First Spin Impressions

[phaffas]

Havnt done this for a while - time to make ammends...

 

 

Tonto Tonto - whatever its called.

Review: Yawn.

[Geoff]

Havnt done this for a while - time to make ammends...

 

 

Tonto Tonto - whatever its called.

Review: Yawn.

Backed. Excellent vocalist, though.

[phaffas]

Havnt done this for a while - time to make ammends...

 

 

Tonto Tonto - whatever its called.

Review: Yawn.

Backed. Excellent vocalist, though.

He has some potential... kinda a lazier mix of Tony Harnell and well... Jess Harnell... but the music is total snooze!

[Jez]

Perfect View - Hold your Dreams

 

Did this one slip your attention ?

 

 

Pretty good AOR from Italy after first and second listen. Not exactly innovative, but definitely one of the better releases this year in the AOR space.

I want it! Wanna swap for these 3

 

Jim Capaldi - 'One man mission' ; No, no, no, no, no. Lightweight collection of very poorly written songs... this was not good at all. Cannot wait to see this vacate the premises of my collection.

 

Jim Capaldi - 'Living On The Outside' ; Better than his earlier one above, that's for sure, but still patchy at absolute best. 'Time passes' was a great track after a very, very poor start to the CD. A few more okay songs, but overall a very passable CD, imo. Voice kind of reminds me of Bryan Adams every now and then.

 

 

 

The JC album you Want to hear is 'Some Come Running' - now that IS a great album.

[Jeff]

44 Caliber - Can You Handle

Maybe a little rough in the production area, but my first spin was in my 200,000 mile car wich barely has a muffler, so now I'm listening to this at work where I can hear better. That said, I think this one could crack my top 10 for this year. After the drive in I had a couple of songs that already stuck in my head which is a good sign for me on a first sping. Those were "Fake" and "Too Many Lies". There were only 2 songs that I thought "not sure about those" but they were not so bad that a second spin might do them some good. Overall, very good sleaze. And I have to give props to Lindsay on this one...these guys were in a long list I have been putting together but not necessarily on my radar to check out any time soon.

[Geoff]

Allen/Lande - 'The showdown' ; very nice. I don't know what it is about this project, but I have bought and enjoyed both CDs so far, yet I still just can't muster up too much excitement for them. Yet this hits the speakers and it's great. Only one spin so far but I'd argue this might be the most melodic and best effort yet. I really enjoyed it.

 

Perfect View - s/t ; Like Bernd says above, nothing new here but it ain't bad. There were about 3 shameless fillers but aside from that it's pretty nice for AOR completists.

 

A Day to Remember - 'What separates me from you' ; Loved this one, what I've heard of it so far. They maintain the style from the last CD, with big heavy verses still featuring the odd scream here and there, dropping into ridiculously catchy and melodic choruses. Formula works pretty good for me. One of my favourite modern rock CDs of the year for sure.

 

North of the City - 'Swear on the stars' ; nice modern rock EP. Nothing outstanding, but good.

 

There For Tomorrow - 'Pages EP' ; I really quite like this band. I've had a 7 track CD from a few years ago for ages and haven't really paid it the attention it deserves. Now that they're playing at Soundwave next year I've picked my act up and bought their latest full length CD (released last year without my knowlegde) and I'm checking out their other stuff too. Loved this EP too. Not outstanding, but very good modern rock is the Saosin / Story of the Year kind of style.

 

There For Tomorrow - 'Point of origin' ; Terrible. A lot of these modern rock bands do seem to have one of these albums out there from the start of their career. As unpolished as manure, this sounds like it was recorded on someone's walkman on a vacant street somewhere. You can't even digest what are probably okay songs when something sounds this awful. A definite pass.

 

Caesar's Rome - 'The company we keep' ; Another pretty nice sounding album from a new modern rock band. Again, not going to set the world alight but it's good stuff.

[glam_junkie]

44 Caliber - Can You Handle

Maybe a little rough in the production area, but my first spin was in my 200,000 mile car wich barely has a muffler, so now I'm listening to this at work where I can hear better. That said, I think this one could crack my top 10 for this year. After the drive in I had a couple of songs that already stuck in my head which is a good sign for me on a first sping. Those were "Fake" and "Too Many Lies". There were only 2 songs that I thought "not sure about those" but they were not so bad that a second spin might do them some good. Overall, very good sleaze. And I have to give props to Lindsay on this one...these guys were in a long list I have been putting together but not necessarily on my radar to check out any time soon.

 

44 Calibre is sitting in #11 on my latest rankings.

 

Make sure you check out the new scarlet violet before you do your final top 10.

