First Spin Impressions

[Geoff]

Slash "Apocalyptic Love" In a word?? Excellent!!! Probably the BEST CD I have bought this year so far.. Now before Anyone crucifies Me, I have NOT bought the new Accept OR the new Over Kill, as I am SURE They will kick serious ass too!! But this CD?? Just awesome from start to finish!! I have yet to find a song I consider to be filler.. Like the saying goes.. All killer NO filler!! Hell, even the slower ballady songs are damn good!! Slash's guitar work is truly excellent and Myles Kennedy's vocals are truly excellent!! I Highly recommend this to Anyone that likes good guitar driven rock!! And awesome vocals!! I give this release a 10/10!!!

 

I must say, I really don't see what all y'all see in this dude's voice as it personally does nothing for me... but hey, to each their own. I'm about 7 tracks into this CD so far and I love the production and overall vibe. Slash sounds great and there are some real musical throwbacks to vintage GNR which is cool. The only thing I fear about 7 songs in is that the hooks / choruses aren't doing overly much for me at the minute. Could be a CD I like plenty enough but rarely feel the need to play again due to the lack of great hooks? But it does sound pretty good overall.

 

Silence - City (Days) & City (Nights) ; wow I'm impressed with this. Not only is there not a filler amongst the 22 songs split across 2 albums, but each song is at least very good, to excellent. It is really such an impressive effort to be so good for 22 songs in a row. And I must say, this guitarist is my favourite at the moment behind only the mighty Mike Slamer. I hardly even notice solos these days (though Slamer's sole solo on the new Phenomena CD stands out like a beautifully sexy sore thumb) but I love this guy's style and sound - killer guitarist. But the songs - just delicious. And there is a real pairing of 2 different albums here too, which I find really impressive. If people only wanted to buy one and asked me which one I recommended, I'd personally suggest the 'Nights' CD. Basically, the 'Days' CD is 11 tracks of beautifully constructed mid-tempo AOR. The 'Nights' CD is immediately noticeably heavier with more uptempo and rocking tunes... but still every bit as wonderfully melodic as the first. I just find the quality of the songs a little better on 'Nights' and I do love the heavier aspect and a little more variety of song tempo. But really you cannot go wrong with either of these. I honestly wonder if there may be 2 albums from the same band in my top 10 this year? 'Nights; will certainly be there... time will tell if 'Days' makes it too.

[Swazi]

Slash "Apocalyptic Love" In a word?? Excellent!!! Probably the BEST CD I have bought this year so far.. Now before Anyone crucifies Me, I have NOT bought the new Accept OR the new Over Kill, as I am SURE They will kick serious ass too!! But this CD?? Just awesome from start to finish!! I have yet to find a song I consider to be filler.. Like the saying goes.. All killer NO filler!! Hell, even the slower ballady songs are damn good!! Slash's guitar work is truly excellent and Myles Kennedy's vocals are truly excellent!! I Highly recommend this to Anyone that likes good guitar driven rock!! And awesome vocals!! I give this release a 10/10!!!

 

I must say, I really don't see what all y'all see in this dude's voice as it personally does nothing for me... but hey, to each their own. I'm about 7 tracks into this CD so far and I love the production and overall vibe. Slash sounds great and there are some real musical throwbacks to vintage GNR which is cool. The only thing I fear about 7 songs in is that the hooks / choruses aren't doing overly much for me at the minute. Could be a CD I like plenty enough but rarely feel the need to play again due to the lack of great hooks? But it does sound pretty good overall.

 

Silence - City (Days) & City (Nights) ; wow I'm impressed with this. Not only is there not a filler amongst the 22 songs split across 2 albums, but each song is at least very good, to excellent. It is really such an impressive effort to be so good for 22 songs in a row. And I must say, this guitarist is my favourite at the moment behind only the mighty Mike Slamer. I hardly even notice solos these days (though Slamer's sole solo on the new Phenomena CD stands out like a beautifully sexy sore thumb) but I love this guy's style and sound - killer guitarist. But the songs - just delicious. And there is a real pairing of 2 different albums here too, which I find really impressive. If people only wanted to buy one and asked me which one I recommended, I'd personally suggest the 'Nights' CD. Basically, the 'Days' CD is 11 tracks of beautifully constructed mid-tempo AOR. The 'Nights' CD is immediately noticeably heavier with more uptempo and rocking tunes... but still every bit as wonderfully melodic as the first. I just find the quality of the songs a little better on 'Nights' and I do love the heavier aspect and a little more variety of song tempo. But really you cannot go wrong with either of these. I honestly wonder if there may be 2 albums from the same band in my top 10 this year? 'Nights; will certainly be there... time will tell if 'Days' makes it too.

