First Spin Impressions

[heaven&hell]

Metal Church-Human Factor

 

Thanks to Keef for the hookup on this one. I'm very impressed with this disc so far and I think I dig the singer on this one over the original guy. Fav songs so far are 'Date with Poverty', 'Human Factor' and the awesome 'In Harms Way'.

 

Glad yer diggin' it bro. Ya gotta love "Agent Green" too. "I hold the keyyyyy... to the world's security..."

 

I'm digging their 'Blessing in Disguise' disc too.

 

 

"Blessing in Disguise" is my 2nd fave M.C. disc (right behind the debut)... my fave tracks on that one are "Fake Healer," "Badlands," and "Anthem To The Estranged"....

 

Those are probably my 3 favs too.

I've had "Badlands" on some Metal comp for years so I was familiar with that track.

 

I see you can buy "Blessing" pretty cheap but it appears that "Human" is kind of expensive.

[Fat Freddy]

I see you can buy "Blessing" pretty cheap but it appears that "Human" is kind of expensive.

 

Yea, "Blessing" is still in print (at least the last time I checked) but "Human Factor" has been OOP for quite a while now. I got lucky, I found a used copy of HUMAN FACTOR on the cheap about five years ago just as my old cassette was starting to crap out.

[TIM (2)]

Metal Church-Human Factor

 

Thanks to Keef for the hookup on this one. I'm very impressed with this disc so far and I think I dig the singer on this one over the original guy. Fav songs so far are 'Date with Poverty', 'Human Factor' and the awesome 'In Harms Way'.

 

Glad yer diggin' it bro. Ya gotta love "Agent Green" too. "I hold the keyyyyy... to the world's security..."

 

I'm digging their 'Blessing in Disguise' disc too.

 

 

"Blessing in Disguise" is my 2nd fave M.C. disc (right behind the debut)... my fave tracks on that one are "Fake Healer," "Badlands," and "Anthem To The Estranged"....

 

Great CD that one. How great would a re-master of that be? It kinda sounds too bassy these days... "Fake Healer" has an awesome riff!

 

I only have one turkey from this band; "Hanging In The Balance".

[Fat Freddy]

Metal Church-Human Factor

 

Thanks to Keef for the hookup on this one. I'm very impressed with this disc so far and I think I dig the singer on this one over the original guy. Fav songs so far are 'Date with Poverty', 'Human Factor' and the awesome 'In Harms Way'.

 

Glad yer diggin' it bro. Ya gotta love "Agent Green" too. "I hold the keyyyyy... to the world's security..."

 

I'm digging their 'Blessing in Disguise' disc too.

 

 

"Blessing in Disguise" is my 2nd fave M.C. disc (right behind the debut)... my fave tracks on that one are "Fake Healer," "Badlands," and "Anthem To The Estranged"....

 

Great CD that one. How great would a re-master of that be? It kinda sounds too bassy these days... "Fake Healer" has an awesome riff!

 

I only have one turkey from this band; "Hanging In The Balance".

 

"Hanging in the Balance" would be much better if the production didn't suck ass. It sounds worse than "Blessing," and as Tim mentioned, the production on that one is no great shakes.

 

"Hanging" also features the UGLIEST album cover not only in metal history, but likely in the history of recorded music... I can't even look directly at that monsterpiece...

[Fat Freddy]

Monster Magnet - 4 WAY DIABLO (SPV, 2007)

 

This is actually more like a fourth or fifth spin impression, but what the hell. Anyway, I loved Monster Magnet's last album, MONOLITHIC BABY! (2004) ... it was big, catchy, obnoxious, and cool as hell. That album was like MM's take on late 70s "arena rock" (HUGE sound!), and on 4 WAY DIABLO it seems that MM has shifted gears... this sounds much more "stripped down" than MONOLITHIC. 4 WAY DIABLO was not an immediate "grabber" like MONOLITHIC BABY was, but after a few spins I found myself digging tracks like "Blow Your Mind," "You're Alive," and the cover of the Rolling Stones' "2000 Light Years From Home." I still prefer M.B. over this one, but 4 WAY DIABLO is proving itself to be a grower with repeated spins.