Pity is't only a 4 track disc, but first few lisents of one has impressed me. Probably sitting somewhere around 7-to-12 in my 2010 rankings.

 

i still need to check out jettblack and skulldaze from your list, plus others stuff like Hungryheart, Falling Red, Superhorrorfuck, the latest Cynaide 4 ... and a couple of potential top 10 releases in Distorted Wonderland and HArdcore Superstar.

[Jez]

The Storm (DK) - Black Luck

This is just the way I like my more modern rock bands to sound. Typical Dark Scandie sound with very melodic, almost poppy vocals whci do remind me of both the girls Agnetha and Frida of Abba at times (and that is not a derogatory comment). There are some good songs on here too with 'Are Your Shooes Too Tight' being a good example of the quality and sound of this whole disc. Only 2 spins in so far, but loving it.

 

 

Halford IV - Made Of Metal

 

Not as heavy as I was expecting considering 'Resurrection' and 'Crucible' just fucking rocked big time, this one goes back to the more typical Priest sound of the 80's, albeit with a modern sheen and a more laid back approach to the vocals on Rob's behalf, although saying that, the final cut 'The Mower' is one of heaviest songs I have heard them do so far and fairly romps along at a pace wih Rob screaming his top off like a man possessed - great way to end an album. 'Undisputed' and the title track are really excellent too, with the 'Super sonic silver flying machine, made of metal it's a NASCAR dream' line stuck in my head for days afterwards. There are a couple of good slowwer moments in 'Twenty Five

[Jez]

The Storm (DK) - Black Luck

This is just the way I like my more modern rock bands to sound. Typical Dark Scandie sound with very melodic, almost poppy vocals whci do remind me of both the girls Agnetha and Frida of Abba at times (and that is not a derogatory comment). There are some good songs on here too with 'Are Your Shooes Too Tight' being a good example of the quality and sound of this whole disc. Only 2 spins in so far, but loving it.

 

 

Halford IV - Made Of Metal

 

Not as heavy as I was expecting considering 'Resurrection' and 'Crucible' just fucking rocked big time, this one goes back to the more typical Priest sound of the 80's, albeit with a modern sheen and a more laid back approach to the vocals on Rob's behalf, although saying that, the final cut 'The Mower' is one of heaviest songs I have heard them do so far and fairly romps along at a pace, with Rob screaming his top off like a man possessed - great way to end an album. 'Undisputed' and the title track are really excellent too, with the 'Super sonic silver flying machine, made of metal it's a NASCAR dream' line stuck in my head for days afterwards. There are a couple of good slower moments in 'Twenty Five Years' and 'I Know We Stand A Chance' aswell as the epic 'We Own The Night' which is a classy track too. Top quality disc this one.

 

 

Foreigner - Can't Slow Down..When It's Live

 

Anyone thinking Foreigner were washed up should listen closely to last years excellent' Can't Slow Down' studio album and now this new double live album, for proof that there is definitely life in the old dog yet. This is a top quality performance, Kelly Hansen especially, on a mixture of the classsics and a smattering of new songs off 'Can't Slow Down'. The old songs especially sound great with the band giving them a new lease of life, 'Starrider' sounds fantastic and if this disc is anything to go by, I can't wait to go and see them with Journey and Styx next year. Excellent stuff

 

License - Högt Spel

 

Released originally back in 1981, this is very typical Westcoast stuff with a touch of light AOR ala the mighty Airplay, although songwise and especially production wise, not quite as impressive. The one disadvantage that may put people off getting this, is that it is almost completely sung in their native language of Swedish, except one of the 2 bonus tracks at the end. If that doesn't bother you too much, this is a worthy addition to any Westcoast afficianado's collection. Overall a nice re-issue from Zink music

 

Michael W. Smith - Wonder

 

Maybe a bit too light for most on this site, but Mr. Smith has undoubtedly released some very high quality albums over the years 'Go West Young Man' 'i 2 Eye', This Is Your Time' and 'Live The Life' especially. 'Wonder' is his brand new album, his first, bar a live worship album, since '06's 'Stand' and It is an absolute blinder. Loads of good stuff on here, opener 'Save Me From Myself' comes rocking (yes I said Rocking) out of the blocks and is an instant success and there are some token excellent Smithy ballads on here to, with the best being 'Rise' which is a truly beautiful song. His best album since 'Live The Life' back in 1998 by a mile.

