First Spin Impressions

[Geoff]

Derek Davis: "Re-Volt" ; really terrible. I'm totally unsure what he is doing these days. He was such a good song writer back in the day but this is just rubbish. Musically disgraceful and the songs are weak as piss. Whether he wants to create modern rock or what... it just doesn't need to sound this awful. I wonder if a proper Babylon AD reunion was ever considered? Not that I'd give it any hope if this is what happened to brains behind the band.

 

First Shot "From the Hip" ; heard plenty about this band in the past, but never the actual music. Now I have and I enjoy it a lot. It's quite lite AOR for sure, no doubt, but there are some really cool songs here.

 

First Shot "Midnight Madness" ; and same here. Maybe a little rockier than the first one... very slightly. But if not just as good, it's damn close. Great couple of CDs.

 

Highest Dream "Far away From Here" ; again, this is not overly heavy, but it's good solid melodic rock / AOR. They are MILES away from 91 Suite, but the style reminds me of them. Simpler, weaker song writing, but their heart's in the right place and this CD's pretty solid.

 

Human Temple - Murder of Crows ; I have heard this before and kept it on my Ipod and kept it on my want list. Thankfully I finally found a copy and understand why I wanted it so. This is a really good melodic hard rock CD - better than a lot that comes out of Finland, I personally believe.

 

Hydrogyn - Private Sessions ; this is a pretty good hard rock disc, especially the 4th song, but like I and Glen have mentioned, the sound quality is pretty terrible. A real muddy, bass-heavy sound... just muffled and it does not hold up to high volumes. It is a shame because song-wise it's pretty good, and jism will be sprayed onto the CD tray... but the sound kills it.

 

I See Stars - Digital Renegade ; I really love these guys. The debut is very nice and the last disc is absolutely awesome. This one? Ask me in about 10 spins, because it'll need it. This is nowhere near as instant as the last one, but even that grew better with each listen. I know this will really grow well on me because this is how these guys roll, but first spin didn't blow my mind. I just love their style, though.

 

Jon Mullane - Shift ; surprisingly a pretty cool disc. It's some random Canadian guy who teamed up with Creighton Doane or whatever his name is, from latter-day Harem Scarem. It's certainly no HS, or even close, but there's some decent harmless modern pop rock. When he gets mellow for about 3 songs towards the end it gets even better too. Some real nice ballads and mid-tempos in that little section.

 

Kissin' Dynamite - Money sex and power ; pretty disappointing to be honest. It was a huge call to lay down money for this CD as I haven't bought either of their other 2. Downloaded both and I liked a few songs off the debut, but hated the last CD. The first single from this sounded really good, like it was going to be great really sleazy hard rock. But the rest of the CD is mostly what they were doing before. Don't get me wrong, it sounds good. But not really the kind of CD I'd spend money on to buy brand new, usually. Hopefully it gets better, but at the moment it's only pretty decent.

 

Shinedown - Amaryllis ; like I said in another thread, pretty underwhelmed by this. The funny thing with this band - If not for this site, I'd just be going along, buying their CDs and being very impressed with the last CD and this new CD. Because compared to their first few albums, they are SO much better and have really evolved as a band. But for whatever reason this band really caught on here on this forum and now I actually feel they are viciously over-rated and I ended up expecting the moon and stars from this CD... when I should only have expected a good CD. Not sure if that makes sense, but based on my uninfluenced relationship with the band, this is a good CD. Based on the heavily over-hyped build up of this CD on this site, it's so-so to me. In a year of killer modern hard rock like BBABH, Hit The Lights, Safetysuit and Young Guns, this is behind that pack for sure, imho. Will see how it holds up to repeated listens, though. It is good... just not as good as I thought after reading reviews here.