 

I completely agree ! I haven't heard "Nights" yet, but "Days" is awesome !!

[Faron]

Slash "Apocalyptic Love" In a word?? Excellent!!! Probably the BEST CD I have bought this year so far.. Now before Anyone crucifies Me, I have NOT bought the new Accept OR the new Over Kill, as I am SURE They will kick serious ass too!! But this CD?? Just awesome from start to finish!! I have yet to find a song I consider to be filler.. Like the saying goes.. All killer NO filler!! Hell, even the slower ballady songs are damn good!! Slash's guitar work is truly excellent and Myles Kennedy's vocals are truly excellent!! I Highly recommend this to Anyone that likes good guitar driven rock!! And awesome vocals!! I give this release a 10/10!!!

 

My mate is lending me this at the weekend, he also says the vocals and guitar are top notch, really looking forward to hearing it, having a break from the really excellent Rush - Clockwork Angels album.

 

[JamesEagle]

Axel Rudi Pell - Circle Of The Oath ; I always have to think when I hear one of this chap's albums how good he could be if he wanted. I like that the dude just lives in his own little bubble and rolls how he wishes to roll. It's admirable and I'm still buying carbon copies of the same album be recorded over 20 years ago, and I know others are, so he must be doing something right. But what could really make this dude magnificent is if he just cut out the stupid 10min "epics" which really detract from the rest of the disc. There are a HUGE handful of killer hard rockers here, with great riffs. They're not perfect, but goddamn they are so heavily enjoyable. The only weak tracks are the title track and a few overlong balladic numbers which needn't be here. If he just made a CD of 10 uptempo 4-5min hard rock tracks these things would be pure gold. And is it just me or is this far better produced than the last few CDs. They always sound just fine, but there's a real kick to this one. A bit more power in the drums and the guitar even sounds crisper too. Really nice effort.

 

What are the best songs on this one, mate? I agree entirely about Mr Pell sticking to his guns, so he's not an album artist for me, but does occasionally come up with some nice tunes.

 

If you just want some nice slabs of hard rock, check these ones out:

 

Run With The Wind

Before I Die

Fortunes of War

Lived Our Lives Before

Hold On to Your Dreams

 

Pretty sure they were all pretty good. I think the opener, 'Ghosts in the dark' was good too. As a basic rule, any Axel Rudy Pell song around the 5min mark or under is generally pretty damn good (except for his terrible 'Magic' CD). And you can quote me on that.

 

Cheers buddy. Will check these out as soon as the insurance company either lets me have a new laptop or (more likely, but far less exciting) fixes my old one. I find Pell quite patchy, but there are usually a few good tunes to be had. My favourite of his is still the debut.

[JamesEagle]

Damnation Alley – s/t

 

Love the sound of this band, very sleazy which is great. The first song, ‘Psycho City’ is really good, but the other choruses haven’t really grabbed me so far. Unless the other choruses improve with subsequent listens, this could be a one-song wonder for me.

[heaven&hell]

LA Guns - Hollywood Forever

So dissapointed with this one. Since Phil came back in 1999/2000 they've put together a nice string of studio albums with Man in the Moon, Waking the Dead and the Traci-less Tales from the Strip, but this release just has no songs at all. Sure there are four or five that are okay but lets face it when it comes to this band just okay don't cut it. These guys have been one of my favs for years and I hold their first four releases as well as the last three in high regard but outside of the title track and "You Better Not Love Me" there isn't to many other good to great songs here. And what the fuck is "Eel Pie"? I know they made a great album without Traci Guns but the last two had Adam Hamilton on bass and this one doesn't so maybe he was the one with the talent. I know that's crazy to say but something is missing here. Bad album cover and bad album.

 

The Cult-Choice of Weapon

In the "what the fuck was that" category comes this heaping pile of shit of a cd. I can't believe this is the same band that recorded such all time classics as Electric, Sonic Temple and Beyond Good and Evil. After the abysmal Born into This this new release actually makes that one seem competent. There are no songs on this one, NONE! The production with Bob Rock and Chris Goss is very good and much better than the last release but damn these guys can't write a song to save their life.

