Black N Blue Hell Yeah!

[LV KIX]

Picked up the new Black 'N Blue CD up at M3. I'm lovin' it... might end up as one of the best of 2011.

 

Should be released tomorrow.. Tuesday May 17th.

[Fat Freddy]

Looky here...one of the new album tracks has been YouTubed.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMMmLeB5CdU

 

Pretty cool. Gots a Def Leppard "Foolin'" kinda vibe to it, I think.

[Nightrain]

hm first impression, this album didn't do much for me, sure there are 3-4 killer tracks, but like warrant, there are loads of passable tracks there, and could be even more compared to Warrant, but let's see when I get back for a second or third spin

[Glen]

3or 4?? 1or2 you mean lol. I thought it was pretty drab to be honest.

[Captain Howdy]

I know there is always differing opinions on here of what is and isnt a good album/song/band, and what is and isnt filler, but it saddens me sometimes when the "name" bands from back in the day produce a new album, and the comments are generally either negative or lukewarm at best. It saddens me even more when the album is supposedly in their traditional style, and you cant blame a shift in music styles for why it sucks.

What have these guys lost when it comes to writing? They can obviously still perform, but for some reason they lack the ability to pull off great songs anymore.

 

Granted, we do still get some great albums from some of these guys like Ratt, Winger and D2 being good examples. Yes, they changed their sound on previous albums, which may not have appealed to some, but when they came back to their roots, they were able to pull of truly great albums.

I know the argument for Warrant will be that having Jani not writing the songs has let them down, which is certainly my take on it, but not all these bands can use an excuse like that if they still have the same primary song writers.

 

Some might say that the fire of youth spurned them in their glory days, but surely experience should now give them a better perspective of what makes a good song.

[Mullethead]

[Glen]

If I'm totally honest I doubt I will ever listen to this again - twice was already enough :-(

 

Just to many other GREAT releases about at the moment!!

[gener8tr]

FOOLS BLEED is good enough to have made ANY of the early albums (including the debut). The rest is just standard hard-rock filler in my opinion. Too bad, as I know they had better songwriting in them. I'm worried this may be the last hurrah from my hometown band (but hopefully not).

[Glen]

FOOLS BLEED is good enough to have made ANY of the early albums (including the debut). The rest is just standard hard-rock filler in my opinion. Too bad, as I know they had better songwriting in them. I'm worried this may be the last hurrah from my hometown band (but hopefully not).

 

backed...Fools Bleed is a really good track...most of the others I could take or leave.

[The Rocker]

I'm a big fan of the band, so I was hoping for it to be better than what it is. Not saying it's bad cause that's not the case. After hearing other releases this year it's in about the middle of the pack. Will give it more listening time.

[Mullethead]

I don't know that I will ever listen to this again...it's going to easily end up on my disappointment list for 2011.

[Geoff]

What have these guys lost when it comes to writing? They can obviously still perform, but for some reason they lack the ability to pull off great songs anymore.

I was listening to the new Bonfire CD on the weekend and I was thinking about this exact same thing; and if I can muster up something worthwhile, I was going to make a thread with regard to it. It baffles me to no end, what happens in these cases. In Bonfire's case I know they had outside writers for 'Point Blank' and 'Fireworks' and only two members of the band from back in the day still remain, but what happens to these guys??

 

Anyway, I'm probably not going to be as harsh on the new Black N' Blue as other are. I've only heard it a couple of times and whilst I agree it's nothing great, I don't think it's too bad... I thought it sounded like a pretty decent follow-up to 'In Heat.' More listening required, though. This one, Warrant and King Kobra all need to sink in a lot more for me. Definitely no instant hits in this lot, though the King Kobra may just be a decent grower.

[heaven&hell]

What have these guys lost when it comes to writing? They can obviously still perform, but for some reason they lack the ability to pull off great songs anymore.

I was listening to the new Bonfire CD on the weekend and I was thinking about this exact same thing; and if I can muster up something worthwhile, I was going to make a thread with regard to it. It baffles me to no end, what happens in these cases. In Bonfire's case I know they had outside writers for 'Point Blank' and 'Fireworks' and only two members of the band from back in the day still remain, but what happens to these guys??

 

Anyway, I'm probably not going to be as harsh on the new Black N' Blue as other are. I've only heard it a couple of times and whilst I agree it's nothing great, I don't think it's too bad... I thought it sounded like a pretty decent follow-up to 'In Heat.' More listening required, though. This one, Warrant and King Kobra all need to sink in a lot more for me. Definitely no instant hits in this lot, though the King Kobra may just be a decent grower.

