First Spin Impressions

[Geoff]

I'm fairly sure no-one reads this thread so I'm safe to post this:-

 

CLAY AIKEN - On My Way Here

 

Man, I just love this guys voice. His debut album was a killer disc, some of the worlds best songwriters/producers on that one. This one's a bit more ballad-heavy, but the songwriting is still a masterclass & his vocals are so high in the mix. However sadly he's chosen to go his own way a little, & even writes a tune on this album, & like Kelly Clarkson's latest album the results are disastrous. So a few blatant fillers, but there are still at least 4 bona-fide KILLER tracks with colossal hooks. Whoever wrote "Weight of the World" is a songwriting genius. I know some of the ex-Idol contestants have chosen to make "Rock" albums (Kelly Clarkson/Daughtry/Bo Bice) but for my money this is where the best songs/vocals are....

HAHA! I keep seeing his debut for us$2.99 (postage included) at a site I regularly buy from. Do I dare? I think I did hear a CDR of this ages ago, but can't remember what I thought of it.

[phaffas]

Rockarma - bring it!

Fantastic little album!! I think i overplayed this the first few days i got it, and gave it a bit of a break, but after coming back to it its grown on me even more. This is hard good time rock at its best for anyone into Crue, Leppard, Firehouse, Poison, Stryper, Harem Scarem etc. Stick this on whilst your out driving and youll be singing along to every song - i know i was! Stand out tracks so far in order of appearance: Bad June, I know, Missing you, Bring it!, and Feels like im fallin.

Kivel records continues to impress me also.

[TIM (2)]

I'm fairly sure no-one reads this thread so I'm safe to post this:-

 

CLAY AIKEN - On My Way Here

 

Man, I just love this guys voice. His debut album was a killer disc, some of the worlds best songwriters/producers on that one. This one's a bit more ballad-heavy, but the songwriting is still a masterclass & his vocals are so high in the mix. However sadly he's chosen to go his own way a little, & even writes a tune on this album, & like Kelly Clarkson's latest album the results are disastrous. So a few blatant fillers, but there are still at least 4 bona-fide KILLER tracks with colossal hooks. Whoever wrote "Weight of the World" is a songwriting genius. I know some of the ex-Idol contestants have chosen to make "Rock" albums (Kelly Clarkson/Daughtry/Bo Bice) but for my money this is where the best songs/vocals are....

HAHA! I keep seeing his debut for us$2.99 (postage included) at a site I regularly buy from. Do I dare? I think I did hear a CDR of this ages ago, but can't remember what I thought of it.

 

Snap up the debut mate. It's kinda poppy, but the songwriting/vocals are sensational....

 

 

CIRCLE II CIRCLE - Delusions of Grandeur

 

The World's best vocalist is back, & with a slightly more raw sounding disc than the ultra-polished "Burden of Truth". Excusing the godawful digi-pack (whenever it's AFM product, always buy the standard CD) this is a quality product. Strangely under-cooked production aside, the material is of the usual excellent standard. Much more like the first 2 albums in terms of the songwriting, which isn't overly instant but I'm sure will grow... Once again, the guitar work on this album is immense, these are seriously talented musicians. Hopefully repeat spins will see this one rise up the Best of 2008 list....

[phaffas]

Paul Alan - drive it home

Not exactly my first spin, but too bad.

Im not sure what to call this ... light modern pop rock aor?? Paul Alan is the lead singer of Nouveaux, and this is is the followup to his brilliant debut album "Falling Awake". Fallin awake is possibly one of my top 10 albums of all time, so ive been looking forward to this very much. Drive it home is pretty much Falling Awake 2. From my earlier comments after hearing samples for this i thought this would be a little heavier then Falling awake. Its not. If anything it is lighter. Its basically Falling awake with a slightly updated sound, and perhaps a little more stripped back on some tracks with a slight orchestral backing.

Album opener "Wreckage" is a pure upbeat Paul Alan modern poprocker with a pretty cool chorus and is a great way to start. The highlight of the album for me is the 2nd song "To bring you back" which has a huge chorus. The rest of the album is a little lighter then the first two, with as i said, a slightly more stripped back and orchestral poprock vibe. However there is one modern rock half way through which is very cool - "Bethlehem". Bethlehem has a intro riff that reminds me of something like .. Paramore or Yellowcard perhaps... and is a very cool modern poprocking track, which gets even better at the end as it builds up. I feel the first half is stronger, as the second drops off a little, but finishes with a nice little ballad.