[heaven&hell]

Monster Magnet - 4 WAY DIABLO (SPV, 2007)

 

This is actually more like a fourth or fifth spin impression, but what the hell. Anyway, I loved Monster Magnet's last album, MONOLITHIC BABY! (2004) ... it was big, catchy, obnoxious, and cool as hell. That album was like MM's take on late 70s "arena rock" (HUGE sound!), and on 4 WAY DIABLO it seems that MM has shifted gears... this sounds much more "stripped down" than MONOLITHIC. 4 WAY DIABLO was not an immediate "grabber" like MONOLITHIC BABY was, but after a few spins I found myself digging tracks like "Blow Your Mind," "You're Alive," and the cover of the Rolling Stones' "2000 Light Years From Home." I still prefer M.B. over this one, but 4 WAY DIABLO is proving itself to be a grower with repeated spins.

 

 

Powertrip kicks my ass and I have God Say No too and that's a good one.

I've haven't heard either of their last two releases but have read mostly good things about them.

[Fat Freddy]

Monster Magnet - 4 WAY DIABLO (SPV, 2007)

 

This is actually more like a fourth or fifth spin impression, but what the hell. Anyway, I loved Monster Magnet's last album, MONOLITHIC BABY! (2004) ... it was big, catchy, obnoxious, and cool as hell. That album was like MM's take on late 70s "arena rock" (HUGE sound!), and on 4 WAY DIABLO it seems that MM has shifted gears... this sounds much more "stripped down" than MONOLITHIC. 4 WAY DIABLO was not an immediate "grabber" like MONOLITHIC BABY was, but after a few spins I found myself digging tracks like "Blow Your Mind," "You're Alive," and the cover of the Rolling Stones' "2000 Light Years From Home." I still prefer M.B. over this one, but 4 WAY DIABLO is proving itself to be a grower with repeated spins.

 

 

Powertrip kicks my ass and I have God Say No too and that's a good one.

I've haven't heard either of their last two releases but have read mostly good things about them.

 

 

I never heard the band until I got hold of MONOLITHIC BABY, which is a little weird, since they're from New Jersey. I haven't had time to go back and check into any of their pre-MONOLITHIC albums yet.

[heaven&hell]

Monster Magnet - 4 WAY DIABLO (SPV, 2007)

 

This is actually more like a fourth or fifth spin impression, but what the hell. Anyway, I loved Monster Magnet's last album, MONOLITHIC BABY! (2004) ... it was big, catchy, obnoxious, and cool as hell. That album was like MM's take on late 70s "arena rock" (HUGE sound!), and on 4 WAY DIABLO it seems that MM has shifted gears... this sounds much more "stripped down" than MONOLITHIC. 4 WAY DIABLO was not an immediate "grabber" like MONOLITHIC BABY was, but after a few spins I found myself digging tracks like "Blow Your Mind," "You're Alive," and the cover of the Rolling Stones' "2000 Light Years From Home." I still prefer M.B. over this one, but 4 WAY DIABLO is proving itself to be a grower with repeated spins.

 

 

Powertrip kicks my ass and I have God Say No too and that's a good one.

I've haven't heard either of their last two releases but have read mostly good things about them.

 

 

I never heard the band until I got hold of MONOLITHIC BABY, which is a little weird, since they're from New Jersey. I haven't had time to go back and check into any of their pre-MONOLITHIC albums yet.

 

Surely you've heard "Space Lord" off of the Powertrip cd, it was pretty much their first and probably biggest single.

[Dark Star]

Metal Church-Human Factor

 

Thanks to Keef for the hookup on this one. I'm very impressed with this disc so far and I think I dig the singer on this one over the original guy. Fav songs so far are 'Date with Poverty', 'Human Factor' and the awesome 'In Harms Way'.

 

Glad yer diggin' it bro. Ya gotta love "Agent Green" too. "I hold the keyyyyy... to the world's security..."

 

I'm digging their 'Blessing in Disguise' disc too.

 

 

"Blessing in Disguise" is my 2nd fave M.C. disc (right behind the debut)... my fave tracks on that one are "Fake Healer," "Badlands," and "Anthem To The Estranged"....

 

Great CD that one. How great would a re-master of that be? It kinda sounds too bassy these days... "Fake Healer" has an awesome riff!

 

I only have one turkey from this band; "Hanging In The Balance".

 

"Hanging in the Balance" would be much better if the production didn't suck ass. It sounds worse than "Blessing," and as Tim mentioned, the production on that one is no great shakes.