[Geoff]

Helix - 'Wild in the streets' ; This band has never been essential for me, but I've had their 'Best of' for ages and enjoy it. In many ways they remind me of Black N' Blue. Solid, hard rocking but just a little on the average side. But I picked this one up for cheap (a re-issue) and now I wish I hadn't sold my 'Back for another taste' CD. Not because it's amazing, but just because they're worthy of a place in the collection of an 80's hard rock fan. This is everyting I said above - solid, but unspectacular... but just nice, 'cause it's 80's hard rock.

 

Honeymoon Suite - 'Monsters under the bed' ; I admit I was pretty excited about this one. Any 80's AOR band that has an album from 1990 to 1993 needs to be in my collection, but this one had evaded me for a long time. It's not quite as good as my dreams lead me to believe it could be, but I liked it. A few fillers along the way, but also some very nice tracks. The ones I did prefer did really stand out more due to much stronger choruses than the rest... but overall it was pretty good. Opening track, I think, was one of the best.

[Ytseman]

License - Högt Spel

 

Released originally back in 1981, this is very typical Westcoast stuff with a touch of light AOR ala the mighty Airplay, although songwise and especially production wise, not quite as impressive. The one disadvantage that may put people off getting this, is that it is almost completely sung in their native language of Swedish, except one of the 2 bonus tracks at the end. If that doesn't bother you too much, this is a worthy addition to any Westcoast afficianado's collection. Overall a nice re-issue from Zink music

 

I really don't have many CDs sung in anything other than English, and to be honest it's held me back getting this one.

 

Other than La Fase can anyone recommend some non-english albums?

[Jez]

License - Högt Spel

 

Released originally back in 1981, this is very typical Westcoast stuff with a touch of light AOR ala the mighty Airplay, although songwise and especially production wise, not quite as impressive. The one disadvantage that may put people off getting this, is that it is almost completely sung in their native language of Swedish, except one of the 2 bonus tracks at the end. If that doesn't bother you too much, this is a worthy addition to any Westcoast afficianado's collection. Overall a nice re-issue from Zink music

 

I really don't have many CDs sung in anything other than English, and to be honest it's held me back getting this one.

 

Other than La Fase can anyone recommend some non-english albums?

 

 

Trust

[heaven&hell]

Halford IV - Made Of Metal

 

Not as heavy as I was expecting considering 'Resurrection' and 'Crucible' just fucking rocked big time, this one goes back to the more typical Priest sound of the 80's, albeit with a modern sheen and a more laid back approach to the vocals on Rob's behalf, although saying that, the final cut 'The Mower' is one of heaviest songs I have heard them do so far and fairly romps along at a pace, with Rob screaming his top off like a man possessed - great way to end an album. 'Undisputed' and the title track are really excellent too, with the 'Super sonic silver flying machine, made of metal it's a NASCAR dream' line stuck in my head for days afterwards. There are a couple of good slower moments in 'Twenty Five Years' and 'I Know We Stand A Chance' aswell as the epic 'We Own The Night' which is a classy track too. Top quality disc this one.

 

It reminds me of a mix between 'Defenders of the Faith" and "Turbo". I like it but not as much as the first two Halford discs but there are some great songs that would appeal to the fans of more Melodic side of Hard Rock. "The Mower" is a good slamming metal tune like a mix of 'Crucible' and Fight but is way out of place on this cd and I guess that's why it was put as the last track. My fav tracks so far are "Hell Razor", "Heartless", "Fire and Ice", "Undisputed", "We Own the Night", "Twenty Five Years" and "I Know We Stand a Chance". This disc is much better than the reviews it's been getting plus the sound is great IMO.

[Ytseman]

Michael W. Smith - Wonder

 

Maybe a bit too light for most on this site, but Mr. Smith has undoubtedly released some very high quality albums over the years 'Go West Young Man' 'i 2 Eye', This Is Your Time' and 'Live The Life' especially. 'Wonder' is his brand new album, his first, bar a live worship album, since '06's 'Stand' and It is an absolute blinder. Loads of good stuff on here, opener 'Save Me From Myself' comes rocking (yes I said Rocking) out of the blocks and is an instant success and there are some token excellent Smithy ballads on here to, with the best being 'Rise' which is a truly beautiful song. His best album since 'Live The Life' back in 1998 by a mile.

 

Listening to this right now and there's something about modern day Smith that doesn't sit well with me....

 

You're correct in saying it's his best for years, but Change Your World is still miles ahead of this album.

[TIM (2)]

 

A Day to Remember - 'What separates me from you' ; Loved this one, what I've heard of it so far. They maintain the style from the last CD, with big heavy verses still featuring the odd scream here and there, dropping into ridiculously catchy and melodic choruses. Formula works pretty good for me. One of my favourite modern rock CDs of the year for sure.