[TIM (2)]

Shinedown - Amaryllis ; like I said in another thread, pretty underwhelmed by this. The funny thing with this band - If not for this site, I'd just be going along, buying their CDs and being very impressed with the last CD and this new CD. Because compared to their first few albums, they are SO much better and have really evolved as a band. But for whatever reason this band really caught on here on this forum and now I actually feel they are viciously over-rated and I ended up expecting the moon and stars from this CD... when I should only have expected a good CD. Not sure if that makes sense, but based on my uninfluenced relationship with the band, this is a good CD. Based on the heavily over-hyped build up of this CD on this site, it's so-so to me. In a year of killer modern hard rock like BBABH, Hit The Lights, Safetysuit and Young Guns, this is behind that pack for sure, imho. Will see how it holds up to repeated listens, though. It is good... just not as good as I thought after reading reviews here.

[/size]

 

I'm genuinely amazed you don't like it. It's much more melodic and hooky than the last disc, though it obviously lacks that 80's sound of the heavier hard-rock songs from that disc (like "Devour"). But killer melodic tunes like "Unity" and "For My Sake" are better IMO. I'm one of those that hyped-it-up but only because I genuinely love the whole thing. More so than Young Guns () and Safetysuit, though Destine and Ryan Star are close for top Modern Rock disc. Hopefully you'll enjoy the repeat spins more...

[Nightrain]

LULEY - Today's Tomorrow (2012)

pretty good AOR album. Stronger part of this album lies on 'Can't Live Without You', 'Tokyo', 'Higher', 'Still A Long Way To Go', and 'Take Me Today', while I tend to avoid 'Slippin Away', 'Livin In The Night', and 'Here In My Arms'. The production is great, but sadly this album didn't really have 9/10 or 10/10 kinda tracks, and 3 or more fillers were plaguing this album. 75% at best I guess

 

 

MAD MAX - Another Night of Passion (2012)

Spectacular vocal delivery by Voss and this one is a great mix of melodic hard rock and melodic metal, but the songs quality are equally divided between great stuffs and average fillers. 'Rocklahoma' and '40 Rock' are great starter, 'Fallen From Grace' sounds very 80s and is a killer, 'Fever of Love' is also another personal fave, but let's forget about 'You Decide', 'Welcome To Rock Bottom', or what's with the useless instrumental filler of 'True Blue' ? A nice comeback though, I can see this falls between 75% and 80%

 

 

OVERKILL - The Electric Age (2012)

i must say i'm kinda disappointed, especially if comparing this to 'Ironbound' which is a monster. Great tracks here are 'Save Yourself', 'Drop The Hammer Down', and probably 'Electric Rattlesnake' and 'Wish You Were Dead' are pretty good, but the rest are so so, and '21st Century Man' is the weakest of the bunch. The production is fine but overall this bored me easily, but not bad though. 70%

 

 

RATTLESHAKE - st EP (2012)

and I'm impressed with this little mofo! Perhaps my complain is why couldn't they pump up more songs to make it a whole complete album instead of an EP ? 'Shootin Whiskey' is insanely powerful and beautiful, check out the magnificent solo, wow! 'Gypsy Queen' has that thick TESLA feel while 'Take Me Down' reminds me to GREAT WHITE, and both are awesome tracks. 'Mudbone Delight' is a bit bluesy / southern, and 'Jump On Me' is freakin fantastic! 'Never Say Goodbye' is kinda formulaic and is they rippin' off 'Knockin on Heaven's Door' ? lol. The closing track is very MOTLEY CRUE in the mid 80s, 'Rattleshake Boogie', great stuff! This one deserved at least 85%

[TIM (2)]

TRIXTER - New Audio Machine

 

Wow, what a let-down. I kinda hoped this would be somewhere between "Hear" and 40FT RINGO/RA-style modern rock. Or even similar to one or other of those styles. It's not. Well, "Tattoos and Misery" (the first single) is. It's ultra catchy modern rock with a killer chorus. The rest is largely 80's hard rock, but very little of it has the melodic-edge they had on "Hear". In fact, all of the first 3 songs are so ordinary I'll be very surprised if I play them again. A few decent tunes, and one killer tune, does not a great album make. It's not bad at all, but just an ordinary disc IMO.

