say Will You Still Kiss Me (If I See You In Heaven) might be my favorite song this year.

2)  Crazy Lixx - Forever Wild:  This was my #1 for most of the year.  Awesome album, catchy and melodic as heck.  Really dig what these guys have done on their past couple albums.

3)  Defiants - Zokusho:  Excellent follow up to their debut album that was my #1 album in 2015.  Love the first 5 tracks but loses just a little steam for me in the second half in a couple spots, especially with the last song Drink Up which for me is the worst song they've recorded.  Still excellent overall though.

4) Crashdiet - Rust:  Never been huge into these guys but I dig this album.  Maybe I just clicked with the new singer.  Fav tunes probably Idiots, Into the Maze and Parasite.  

5)  Eclipse - Paradigm:  For me this album is clearly behind the past few albums this band has put out but I still like it for what it is.  I do wish they'd expand their horizons a bit more.

6)  Degreed - Lost Generation:  Solid album top to bottom except for the Blue Virgin Isles cover tune.  Think I like this one a little better than their last album (which was still good).

7)  Station - Stained Glass:  Have been a big fan of these guys and they do some good stuff.  But they need to tone down the ballads as it's killing the tempo of this and their last album.    

8)  Tesla - Shock:  Another I know many disliked and agree there are a few head scratchers here.  There's a handful of tunes I like though and like how melodic it is.  And for me Tesla had gotten pretty stale on their last couple albums so I welcomed something a little different. 

9)  Roxy Blue - S/T:  Yeah, I know this is probably the one that isn't like the others and know many didn't like it.  For some reason I did though.  Probably mostly because when it came out I was hungry for something new to listen to and I loved their debut and really wanted to like this.  It's pretty modern sounding but still rocks in a different way.  Favorite tune on it is probably Collide.

10)  Nitrate - Open Wide:  Pretty good album and probably like it better than the debut.  For some reason though it just didn't stick with me very much or get much replay this year.

Will be interested to see others lists to maybe dig a little deeper at stuff I missed or didn't give enough of a chance.

On 12/14/2019 at 6:52 AM, Geoff said:

Killer tune, but a pretty shit clip if truth be told. 

I feel a bit sorry for this band/album. They've released a good product which has been pretty harshly assessed based on it not meeting some very high expectations. But there's still some awesome stuff on this thing. 

Feel the same.  If this were a brand new band and a debut album, we'd probably be salivating.

I do get it....I wish they'd push their boundaries a bit more.  I think Erik has the kind of voice that always sorta sounds the same so they really need to get creative with song structures, riffs, hooks, harmonies, etc in order to change things up.

Still pretty good and I have it slotted in my #4 spot in this fairly down year for my tastes.

Sorry...But not doing anything for me.  Just not my tastes I guess.

5 minutes ago, Crazysam said:

Haha!  ok, fair enough, I'll take the opposite approach, of the band's scheduled to perform I would prefer to listen to my favorite album from Crazy Lixx over what I'd consider the best albums from Little Caesar, Slaughter and Doro

Again, don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of several newer bands, but when we're talking preference of listening to album's of band's in their prime, I'd usually select ones by bands from the 80's & early 90's.  

 

Yeah...Personal preference is obviously at play.....Obviously not talking about the headliners like Tesla, Ratt, NR.

But for me (And I know I'm probably in the minority) I'd take H.e.a.t, CL and Eclipse over jsut about everybody else on that ballot.  

I mean, the way I look at it is....If H.e.a.t and Heaven's Edge were playing in the same building and you could only go to one show, which would you go to?  I'd be going to H.e.a.t and it's not even close.  I'd answer that question the same for most bands on this bill.  And if I go to my CD shelf, I pull out H.e.a.t or Crazy Lixx to listen to WAY more than I'm pulling out Dangerous Toys, Slaughter, Kix, Tyketto, etc.

And with bands like Accept, Doro, Bang Tango, Little Caesar, Faster Pussycat, Y&T, Steelheart, Killer Dwarfs...I can't even pull a CD off the shelf because I never liked them enough to buy one

Like you said though, it's really all personal preference and what you like.  

2 hours ago, AlphaMale said:

My best friend is that way. Huge lover of 80's hard rock and metal. But he has no clue about any band after 1992, except for.... you guessed it Glen..... Greta Van Fleet.

 

I couldn't even tell you who Greta Van Fleet is.  