 

Overall i love this, though its probably a little behind Falling awake. Im just hoping in future Paul may bring out a heavier rocking album and let go a bit more.

[Geoff]

Paul Alan - drive it home

Not exactly my first spin, but too bad.

Cheat. I stopped reading after that. Have you no respect?

[phaffas]

Paul Alan - drive it home

Not exactly my first spin, but too bad.

Cheat. I stopped reading after that. Have you no respect?

yeh well i dont care what you think..

 

btw both Paul Alan albums can bought at: Paul Alan - online store

[Blue Charvel]

Kivel records continues to impress me also.

Because of the awesome guitar players on the label no doubt.

 

On topic (for once)...

 

Follow ups to my previous first impression posts:

 

Whitesnake - Good To Be Bad

This fucking rocks, I love it more and more every time I listen to it. Coverdale is in good form, no worse that the Coverdale/Page era IMHO, and actually some of the tracks remind me of that songwriting wise, as well as the pre-Slide It In era. Basically it's the old school bluesy songwriting mixed with the Sykes style playing of Mr. Aldrich, who is playing some of the best stuff I've heard him play. And although I never mention it, Beach is in top form too, the whole band is just on fire. Passionate playing, bluesy songs, this is a grower as well. I started out liking it but thinking "there could be some stronger hooks" but now I feel like they may have taken longer to grab me, but the wait was more than worth it. This is my top pick for '08 so far.

 

Dokken - Lightning Strikes Again

A well played return to form for Dokken, especially with Levin managing to channel vintage Lynch at every turn. Some great tracks on here mainly on the first half of the disc, with the exception of that "Smile" ballad... yuck... with the exception of Alone Again, I've never been much of a fan of Don's ballads. This is a good solid album and one of the best in years from Don & Co. but like most of the catalogue except maybe Tooth and Nail, it's got to much filler for me, even if exceeding well played filler.

 

Def Leppard - Songs From The Sparkle Lounge

Another grower this one, I find myself listening to it quite a bit actually. Very catchy stuff, much better than I expected. In fact I can honestly say I like every track a lot with the exception of "Go" and "Love" which is just too slow and too sappy for me with none of the raw emotion I got from "Love Bites". I'm hearing a lot of classic Brit invasion influences here ala Kinks, Beatles, early Stones, etc. and they pull it off with just enough guitar to keep the rocker in me happy. My daughter's pick is Track 3 by far...

 

Marcello-Vestry - s/t

This is a great production, with AWESOME playing from Mr. Marcello, killer tunes ala "Screw It!" era D2 and smokin' production job from Bruno Ravel. What's not to like? Okay maybe the drum machine is not to like, but I can get over that on the strength of the tunes, the playing and the production. I like every song so I can't even give you a "favorite tracks" recommendation....

[Fat Freddy]

Zion - THRILLSEEKER

Matt (aka Phaffas) warned me to stay away from this CD, and then laughed at me when I told him I had a copy on the way. What can I say, as a total X-Sinner fanboy I felt I had to hear this odds-and-sods collection from X-Sinner vocalist Rex Scott's former outfit. These "rare and unreleased" discs are generally intended for the diehard fans, but after one spin of THRILLSEEKER...wow, I wonder if there are any Zion fans that are truly diehard enough for this collection of scraps. The CD kicks off with three supposedly "live" tracks from 1989's THUNDER IN THE MOUNTAIN album, but anyone who owns the THUNDER CD will be able to tell that they're merely the album versions with some crowd noise and added sound effects stripped in. The tracks from Zion's various demo tapes are somewhat interesting (although the sound quality of most of them is atrocious), I personally would've rather heard the demos in their entirety rather than the "live" material (which is about as "live" as Judas Priest's UNLEASHED IN THE EAST, if you catch my drift) and other fillers which pad out the CD (a recording of a Pittsburgh DJ introducing a Zion song on the air? A live bass and drum solo? Some "backstage humor," i.e. the band goofing around into a microphone? Who cares about this stuff?).