[Glen]

Shinedown - Amaryllis ; like I said in another thread, pretty underwhelmed by this. The funny thing with this band - If not for this site, I'd just be going along, buying their CDs and being very impressed with the last CD and this new CD. Because compared to their first few albums, they are SO much better and have really evolved as a band. But for whatever reason this band really caught on here on this forum and now I actually feel they are viciously over-rated and I ended up expecting the moon and stars from this CD... when I should only have expected a good CD. Not sure if that makes sense, but based on my uninfluenced relationship with the band, this is a good CD. Based on the heavily over-hyped build up of this CD on this site, it's so-so to me. In a year of killer modern hard rock like BBABH, Hit The Lights, Safetysuit and Young Guns, this is behind that pack for sure, imho. Will see how it holds up to repeated listens, though. It is good... just not as good as I thought after reading reviews here.

[/size]

 

I'm genuinely amazed you don't like it. It's much more melodic and hooky than the last disc, though it obviously lacks that 80's sound of the heavier hard-rock songs from that disc (like "Devour"). But killer melodic tunes like "Unity" and "For My Sake" are better IMO. I'm one of those that hyped-it-up but only because I genuinely love the whole thing. More so than Young Guns () and Safetysuit, though Destine and Ryan Star are close for top Modern Rock disc. Hopefully you'll enjoy the repeat spins more...

 

Yeah surprises me too. In fairness the first 2 tracks arent earth shakers, but then Amaryllis and Unity kick in and are classic sounding modern rock to me - intelligent lyrics, great hooks, amazing vocals and a production to die for. I do think, as I said the other day, that the stand out tracks are just that and it does become an album where I will skip at least 3 or 4 tracks on every listen, but yeah its better than SOM to me. Modern rock has really had its day with me in general but this and Destine are pretty special, a way ahead of Safetysuit truth be told, and have renewed my faith in 2012....hopefully there will be few others worthy of purchase.

[Geoff]

Shinedown - Amaryllis ; like I said in another thread, pretty underwhelmed by this. The funny thing with this band - If not for this site, I'd just be going along, buying their CDs and being very impressed with the last CD and this new CD. Because compared to their first few albums, they are SO much better and have really evolved as a band. But for whatever reason this band really caught on here on this forum and now I actually feel they are viciously over-rated and I ended up expecting the moon and stars from this CD... when I should only have expected a good CD. Not sure if that makes sense, but based on my uninfluenced relationship with the band, this is a good CD. Based on the heavily over-hyped build up of this CD on this site, it's so-so to me. In a year of killer modern hard rock like BBABH, Hit The Lights, Safetysuit and Young Guns, this is behind that pack for sure, imho. Will see how it holds up to repeated listens, though. It is good... just not as good as I thought after reading reviews here.

[/size]

 

I'm genuinely amazed you don't like it. It's much more melodic and hooky than the last disc, though it obviously lacks that 80's sound of the heavier hard-rock songs from that disc (like "Devour"). But killer melodic tunes like "Unity" and "For My Sake" are better IMO. I'm one of those that hyped-it-up but only because I genuinely love the whole thing. More so than Young Guns () and Safetysuit, though Destine and Ryan Star are close for top Modern Rock disc. Hopefully you'll enjoy the repeat spins more...

 

Yeah surprises me too. In fairness the first 2 tracks arent earth shakers, but then Amaryllis and Unity kick in and are classic sounding modern rock to me - intelligent lyrics, great hooks, amazing vocals and a production to die for. I do think, as I said the other day, that the stand out tracks are just that and it does become an album where I will skip at least 3 or 4 tracks on every listen, but yeah its better than SOM to me. Modern rock has really had its day with me in general but this and Destine are pretty special, a way ahead of Safetysuit truth be told, and have renewed my faith in 2012....hopefully there will be few others worthy of purchase.

Didn't say I didn't like it, doods. I'm sure I'll come around ever more to enjoy it quite a bit. I guess I just don't "get" why everyone loves this band so much when I personally, as a plentiful fan of modern rock, just don't hear it. Good band, no doubt, but I'm nowhere near where many here are at with these guys.