 

I know I'm not alone but the King Kobra for me is f'ing awesome and Shortino sounds amazing and I love every song on that disc.

 

The Warrant is solid but is kind of a let down but if I don't think of it as a Warrant album is pretty good but not great.

 

I've waiting for the BNB and should have it tomorrow.

[gener8tr]

As far as songwriting goes...

 

I remember reading an interview with Jon Bon Jovi sometime back (maybe a decade ago, actually) and he was asked this same question almost word-for-word regarding their latest release versus Slippery When Wet.

 

His response was something along the line of "We were 22 years old when we wrote that album. It's a different world and we're different people now. We couldn't write that album again no matter how hard we tried."

 

At the time I was pissed, thought of him as a liar, etc., etc., etc. But the more I think about it, the more I think it's true. Obviously those words stuck with me because 10 years later I still remember the interview, and think of it EVERY SINGLE TIME I'm disappointed with a new album from one of my favorite bands of yesteryear.

 

Yeah, I think Jon is right... it's simply not the same anymore.

[Fat Freddy]

Sheesh. Tough room.

 

Anybody who hates this CD and wants to trade their copy, give me a holler. I just posted my current tradeables earlier today.

[Dead Planet]

I certainly hope this isn't as bad as some think as I thought the samples were decent and I plan to pick it up.... personally I'm not a huge fan of the bands old stuff although I really need to pick up their previous releases on CD since I haven't cranked their music for quite some time, all I care about is if it is a good rocking release...if it has poor production I will be disappointed...

[heaven&hell]

I just got mine today and I'm on my first spin through.

My first thoughts are it's not as bad as some reviews and rocks a little harder than some of the old stuff. There's some really good songs and some songs that are just okay. Production is good and artwork is good. This isn't near as good as the other four releases but I didn't expect it to considering Tommy is not involved and it's 23 years later. So it's good but not great but I'm sure it will grow and IMO it sounds more like Freight Train Jane than Black N Blue(not that that's a bad thing FTJ kicked ass) but there's not enough great songs IMO.

[Mullethead]

I just got mine today and I'm on my first spin through.

My first thoughts are it's not as bad as some reviews and rocks a little harder than some of the old stuff. There's some really good songs and some songs that are just okay. Production is good and artwork is good. This isn't near as good as the other four releases but I didn't expect it to considering Tommy is not involved and it's 23 years later. So it's good but not great but I'm sure it will grow and IMO it sounds more like Freight Train Jane than Black N Blue(not that that's a bad thing FTJ kicked ass) but there's not enough great songs IMO.

 

 

 

FTJ>>>>>>>>>Hell Yeah

[Captain Howdy]

As far as songwriting goes...

 

I remember reading an interview with Jon Bon Jovi sometime back (maybe a decade ago, actually) and he was asked this same question almost word-for-word regarding their latest release versus Slippery When Wet.

 

His response was something along the line of "We were 22 years old when we wrote that album. It's a different world and we're different people now. We couldn't write that album again no matter how hard we tried."

 

At the time I was pissed, thought of him as a liar, etc., etc., etc. But the more I think about it, the more I think it's true. Obviously those words stuck with me because 10 years later I still remember the interview, and think of it EVERY SINGLE TIME I'm disappointed with a new album from one of my favorite bands of yesteryear.

 

Yeah, I think Jon is right... it's simply not the same anymore.

But then there are bands from exactly the same era producing stuff that might be lyrically more mature and might have an updated sound, but sounds as good as anything from back in the day (the last Winger and Ratt spring to mind).

I can fully understand that bands cant write the same teen love/rock n roll lyrics that they did when they were close to that age, but age doesnt stop a band writing good songs.

Bon Jovi, might annoy people with their style change, but Jon still knows how to write good lyrics, some bands just dont seem to have that.

[Mullethead]

As far as songwriting goes...

 

I remember reading an interview with Jon Bon Jovi sometime back (maybe a decade ago, actually) and he was asked this same question almost word-for-word regarding their latest release versus Slippery When Wet.

 

His response was something along the line of "We were 22 years old when we wrote that album. It's a different world and we're different people now. We couldn't write that album again no matter how hard we tried."

 

At the time I was pissed, thought of him as a liar, etc., etc., etc. But the more I think about it, the more I think it's true. Obviously those words stuck with me because 10 years later I still remember the interview, and think of it EVERY SINGLE TIME I'm disappointed with a new album from one of my favorite bands of yesteryear.

 

Yeah, I think Jon is right... it's simply not the same anymore.

But then there are bands from exactly the same era producing stuff that might be lyrically more mature and might have an updated sound, but sounds as good as anything from back in the day (the last Winger and Ratt spring to mind).