 

"Hanging" also features the UGLIEST album cover not only in metal history, but likely in the history of recorded music... I can't even look directly at that monsterpiece...

 

 

I remember the last time I saw MC live, in 1992, opening for Metallica?? they played "No Friend of Mine" Off Hanging in the Balance?? LOVED the tune, had to wait a few months, but I DID buy the CD.....

 

Unfortunately that was the BEST song on the album.. Not that it sucked, but it wasn't AS good as I had hoped.....

[Geoff]

Sydney - s/t ; Well, I finally got them. The final "Cauterize-style" band that has been recommended to me since day one. And what a f*cker it was to find these two CDs. Like Summer Hero's 'Sound Canvas', Sydney's 2nd CD is actually produced by Cauterize's Jesse Smith and Jason Bone so there is no hiding the comparisons. So how do they measure up? Well, in the Cauterize-style hierarchy it previously looked like this:

 

1. Summer Hero

2. Just Surrender

3. So They Say

4. A Small Victory

 

I'd say these are the bands that sound most like my beloved Cauterize, and I'd slot Sydney in probably just above So They Say. The songs are good, but the production for this debut is simple and they just don't nail the lyrics and choruses like Cauterize do. As an individual band they're good, but not as good as I was hoping.

 

Sydney - 'When we were safe' ; And here's the 2nd disc from 2007, produced by the guys from Cauterize. Sounds a lot better, a lot of Cauterize's style in places, but again the songs just aren't big enough. They don't have the same impact as Cauterize even if, sadly at track 10, 'Mixed drinks' does finally hit the mark and is on par with Cauterize, as is the last track, 'Until the end'. Overall, a very good CD and probably only not amazing because I expected so much from these guys.

[Geoff]

The Summer Obsession - 'This is where you belong' ; One for fans of Faber Drive, Simple Plan's 2nd album and the better side of Hawk Nelson. If you like this light-hearted commercial side of pop-rock it'd be worth your while to check these guys out. Nothing mind-blowing or essential, but a very good CD in the aforementioned style. Only issue I have is a couple (literally) of drum tracks dampening the impact of potentially bigger choruses. Still a good one, though.

[Geoff]

Sydney - s/t

Oddly enough the guy's voice reminds me of a mix of the guy from Just Surrender and, of all people, Phil Lewis. I can definitely hear a Lewis-esque sound quite often.

 

Barren Cross - 'State of control' ; Wow, this started out kind of delicious. I love the title track, and there were a series of great early tracks, plus another kick-ass one about midway ('Hard lies') and at the end. I like this band and CD, but I have to admit I was kind of disappointed as the fillers started piling in. In the end I think there were probably more fillers than killer tracks, but I'm still going to say I liked it a lot, based on the strength of the good songs.

[Glen]

Khymera - 'The greatest wonder' ; Excellent, excellent excellent! As good as, if not possibly better than the last album. 4 killer tracks to start the album off, and a bunch to close out the album with a number of delights inbetween. This sounded like a really great CD. Continues right where 'A new promise' left off.

 

 

Backed 100% - killer album.

 

I think this is my fav release of 2008 so far and I cant really see it falling out of my top 10.

[heaven&hell]

Victory-Hungry Hearts

 

Excellent hard rock on this one. I had only heard the Garcia era Victory cds which I love but the early stuff with original vocalist kicks ass too.

[Fat Freddy]

Barren Cross - 'State of control' ; Wow, this started out kind of delicious. I love the title track, and there were a series of great early tracks, plus another kick-ass one about midway ('Hard lies') and at the end. I like this band and CD, but I have to admit I was kind of disappointed as the fillers started piling in. In the end I think there were probably more fillers than killer tracks, but I'm still going to say I liked it a lot, based on the strength of the good songs.

 

Great album (though the preceding ATOMIC ARENA is 100x better)... I love "Hard Lies" and "The Stage Of Intensity" especially. The only song I ever thought was "filler" was the closer, "2000 Years."

[heaven&hell]

Torch - s/t

 

This is pretty badass stuff here. If your into Classic Metal like Maiden & Priest then this band is right up your alley.

If Bruce Dickinson would of been the singer in Judas Priest they might of sounded something like this.

[eaglesfan3000]

AM:PM - Running Out Of Time....