 

 

Lillian Axe - XI: The Days Before Tomorrow ; I ended up getting this for about $10 so thought it was worth a go. I can see why people like it a little better than previous efforts, but to be honest it's still not working for me at all. Songs are too long, that's one thing. The album seems to drag for days. There are a few good riffs and some heavier songs... but here's the fact in 2012. Steve Blaze cannot write songs anymore. Hooks, lyrics and especially the choruses are just gone. The sad fact is, you could get Ron Taylor back in the band but as long as Blaze is still writing songs like this, Lillian Axe... R.I.P.

 

Killinger - Killinger ; good hard rock CD. Nothing special to be honest, but it's a solid collection of hard rock. Well played and enjoyable.

 

Murder Bay - Never was an angel ; wow this starts out amazing. Truly thought I was in for the best Eonian release EVER! Well, it's not too far off. But it's not quite there. Strike Twice still proudly holds that title. But this one is really awesome. On the 2nd half of the disc there's a few too many "swaggery" hard rockers that don't quite have the commercial impact of earlier songs. 'Land Of Plenty' is a KILLER riff driven opener, and 'Outta Line' is a really, really cool commercial rocker. The ballads are pretty solid but not as huge as they should be on an album like this. The rockers are all pretty cool. Stuff like 'Honey Child' highlights how good this band is - a pretty typically average hard rocker, but a killer hook/chorus really makes this track shine. Very good disc, and it's easily in the top 5 of Eonian releases.

[Glen]

TRIXTER - New Audio Machine

 

Wow, what a let-down. I kinda hoped this would be somewhere between "Hear" and 40FT RINGO/RA-style modern rock. Or even similar to one or other of those styles. It's not. Well, "Tattoos and Misery" (the first single) is. It's ultra catchy modern rock with a killer chorus. The rest is largely 80's hard rock, but very little of it has the melodic-edge they had on "Hear". In fact, all of the first 3 songs are so ordinary I'll be very surprised if I play them again. A few decent tunes, and one killer tune, does not a great album make. It's not bad at all, but just an ordinary disc IMO.

 

that's the exact impression I got when I trawled through the 90 secs samples on itunes (by the way the samples in itunes are awesome...90 secs is great and gives a real feel for the album)...a few decent tracks, but a whole bunch of filler. I will listen in full on Spotify though when I get a chance.

[Nightrain]

I guess the new TRIXTER is not really that bad, but perhaps slightly above average, and if my counting is right, 3 outstanding tracks and that's about all. The rest are perhaps between 6/10 to 7.5/10 so perhaps 70% could be a reasonable. That score is about the same with the new TYKETTO, and funny thing I read CRAZY LIXX was condemned with 70% at MR.com while it's more of an 80%-85% for me

[Glen]

I guess the new TRIXTER is not really that bad, but perhaps slightly above average, and if my counting is right, 3 outstanding tracks and that's about all. The rest are perhaps between 6/10 to 7.5/10 so perhaps 70% could be a reasonable. That score is about the same with the new TYKETTO, and funny thing I read CRAZY LIXX was condemned with 70% at MR.com while it's more of an 80%-85% for me

 

70% for Crazy Lixx is crazy man talk/scoring.

 

That thing is freakin awesome.....I love it. Maybe only about 1 or 2 tracks which dip below excellent. 'Fire It Up' and 'Be Gone' are 2 of my favoutite tracks this year.

[Nightrain]

I guess the new TRIXTER is not really that bad, but perhaps slightly above average, and if my counting is right, 3 outstanding tracks and that's about all. The rest are perhaps between 6/10 to 7.5/10 so perhaps 70% could be a reasonable. That score is about the same with the new TYKETTO, and funny thing I read CRAZY LIXX was condemned with 70% at MR.com while it's more of an 80%-85% for me

 

70% for Crazy Lixx is crazy man talk/scoring.

 

That thing is freakin awesome.....I love it. Maybe only about 1 or 2 tracks which dip below excellent. 'Fire It Up' and 'Be Gone' are 2 of my favoutite tracks this year.