I can fully understand that bands cant write the same teen love/rock n roll lyrics that they did when they were close to that age, but age doesnt stop a band writing good songs.

Bon Jovi, might annoy people with their style change, but Jon still knows how to write good lyrics, some bands just dont seem to have that.

 

 

Exactly!

 

What about Tesla, Motley Crue, Danger Danger? All putting out quality releases. Hell, not even just quality. I can put up an arguement with anyone that Tesla's last record is as good as anything else they have released. Different, yes...but awesome! D2 is the same...Revolve was maybe the best cd that came out that year and it can be argued that it's one of the best releases.

 

That's my issue with this album from BNB. How many years was it written over? You would think they might have recorded something half way memorable. For the people on here that are saying it's a "good" release, do you think you will actually be listening to this cd a year from now?

 

No, you won't.

[heaven&hell]

I just got mine today and I'm on my first spin through.

My first thoughts are it's not as bad as some reviews and rocks a little harder than some of the old stuff. There's some really good songs and some songs that are just okay. Production is good and artwork is good. This isn't near as good as the other four releases but I didn't expect it to considering Tommy is not involved and it's 23 years later. So it's good but not great but I'm sure it will grow and IMO it sounds more like Freight Train Jane than Black N Blue(not that that's a bad thing FTJ kicked ass) but there's not enough great songs IMO.

 

 

 

FTJ>>>>>>>>>Hell Yeah

 

Couldn't agree more but all I was saying was that it's not as bad as some have said but I will say the lyrics are horrible IMO. At least the production is good and there are maybe four or five tunes I call pretty good but not sure any of them outside of the title track or Fools Bleed that would have any chance of taking the place of any of the tracks on their 20 track Ultimate Collection.

[heaven&hell]

As far as songwriting goes...

 

I remember reading an interview with Jon Bon Jovi sometime back (maybe a decade ago, actually) and he was asked this same question almost word-for-word regarding their latest release versus Slippery When Wet.

 

His response was something along the line of "We were 22 years old when we wrote that album. It's a different world and we're different people now. We couldn't write that album again no matter how hard we tried."

 

At the time I was pissed, thought of him as a liar, etc., etc., etc. But the more I think about it, the more I think it's true. Obviously those words stuck with me because 10 years later I still remember the interview, and think of it EVERY SINGLE TIME I'm disappointed with a new album from one of my favorite bands of yesteryear.

 

Yeah, I think Jon is right... it's simply not the same anymore.

But then there are bands from exactly the same era producing stuff that might be lyrically more mature and might have an updated sound, but sounds as good as anything from back in the day (the last Winger and Ratt spring to mind).

I can fully understand that bands cant write the same teen love/rock n roll lyrics that they did when they were close to that age, but age doesnt stop a band writing good songs.

Bon Jovi, might annoy people with their style change, but Jon still knows how to write good lyrics, some bands just dont seem to have that.

 

 

Exactly!

 

What about Tesla, Motley Crue, Danger Danger? All putting out quality releases. Hell, not even just quality. I can put up an arguement with anyone that Tesla's last record is as good as anything else they have released. Different, yes...but awesome! D2 is the same...Revolve was maybe the best cd that came out that year and it can be argued that it's one of the best releases.

 

That's my issue with this album from BNB. How many years was it written over? You would think they might have recorded something half way memorable. For the people on here that are saying it's a "good" release, do you think you will actually be listening to this cd a year from now?

 

No, you won't.

 

I agree with all of those bands Jarred. The last Motley was awesome and the last two Tesla's have been great and IMO they've been able to mix the new with the old as good as anyone. The D2 is amazing. And you're prob right about not playing the BNB a year from now and maybe not a month from now. It's not horrible but it's no memorable. I will say that I've pulled a 180 on the new Warrant and now I love it. Sure it don't sound exactly like Warrant and there's maybe 2-3 fillers but damn if there's not at least 6-7 songs I'd call great and Mason sounds awesome and when it comes down to it ROCKS, and that's all I can ask for.

[melodicrockoz]

Has anyone picked up the Japanese pressing with 2 bonus traxx? If so do they make the album any better.

IMHO, this BNB disc is good, not brilliant & as it hasn't met my expectations it's a tad disssapointing.

[Mullethead]

Has anyone picked up the Japanese pressing with 2 bonus traxx? If so do they make the album any better.

IMHO, this BNB disc is good, not brilliant & as it hasn't met my expectations it's a tad disssapointing.

 

 

The version I saw only had one and I heard it. It's bad also...

[AlphaMale]

One spin through and I'm not all that impressed.