 

Oh, and the cherry on top is the hidden track at the end of the disc... a mushy bootleg quality live recording of the band covering KISS' "Rock N Roll All Nite," where they change the chorus to "I wanna read God's Word all night, and praise him every day." Ugh.

 

Need I say more? THRILLSEEKER is for Rex Scott/X-Sinner completists and those with strong stomachs only. The only reason I haven't asked for my $ back on this one is because I got it in a trade for a couple of crappy promo CDs that I didn't listen to anyway.

[Blue Charvel]

Zion - THRILLSEEKER

Matt (aka Phaffas) warned me to stay away from this CD, and then laughed at me when I told him I had a copy on the way. What can I say, as a total X-Sinner fanboy I felt I had to hear this odds-and-sods collection from X-Sinner vocalist Rex Scott's former outfit. These "rare and unreleased" discs are generally intended for the diehard fans, but after one spin of THRILLSEEKER...wow, I wonder if there are any Zion fans that are truly diehard enough for this collection of scraps. The CD kicks off with three supposedly "live" tracks from 1989's THUNDER IN THE MOUNTAIN album, but anyone who owns the THUNDER CD will be able to tell that they're merely the album versions with some crowd noise and added sound effects stripped in. The tracks from Zion's various demo tapes are somewhat interesting (although the sound quality of most of them is atrocious), I personally would've rather heard the demos in their entirety rather than the "live" material (which is about as "live" as Judas Priest's UNLEASHED IN THE EAST, if you catch my drift) and other fillers which pad out the CD (a recording of a Pittsburgh DJ introducing a Zion song on the air? A live bass and drum solo? Some "backstage humor," i.e. the band goofing around into a microphone? Who cares about this stuff?).

 

Oh, and the cherry on top is the hidden track at the end of the disc... a mushy bootleg quality live recording of the band covering KISS' "Rock N Roll All Nite," where they change the chorus to "I wanna read God's Word all night, and praise him every day." Ugh.

 

Need I say more? THRILLSEEKER is for Rex Scott/X-Sinner completists and those with strong stomachs only. The only reason I haven't asked for my $ back on this one is because I got it in a trade for a couple of crappy promo CDs that I didn't listen to anyway.

Yeah, but that's only your first impression... maybe it's a grower?

[Fat Freddy]

Zion - THRILLSEEKER

Matt (aka Phaffas) warned me to stay away from this CD, and then laughed at me when I told him I had a copy on the way. What can I say, as a total X-Sinner fanboy I felt I had to hear this odds-and-sods collection from X-Sinner vocalist Rex Scott's former outfit. These "rare and unreleased" discs are generally intended for the diehard fans, but after one spin of THRILLSEEKER...wow, I wonder if there are any Zion fans that are truly diehard enough for this collection of scraps. The CD kicks off with three supposedly "live" tracks from 1989's THUNDER IN THE MOUNTAIN album, but anyone who owns the THUNDER CD will be able to tell that they're merely the album versions with some crowd noise and added sound effects stripped in. The tracks from Zion's various demo tapes are somewhat interesting (although the sound quality of most of them is atrocious), I personally would've rather heard the demos in their entirety rather than the "live" material (which is about as "live" as Judas Priest's UNLEASHED IN THE EAST, if you catch my drift) and other fillers which pad out the CD (a recording of a Pittsburgh DJ introducing a Zion song on the air? A live bass and drum solo? Some "backstage humor," i.e. the band goofing around into a microphone? Who cares about this stuff?).

 

Oh, and the cherry on top is the hidden track at the end of the disc... a mushy bootleg quality live recording of the band covering KISS' "Rock N Roll All Nite," where they change the chorus to "I wanna read God's Word all night, and praise him every day." Ugh.

 

Need I say more? THRILLSEEKER is for Rex Scott/X-Sinner completists and those with strong stomachs only. The only reason I haven't asked for my $ back on this one is because I got it in a trade for a couple of crappy promo CDs that I didn't listen to anyway.

Yeah, but that's only your first impression... maybe it's a grower?