 

It's much raw-er in sounding compared to 'Religion' but I must confess that I think it's the weakest of the three. 'Loud Minority' is clearly the runner up.

[heaven&hell]

Trixter - New Audio Machine

Okay this isn't as good as the first two but it's still pretty damn good IMO. It's a good melodic rock album with a slight hint of a modern sound but not to much to turn off the old school fans. My fav songs are "Drag Me Down", "Dirty Love"(should have been the first single IMO), "Machine", "Live for the Day", "Ride", "Tattoos and Misery", "The Coolest Thing"(nice ballad) and the Snake Sabo co-write "Walk With A Stranger". Really not a bad tune IMO with only "Physical Attraction" being an obivious filler tracker. Also there's a nice acoustic bonus track of "Heart of Steel". I don't expect this to be album of the year but I'm happy their back together making music and hopefully they make another disc in a year or two.

 

Tyketto - Dig in Deep

Like most have said this sounds much more Vaughn like than classic Tyketto but don't that let you pass on it as there are some very good tunes. A few have a Strength in Numbers feel but none touch Don't Come Easy. The production is very good but as others have mentioned it does lack punch for some reason and it seems the mix has Danny's voice much higher than the music not that it sounds bad but there seems to be quiet parts where I have to turn it up louder. Someone should have them watch Spinal Tap so they realize that amps can go to 11!!! Fav songs are the great "Faithless", "Love to Love", "Here's Hoping it Hurts" and "The Fight Left In Me". A little more laid back than I'd hoped for but being a huge fan of Danny's voice and lyrics I expect this to grow more as long as I don't compare to what came before.

 

Accept - Stalingrad

If you love Accept and even more importantly if you loved Blood of the Nations you will love this. Just another great slice of Classic Metal. These guys are just on fire and kudos to Wolf and Peter for getting it and understanding what their diehard fans want. Fav songs - ALL OF THEM!!!

 

Crazy Lixx - Riot Avenue

No Chris Laney, Self Produced, More Raw sounding. Usually that's a recipe for disaster but that's not enitirely the case here but it's is their worst album of the three and big let down from the exceptional New Religon. Still there is a lot to love here and I expect it to grow but I do wish they'd use a real producer next time out.

 

Murder Bay - Never Was An Angel

Wow Eonian hits another home run here. How was this band not signed?#@!

"Land of Plenty", "Honey Child", "Outta Line", "Simple Man" are my favs so far. There are a few fillers at the end and most of best tracks are towards the front but this has to go into my top 5-10 fav Enonian releases so far.

 

Rattleshake - S/T

If you love Hair Metal or even Sleaze you'll love this one too. Another good one from Enonian. "Shootin Whiskey", "Gypsy Queen", "Take Me Down", "Jump on Me", "Mudbone Delight" and a nice ballad in "Never Say Goodbye.

[Glen]

I guess the new TRIXTER is not really that bad, but perhaps slightly above average, and if my counting is right, 3 outstanding tracks and that's about all. The rest are perhaps between 6/10 to 7.5/10 so perhaps 70% could be a reasonable. That score is about the same with the new TYKETTO, and funny thing I read CRAZY LIXX was condemned with 70% at MR.com while it's more of an 80%-85% for me

 

70% for Crazy Lixx is crazy man talk/scoring.

 

That thing is freakin awesome.....I love it. Maybe only about 1 or 2 tracks which dip below excellent. 'Fire It Up' and 'Be Gone' are 2 of my favoutite tracks this year.

 

It's much raw-er in sounding compared to 'Religion' but I must confess that I think it's the weakest of the three. 'Loud Minority' is clearly the runner up.