Maybe like the Struts?  I hear them tossed around as being current rock and checked them out awhile back....They are NOTHING like H.e.a.t, Crazy Lixx, etc.

10 hours ago, AlphaMale said:

Problem is the people coming for the classic bands probably have no idea who HEAT or Crazy Lixx is.

Might be true.

People can't like what they don't know about though.  I'd bet that if you put H.e.a.t or Crazy Lixx in front of those fans that there would be many walking away impressed with them.  There's just no way you can't if you're a fan of this genre and style of music.

It's just a shame.  H.e.a.t and Crazy Lixx are putting out better new music than any band on that bill and it's not even close. Heck, I'd go so far as to say the music they're putting out is probably way better than most of these bands ever even did in their primes.

I almost feel bad for people that have no idea what they're missing.

Okay lineup but I won't be making the 5 hour drive to it.

Not to mention I'm already seeing most of these bands on the Monster Of Rock Cruise.  I think the only real interesting band I haven't seen or won't be seeing on the cruise is Dangerous Toys.

I still wish this festival would consider adding in 2-3 newer type acts like Crazy Lixx, H.e.a.t, Eclipse, etc, etc.  It just gets old seeing 90% of the bands on this bill being the same bands every year.  Eventually this festival is going to die as there won't be any bands to play it.  I think these newer bands would go over well if put in front of that audience when they see these bands are blowing those old bands away.

I like what the MORC is doing by working in some newer bands, Europeans bands, etc.  They've got a nice mix of new and old on the next cruise and can't wait to be there.

90 second samples of all songs up on I Tunes.  Specifically I found on I Tunes Sweden.

All I can say is Wow.  Definitely some combination of their first 4 albums all mashed together to my ears.  I'm not hearing much at all here, if anything at all that reminds me of Into The Great Unknown.  I'd probably say Address The Nation is the best starting point for a comparison if I had to pick.  Mostly just some kick ass AOR melodic hard rock if that makes any sense lol. 

Either way, definitely digging what I'm hearing.

1 hour ago, Glen said:

good God 

First review I've seen of the new H.e.a.t album.  It's in Spanish so google translate is a little spotty, but can still get the gist of it.  Sounding pretty good 

https://viriaor.wordpress.com/2019/11/28/h-e-a-t-ii-2020-gain-music-review/

When you have done preterite work full of quality and talent you always have the hope that one day you will recover the brightness of then. Examples are hundreds, not always fairies reach the brain in time when composing music. But this time, and we are in luck ... if they have. An army of fairies that could pale the hordes of the army of white walkers of Game of Thrones, have locked themselves together with Dalone, Jona Tee or Erik Grönwall to compose a disc that is finally at the height expected of a group that took his first three albums at a dazzling height and his last two clearly lower.

I will not make blood for it, I just clarify it because many people who like me were disappointed, just tell them that when they hear this new rebirth called, HEAT II will simply hallucinate. Because again they have decided to return to the melodic paths that they rightly trodden and they have done it with tremendously well composed songs, performed and executed from the most absolute perfection. They are a sample of what they can get to give, how much they know about this style of Rock and that since their sixth studio album, they already have enough seniority to get a record crammed with hits and potential singles. It is difficult to choose a single theme.

From the crushing sound of Dave Dalone to the guitars, to a few keyboards of Jona Tee wisely integrated into each theme, now yes, Erik shines at an extraordinary height, where the power of his choruses full of energy and compositional talent gives the album A taste of the usual melodic rock.

When you first hear the Rock your body keyboards together with the firepower that covers Dalone's guitar, you're just going to freak out. Erik dominates the scene like no other, a simple but catchy refrain that enters almost to the first. The thing is that the thing does not stop moving, something is always happening on the subject. Dalone making excesses, the keys decorating everything like a huge musical mosaic, and Erik's voice covering the entire landscape with snow. The bass and the drums are secondary actors but with firm hand bearing the instrumental weight. One of those that Dave is marked when he is angry, full of class and difficulty.

