First Spin Impressions

[Jez]

I had the same problem with the second album initially, but certainly not with 'Stereo Messiah' .Loads of great songs, hooks and the best production of the 3 as well. Excellent disc

[Glen]

2 listens in. Like the album a lot, but I still struggle to remember any hooks.

[AlphaMale]

I love the new Vega. Very good stuff!

[Glen]

Crazy Lizz - s/t

 

Definitely back to the 'New Religion' sound which will please most fans - personally I didnt mind the sound on Riot Avenue and found the whole album to be killer. The first half of this album is excellent especially the triple punch of 'Girls of the 80s', 'I Missed The Mark' and 'All Looks No Hooks' which could have been lifted straight off New Religion....in fact some of the choruses and backing vox are scarily like New Religion....sounding very familiar indeed in some places ;-) The second half doesnt wear as well imo - Aint No Rest is a bit basic, Heroes is a pointless re-record (albeit still a very good song) and the last 2 whilst really rocking dont quite have the hooks of the first half. All in all a great effort and looking forward to more spins.....top 5 could be a push tho.

 

Age Sten Nilson's Ammunition - Shanghaied

 

When I heard the lead off track, I was a tad worried, as it's a bit basic and throw away to be honest. Thankfully out of the following 12 tracks there's only really one or two which dip below the standard of excellent. Stylewise its like a cross of Wig Wam, Eclipse with a bit of Gotthard thrown in for good measure. The songs vary from classic hard rock through to Wig Wamish sounding melodic rock. Age sounds awesome on vox, the production is superb....great drum sound, and sonically great. Yeah I really like this one.....the last 4 songs in particular (inc the Jap bonus) are killer.

[glam_junkie]

Major N.A. - s/t (1993)

 

Why haven't I been told about this one before?!?!

What great disc!

Like a Swedish version of britny fox, or a less bluesy Cinderella. Plenty of gnr and nasty idols in there too

A couple of fillers towards the end of the disc, but overall a greatly under rated piece of early 90s hard rock / sleaze.

 

$6-7 according to the main site is a steal!

 

Comments on the main site comparing it to ac/cd..... Far from it IMO.

[darin]

Major N.A. - s/t (1993)

 

Why haven't I been told about this one before?!?!

What great disc!

Like a Swedish version of britny fox, or a less bluesy Cinderella. Plenty of gnr and nasty idols in there too

A couple of fillers towards the end of the disc, but overall a greatly under rated piece of early 90s hard rock / sleaze.

 

$6-7 according to the main site is a steal!

 

 

Comments on the main site comparing it to ac/cd..... Far from it IMO.

That album cover can throw you off. I would never have gave this a look based on the album cover. Thanks for sharing. Will have to hunt a copy down.

[glam_junkie]

 

Major N.A. - s/t (1993)

 

Why haven't I been told about this one before?!?!

What great disc!

Like a Swedish version of britny fox, or a less bluesy Cinderella. Plenty of gnr and nasty idols in there too

A couple of fillers towards the end of the disc, but overall a greatly under rated piece of early 90s hard rock / sleaze.

 

$6-7 according to the main site is a steal!

 

 

Comments on the main site comparing it to ac/cd..... Far from it IMO.

That album cover can throw you off. I would never have gave this a look based on the album cover. Thanks for sharing. Will have to hunt a copy down.

True, the album cover does not say hard rock or sleaze at all.

I wouldn't say it's as good as early britny fox or Cinderella, but if you like them you should like this.

[Glen]

Angels or Kings - Kings of Nowhere

 

Mmm another disappointment me thinks. Obviously only one spin so far, but unlike Vega I dont think this ones gonna click. Anyone else not enjoying the vocals here....sounds way too shouty and gravelly for the type of music. Also the production is rough....not bad as such but this type of music needs to be a bit more polished. Throughout the whole record I couldnt stop thinking how good the songs would sound if Overland was singing. Its not all bad - far from....I really enjoyed the lead track, but then i struggled, skipping over pretty much every song until a great mid section comprising 'Someone To Save Me', 'Left Me In Love' and 'Another Lost Boy' which for me are clearly the best 3 songs. I'll spin it some more but not expecting much....will probably pan out around 70%? In Faith was better than this I must admit.