 

Unisonic-S/T

I have to be honest being a huge Helloween and Gamma Ray fan I had hopes that the combo of Kai Hansen and Michael Kiske would produce a great metal classic but instead we get a very very good Meldodic Hard Rock album. Some of the songs are even close to AOR which is shocking when one consider how Metal Kai Hansen is. Mike's vocals sound great and the songwriting is solid with many gems and the production by Dennis Ward is very good too. Even though this isn't what I wanted I have to admit it's pretty damn catchy.

[Geoff]

Unisonic-S/T

I have to be honest being a huge Helloween and Gamma Ray fan I had hopes that the combo of Kai Hansen and Michael Kiske would produce a great metal classic but instead we get a very very good Meldodic Hard Rock album. Some of the songs are even close to AOR which is shocking when one consider how Metal Kai Hansen is. Mike's vocals sound great and the songwriting is solid with many gems and the production by Dennis Ward is very good too. Even though this isn't what I wanted I have to admit it's pretty damn catchy.

 

1. Surprised you're so hard on the LA Guns CD, and 2. Surprised you're so gentle on this one. I also just listened to the Unisonic CD today and was amazed - with the personnel involved - that it is such an average, run-of-the-mill CD. Seriously, at the end I couldn't remember one single moment of the CD, except there was a single good hook on the 5th or 6th song. But the rest... man, how average. I totally got the impression that they possibly went in the studio to make a new Place Vendome CD, then realised the songs were shit and not deserving of that band's name, and just changed the band name. It's really not a dreadful CD at all... just honestly stunned that a Ward-driven project it this average.

[heaven&hell]

Unisonic-S/T

I have to be honest being a huge Helloween and Gamma Ray fan I had hopes that the combo of Kai Hansen and Michael Kiske would produce a great metal classic but instead we get a very very good Meldodic Hard Rock album. Some of the songs are even close to AOR which is shocking when one consider how Metal Kai Hansen is. Mike's vocals sound great and the songwriting is solid with many gems and the production by Dennis Ward is very good too. Even though this isn't what I wanted I have to admit it's pretty damn catchy.

 

1. Surprised you're so hard on the LA Guns CD, and 2. Surprised you're so gentle on this one. I also just listened to the Unisonic CD today and was amazed - with the personnel involved - that it is such an average, run-of-the-mill CD. Seriously, at the end I couldn't remember one single moment of the CD, except there was a single good hook on the 5th or 6th song. But the rest... man, how average. I totally got the impression that they possibly went in the studio to make a new Place Vendome CD, then realised the songs were shit and not deserving of that band's name, and just changed the band name. It's really not a dreadful CD at all... just honestly stunned that a Ward-driven project it this average.

 

I dont think its great but I enjoy it but the LA Guns disc is such a huge dissapointment based on my expectations.

[Nightrain]

AT VANCE - Facing Your Enemy (2012)

a typical power metal with occasional melodic metal tracks but sadly only 2-3 worthy tracks here, the rest are just plain average. 'Eyes of A Stranger' might be the best, and followed by 'See Me Crying', 'Tokyo' (but the chorus is just too repetitive near the end), and 'Things I Never Needed'. Half of the songs don't have the power or catchy enough, but definitely not bad. 70%

 

 

CIRCUS MAXIMUS - Nine (2012)

i'm not entirely sold in one spin but this one is definitely great. If you like prog with melodic metal mix, and the singer is Michael Eriksen from THE MAGNIFICENT just in case somebody don't know, 'Nine' is a continuation of their previous albums but perhaps this time, they focus on the heavy metal side than the prog, judging from the lengthy tracks which is only 3 here. In one spin, I think the previous album is somewhat better, but this one could be a great grower. Best track here is 'I Am', and then followed by 'Architect of Fortune' and 'Last Goodbye'. 'Namaste', 'Used', and 'The One' are doubtful at first, but 'Game of Life' and 'Reach Within' are brilliant. 80% and could reach 85% I guess

 

 