 

I really dont get what all you lot are hearing or not hearing lol?? The production on this is killer...I mean compared to something like Baby Jane it sounds a million bucks....am I missing something

[Nightrain]

I don't mean the production, but the band's sound. It's like a raw rock and roll style, and not commercial polished style as in 'Religion", that's why I quote the first single has that raw KIX style in it

[Glen]

I don't mean the production, but the band's sound. It's like a raw rock and roll style, and not commercial polished style as in 'Religion", that's why I quote the first single has that raw KIX style in it

 

Oh I get you....I dont mind it actually, whilst granted its a bit more of a basic sound the actual production sounds amazing so it kinda sounds better than NR.

[Geoff]

Salute - 'Toy soldier' ; I did download this when it was released and remember thinking the 2nd half was really good, and I agree with my early self. For those unaware, this is a Kronlund project with that dude from Last Autumn's Dream on vocals. In all honesty, I much prefer the sound and style of this band to LAD. The first half of this is solid, but once it kicks in for the 2nd half it's really a pretty cool CD.

 

Salute - 'Heart of the machine' ; if anyone knew this was released, I was not made aware. I just bought this and the 2nd Skansis CD. Had ZERO idea that either band had released a 2nd disc. I think this is possibly a bit better than the debut. The whole thing pretty much is written by Kronlund/Reece, which I found interesting. But it's good, as it keeps this from sounding like another LAD disc. Some songs on this sound so great but the backing vocals come chorus time just take away from several of these songs. It's a good album, but not super.

 

Polution - "Overheated" ; modern rock on Escape Music? Interesting. Bad vocalist, rough disc... but it's not dreadful. I half enjoyed it. I doubt I'll spin it much but it was okay.

 

Revolver - "Turbulence" ; not bad at all. Sounds to me like a heavier, modern follow up to Slik Toxik's debut. Not as grungy as a lot of artists who went down this route. Yeah, it's kind of cool. A few songs that stand out and nothing truly terrible. Good effort.

[Doksdad]

 

SCARLET HAZE - One Bad Bitch (2012)

Quoted as another contender to HALESTORM, I do spot a little similarity, but probably because they're also playing a modernized hard rock style with female vocal. 'Blame It On You' is a great start, the dark chugging riffs with great verse/chorus is a good way to open the album. 'Can't Get Enuff' is even better. 'One Bad Bitch' and 'Sorry' are awesome as well. Two possible fillers to avoid here are 'There's The Door' and 'It's You'. Overall, I like it, 80% for now and who knows could climb higher.

 

Absolutely love this album!!! Kat the lead singer owns it on this one!! One of my faves of the year thus far

[KarpetRydOFunk]

 

SCARLET HAZE - One Bad Bitch (2012)

Quoted as another contender to HALESTORM, I do spot a little similarity, but probably because they're also playing a modernized hard rock style with female vocal. 'Blame It On You' is a great start, the dark chugging riffs with great verse/chorus is a good way to open the album. 'Can't Get Enuff' is even better. 'One Bad Bitch' and 'Sorry' are awesome as well. Two possible fillers to avoid here are 'There's The Door' and 'It's You'. Overall, I like it, 80% for now and who knows could climb higher.

 

Absolutely love this album!!! Kat the lead singer owns it on this one!! One of my faves of the year thus far

 

Speaking of female fronted modern hard rock bands, I can't bloody wait for the new Diemonds!!

[heaven&hell]

Bangalore Choir - Metaphor

Round three for this band. Still featuring original members David Reece(one of my fav vocalists of all time), Curt Mitchell and Danny Greenberg along with Andy Susemil(guitar and producer on Cadence and played on David's solo album as well with Sinner and UDO) and new drummer Rene Letters. If you're looking for another On Target type album look elsewhere as this one goes to new places that BC hasn't went to before. Andy's production is a much looser vibe compared to the big sound on Cadence and overall the sound of the songs are much more old school Whitesnake bluesy sounding. Not that that is a bad thing as there are some nice moments here and some nice melodic tunes towards the back of the album but overall it's just much different to the previous two releases. David is in fine form vocally as usual and Andy and Curt really bring in guitar wise with some great solos throughout. The strangest song that will shock most is "Never Face Ole Joe Alone" which to me sounds like it should have been on the soundtrack to the movie Deliverance. It's a good song but just out left field for BC as it has an almost bluegrass meets backwoods country vibe with lyrics that are very similar to Warrant's Uncle Tom's Cabin. The big melodic tunes are "Catch An Angel Fallin"(amazing tune), "Fools Gold"(again amazing tune), "Always Be My Angel", "Trojan Horse"(my fav tune). "All the Damage Done", "Silhouettes on the Shade" and "Civilized Evil" are balls to the wall and very good tunes. The tile track, "Don't Act Surprised" and "Scandinavian Rose" are also solid tunes. Again it's a good album and a grower(it's been much better on spin two than it was on spin one)but I can see the melodic rock fans being let down with this one but I'm enjoying it and expect that it will get even better with more spins.