And without time to catch breath, we get a tremendous march Dangerous ground with a beastly guitar and choirs that reminds me of the best bands of the genre. Much more melodic than I expected but with a devastating firepower. This live has to sound fable, an authentic ode to talent that can be demonstrated by the best Nightranger , and I assure you that I do not exaggerate anything. Hence my face of amazement ... of real amazement at the great song they just showed me. And not happy with these unimaginable levels of high-level talent, they mark Come Clean , another sign that at the time of composing this album something has had to happen to them ... they have also abducted them, perhaps OdinHe has sent his mythological warriors with his famous sacred scrolls endowed with infinite wisdom, because if not, I do not understand. This is available to few people, because to compose with this level of quality we must visit certain scholars who proclaim in the caves of the Dead Sea the knowledge that give rise to the wisdom of life. It is of a quality that this song will leave in diapers almost everything you have heard throughout this year, saving the unbeatable album of Work of Art. It causes me such intense sensations, that I have a sweaty forehead, something like if I had been doing 100 push-ups Marine style of the Seals brushing the mud of the puddles with the tip of the nose.Image result of HEAT "II"

I recognize that he has not given me time to recover when Victory explodes before my nose , a catchy melodic Hard song that causes me to devote my most absolute attention. The things that happen around me are unimportant because I am listening to one of the best songs that I remember this band. Erik who was never too appreciated for my personal hobby that is surely just that, a stupid hobby, is absolutely brilliant. Sing at a stratospheric level, it is certainly at the level of the band, Jona Tee is marked a tremendous keyboard solo to which Dalone responds as only the best know how to do. Sometimes the theme seems more Central European metal but the melody load that carries the theme sweeps everything around it.

We are gods has a beginning of the best Whitesnake of 1987, although here I have to say that to reach such levels, many cereals must still be eaten for breakfast. But I have to admit that the subject is an overwhelming exhibition of continued talent that perhaps sinns too much in some parts with much more power than the subject needs. Even so, it is surprising the evolution (for the better) that Erik has experienced in how he sings today, and what this boy has learned. AdrenalineIt is the clear example of how well the title in question comes to what the subject releases. Because listening to this song, an example of pure melodic talent, will cause an adrenaline rush in your brain that I recommend you do not hear when you are driving, or you will run the risk of accelerating too much how you get carried away by the euphoria that causes listening to this song Overflowing with infinite quality. It is incredible that in what we have of disc the issue has not yet reached the cognazo that almost all the discs have.

I've been sweating for a while because this is an unexpected enjoyment, a shake all over my body because it is impossible to stop enjoying this high tech product. You will think that it is already well, there are too many dangerously good subjects followed so that these people continue to harm our brain by an excess of endorphins watering so continuously your hypothalamus. And these people absolutely insensitively, have decided to continue punishing us with One by onewhich is my lords, the great song of the night ... is a crushing discharge with tons of talent brought from beyond what our imagination might suspect. It's so fucking good that you can't hear just once. It happened to me that it was to finish listening to it, and put it back on ... and so on up to 6 times. A true musical portent comes to see us gentlemen, and I hope you are sufficiently prepared or your heart may not be able to withstand so much pleasure so continuously. Even the guitar solo is simply overwhelming. Dalone was always good, but he managed to get to possess the power of the Jedi. Simply immense. Like Erik who has tamed his excellent vocal faculties until he sang in an impressive way.

Nothing to say is that part-time with which to hug that beloved person and travel to those moments of past happiness that are still there, in some corner of your memories stored in a trunk hidden by some part of your brain. An excellent song majestically sung and that surely will cause some pinch of satisfaction when you get to hear it because it is a really beautiful song.

Heaven must have won an angel makes me wonder how the hell they have done it. But how is this possible? It is not reasonable for me that suddenly these boys have managed to compose with these quality levels without having sold their soul to the devil. It seems to me simply the perfect subject, this gentlemen is pure AOR but not AOR of those easy-going gangs already buried and buried by the sands of time. This is something else. We are again facing a huge theme, another work of art that cannot be composed from human wisdom. Here I am sure that the divine forces have intervened because we are facing a precious issue, everyone will like, even that army of Hatersthat abound so much in the world of music. I think it's a real discovery. A great theme for an album that clashes directly with perfection.

As is Under the gun , another explosion of melodic sound with colossal choruses and a crushing sound of good Rock. I can not explain it only with words, the theme is a real musical orgy, all naked to enjoy an afternoon endowed with the erotic of good music. By the way, the guitar solo is another example of absolute power. And the absolutely bright keys. I can not stop hearing this album, but I begin to suspect that this may become like a drug ... I see myself with a disheveled, sweaty expression, a lost look and enjoying theme after theme that raises my passion to hard to understand limits .