DEVIL'S TRAIN - s/t (2012)

decent hard rock / heavy metal stuff, not bad but perhaps might wear thin pretty quick. Best songs here are 'Devil's Train', 'Sweet Devil's Kiss', and 'Room 66/64', and the rest which is quite potential are 'Fire and Water', 'Yellow Blaze', and probably the ballad, 'Forever'. 70%

 

 

FATAL SMILE - 21st Century Freaks (2012)

I thought this one's gonna better but sadly, this one's too average that you probably won't bother nor interested to spin again. There's not a single 8/10 track here, probably the best is 'Innocent' or 'Take It To The Limit' and that's probaly a 7.5. 'Welcome To The Freakshow', 'Raising Hell In Heaven', 'Broken Heart' are 7/10, and 'Judgement Day', 'Scarecrow', 'My Private Hell', and 'Break These Chains' sound like fillers. 65%

 

 

RICHARD MARX - Inside My Head (2012)

very light stuff as you expected from Marx, a little modern flavor, and most of the songs are harmless and actually quite nice, although there are way too many ballads around. Great tracks here are 'Had Enough', 'Wouldn't Let Me Love You', 'Loved', 'Over My Head', and 'Part of Me', while the low one are only 'Come Running' and 'Scars'. I think a safe album, 75% or 80%, between that range I guess. I've heard that he's releasing a live/acoustical album which is very good, so I need to check that out asap

 

 

RUSH - Clockwork Angels (2012)

not a Rush big fan or expert here but this tells me that they're going back to the 70s root with a little 90s flavor, but songwise perhaps too patchy. Some great tracks here are 'Caravan', 'Clockwork Angels' which is very melodic, 'Halo Effect', short and spacey but goodie, 'The Wreckers' is the most radio friendly track, and 'The Garden', an awesome acoustical ballad. Perhaps 70% or 75% for me, not their best work but then judging by the age and consistency, RUSH still deserves a big praise

 

 

RYDELL & QUICK - R.O.A.D.T.R.I.P (2012)

Hm this one's pretty good, hard rock with a little unusual sax touch. I like 'Do It Right Now', 'All In Like A Rockstar', 'Take Your Time To Remember', and 'I Want You', sounds like the best part of this album. The second half is weaker than the first and 'Money' and 'When Love Is Gone' are the fillers here I guess. Enjoyable, nothing's new, probably deserve a 75%

[JamesEagle]

CIRCUS MAXIMUS - Nine (2012)

i'm not entirely sold in one spin but this one is definitely great. If you like prog with melodic metal mix, and the singer is Michael Eriksen from THE MAGNIFICENT just in case somebody don't know, 'Nine' is a continuation of their previous albums but perhaps this time, they focus on the heavy metal side than the prog, judging from the lengthy tracks which is only 3 here. In one spin, I think the previous album is somewhat better, but this one could be a great grower. Best track here is 'I Am', and then followed by 'Architect of Fortune' and 'Last Goodbye'. 'Namaste', 'Used', and 'The One' are doubtful at first, but 'Game of Life' and 'Reach Within' are brilliant. 80% and could reach 85% I guess

 

 

Sounds interesting. Not a band I've heard of before, but will have to check out soon...

[metalmaniac777]

FATAL SMILE - 21st Century Freaks (2012)

I thought this one's gonna better but sadly, this one's too average that you probably won't bother nor interested to spin again. There's not a single 8/10 track here, probably the best is 'Innocent' or 'Take It To The Limit' and that's probaly a 7.5. 'Welcome To The Freakshow', 'Raising Hell In Heaven', 'Broken Heart' are 7/10, and 'Judgement Day', 'Scarecrow', 'My Private Hell', and 'Break These Chains' sound like fillers. 65%

I think this one is a long way from average and another damn good entry in the Swedish Sleaze Metal Movement. I'm really digging the band's blend of attitude, heaviness, melody, and sleaze. For me, "Raising Hell in Heaven" is one of the best songs of the year, yet you label it filler...just goes to show you how different ears enjoy different sounds. I think anyone who enjoys cranking guitars, big hooks, sleazy attitude, and gang vocal choruses needs to at least give this album a shot. More than once I thought this sounded a bit like Lordi without the gutteral vocals, and maybe that's all you need to know in order to determine if this will be your cup of metal tea or not. Currently sitting at 85% for me.