 

 

Make sure you play this one a lot, after 3 or 4 spins it really grows. Their best disc yet by far...

[Jez]

Michael W. Smith - Wonder

 

Maybe a bit too light for most on this site, but Mr. Smith has undoubtedly released some very high quality albums over the years 'Go West Young Man' 'i 2 Eye', This Is Your Time' and 'Live The Life' especially. 'Wonder' is his brand new album, his first, bar a live worship album, since '06's 'Stand' and It is an absolute blinder. Loads of good stuff on here, opener 'Save Me From Myself' comes rocking (yes I said Rocking) out of the blocks and is an instant success and there are some token excellent Smithy ballads on here to, with the best being 'Rise' which is a truly beautiful song. His best album since 'Live The Life' back in 1998 by a mile.

 

Listening to this right now and there's something about modern day Smith that doesn't sit well with me....

 

You're correct in saying it's his best for years, but Change Your World is still miles ahead of this album.

 

 

What is it you don't like mate?

[Ytseman]

He's always been a bit too sugary sweet, and I think the over saturation of those Worship albums he did tipped me over the edge.

 

I should get over it eh?

[Jez]

He's always been a bit too sugary sweet, and I think the over saturation of those Worship albums he did tipped me over the edge.

 

I should get over it eh?

 

 

I can see your point. Some of his ballads are a little too sugary, and the the worship albums, aren't really my thing to be honest, even though some of the music on them is quite good - saying that, I really enjoyed '08's 'A New Hallilujah' which is a great live album. I think it also depends on whether you can get on with the lyrics aswell - personally, even though I am a non christian, they don't bother me at all, but I can see why some people wouldn't get on with much of his stuff. I really really do like 'Wonder' alot though and it has crept into my top 20 for the year.

 

As a matter of interest, I was thinking of adding his stuff to the main pages. I would say that he definitely ticks the boxes in comparison to other similar artists on HH, so do you think he is suitable before I start adding his discography (which is pretty large).

[Ytseman]

I think up until Change Your World would be suitable, after that it's too MOR/AC but that's only my opinion. If you listen to Phaffas my opinion doesn't count for much.

 

At home I have an AOR mag from maybe 2001 that a friend picked up while in Europe and there is an article in there about Michael with his back catalog listed.

[JamesEagle]

Roulette - Better Late Than Never

 

This one isn't grabbing me so far. Found it quite boring and some songs really grated on me, like 'Body and Soul' and especially 'Love on the Line'. I did really like 'Turn Me On' though, so there is hope and I'm sure other songs will sound better on subsequent spins.

[Geoff]

If you listen to Phaffas my opinion doesn't count for much.

That's a good one. Someone listening to Matt. That's cute.

 

And yeah, Tim, that ADTR is looking pretty possible for the top spot on my modern list this year, which is as out of the blue as I could imagine.

[Geoff]

The Starting Line - 'The starting over EP' ; I've had one album from these guys forever, always liked it, downloaded the latest album but that's about it. I saw they're in the Soundwave line-up next year so I decided to get off my ass and see if they're worth checking out. I bought their discography for the price I'd pay for any other normal CD and this is the start. I like it. Good, solid EP. Nothing great, and the highlight by far is the cover of Starship's 'Nothing's gonna stop us now.' That was pretty cool, other wise this was okay.

 

The Starting Line - 'Say it like you mean it' ; Now this one is interesting. Released in 2002, in the context of where modern rock is in 2010, this is a very good CD. In 2002 this would have been right up there only behind bands like SR-71, Donots, Butch and that's about all I can think of off the top of my head. I really wish I'd heard this back then so I could have formed a relationship with this band that would have made me the happiest man on earth to see them tour with Soundwave. Seriously, this CD isn't amazing but it's damn freakin' good, especially if you loved SR-71's debut as much as I did. Huge thumbs up. Half of these songs are really, really great.

 

The Starting Line - 'The make yourself at home EP' ; Total honesty? It's not bad, but this 100% acoustic EP kind of drags a bit. Not their finest hour. But their three full length CDs are all worth the effort, for sure. The two that followed this - 'Based on a true story' and 'Direction' are both very good.

 

Attack! Attack UK - s/t ; Nice one. To explain how this fell in my lap, I came accross a great disc this year called 'The Latest Fashion', by this band. I had no idea who they were but that CD is one of the surprises of 2010 for me. Anyway, mix a bit of wikipedia and Secondspin and I found out they had a debut from 2008, it was a bargain and now I own it. And I'm glad I do. These guys have a pretty simple formula. Short verses leading into big catchy / melodic choruses. This isn't quite as good as the new one, but it's bloody good. Short, consistent, to the point. I like it a lot. Only thing I could fault is that there are several songs featuring a huge pet hate of mine - the dreaded repeated first verse in the second verse. A little lazy in that regard, but the choruses make up for it.