[Geoff]

Angels or Kings - Kings of Nowhere

 

Mmm another disappointment me thinks. Obviously only one spin so far, but unlike Vega I dont think this ones gonna click. Anyone else not enjoying the vocals here....sounds way too shouty and gravelly for the type of music. Also the production is rough....not bad as such but this type of music needs to be a bit more polished. Throughout the whole record I couldnt stop thinking how good the songs would sound if Overland was singing. Its not all bad - far from....I really enjoyed the lead track, but then i struggled, skipping over pretty much every song until a great mid section comprising 'Someone To Save Me', 'Left Me In Love' and 'Another Lost Boy' which for me are clearly the best 3 songs. I'll spin it some more but not expecting much....will probably pan out around 70%? In Faith was better than this I must admit.

 

What... what... and what?? For one, I agree 100% that the production is shit and for me that's the only downside, but isn't it a given, considering they're basically polished demos from 20+ years ago? Compared to what we're left to remember Garrison by for instance, I was grateful for what sound quality there was on this release.

 

And Overland? Really? You need to hear him more than we already do?? I personally really like the guy's vocals. Like I said elsewhere, reminds me a lot of Arti Tisi, whom I adore. Yeah, I like his vocals, a lot more than Overland's, personally.

 

Anyway, you're a creep. Plenty of great songs on this one, imo.

[Glen]

Epic kills it stone dead.....go back and listen.

[Geoff]

'Epic' is probably Overland's best post-'Aphodesiac' disc; I like it plenty enough, don't worry about that. But Angels Or Kings is definitely a good 10% better, imo.

[Glen]

A or K is typical British melodic rock....tries hard but not quite good enough.

 

Epic is consumate AOR. ...that album just gets better with every listen

[Geoff]

Adam Lambert - The Original High ; not really sure how or why I made it all through this, but I did. There is no trace at all of rock with this guy anymore, except a random solo from Brian May. Otherwise, it's all modern pop/dance kind of stuff. A lot of songs miss the mark for me, but one or two seemed to have some pretty decent hooks. Not worth checking out, though.

 

Breaking Benjamin - Dark Before Dawn ; gotta say, I kinda like this one. If you liked BB before, you'll like this. If you didn't like them before, you still won't. But it's good modern hard rock and for me it's arguably their best album. They've done well here.

 

The Relapse Symphony - Born To Burn ; when I started this I thought I'd be creating a thread here tonight about this album... but I won't. It's got everything it needs - stunning production, good ballsy modern hard rock sound, catchy 3-4min songs; only 10 in number; and it's all good punchy stuff. But that's the main problem. It's all good, but rarely truly great. It's a better, more complete album than their impressive debut, but I think the debut will still house their best songs so far. I will definitely play this a lot more, though, as I feel the songs will definitely sink in well.

 

Our Last Night - Younger Dreams ; I've been following these guys for a while, expecting something great. This is probably their best album so far, and I really like it, but I'm not sure it's truly great just yet. I will need more spins. They play a very nice brand of modern rock in a style that was big around 2005 when, imo, the current batch of modern rock bands were at their best. They sound like someone I can't pinpoint because every time I go to think of them I come up with A Thorn For Every Heart... whom they do sound a bit like, but I'm after someone else. Anyway, this is a nice album and will rate high in modern rock this year for me. Title track is great.

 

Raimee - After All This Time ; absolutely awful female fronted melodic rock.

 

Chaos Magic - s/t ; when this is staying in the realms of melodic hard rock it's pretty good, but when it goes into that symphonic / operatic stuff, it loses me. Overall I thought it was a pretty average to below average album.

 

Sonic Syndicate - Eden Fire ; pointless screamo metal album. Killer music, can't understand a word of the lyrics.

 

Sonic Syndicate - Only Inhuman ; a better album, but still not enough clean vocals and good hooks to really make this album appeal too much to me. But it's decent.