[Doksdad]

Shannon Noll - 'A million suns' ; I think it's Glen and Tim that have mentioned this in high regard a couple of times here. Generally Australian Idol contestants are not people I make a habit of following as not much good seems to come from them. But I have heard his other albums mentioned here and the few odd tracks I have heard did sound pretty good, so maybe I need to really take some time to get these. Why? Because this album is freakin' fantastic! A really great disc that I would never have expected from him. The title track is average and there is another clunker at the end, but the rest. Wowser. So many good songs. 'A place in the line' is brilliant, but zomfg @ 'Living in stereo.' What a track. Like I said, most of this is great, though. Good shout out, Tim & Glen.

 

how's the style compared to the likes of DAUGHTRY, JAMES DURBIN, or DAVID COOK ?

or is he more like ERIK GRONWALL solo style ?

 

Mmm, its lighter than those - more 7th Heaven styled, but loads of melody and hooks.

 

Good stuff.

 

Yeah, Glen's right - not really anything like any of those. It probably is more like 7th Heaven, but a lot "classier." More refined song-writing and 100% more well produced. It's good stuff, that you can be assured of.

 

 

Axel Rudi Pell - Circle Of The Oath ; I always have to think when I hear one of this chap's albums how good he could be if he wanted. I like that the dude just lives in his own little bubble and rolls how he wishes to roll. It's admirable and I'm still buying carbon copies of the same album be recorded over 20 years ago, and I know others are, so he must be doing something right. But what could really make this dude magnificent is if he just cut out the stupid 10min "epics" which really detract from the rest of the disc. There are a HUGE handful of killer hard rockers here, with great riffs. They're not perfect, but goddamn they are so heavily enjoyable. The only weak tracks are the title track and a few overlong balladic numbers which needn't be here. If he just made a CD of 10 uptempo 4-5min hard rock tracks these things would be pure gold. And is it just me or is this far better produced than the last few CDs. They always sound just fine, but there's a real kick to this one. A bit more power in the drums and the guitar even sounds crisper too. Really nice effort.

 

Casablanca - Apocalyptic youth ; this isn't as poor as I thought it might be based on samples. It's pretty laid back, almost DAD-sounding at times. But it's got a cool vibe. I actually really kind of dig it. It's not going to sit high in my list this year, but it's the kind of album I will properly enjoy every time I spin it. Try it out.

 

 

Gotthard - Firebirth ; I hate to say it, but this ain't so great. Nothing wrong with it as such. Good tracks with some good hard rocking tunes and some nice ballads (the ballads are the strongest part of this album) but I have to agree with most comments I've seen on this. The hooks and choruses just aren't really there. Credit to them, though, as this sounds 100% like a Gotthard CD. When you're not concentrating you sometimes forget it's sadly not Steve Lee on vocals - man this dude sounds like him. Good hard rock disc, but not that exciting unfortunately.

 

Spot on. Nice work G. Couldn't have said it better myself

[Nightrain]

FATAL SMILE - 21st Century Freaks (2012)

I thought this one's gonna better but sadly, this one's too average that you probably won't bother nor interested to spin again. There's not a single 8/10 track here, probably the best is 'Innocent' or 'Take It To The Limit' and that's probaly a 7.5. 'Welcome To The Freakshow', 'Raising Hell In Heaven', 'Broken Heart' are 7/10, and 'Judgement Day', 'Scarecrow', 'My Private Hell', and 'Break These Chains' sound like fillers. 65%

I think this one is a long way from average and another damn good entry in the Swedish Sleaze Metal Movement. I'm really digging the band's blend of attitude, heaviness, melody, and sleaze. For me, "Raising Hell in Heaven" is one of the best songs of the year, yet you label it filler...just goes to show you how different ears enjoy different sounds. I think anyone who enjoys cranking guitars, big hooks, sleazy attitude, and gang vocal choruses needs to at least give this album a shot. More than once I thought this sounded a bit like Lordi without the gutteral vocals, and maybe that's all you need to know in order to determine if this will be your cup of metal tea or not. Currently sitting at 85% for me.

 

Agree on the vocal part, a bit harsh but not extreme, hm to me the songs personally aren't just really appealing and I think the album is relatively weak if compared to the new CRAZY LIXX, BABYJANE, or DYNAZTY if we're talking about Swedish sleaze/hard rock

[heaven&hell]

Unisonic-S/T

I have to be honest being a huge Helloween and Gamma Ray fan I had hopes that the combo of Kai Hansen and Michael Kiske would produce a great metal classic but instead we get a very very good Meldodic Hard Rock album. Some of the songs are even close to AOR which is shocking when one consider how Metal Kai Hansen is. Mike's vocals sound great and the songwriting is solid with many gems and the production by Dennis Ward is very good too. Even though this isn't what I wanted I have to admit it's pretty damn catchy.