To finish fucking it, the album ends with another colossal expression of compositional power called Rise, an overwhelming great song that already from the beginning of the keys you begin to suspect that something big is coming ... until suddenly that sound of guitar, voice, and the rest of the members that devastate everything in its path appear. It is so spectacular that you simply cannot believe that you are facing such an extraordinary overexposure of melodic quality. The theme is so good, with choirs around here, over there, that damn guitar that takes you completely out of your comfort zone, and takes your cerebellum to the limit of pleasant suffering that can provide you with such good songs. This is like having a continuous orgasm of about 45 minutes that this fucking melodic masterpiece of this century lasts.

Listening to this album many times cannot be healthy. It is so shocking that it will take your brain to the limit, so much pleasure together is impossible to process properly. Frankly I am overwhelmed because I did not expect this. These guys are too good, I knew they could mess it up, what I did not expect is that it was possibly the best album not this year, since it comes out in February, but what goes on this century ... but it is simply impossible to process in the breadth that this album deserves because they have long exceeded my expectations.

I can not stop listening to it from the moment it has fallen into my hands and I, I assure you, have more important things to do in my life ... what happens is that for now I can not stop doing it ... I hope it does not reach you catch you this way ... who knows ... For me they deserved the perfect grade. It does not have a filling theme, a true miracle in the times. What is certain is that it will be one of the best albums you will hear in a long time, and that gentlemen ... is already a privilege.

100%

Official info.  All looking good except the DIGIPAK   I despise those things.  Looks like I'll be ordering from Japan as they usually still do jewel cases there.  Probably will be some good bonus track I'll want anyways.

http://melodicrock.com/articles/news-feed/2019/11/27/heat-ii-out-february-21?fbclid=IwAR2cSII85iFxsqQmEiQWNL3LtjGZfl_pxamLvuRSs2iKI-bqcFsJhe_3QA0

1 hour ago, lettard said:

Wondering why a delay of a month though...I mean everything is all finished up for the release isn't it? Obviously not 

Yeah....I saw a post just last week that mixing/mastering was done.

Not sure why the delay....maybe the label pushed them back or something.  

Probably will see a single in early/mid January and then another in February around the album release I'd guess.

I was hoping it would be out before the Monster of Rock Cruise but should hopefully still get to hear a couple new songs on the ship

Saw on FB somewhere that the new album release date might now be Feb 21, 2020.  Don't quote me on it though.

Also saw the next single should be out in January called "Come Clean".

And unofficial tracklist for the album:

1.  Rock Your Body

2.  Dangerous Ground

3.  Come Clean

4.  Victory

5.  We Are Gods

6.  Adrenaline

7.  One By One

8.  Nothing to Say

9.  Heaven Must Have Won an Angel

10. Under The Gun

11. Rise

Looking forward to this but proceeding with caution being that they have a new singer.

Music sounding good...vocals will be the key for me.

36 minutes ago, Glen said:

regret to say this isn't holding up well to repeat spins.

not sure if it's the album or Maids in general. 

I'm struggling with Atkins tbh. he sounds so strained these days. Makes for a tiring listen. 

Really?  I think it's the opposite for me....Loving it more with each listen.  Even starting to dig If You Want Peace and Slave Driver when I didn't care for those much initially.  

Again though, being so late to Pretty Maids this almost feels like their 4th album to me so maybe I'm not so worn out on them of have quite the same basis of comparison.

For me it's between this or Crazy Lixx for my #1 spot this year with Defiants very close behind in third.  It's really splitting hairs though....Love all 3 of these.

1 minute ago, PeterS said:

I didn't see the show but all my friends who went to see Leppard this year said they were still good. Unlike Bon Jovi who headlined and were dreadful.



 

I do feel like Leppard is still sounding great and putting on excellent shows.  The only problem is how uninspired their setlists are outside of their Vegas shows.  It's tough getting excited about a 15 song setlist that will be 13 of the same songs they play on every tour.

As for Crue, I saw them on their last tour and they were downright horrible.  It's a shame as I was a big fan of them back in the day and they always put on fantastic shows.  These days though, Vince holds the mic to the crowd for the crowd to sing every other line while Mick Mars looks like a hologram statue off to the side.  It's pretty painful to watch outside of the girl dancers.

As for Poison, they're still pretty good but again the setlist is boring as can be and they'll play the same 8 songs with CC's guitar solo and Rikki's drum solos.  Their act never changes and we know they don't have any new songs to bring to the table.