[Fat Freddy]

Mass - FIGHTER and UNCHAINED '84

 

This is one of those bands I always heard much about back in the day but I don't think I actually heard them till these discs arrived in my mail yesterday. Back then about all I knew about Mass was that they were supposedly quite good, and that they had some vague connection with Stryper (I think Michael Sweet produced one of their albums).

 

Anyway, UNCHAINED '84 is a reissued EP that the band self-released in 1984, which supposedly sold a bunch of copies in their home area of Boston and eventually led to their signing with RCA Records. FIGHTER is an unreleased album by the band, recorded in '82 and intended for release by A&M Records, but their deal fell thru and the album never saw the light of day till this new RetroActive Records release.

 

I wasn't enthused by the UNCHAINED '84 EP on its first spin -- it sounds cheap and rushed, which according to the liner notes it basically was. The vocals are kinda squawky and even though the album is remastered, it didn't seem to help the sound quality much.

 

I greatly preferred the FIGHTER album, which was recorded with a "real" producer (Tom Allom of Judas Priest/Def Leppard fame). Music wise the band falls right in line with the '80s metal sound that was prevalent at the time. If you were listening to stuff like early Crue, Twisted Sister, Def Leppard, Quiet Riot, etc., this band would've fit right into your playlist. The band is tight, the choruses are catchy and FIGHTER is just slick enough without going over the top into sappy territory. Good stuff and I'm sure it'll receive more spins.

[Fat Freddy]

Messiah - FINAL WARNING and GOING INSANE

 

More vintage Christian metal reissues from RetroActive Records here. Never heard this band before but apparently they were quite the Midwestern concert draw in the late 70s/early '80s due to their flamboyant stage shows which were "inspired by the sound and theatrics of Alice Cooper, Kiss and Black Sabbath." Ummmm....okay! Music-wise Messiah are fairly basic late '70s style chugging hard rock with decent solos and anthemic choruses. Nothing spectacular but they didn't suck either. I can sorta hear the Sabbath influence on some tracks here but I am reminded more of Blue Oyster Cult, as Messiah seem to be trying for the same "weird but epic" sort of feel. This kinda stuff was already pretty well out of date by the time FINAL WARNING saw release in '84 and was totally yesterday's news when the GOING INSANE EP came out in '86, so maybe that's why they never caught on biggy styley.

 

As a side note, original pressings of FINAL WARNING are apparently rare-as-hell collector's items that go for stupid $$ amongst the "tr00 arcane steele vinyl" crowd nowadays.

 

Also, if the artwork hasn't topped somebody's "Worst Album Covers of All Time" list yet, I am officially nominating it here and now.

 

Ouch!

 

Both of these albums are making their first ever official appearance on CD thanks to the good folks at Retroactive. They're not must-haves by any means but they're still a decent pickup for those interested in all things subterranean and obscure.

[Fat Freddy]

Black River - BLACK 'N' ROLL

 

I got this one to review several months ago and completely forgot about it till it turned up under a heap of sh*t on my desk while housecleaning for the holidays. Oops. Sorry fellas...

 

Anyway, the scanty, not-very-helpful press info sheet that came with the CD informs me that this Polish band is made up of "members of Behemoth, Dimmu Borgir, Neolithic, and Rootwater," but since I don't follow any of those bands (hell, I never even heard of the last two), that's not exactly a selling point. They all use one-word stage names too (i.e. "Taff," "Orion," "Daray," etc.) so I have no idea who's who or what band they're from.

 

Basically BLACK 'N ROLL sounds like the kind of stuff that black and death metal musicians play when they get tired of playing black and death metal all the time, i.e., dirty, gritty crunchy mid-paced riff-rock, not as dark or extreme as their day jobs, but still far from what you'd call "commercial" music. Basically if you're down with Motorhead, Danzig, Monster Magnet, etc., you'll dig this. I read a few reviews of this CD where the band were slammed for being "Chrome Division clones" (Chrome Division being another rockin' side band made up of black/death metal musicians) if that means anything to you, it sure didn't to me.

 

Anywhoo, BLACK N ROLL seems crunchy and groovy enough on a first spin but everything kinda went in one ear and out the other. Based on one spin, I'd certainly rather listen to this than anything by Behemoth or Dimmu Borgir. Time will tell if anything sticks long enough to make this a keeper.