 

1. Surprised you're so hard on the LA Guns CD, and 2. Surprised you're so gentle on this one. I also just listened to the Unisonic CD today and was amazed - with the personnel involved - that it is such an average, run-of-the-mill CD. Seriously, at the end I couldn't remember one single moment of the CD, except there was a single good hook on the 5th or 6th song. But the rest... man, how average. I totally got the impression that they possibly went in the studio to make a new Place Vendome CD, then realised the songs were shit and not deserving of that band's name, and just changed the band name. It's really not a dreadful CD at all... just honestly stunned that a Ward-driven project it this average.

 

I've changed my mind on the LAG as it's much better than I first thought. "Eel Pie" is still dreadful and the Black Spider song I could do without but the rest are all solid to great. "Dirty Black Night", "Underneath the Sun", "Better not Love Me", the title track, "Sweet Mystery" and "Burn" are all great tunes.

[Dead Planet]

Fahrenheit - As It Is....very nice hard rock/AOR release that I was not expecting much from. Hard to believe it isn't on HH...

[Geoff]

Unisonic-S/T

I have to be honest being a huge Helloween and Gamma Ray fan I had hopes that the combo of Kai Hansen and Michael Kiske would produce a great metal classic but instead we get a very very good Meldodic Hard Rock album. Some of the songs are even close to AOR which is shocking when one consider how Metal Kai Hansen is. Mike's vocals sound great and the songwriting is solid with many gems and the production by Dennis Ward is very good too. Even though this isn't what I wanted I have to admit it's pretty damn catchy.

 

1. Surprised you're so hard on the LA Guns CD, and 2. Surprised you're so gentle on this one. I also just listened to the Unisonic CD today and was amazed - with the personnel involved - that it is such an average, run-of-the-mill CD. Seriously, at the end I couldn't remember one single moment of the CD, except there was a single good hook on the 5th or 6th song. But the rest... man, how average. I totally got the impression that they possibly went in the studio to make a new Place Vendome CD, then realised the songs were shit and not deserving of that band's name, and just changed the band name. It's really not a dreadful CD at all... just honestly stunned that a Ward-driven project it this average.

 

I've changed my mind on the LAG as it's much better than I first thought. "Eel Pie" is still dreadful and the Black Spider song I could do without but the rest are all solid to great. "Dirty Black Night", "Underneath the Sun", "Better not Love Me", the title track, "Sweet Mystery" and "Burn" are all great tunes.

 

Haha... I have to admit I could kind of seeing you change your mind on it. It's not the best CD on the planet, but I honestly cannot imagine an LA Guns not liking it plenty.

[AlphaMale]

FATAL SMILE - 21st Century Freaks (2012)

I thought this one's gonna better but sadly, this one's too average that you probably won't bother nor interested to spin again. There's not a single 8/10 track here, probably the best is 'Innocent' or 'Take It To The Limit' and that's probaly a 7.5. 'Welcome To The Freakshow', 'Raising Hell In Heaven', 'Broken Heart' are 7/10, and 'Judgement Day', 'Scarecrow', 'My Private Hell', and 'Break These Chains' sound like fillers. 65%

I think this one is a long way from average and another damn good entry in the Swedish Sleaze Metal Movement. I'm really digging the band's blend of attitude, heaviness, melody, and sleaze. For me, "Raising Hell in Heaven" is one of the best songs of the year, yet you label it filler...just goes to show you how different ears enjoy different sounds. I think anyone who enjoys cranking guitars, big hooks, sleazy attitude, and gang vocal choruses needs to at least give this album a shot. More than once I thought this sounded a bit like Lordi without the gutteral vocals, and maybe that's all you need to know in order to determine if this will be your cup of metal tea or not. Currently sitting at 85% for me.

 

Agree completely!! I love the new disc!!