[Nightrain]

I read somewhere on the net, CHAOS MAGIC is one of Frontiers' worst releases, wonder if it's that bad ?

[Stefan]

I read somewhere on the net, CHAOS MAGIC is one of Frontiers' worst releases, wonder if it's that bad ?

 

Yeah, everything you read online is true.

 

Only those who didn't like it made those comments and probably few of them never listened to the release in the first place. Just joined the pack.

I'm not saying the release is good or bad (not heard it yet) but I have to hear it myself before judging. No one does it on my behalf.

[KarpetRydOFunk]

 

I read somewhere on the net, CHAOS MAGIC is one of Frontiers' worst releases, wonder if it's that bad ?

Yeah, everything you read online is true.

 

Only those who didn't like it made those comments and probably few of them never listened to the release in the first place. Just joined the pack.

I'm not saying the release is good or bad (not heard it yet) but I have to hear it myself before judging. No one does it on my behalf.

Truu!

[Geoff]

Lioncage - Done at last ; pretty average AOR, but there were a couple of tunes on it I didn't mind. Yeah, it's not great.

 

Dakara Dirt - Forever ; not sure on these guys. They sound a little dodgy, but I did enjoy this. Good modern melodic rock with some nice gang vocals, a few solos. I like it plenty; just not sure how good it actually is...

[kourosofsteel3]

Dimino-Old Habits Die Hard; Retro hard rock from ex-Angel frontman. With him a conglomerate of well known musicians. It's funny trying to guess who maybe composed each track + a couple pleasant uptempo rockin' tunes. Not my cup of tea with watery aftertaste. I won't even bother to rate it.

[glam_junkie]

Tigertailz - the lost reels

 

Oh my fucking God... What the hell did I just listen too...?!!!?! No wonder the band wanted these reels lost. More like some electronic new wave.

 

Only saviour was the bonus tracks at the end, including the song with Jules.

[Geoff]

Bullet For My Valentine - Venom ; another good new release from these guys, but they're kind of stuck in a zone currently also occupied by bands like Papa Roach. It's a good album; all the songs are good and there's nothing wrong with it. But there's also nothing truly great about it either. No really great songs... again. Two albums in a row now. They're a good band... they just need some killer tunes on these albums.

[phaffas]

Major N.A. - s/t (1993)

 

Why haven't I been told about this one before?!?!

What great disc!

Like a Swedish version of britny fox, or a less bluesy Cinderella. Plenty of gnr and nasty idols in there too

A couple of fillers towards the end of the disc, but overall a greatly under rated piece of early 90s hard rock / sleaze.

 

$6-7 according to the main site is a steal!

 

Comments on the main site comparing it to ac/cd..... Far from it IMO.

You killed the thread

[Fat Freddy]

Hey, this was a fun thread. Let's recharge it. Here's my thoughts on a couple of recent thrift-store pickups:

 

Days of the New - self titled (aka "1" or "yellow")

Hey, remember Alice in Chains? These guys sure did, and I bet they were particularly big fans of AIC's unplugged Jar of Flies EP. Moody all-acoustic stuff that loses its novelty after three or four tracks. This thing actually went platinum? Good Lord. People are masochists.

 

Velvet Revolver - Contraband

Never bothered with this "Guns N Pilots" debut back in the day but when it turned up in Goodwill for 79 cents I figured I'd give it a shot. Pretty standard raunchy early '00s radio rock. Starts off strong with the killer "Sucker Train Blues" but starts getting pretty samey by the halfway point. A bit too long at 13 tracks, but decent enough for background music.

 

Van Halen - OU812 and For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge

I was never much for Van Hagar but again, Goodwill, 79 cents each, what the hell. OU812 was too slick, but For Unlawful... was actually pretty good (aside from the uber-sappy "Right Now," which I will forever associate with Crystal Pepsi). Dunno if I'll bother with further Van Hagar albums but at the very least I'll hang onto these so that the Hagar era has some representation in my collection.