 

Man I was really looking fowrard to getting this after being on the search for it for over a year now and losing it twice on Ebay I finally got my copy and man was I disappionted. The vocals on this disc are just God awlful BAD I mean the singer sounds like a drunk guy singing karioke, and the music is just average. Man after listening to English AOR I really thought this disc would be great, man this is the biggest let down for me ever for a CD, the worst $69 I've ever spent. Did I mention I have a better voice than this guy. Oh well I guess it's a rarity that will go into my collecion and will be shelved for a long time. Maybe after a couple of more listens I might change my mind....but I doubt it.

[heaven&hell]

AM:PM - Running Out Of Time....

 

Man I was really looking fowrard to getting this after being on the search for it for over a year now and losing it twice on Ebay I finally got my copy and man was I disappionted. The vocals on this disc are just God awlful BAD I mean the singer sounds like a drunk guy singing karioke, and the music is just average. Man after listening to English AOR I really thought this disc would be great, man this is the biggest let down for me ever for a CD, the worst $69 I've ever spent. Did I mention I have a better voice than this guy. Oh well I guess it's a rarity that will go into my collecion and will be shelved for a long time. Maybe after a couple of more listens I might change my mind....but I doubt it.

 

Man that has to hurt to spend that kind of cash and hate it.

Hopefully it's a grower and you like it more after a few more spins.

[aMetalhead1966]

AM:PM - Running Out Of Time....

 

Man I was really looking fowrard to getting this after being on the search for it for over a year now and losing it twice on Ebay I finally got my copy and man was I disappionted. The vocals on this disc are just God awlful BAD I mean the singer sounds like a drunk guy singing karioke, and the music is just average. Man after listening to English AOR I really thought this disc would be great, man this is the biggest let down for me ever for a CD, the worst $69 I've ever spent. Did I mention I have a better voice than this guy. Oh well I guess it's a rarity that will go into my collecion and will be shelved for a long time. Maybe after a couple of more listens I might change my mind....but I doubt it.

 

Man that has to hurt to spend that kind of cash and hate it.

Hopefully it's a grower and you like it more after a few more spins.

Backed...nothing worse than getting a CD that you thought would be great only to

not like it...Hopefully as Wes said it will grow on you...

[Blue Charvel]

AM:PM - Running Out Of Time....

 

Man I was really looking fowrard to getting this after being on the search for it for over a year now and losing it twice on Ebay I finally got my copy and man was I disappionted. The vocals on this disc are just God awlful BAD I mean the singer sounds like a drunk guy singing karioke, and the music is just average. Man after listening to English AOR I really thought this disc would be great, man this is the biggest let down for me ever for a CD, the worst $69 I've ever spent. Did I mention I have a better voice than this guy. Oh well I guess it's a rarity that will go into my collecion and will be shelved for a long time. Maybe after a couple of more listens I might change my mind....but I doubt it.

 

Man that has to hurt to spend that kind of cash and hate it.

Hopefully it's a grower and you like it more after a few more spins.

Backed...nothing worse than getting a CD that you thought would be great only to

not like it...Hopefully as Wes said it will grow on you...

...like a fungus...

 

Seriously that sucks man, that's some serious coin for something you don't like.

[aMetalhead1966]

AM:PM - Running Out Of Time....

 

Man I was really looking fowrard to getting this after being on the search for it for over a year now and losing it twice on Ebay I finally got my copy and man was I disappionted. The vocals on this disc are just God awlful BAD I mean the singer sounds like a drunk guy singing karioke, and the music is just average. Man after listening to English AOR I really thought this disc would be great, man this is the biggest let down for me ever for a CD, the worst $69 I've ever spent. Did I mention I have a better voice than this guy. Oh well I guess it's a rarity that will go into my collecion and will be shelved for a long time. Maybe after a couple of more listens I might change my mind....but I doubt it.

 

Man that has to hurt to spend that kind of cash and hate it.

Hopefully it's a grower and you like it more after a few more spins.

Backed...nothing worse than getting a CD that you thought would be great only to

not like it...Hopefully as Wes said it will grow on you...

...like a fungus...

...better than a wart...unless your Lemmy...then it's okay...

[eaglesfan3000]

AM:PM - Running Out Of Time....