[AlphaMale]

Unisonic-S/T

I have to be honest being a huge Helloween and Gamma Ray fan I had hopes that the combo of Kai Hansen and Michael Kiske would produce a great metal classic but instead we get a very very good Meldodic Hard Rock album. Some of the songs are even close to AOR which is shocking when one consider how Metal Kai Hansen is. Mike's vocals sound great and the songwriting is solid with many gems and the production by Dennis Ward is very good too. Even though this isn't what I wanted I have to admit it's pretty damn catchy.

 

1. Surprised you're so hard on the LA Guns CD, and 2. Surprised you're so gentle on this one. I also just listened to the Unisonic CD today and was amazed - with the personnel involved - that it is such an average, run-of-the-mill CD. Seriously, at the end I couldn't remember one single moment of the CD, except there was a single good hook on the 5th or 6th song. But the rest... man, how average. I totally got the impression that they possibly went in the studio to make a new Place Vendome CD, then realised the songs were shit and not deserving of that band's name, and just changed the band name. It's really not a dreadful CD at all... just honestly stunned that a Ward-driven project it this average.

 

I've changed my mind on the LAG as it's much better than I first thought. "Eel Pie" is still dreadful and the Black Spider song I could do without but the rest are all solid to great. "Dirty Black Night", "Underneath the Sun", "Better not Love Me", the title track, "Sweet Mystery" and "Burn" are all great tunes.

 

I felt the same way as you when I first heard this. I was definitely disappointed. It has a lot of good songs but I just don't hear nothing great. TFTS had a bunch of great tunes. This one does not.

[Jez]

The Pusher - The Art Of Hit Music (2011)

Gotta give a big up to Nick for this one, as were were sitting sipping a few pints the other night and he put this one on. It's from last year, but I will say that it is one of THE most consistently good discs I have heard in a long time and would have definitely made it into my top 10 last year, had I known about it.. It's very Poppy in places (no bad thing) but anyone into the likes of say BBMak (Into My Head era) and good pop/rock in general is gonna absolutely love this. Check out 'Blow Me And Run' or 'Blinded By The Dark' for good examples of what's to come. Fantastically good disc and the repeat button will be hit, VERY often. Cheers Nick

 

Producers - Made In Basing Street (2012)

I've been seriously looking forward to this one since it's release date was announced a few months back. Producers are A band made up of top record Producers Trevor Horn (Yes, Buggles, Frankie, Propaganda, ABC et all)) Steve Lipson (David Cook,Annie Lennox, Sting, Simple Minds et all) , and Lol Creme (10 CC, Godley & Creme). Let's start by saying this is a very very good album. 'Freeway' starts the album prefectly with it's subtle Synths building into a great rocking track and one of the albums best - Think 90125 era yes, mixed with The pop sensibilites of The excellent Buggles and you're half way there.Elsewhere you get a great mixture of stuff, from the more acoustic 'Stay Elaine' to the more upbeat 'Garden Of Flowers' and everything in between. It won't appeal to all here at HH, but if you like your music expertly written and played, superbly produced (as expected) this is a great great album and you should definitely go for it. Buy the 2CD version and you get two more songs not on the album plus 3 extended mixes, which are great too.

[Doksdad]

Unisonic-S/T

I have to be honest being a huge Helloween and Gamma Ray fan I had hopes that the combo of Kai Hansen and Michael Kiske would produce a great metal classic but instead we get a very very good Meldodic Hard Rock album. Some of the songs are even close to AOR which is shocking when one consider how Metal Kai Hansen is. Mike's vocals sound great and the songwriting is solid with many gems and the production by Dennis Ward is very good too. Even though this isn't what I wanted I have to admit it's pretty damn catchy.

 

1. Surprised you're so hard on the LA Guns CD, and 2. Surprised you're so gentle on this one. I also just listened to the Unisonic CD today and was amazed - with the personnel involved - that it is such an average, run-of-the-mill CD. Seriously, at the end I couldn't remember one single moment of the CD, except there was a single good hook on the 5th or 6th song. But the rest... man, how average. I totally got the impression that they possibly went in the studio to make a new Place Vendome CD, then realised the songs were shit and not deserving of that band's name, and just changed the band name. It's really not a dreadful CD at all... just honestly stunned that a Ward-driven project it this average.

 

I've changed my mind on the LAG as it's much better than I first thought. "Eel Pie" is still dreadful and the Black Spider song I could do without but the rest are all solid to great. "Dirty Black Night", "Underneath the Sun", "Better not Love Me", the title track, "Sweet Mystery" and "Burn" are all great tunes.