[phaffas]

Salute - 'Toy soldier' ; I did download this when it was released and remember thinking the 2nd half was really good, and I agree with my early self. For those unaware, this is a Kronlund project with that dude from Last Autumn's Dream on vocals. In all honesty, I much prefer the sound and style of this band to LAD. The first half of this is solid, but once it kicks in for the 2nd half it's really a pretty cool CD.

 

Salute - 'Heart of the machine' ; if anyone knew this was released, I was not made aware. I just bought this and the 2nd Skansis CD. Had ZERO idea that either band had released a 2nd disc. I think this is possibly a bit better than the debut. The whole thing pretty much is written by Kronlund/Reece, which I found interesting. But it's good, as it keeps this from sounding like another LAD disc. Some songs on this sound so great but the backing vocals come chorus time just take away from several of these songs. It's a good album, but not super.

 

I got all Skansis and Salute albums when they came out. You just suck. Donkeys.

[Geoff]

Salute - 'Toy soldier' ; I did download this when it was released and remember thinking the 2nd half was really good, and I agree with my early self. For those unaware, this is a Kronlund project with that dude from Last Autumn's Dream on vocals. In all honesty, I much prefer the sound and style of this band to LAD. The first half of this is solid, but once it kicks in for the 2nd half it's really a pretty cool CD.

 

Salute - 'Heart of the machine' ; if anyone knew this was released, I was not made aware. I just bought this and the 2nd Skansis CD. Had ZERO idea that either band had released a 2nd disc. I think this is possibly a bit better than the debut. The whole thing pretty much is written by Kronlund/Reece, which I found interesting. But it's good, as it keeps this from sounding like another LAD disc. Some songs on this sound so great but the backing vocals come chorus time just take away from several of these songs. It's a good album, but not super.

 

I got all Skansis and Salute albums when they came out. You just suck. Donkeys.

 

Where was your voice at the time? I never heard about them and if you don't tell me something then I don't know about it. Your voice guides me through my life. You are my Jesus. Is the Skansis one better than the debut?

[TIM (2)]

PANTERA - Vulgar Display of Power (20th anniversary edition)

 

 

STILL.FUCKING.RULES.END

[JamesEagle]

Jillson - Deadly Girl

 

Just can't believe how many times I listen to tracks online, love them, get the CD and then wonder why on earth I bought it. This doesn't sound bad, but not particularly good either. The first couple of tracks I thought were nondescript and dull and overall this reminded me a bit of early Virgin Steele rather than any rock bands (that may just be the vocals). Truly average imo.

[Geoff]

Jillson - Deadly Girl

 

Just can't believe how many times I listen to tracks online, love them, get the CD and then wonder why on earth I bought it. This doesn't sound bad, but not particularly good either. The first couple of tracks I thought were nondescript and dull and overall this reminded me a bit of early Virgin Steele rather than any rock bands (that may just be the vocals). Truly average imo.

 

This, my friend, we can agree on. Truly one of those over-hyped indies I just never "got." Solid hard rock album, nothing more. IMO, of course.

[phaffas]

Jillson - Deadly Girl

 

Just can't believe how many times I listen to tracks online, love them, get the CD and then wonder why on earth I bought it. This doesn't sound bad, but not particularly good either. The first couple of tracks I thought were nondescript and dull and overall this reminded me a bit of early Virgin Steele rather than any rock bands (that may just be the vocals). Truly average imo.