 

Heart - Brigade and Bad Animals - these two albums were released during the period where the Wilson sisters had all but abandoned their trademark "Lady Zeppelin' sound and went full on AOR/cheese rock. They may have reversed the sisters' failing commercial fortunes at the time, but they sure haven't aged very well. Of the two I preferred Brigade by a smidge, but neither one of these are going to become frequent spinners by any means. Pass me my Dog and Butterfly CD.

[DaHun72]

Hey, this was a fun thread. Let's recharge it. Here's my thoughts on a couple of recent thrift-store pickups:

 

Days of the New - self titled (aka "1" or "yellow")

Hey, remember Alice in Chains? These guys sure did, and I bet they were particularly big fans of AIC's unplugged Jar of Flies EP. Moody all-acoustic stuff that loses its novelty after three or four tracks. This thing actually went platinum? Good Lord. People are masochists.

 

Velvet Revolver - Contraband

Never bothered with this "Guns N Pilots" debut back in the day but when it turned up in Goodwill for 79 cents I figured I'd give it a shot. Pretty standard raunchy early '00s radio rock. Starts off strong with the killer "Sucker Train Blues" but starts getting pretty samey by the halfway point. A bit too long at 13 tracks, but decent enough for background music.

 

Van Halen - OU812 and For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge

I was never much for Van Hagar but again, Goodwill, 79 cents each, what the hell. OU812 was too slick, but For Unlawful... was actually pretty good (aside from the uber-sappy "Right Now," which I will forever associate with Crystal Pepsi). Dunno if I'll bother with further Van Hagar albums but at the very least I'll hang onto these so that the Hagar era has some representation in my collection.

 

Heart - Brigade and Bad Animals - these two albums were released during the period where the Wilson sisters had all but abandoned their trademark "Lady Zeppelin' sound and went full on AOR/cheese rock. They may have reversed the sisters' failing commercial fortunes at the time, but they sure haven't aged very well. Of the two I preferred Brigade by a smidge, but neither one of these are going to become frequent spinners by any means. Pass me my Dog and Butterfly CD.

You have to grab 5150. It's easily the best of the Van Hagar and nowhere near as slick as the later stuff! Hellooooo Babeeeee!

[Geoff]

 

Hey, this was a fun thread. Let's recharge it. Here's my thoughts on a couple of recent thrift-store pickups:

 

Days of the New - self titled (aka "1" or "yellow")

Hey, remember Alice in Chains? These guys sure did, and I bet they were particularly big fans of AIC's unplugged Jar of Flies EP. Moody all-acoustic stuff that loses its novelty after three or four tracks. This thing actually went platinum? Good Lord. People are masochists.

 

Velvet Revolver - Contraband

Never bothered with this "Guns N Pilots" debut back in the day but when it turned up in Goodwill for 79 cents I figured I'd give it a shot. Pretty standard raunchy early '00s radio rock. Starts off strong with the killer "Sucker Train Blues" but starts getting pretty samey by the halfway point. A bit too long at 13 tracks, but decent enough for background music.

 

Van Halen - OU812 and For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge

I was never much for Van Hagar but again, Goodwill, 79 cents each, what the hell. OU812 was too slick, but For Unlawful... was actually pretty good (aside from the uber-sappy "Right Now," which I will forever associate with Crystal Pepsi). Dunno if I'll bother with further Van Hagar albums but at the very least I'll hang onto these so that the Hagar era has some representation in my collection.

 

Heart - Brigade and Bad Animals - these two albums were released during the period where the Wilson sisters had all but abandoned their trademark "Lady Zeppelin' sound and went full on AOR/cheese rock. They may have reversed the sisters' failing commercial fortunes at the time, but they sure haven't aged very well. Of the two I preferred Brigade by a smidge, but neither one of these are going to become frequent spinners by any means. Pass me my Dog and Butterfly CD.

You have to grab 5150. It's easily the best of the Van Hagar and nowhere near as slick as the later stuff! Hellooooo Babeeeee!

 

 

Easily the best. It has two good songs rather than the standard one per album from Van Halen!

[DaHun72]

Come on Geoff! Rather than listening to 2,390,666 albums a week listen to a few more than once and let them sink in a little