 

Fortunately, after my chat w/Phaffas about this CD, my expectations were pretty low anyway... so therefore I wasn't very disappointed when I finally heard it...

[phaffas]

Zion - THRILLSEEKER

Matt (aka Phaffas) warned me to stay away from this CD, and then laughed at me when I told him I had a copy on the way. What can I say, as a total X-Sinner fanboy I felt I had to hear this odds-and-sods collection from X-Sinner vocalist Rex Scott's former outfit. These "rare and unreleased" discs are generally intended for the diehard fans, but after one spin of THRILLSEEKER...wow, I wonder if there are any Zion fans that are truly diehard enough for this collection of scraps. The CD kicks off with three supposedly "live" tracks from 1989's THUNDER IN THE MOUNTAIN album, but anyone who owns the THUNDER CD will be able to tell that they're merely the album versions with some crowd noise and added sound effects stripped in. The tracks from Zion's various demo tapes are somewhat interesting (although the sound quality of most of them is atrocious), I personally would've rather heard the demos in their entirety rather than the "live" material (which is about as "live" as Judas Priest's UNLEASHED IN THE EAST, if you catch my drift) and other fillers which pad out the CD (a recording of a Pittsburgh DJ introducing a Zion song on the air? A live bass and drum solo? Some "backstage humor," i.e. the band goofing around into a microphone? Who cares about this stuff?).

 

Oh, and the cherry on top is the hidden track at the end of the disc... a mushy bootleg quality live recording of the band covering KISS' "Rock N Roll All Nite," where they change the chorus to "I wanna read God's Word all night, and praise him every day." Ugh.

 

Need I say more? THRILLSEEKER is for Rex Scott/X-Sinner completists and those with strong stomachs only. The only reason I haven't asked for my $ back on this one is because I got it in a trade for a couple of crappy promo CDs that I didn't listen to anyway.

Yeah, but that's only your first impression... maybe it's a grower?

 

Fortunately, after my chat w/Phaffas about this CD, my expectations were pretty low anyway... so therefore I wasn't very disappointed when I finally heard it...

 

Yeh its a piece of crap. I dont know why the label and the band put it out. If you cut out all the crap theres prob one song left. This band had quite a few demos and unreleased stuff too. I dont understand why those songs didnt get on this album whereas a guy going "and now we are going to play some Zion". From memory when they were first advertising this release they really talked up that radio guy! It made you think that the Zion guys were in the studio, and had an interview, and then did a rare live song... but no "next up we are going to play some Zion"....THATS IT!! That counts as a song!

 

I know the label who released this is on another forum alot i glance at from time to time. I started a thread over there asking why they bothered to put out this album with the fake live songs, all the extra crap on the album, and left of rare songs. Ive bumped that thread several times, but they still havnt responded. I just want to know why youd bother!? "Thunder from the mountain" was awesome, and they had the potential to make Thrillseeker brilliant by using all the rare Zion demos out there... but they didnt and they used crap.

[Geoff]

3 Doors Down - s/t ; Yep, these guys are still at it, and yep, they're still writing the same song. If you liked these guys before, you'll like them now. This might even be their best album, but it sounds just like all the others. I guess the only thing that gets annoying is the guy's voice and his "please feel sorry for me" lyrics. Aside from that, good modern rock tunes. Track 10 had a sweet hard rock riff.

 

Over It - 'The Strand' ; Not as good as I was hoping/expecting. I still like their 2002 release best so far. A lot of acoustic stuff on this one. I realise it's just a collection of b-sides so I shouldn't expect much. It's a good disc, but not amazing.

 

Tokio Hotel - 'Scream' ; Good stuff. Jim compared these guys to Kill Hannah in another thread and he was dead on with that comparison. The first track is nu-metal-ish and had me worried, but the next track is great, track 6 sounded like The Donots and there's enough variety here to keep me interested. Some great songs on this one. 'Turn around' towards the end was a great ballad, but generally the mid-tempo and uptempo tracks were the better ones.

[JC_AOR]

Paul Alan - drive it home

Not exactly my first spin, but too bad.