 

Haha... I have to admit I could kind of seeing you change your mind on it. It's not the best CD on the planet, but I honestly cannot imagine an LA Guns not liking it plenty.

I agree. The more you listen to this disc, the better it gets. Good stuff.

[AlphaMale]

Good but not great. I like most of the songs though so it's not a bad disc, Phil sounds great still. The guitars are excellent.

[JamesEagle]

Megaton Blonde - s/t

 

So far so good. Sounds like straight up, 80s-sounding metal to me; not a million miles from great bands like Vicious Rumors, Obsession, etc. No standouts yet, but sounds like a decent album.

[JamesEagle]

Megaton Blonde - s/t

 

So far so good. Sounds like straight up, 80s-sounding metal to me; not a million miles from great bands like Vicious Rumors, Obsession, etc. No standouts yet, but sounds like a decent album.

 

Edit: Maybe not so much like the bands above; the best description I can think of is a cross between Dokken and classic Rage. Something like that, anyway.

[Glen]

FATAL SMILE - 21st Century Freaks (2012)

I thought this one's gonna better but sadly, this one's too average that you probably won't bother nor interested to spin again. There's not a single 8/10 track here, probably the best is 'Innocent' or 'Take It To The Limit' and that's probaly a 7.5. 'Welcome To The Freakshow', 'Raising Hell In Heaven', 'Broken Heart' are 7/10, and 'Judgement Day', 'Scarecrow', 'My Private Hell', and 'Break These Chains' sound like fillers. 65%

I think this one is a long way from average and another damn good entry in the Swedish Sleaze Metal Movement. I'm really digging the band's blend of attitude, heaviness, melody, and sleaze. For me, "Raising Hell in Heaven" is one of the best songs of the year, yet you label it filler...just goes to show you how different ears enjoy different sounds. I think anyone who enjoys cranking guitars, big hooks, sleazy attitude, and gang vocal choruses needs to at least give this album a shot. More than once I thought this sounded a bit like Lordi without the gutteral vocals, and maybe that's all you need to know in order to determine if this will be your cup of metal tea or not. Currently sitting at 85% for me.

 

Agree completely!! I love the new disc!!

 

Yep I like this disc too, admit there are one or two weaker tracks, but stuff like 'Welcome....', 'Broken Heart', 'My Private Hell', 'Innocent' etc are pretty cool. Also looking forward to catching these guys live in a co-head with Crazy Lixx :-))

[Jez]

Saga - 20/20

 

A 3 year wait since the previous Moratti fronted 'Human Condition' and whilst that was a good, solid Saga album, Micheal Sadler was and always will be the voice of Saga, so his return here for their 20th studio album is a very welcome one. He is, as always, in fine voice and the band sound re-invigorated too, presenting a fine collection of new material. It is typical Saga in sound with no real surprises, which is to be honest, is just the way a Saga album should be, familiar in sound, yet new fresh, high quality material. Top bits for me Ball And Chain' and 'Lost For Words' but it is all rather good. 3 spins and you'll be hooked.

 

 

Gun - Break The Silence

 

It's been well over 15 years since we had a really decent Gun album ('95 excellent 'Swagger') and to be brutally honest, I had pretty much given up on them releasing anything really good, never mind a whole brand new album. I've read a couple of wholly inaccurate reviews of of 'Break The Silence' (look above for one) already and I will say categorically, Ignore what you've heard and check it out for yourself. Yes It does has a slightly more commercial edge on a few tracks, but Gun have released many melodic gems in the past, so soundwise they aren't much different at all tbh. Don't let that fool you into believing this doesn't rock out in places because it most certainly does. 'Bad Things' for starters kicks Butt and reminds to a small degree of Lostprophets - good chorus to this one too. Other highlights include the excellent title track and 'Caught In The Middle' 2 commercial rockers that keep the quality firmly at the top . 'How Many Roads' slows things down and is a nice ballad whilst 'Running Out Of Time' picks the pace up once more. There are a couple of fillers, 'Lost And Found' is pretty mediocre and 'No Substitute' whilst having a good melody, is a little repetative. Overall, this is a really good Gun disc, maybe not reaching some of the high points of some of the earlier releases, but it most definitely has a lot to offer and is a fine album.