 

This, my friend, we can agree on. Truly one of those over-hyped indies I just never "got." Solid hard rock album, nothing more. IMO, of course.

 

Actually i just listened to these tracks again also that i downloaded years ago the other night, knowing they are awesome....after it finished it was more..."that wasnt that great afterall".

[Nightrain]

DEPARTURE - Hitch A Ride (2012)

not a bad AOR by any means, quite nice actually but pretty much bordering average. Very few outstanding tunes, perhaps only the slow ballad of 'Without You' deserved the 8/10, the rest are scattered between 6 to 7. 'No Where To Go' and 'This Is My Time' could be a 7.5-ers, and overall 70% sounds like the maximum it can get.

 

 

LEGION - Nemesis (2012)

same style as before, DOKKEN influenced thing, some great tracks i like here are 'Seems Like Yesterday', 'Lay It On The Line', 'Walk Through Fire', and 'Make Some Noise'. Around 3-4 weaker tracks but compensated with those 4 great tracks and I arrived at around 75% reasonable score.

 

 

MURDER BAY - Never Was An Angel (2012)

A great glam product of Eonian. 'Land of Plenty' is a killer opener, very Motley in style; 'Outta Line' is a nice commercial track; 'Simple Man' is bluesy ballad in the veins of old Great White; 'Long Time Comin' is a nice uptempo tune; and the last two tracks are awesome, 'Around Again' and 'Song'. But there are probably 3 fillers here which is very average and forgettable, but overall quite solid, and I'll go with 80% for this one.

 

 

PHENOMENA - Awakening (2012)

what a dull AOR album, the only worthy track for me here is 'Homeland' and 'Stand Up For Love'! 'Reality' and 'Fighter' are quite good, but the rest are things you simply can live without. 60%

 

 

SILENCE - City (Days) (2012)

oh i love this album, probably not gonna make to the top 10, but very nicely done. The sound here is somewhat slightly different than the last album, and perhaps quite closer to the 7TH HEAVEN style. I like all the tracks inside but the strongest part of this album laid on the ethereal soothing ballad of 'Footprints'; the midtempo 'Jenny' and 'The End of The Day'; and also 'Lift Me Up', 'Daydreaming', and the lullaby song 'Waiting For Dawn'. 80%

 

 

SILENCE - City (Nights) (2012)

the second part of the double release, still as strong as (Days) but perhaps more laid back. If I need to pick one, I might pick (Days) but both looks like are worth the purchase. Songs that are winner here are 'Taste of The Past', 'Crashing Down', 'Memory of Blue Eyes', 'Promised Land', and 'Out of The Dream'. Another 80%

 

 

THE VEER UNION - Divide The Blackened Sky (2012)

hmm boring modern rock, I guess the nu-metal influence is too overwhelming for me, and lack of melodies that I like. Good tracks are 'Inside Our Scars' and 'Live Another Day', but too many weak tracks here. 55%-60% and a disposable album for me.

 

 

UNISONIC - s/t (2012)

quite disappointing if compared to PLACE VENDOME, and Kai Hansen on board didn't put too much value. Kinda interested with the EP but the whole album seems to be somewhat 2-3 steps weaker than the two PV albums. The first three tracks are nice, 'Never Change Me' is brilliant, 'My Sanctuary', as stated before in the EP, is also a very good Place Vendome style track, but around 5-6 tracks that's only around 7/10, so overall I think this one is a 75%

 

 

WIG WAM - Wall Street (2012)

sad to see how WIG WAM keep falling behind and further from the first two albums, sounds like the end of an era for them if they can't bounce back in the next album. This is definitely their weakest to date with only great tracks here are 'Wall Street', 'Tides Will Turn', and 'Wrong Can Feel So Right'. More hard rock, a bit of classic rock touch maybe, bar/pub rock touch, less glam and less melodic. 70% and I'm still not sure how it progresses in the next spin, could be lower I'm afraid