Im not sure what to call this ... light modern pop rock aor?? Paul Alan is the lead singer of Nouveaux, and this is is the followup to his brilliant debut album "Falling Awake". Fallin awake is possibly one of my top 10 albums of all time, so ive been looking forward to this very much. Drive it home is pretty much Falling Awake 2. From my earlier comments after hearing samples for this i thought this would be a little heavier then Falling awake. Its not. If anything it is lighter. Its basically Falling awake with a slightly updated sound, and perhaps a little more stripped back on some tracks with a slight orchestral backing.

Album opener "Wreckage" is a pure upbeat Paul Alan modern poprocker with a pretty cool chorus and is a great way to start. The highlight of the album for me is the 2nd song "To bring you back" which has a huge chorus. The rest of the album is a little lighter then the first two, with as i said, a slightly more stripped back and orchestral poprock vibe. However there is one modern rock half way through which is very cool - "Bethlehem". Bethlehem has a intro riff that reminds me of something like .. Paramore or Yellowcard perhaps... and is a very cool modern poprocking track, which gets even better at the end as it builds up. I feel the first half is stronger, as the second drops off a little, but finishes with a nice little ballad.

 

Overall i love this, though its probably a little behind Falling awake. Im just hoping in future Paul may bring out a heavier rocking album and let go a bit more.

 

I just commented on this one in the Christian Rock section. I actually thought the opposite to you. I found Drive It Home to be the stronger of the two albums and thought it was slightly rockier and "fuller" sounding than Falling Awake. I've only played them a couple of times but that's my initial feeling. None the less, both albums are very good and worth checking out for those who like nice smooth sounding soft/pop/rock tunes. And as you say both can be purchased quite cheap at the moment.

[Fat Freddy]

Killen - S/T (1987)

 

This is actually a "First Spin in a Very Long Time Impression." Killen was a metal band from Staten Island, New York (where I attended college in the late 80s) that released this one album and then promptly disappeared off the face of the Earth. I happened to have seen Killen live once during my freshman year out that way, which was nearly twenty years ago (gulp!) now, and I had pretty much forgotten all about them till a couple of days ago when their name came up in a discussion about obscure metal vinyl at another message board I frequent. The guy who brought them up was talking about Killen as if they were this fantastic "lost classic" type of band and how he thought this album was the greatest thing since canned beer. I honestly did not remember what the band sounded like at all after all these years, but curiosity was getting the better of me so I went trolling around the Net for a while and found a download of the album. (NOTE: I know a lotta you folks are not down with downloading, but I felt it was OK in this case because the album has been out of print for many many years, and though this particular title has apparently been pressed as one of the infamous Greek bootleg CDs, I wasn't about to blow $35 on one of those, at least not until I heard the band first and decided if they were worthy of such a purchase.)

 

So anyway, I gave Killen's tunes a spin for the first time in nearly two decades, and... wow, this band was awful! Imagine a third rate Manowar wanna-be, fronted by a guy whose monotonous delivery resembles Paul Di'Anno if he were comatose on NyQuil. Occasionally this dude lets out a high pitched squawking scream that sounds like a love child of Geddy Lee (Rush) and John Gallagher (Raven) whose nuts were being nibbled by weasels. The album production is godawful too, mushy and fuzzy in that classic "late 80s indie metal" kinda way, which usually gives me a warm "retro metal" feeling inside, but the sound quality on this album is WAY worse than most I've heard. The drums are way up front and drown out the other instruments, while the guitars and bass not only sound like they're made of rubber bands stretched over cigar boxes, they also sound like the players were down at the bottom of a very deep well while the recording equipment was up at the top.

 

Killen almost approached competency (note I said "almost") on a couple of tracks like "Soldiers In Steel" and "Stricken By Darkness," but overall listening to this album was True Metal Torture at its worst. If memory serves, I didn't think Killen were anywhere near this terrible when I saw them many years ago, but then I was only a teenager at that time and going to clubs to watch live metal bands was still a new and exciting experience for me, so I was obviously a lot easier to impress at that age. Now that I'm an old, jaded prick this band only served as an ironic reminder of a far more innocent time in my life.