 

Man I was really looking fowrard to getting this after being on the search for it for over a year now and losing it twice on Ebay I finally got my copy and man was I disappionted. The vocals on this disc are just God awlful BAD I mean the singer sounds like a drunk guy singing karioke, and the music is just average. Man after listening to English AOR I really thought this disc would be great, man this is the biggest let down for me ever for a CD, the worst $69 I've ever spent. Did I mention I have a better voice than this guy. Oh well I guess it's a rarity that will go into my collecion and will be shelved for a long time. Maybe after a couple of more listens I might change my mind....but I doubt it.

 

Man that has to hurt to spend that kind of cash and hate it.

Hopefully it's a grower and you like it more after a few more spins.

Backed...nothing worse than getting a CD that you thought would be great only to

not like it...Hopefully as Wes said it will grow on you...

...like a fungus...

...better than a wart...unless your Lemmy...then it's okay...

 

No shit, it's like finally getting to fuck the prom Queen only to find out she's a dude.

[aMetalhead1966]

AM:PM - Running Out Of Time....

 

Man I was really looking fowrard to getting this after being on the search for it for over a year now and losing it twice on Ebay I finally got my copy and man was I disappionted. The vocals on this disc are just God awlful BAD I mean the singer sounds like a drunk guy singing karioke, and the music is just average. Man after listening to English AOR I really thought this disc would be great, man this is the biggest let down for me ever for a CD, the worst $69 I've ever spent. Did I mention I have a better voice than this guy. Oh well I guess it's a rarity that will go into my collecion and will be shelved for a long time. Maybe after a couple of more listens I might change my mind....but I doubt it.

 

Man that has to hurt to spend that kind of cash and hate it.

Hopefully it's a grower and you like it more after a few more spins.

Backed...nothing worse than getting a CD that you thought would be great only to

not like it...Hopefully as Wes said it will grow on you...

...like a fungus...

...better than a wart...unless your Lemmy...then it's okay...

 

No shit, it's like finally getting to fuck the prom Queen only to find out she's a dude.

still a queen though...

[eaglesfan3000]

AM:PM - Running Out Of Time....

 

Man I was really looking fowrard to getting this after being on the search for it for over a year now and losing it twice on Ebay I finally got my copy and man was I disappionted. The vocals on this disc are just God awlful BAD I mean the singer sounds like a drunk guy singing karioke, and the music is just average. Man after listening to English AOR I really thought this disc would be great, man this is the biggest let down for me ever for a CD, the worst $69 I've ever spent. Did I mention I have a better voice than this guy. Oh well I guess it's a rarity that will go into my collecion and will be shelved for a long time. Maybe after a couple of more listens I might change my mind....but I doubt it.

 

Man that has to hurt to spend that kind of cash and hate it.

Hopefully it's a grower and you like it more after a few more spins.

Backed...nothing worse than getting a CD that you thought would be great only to

not like it...Hopefully as Wes said it will grow on you...

...like a fungus...

...better than a wart...unless your Lemmy...then it's okay...

 

No shit, it's like finally getting to fuck the prom Queen only to find out she's a dude.

still a queen though...

 

I guess I never thought of it that way....touche Eric.

[heaven&hell]

Red Sea - Blood

A very Badlands meets Zeppelin sound on this one with maybe a little Free thown in. I'm just loving this one so far. Some great singing and playing with some great songs. Not sure how I missed this one back in the day.

 

Big Cock - Motherload

Some excellent AC/DC inspired Sleazy Hard Rock on this one with the great pipes from former Lynch Mob/Cry of Love/Silent Witness/James Byrd Group singer Robert Mason. Just like their first two releases every song seems to be about sex in some way which is what makes this album so damn fun. They just don't take themselves to seriously which I guess is the whole point of rock n roll. Overall this I'd have to say that this is their best album to date and has the best production by far that they've ever had.

 

Fastway - S/T

I've heard a couple of other Fastway cds and consider myself a casual fan but had never gotten around to picking up the debut until recently. Just like the other Fastway cds there's not to much not to like on this one. They follow the blueprint laid out by Led Zeppelin with vocalist Dave King even sounding like a dead ringer for Mr. Plant. There's also some great riffs being laid down by original Motorhead six stringer Fast Eddie Clark. There's is a few just okay filler type tracks but overall there's some great stuff on here like "Say What You Will", "Heft"(which is on the Trick or Treat Soundtrack), "Easy Livin", "Feel Me Touch Me", "Another Day" and "We Become One".