15 years ago this would've been a great bill but I have little desire to see this now.  I'd rather take that money and travel to see new bands that are making good new music.  And that's coming from a big Leppard fan lol.

Digging this tune.  Has about a 1 min 40 sec intro included here that is separate on the album.

Listening today....pretty good.  

Couple annoying moments with the Intro and Interlude....both kinda pointless.  The Interlude is more annoying to me as it just breaks up things that are flowing along well.  So it's really a 10 track album.  And for me Blue Virgin Isles is horribly boring...So for me it's really a 9 track album.

The rest is all pretty solid though.  It starts out kinda with the heavy side of Degreed and seems to get more commercial as it goes along.  

Initially, I think my early standouts are Lost Generation, Summer Of Love and Body Of Work.  Lost Generation is a pretty melodic type rocker, Summer of Love kind of a throwback mild melodic rocker and Body of Work just feels like typical Degreed with poppy and heavy elements blended together.

Overall, feels maybe a bit more commercial than their previous efforts and can't say it's overly blowing me away.  At the same time though still good and some worthy additions to their catalog.

8 minutes ago, Glen said:

work of art, first signal, find me, ?? 

Seem like good releases but TBH none of those have seemed to do much for me.  I kinda view them all as kind of lighter AOR that just doesn't seem to really grab me.  I need a little edge in my AOR....Kinda like Defiants, H.e.a.t, etc. 

Work of Art I've tried multiple times and just don't care for at all.

Haven't looked overly close at the other two although I know I sampled the singles when they came out and didn't care for them enough to go much farther.  Maybe I'll revisit.

Been giving this a little thought....Think my top 5 is pretty strong but the next 5 are all just pretty average releases that probably wouldn't even make my top 10 in some other years.

Not sure on the order of my top 3 yet but will be Crazy Lixx, Defiants and Pretty Maids in some order.  Then likely Eclipse and Degreed rounding out the top 5.

Next 5 in some order are probably Station, Nitrate, Roxy Blue, Tesla and Saints of Sin.  I still might try to go back and check out some stuff I've missed from this year though so this "next 5" could easily change. 

56 minutes ago, Crazysam said:

I think that's a really good point and one you and a few others had mentioned recently regarding Erik having too many projects going on at once.  Not only might he be using some good song ideas for other bands, but some of the melodies and song structures that sounded great started sounding too similar to prior material and losing some of the appeal they had before when the ideas were fresh.  I recall a similar situation with Desmond Child during the late eighties.  He co-wrote and a produced a lot of great material for a lot of different artists. But after awhile the well started to run a bit dry.  Some of those melodies and lyric/song ideas that I thought were great a few years prior were being recycled and just didn't grab me as much.

Yeah, I think that's really it.  I mean, if Paradigm were their first album and they were a new band, we'd probably all be salivating over it.

But we've now had all these Eclipse albums, 3 W.e.t album , 2 Nordic Unions albums, Ammunition and whatever else Erik works with.   It's all starting to kind sound like run of the mill stuff. 

I can't blame him as he's just trying to make a buck and do what he loves doing.  But it's also turning into a bit of oversaturation.

If it were up to me I'd say just stick with Eclipse and W.e.t and use other free time just producing/mixing for other bands.  No arguing he's a talented dude and quite an artist.  I couldn't even come up with one good album of material lol.

4 hours ago, CureTheSane said:

Just finished reading the comments here after the release and I'm surpised t all the negativity towards this.
I've heard it a couple of times and am underwhelmed, but I expected to be one of only a few who felt that way.

For me, a good albumis one with 3 or more great songs, great album has 5 or 6, and an exceptional abum has 8+
Probably be accused of having low standards, but all I ever really look for are the killer tracks.

I'm hoping to pick up 3 or 4 off this album, which I will slot into my best of folder and the other tracks will likely never be heard again.

I do like it well enough but updated my car USB last night and grabbed 6 songs from this (Viva, Mary Leigh, United, When The Winter Ends, Delirious and The Masquerade).  The rest is okay and easy enough to listen to but doesn't really overly grab me.  

I'm not sure really even what they can do to improve.  Mostly just stop wasting good songs on other projects.  As much as I liked Nordic Union's debut, I think that's the project that should be stopped.  Quite a few songs used there that would've made good Eclipse tunes and with how melodic Pretty Maids has become they're doing it better.