 

The lesson to be learned from this story, kids, is just because a metal album is old, underground, or obscure... doesn't necessarily mean it's GOOD. I'm sure there are still lots of undiscovered "local band" releases out there from metal's golden age that are genuine gems... but this album sure as hell isn't one of'em.

[aMetalhead1966]

Killen - S/T (1987)

 

This is actually a "First Spin in a Very Long Time Impression." Killen was a metal band from Staten Island, New York (where I attended college in the late 80s) that released this one album and then promptly disappeared off the face of the Earth. I happened to have seen Killen live once during my freshman year out that way, which was nearly twenty years ago (gulp!) now, and I had pretty much forgotten all about them till a couple of days ago when their name came up in a discussion about obscure metal vinyl at another message board I frequent. The guy who brought them up was talking about Killen as if they were this fantastic "lost classic" type of band and how he thought this album was the greatest thing since canned beer. I honestly did not remember what the band sounded like at all after all these years, but curiosity was getting the better of me so I went trolling around the Net for a while and found a download of the album. (NOTE: I know a lotta you folks are not down with downloading, but I felt it was OK in this case because the album has been out of print for many many years, and though this particular title has apparently been pressed as one of the infamous Greek bootleg CDs, I wasn't about to blow $35 on one of those, at least not until I heard the band first and decided if they were worthy of such a purchase.)

 

So anyway, I gave Killen's tunes a spin for the first time in nearly two decades, and... wow, this band was awful! Imagine a third rate Manowar wanna-be, fronted by a guy whose monotonous delivery resembles Paul Di'Anno if he were comatose on NyQuil. Occasionally this dude lets out a high pitched squawking scream that sounds like a love child of Geddy Lee (Rush) and John Gallagher (Raven) whose nuts were being nibbled by weasels. The album production is godawful too, mushy and fuzzy in that classic "late 80s indie metal" kinda way, which usually gives me a warm "retro metal" feeling inside, but the sound quality on this album is WAY worse than most I've heard. The drums are way up front and drown out the other instruments, while the guitars and bass not only sound like they're made of rubber bands stretched over cigar boxes, they also sound like the players were down at the bottom of a very deep well while the recording equipment was up at the top.

 

Killen almost approached competency (note I said "almost") on a couple of tracks like "Soldiers In Steel" and "Stricken By Darkness," but overall listening to this album was True Metal Torture at its worst. If memory serves, I didn't think Killen were anywhere near this terrible when I saw them many years ago, but then I was only a teenager at that time and going to clubs to watch live metal bands was still a new and exciting experience for me, so I was obviously a lot easier to impress at that age. Now that I'm an old, jaded prick this band only served as an ironic reminder of a far more innocent time in my life.

 

The lesson to be learned from this story, kids, is just because a metal album is old, underground, or obscure... doesn't necessarily mean it's GOOD. I'm sure there are still lots of undiscovered "local band" releases out there from metal's golden age that are genuine gems... but this album sure as hell isn't one of'em.

The above post is one of the best and funniest...especially the part I bolded...Brilliant

Keef!!! You are a true Wordsmith...(if that is an actual description)....

[Fat Freddy]

The above post is one of the best and funniest...especially the part I bolded...Brilliant

Keef!!! You are a true Wordsmith...(if that is an actual description)....

 

Glad you liked it sir. I feel it is part of my sacred duty around here to warn others of land mines like these and therefore protect innocent ears from having to hear bad metal.

[aMetalhead1966]

The above post is one of the best and funniest...especially the part I bolded...Brilliant

Keef!!! You are a true Wordsmith...(if that is an actual description)....

 

Glad you liked it sir. I feel it is part of my sacred duty around here to warn others of land mines like these and therefore protect innocent ears from having to hear bad metal.

Job well done then!!! Man I'm still cracking up at that description!!

