gener8tr

Didn't they just release a new CD like 4 months ago or something? I used to REALLY love Ten back in 1996 - 1998 or so. I played the hell out of the first three CD's and especially Name Of The Rose... but they kinda lost after that. Too much of the same type of stuff, none of which was "radio-friendly," but rather long and arduous 9-minutes sagas. Can't say I'll be on-board with the new one for sure, but I'll certainly check-out the samples and see.

Love this one, and it got a LOT of play back in 2010. But to be honest, I didn't really like the follow-up... in fact, I disliked it enough that I didn't bother buying their latest release. For me they've just gone too "modern." The debut certainly sounded fresh, but it also sounded like it was made to please the target audience in which I and my cohorts reside. The new stuff... not so much.

For me it's Young, Wild & Free. So damn good and has 1986 written all over it. Like a metal'ed-up Glass Tiger. Terribly unfortunate that the original masters were destroyed and the half-baked back-up copies had to be used for production instead. I can only imagine how awesome this one could have been.

I'm an idiot... once again I left out one of the most important: WASP - Live In The Raw. Post-production futzing? Sure, but it's jus plain awesome anyway!

Def Leppard is the clear winner for me. I could talk about the awesomeness of this one all day, especially if I'm discussing it as though it was still 1987 and I was still 18 years old. Summer of '87 was one of the best three month stretches of my life (not just the Leppard disc). But I'll be damned if that Leatherwolf album isn't about as great a hard rock recording as ever laid to tape. Effing brilliant.

Strippers and a Black Beauty Les Paul... I'm in!

This would be such an awesome album if only someone else were singing. Full disclosure... I'm not a fan of female rock vocalists for the most part save for early Benatar... and even then it's Giraldo who steals the show for me.

I had high hopes for this one, but Rob's vocals start to irritate me after about the third track. Pick any one song, listen and leave... no problem. But it's tough getting through the entire album. Unlike our friend above, however, I could listen to Perry sing these same tracks every day for the rest of my life and never grow tired of them. Pretty much THE soundtrack to my youth.

I thought LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE was really good, and I'll certainly be all over this new one. I cannot for the life of me, however, understand why the Bros. would make such a line-in-the-sand statement as to say this will be their last rock album ever. Seems a bit calculated and "whoa is me."

They spoiled me with INDISCREET... 28 years later and I'm still waiting for Bon Jovi to write the next chapter of Tommy and Gina's lives, so I'm a bit stuck in the past and admittedly hard to please. Still, FM is never a bad thing. Love that driving riff in "Digging."

I'm getting into this one more and more with each and every spin. It's not Toto IV. Two totally different beasts. There are no big Casey Kasem Top-40 hits. No Rockline interviews. No goofing around on-set with Martha Quinn and no sold-out 20,000 seat arenas with Asia opening. But that's okay. XIV is more mature than IV. And while it would not have fit me at age 14 in 1982, it fits me very nicely in 2015.

Just not digging this one the way I'd hoped. Guess I throw on my State Cows debut... that will put a smile on my face for sure.

And while were talking Toto, anyone know if or where I can pick-up a copy of their 1982 Budokan show? Was it released on Laserdisc, VHS, Betamax?

...and I did purchase the Japanese CD pressing on ebay earlier today, so I do not feel even one bit bad having listened to the album on constant repeat via youtube this entire day. I'm really digging this one. It doesn't have the big MTV video nor the Circus Magazine photo-shoot, but if you like that smooth westcoast sound from yesteryear, you've come to the right place with this one.

As good as Toto IV?, Certainly not, but I will catgorically say for the record, this is the best, most consistent Toto record since 'The Seventh One'. I should re-phrase, Jez... So many bands now-a-days are claiming "This is like our follow-up to..." some 30+ years later... And as much as I'd like to believe it, it's simply not possible and I've sadly come to accept it. At least Jon Bon Jovi has admitted as much. Something along the lines of "I couldn't re-write Slippery When Wet again if I wanted to to. I was 25 years old back then; I was a different person and the world was a different place." Toto XIV is great on it's own and doesn't need to be classified as "The follow-up to Toto IV." 2015 is a LONG way from 1985.

But I dig the Westcoast AOR / Laid-Back sound on this one enough to order the Japanese pressing. Very AIRPLAY'ish, this one... and that's a really good thing!

... what I mean by that ("Not Toto V") is that this album would not have fit in 1984 / 1985. At least not the 1984 / 1985 as I remember it. Doesn't take away the fact that XIV is a very good 2015 release, however!

Whaaaaat?? You're killing me, Smalls...But I think I know what you're talking about. I admit, I probably spin III Sides more. This is by far the best release listed, still listen to this one to this day. One of the best discs ever produced seen them live in concert on this tour Nuno is a God on guitar. I would kill to see them perform this album. I saw them at M3 last year, but, because it was a festival, they didn't play their proper set. Even still, it was a bucket list moment for me. I saw them back in the day with Hardline supporting :-) I saw Hardline open for Mr. Big back in 1992 in Salem, Oregon. Awesome show start to finish (both bands).

Chinatown is a fabulous slice of Westcoast AOR and could have easily fit onto a Steely Dan album back in the day. But let's not fool ourselves, please. This is not Toto V.

I'm with Geoff on this one. Blue Tears is absolutely one of my top-ten desert island discs.

One of my absolute favorite years of all-time for music. I'll post my top-ten from 1983 another time after I give it serious consideration. It will actually be a bit difficult to whittle down to just ten. My freshman into sophomore year of high school, and boy did I buy a LOT of cassette tapes that year. And, luckily, saw a TON of live shows here in Portland, Oregon (and the short time I lived in San Diego), including Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Ozzy, Quiet Riot, Iron Maiden, Night Ranger, Black N' Blue and too many more to list right now. Thankfully I still have the majority of my original ticket stubs, so I probably could post them all if put to the test

Oh hell, BLUE TEARS is probably my favorite from 1990 even if I didn't discover it until sometime later that decade. Just an awesome collection of super-catchy, hook-laden tunes that were stolen from the cassette recorder Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora used to record their jam session with Joe Elliott and Phil Collen one late 1987 evening when the two bands happened upon the same hotel in the same town while criss-crossing the USA in support of Slippery When Wet and Hysteria. Yep, I easily love it that much!

I was never an overwhelming Twisted Sister fan, but naturally I purchased STAY HUNGRY on cassette tape back in 1984 and dug the ongoing saga of the MTV videos from that album back then. My own mortality is really being questioned as we continue to lose icons from my youth.

What a terrible week... http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6509316/twisted-sister-drummer-aj-pero-dead-55

Subjective opinions are very complex and impossible to discern. For example, Rolling Stone Magazine rated Kurt Cobain higher than Eddie Van Halen on their BEST GUITARISTS OF ALL-TIME list. Lets just say I haven't read a single line from that fish-wrap since.