[Dark Star]

Killen - S/T (1987)

 

This is actually a "First Spin in a Very Long Time Impression." Killen was a metal band from Staten Island, New York (where I attended college in the late 80s) that released this one album and then promptly disappeared off the face of the Earth. I happened to have seen Killen live once during my freshman year out that way, which was nearly twenty years ago (gulp!) now, and I had pretty much forgotten all about them till a couple of days ago when their name came up in a discussion about obscure metal vinyl at another message board I frequent. The guy who brought them up was talking about Killen as if they were this fantastic "lost classic" type of band and how he thought this album was the greatest thing since canned beer. I honestly did not remember what the band sounded like at all after all these years, but curiosity was getting the better of me so I went trolling around the Net for a while and found a download of the album. (NOTE: I know a lotta you folks are not down with downloading, but I felt it was OK in this case because the album has been out of print for many many years, and though this particular title has apparently been pressed as one of the infamous Greek bootleg CDs, I wasn't about to blow $35 on one of those, at least not until I heard the band first and decided if they were worthy of such a purchase.)

 

So anyway, I gave Killen's tunes a spin for the first time in nearly two decades, and... wow, this band was awful! Imagine a third rate Manowar wanna-be, fronted by a guy whose monotonous delivery resembles Paul Di'Anno if he were comatose on NyQuil. Occasionally this dude lets out a high pitched squawking scream that sounds like a love child of Geddy Lee (Rush) and John Gallagher (Raven) whose nuts were being nibbled by weasels. The album production is godawful too, mushy and fuzzy in that classic "late 80s indie metal" kinda way, which usually gives me a warm "retro metal" feeling inside, but the sound quality on this album is WAY worse than most I've heard. The drums are way up front and drown out the other instruments, while the guitars and bass not only sound like they're made of rubber bands stretched over cigar boxes, they also sound like the players were down at the bottom of a very deep well while the recording equipment was up at the top.

 

Killen almost approached competency (note I said "almost") on a couple of tracks like "Soldiers In Steel" and "Stricken By Darkness," but overall listening to this album was True Metal Torture at its worst. If memory serves, I didn't think Killen were anywhere near this terrible when I saw them many years ago, but then I was only a teenager at that time and going to clubs to watch live metal bands was still a new and exciting experience for me, so I was obviously a lot easier to impress at that age. Now that I'm an old, jaded prick this band only served as an ironic reminder of a far more innocent time in my life.

 

The lesson to be learned from this story, kids, is just because a metal album is old, underground, or obscure... doesn't necessarily mean it's GOOD. I'm sure there are still lots of undiscovered "local band" releases out there from metal's golden age that are genuine gems... but this album sure as hell isn't one of'em.

 

 

Well considering You sent Me a couple MP3s of these guys??? I couldn't agree more!! Damn these guys SUCK!!!!!!! This is one of the few times I am glad I DIDN'T go with you to that club to see em live.. Though, 20 years ago I MIGHT have liked em, who knows????

 

 

Nah I doubt it.....

 

 

LOVE the review though.....

[Fat Freddy]

This is one of the few times I am glad I DIDN'T go with you to that club to see em live.. Though, 20 years ago I MIGHT have liked em, who knows????

 

Dude, back in those days, we probably would've been so fallin-down drunk that it wouldnt' have mattered WHO was playin', anything would've sounded good to us!!

[aMetalhead1966]

Blizzard-Kamikaze Killers (1984)...My endless quest for Jmetal lead me to this band.

Musically they have great ideas and both Guitar Players are really good for an

early 80's band...the vox however are horrid.. too bad cause this coulda been

a winner otherwise..

 

Fastkill-Infernal Thrashing Holocaust (2004). These crazy guys sound and play a lot

like Slayer..I'd say this is Japan's answer to Slayer (circa 1985 in style and sound)

really good stuff and the sound is awesome...

[Geoff]

Takida - 'Make you breath' ; Good modern rock band raging from very good to decent. From Sweden, I believe. They have a pretty cool sound that I feel may appeal to MHR fans as well.

http://www.myspace.com/takidamusic

[aMetalhead1966]

Manipulated Slaves-Burst Into Blue Flame. Yet another J Metal Band...and they

slap the music down HARD!! Thrash/Deathish/Goth mix-up that has some

KILLER Riffs...I'm digging the shit out of this and for a Japanese band the

Vox are good, sounding like Masaki(of EZO) crossed with John Tardy of Obituary

...strange indeed but it works well, plus the music is incredible!!!! Pianos and

an occasional violin and a Girl singing some too...Great Stuff!!

[Fat Freddy]

Killen - S/T (1987)

 

This is actually a "First Spin in a Very Long Time Impression." Killen was a metal band from Staten Island, New York (where I attended college in the late 80s) that released this one album and then promptly disappeared off the face of the Earth. I happened to have seen Killen live once during my freshman year out that way, which was nearly twenty years ago (gulp!) now, and I had pretty much forgotten all about them till a couple of days ago when their name came up in a discussion about obscure metal vinyl at another message board I frequent. The guy who brought them up was talking about Killen as if they were this fantastic "lost classic" type of band and how he thought this album was the greatest thing since canned beer. I honestly did not remember what the band sounded like at all after all these years, but curiosity was getting the better of me so I went trolling around the Net for a while and found a download of the album. (NOTE: I know a lotta you folks are not down with downloading, but I felt it was OK in this case because the album has been out of print for many many years, and though this particular title has apparently been pressed as one of the infamous Greek bootleg CDs, I wasn't about to blow $35 on one of those, at least not until I heard the band first and decided if they were worthy of such a purchase.)

 

So anyway, I gave Killen's tunes a spin for the first time in nearly two decades, and... wow, this band was awful! Imagine a third rate Manowar wanna-be, fronted by a guy whose monotonous delivery resembles Paul Di'Anno if he were comatose on NyQuil. Occasionally this dude lets out a high pitched squawking scream that sounds like a love child of Geddy Lee (Rush) and John Gallagher (Raven) whose nuts were being nibbled by weasels. The album production is godawful too, mushy and fuzzy in that classic "late 80s indie metal" kinda way, which usually gives me a warm "retro metal" feeling inside, but the sound quality on this album is WAY worse than most I've heard. The drums are way up front and drown out the other instruments, while the guitars and bass not only sound like they're made of rubber bands stretched over cigar boxes, they also sound like the players were down at the bottom of a very deep well while the recording equipment was up at the top.

 

Killen almost approached competency (note I said "almost") on a couple of tracks like "Soldiers In Steel" and "Stricken By Darkness," but overall listening to this album was True Metal Torture at its worst. If memory serves, I didn't think Killen were anywhere near this terrible when I saw them many years ago, but then I was only a teenager at that time and going to clubs to watch live metal bands was still a new and exciting experience for me, so I was obviously a lot easier to impress at that age. Now that I'm an old, jaded prick this band only served as an ironic reminder of a far more innocent time in my life.

 

The lesson to be learned from this story, kids, is just because a metal album is old, underground, or obscure... doesn't necessarily mean it's GOOD. I'm sure there are still lots of undiscovered "local band" releases out there from metal's golden age that are genuine gems... but this album sure as hell isn't one of'em.

 

Just in case anyone out there is curious enough to hear this monstrosity for themselves, there's a copy of the "Hot Metal Records" reissue (*cough cough bootleg cough cough*) available on eBay right now... though I obviously don't recommend it!!!

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/KILLEN-SELF-TITLED-CD_...1QQcmdZViewItem

[melodicrockoz]

marcello / vestry - s/t , what an incredible slice of mhr bliss, an absolute masterpiece.

 

no where on earth is ONE going to hear the perfect danger danger album to come between their debut & "screw it"

 

you want cheese with your melodies then you ain't going to find a better album that truely delivers out there than this.

[Geoff]

marcello / vestry - s/t , what an incredible slice of mhr bliss, an absolute masterpiece.

 

no where on earth is ONE going to hear the perfect danger danger album to come between their debut & "screw it"

 

you want cheese with your melodies then you ain't going to find a better album that truely delivers out there than this.

This thing is amazing. I guess the only reason no one's been bold enough to say this will hands down be the best album of 2008 is because we all know Danger Danger are scheduled to release a new disc this year. Until that one comes out, this will not be toppled, I dare say. Sensational 80's style hard rock. Yeah, some cheesy lyrics (damn that reach for your dreams song is awful lyrically ) but the music and melodies and choruses and everything is just perfect. I don't even notice the drum machine. And worth noting, this dude can play his instrument. Very, very well. If we can't have Timmons I'm glad this dude is in the band. What's this song, is it called 'Without you'? This is mind-blowing... right at the top of my fave songs of the year.