First Spin Impressions

[swriter]

MCrue-sola----pretty good one, the moi has the vocals in the background a bit and a real cool dirty production, thia might be a good one

 

JPriest-Nostradamus----hmmm, Nostrodamus he;s our man!!! hmmm, not sure of this one and may not be listening much on first few listens, very cool they did this though

 

Whitesnake-GTBBad--really great one here, this is a keeper

[TIM (2)]

Scar Symmetry - 'Holographic Universe' ; Delicious!!! Through the years I have actually learnt to embrace some of the screaming vocals in places, though I still don't like the growling stuff. There is a bit of growling here, but those choruses are just f*cking lush, and the properly sung bits... man there is some beautiful stuff going on on this CD. The first song is amazing.

 

That one's gonna be right up there in my albums of the year list. You heard the chorus to "Fear Catalyst"? Awesome....

[aMetalhead1966]

Scar Symmetry - 'Holographic Universe' ; Delicious!!! Through the years I have actually learnt to embrace some of the screaming vocals in places, though I still don't like the growling stuff. There is a bit of growling here, but those choruses are just f*cking lush, and the properly sung bits... man there is some beautiful stuff going on on this CD. The first song is amazing.

 

That one's gonna be right up there in my albums of the year list. You heard the chorus to "Fear Catalyst"? Awesome....

Backed ...I'm really enjoying this one...

[Fat Freddy]

A whole mess o' "First Spin Impressions" ... all of these were received from my home boy aMetalhead1966 yesterday... thansk again brotha

 

Labyrinth, RETURN TO HEAVEN DENIED (1998) and LABYRINTH (2003) - this is an Italian power metal band, which basically means they sounds like they worship Michael Kiske-era Helloween or Stratovarius (I know, I know - same difference!), with a hyperactive keyboardist added to the mix. Of the two discs, I preferred the self titled one, which has a bit more crunch/edge to it than the overly-syrupy RETURN TO HEAVEN DENIED.

 

Torch, FIRERAISER (1982, reissued 1990) - Whoa! Where have these guys been hiding? This is a reissue of an early 80s disc by a Swedish (I think) band, very much in the vein of the classic Maiden/Diamond Head/Judas Priest/Raven/NWOBHM era stuff. No frills, no glossy production, just straight forward, hard charging metal. Too bad it's only a five song EP, cuz it definitely left me wanting to hear more!!

 

Supershine, SUPERSHINE (2000) - a collaboration between Bruce Franklin (Trouble guitarist) and vocalist Doug Pinnick from King's X. Interesting combo but on the first pass only two or three tunes jumped out at me (I will say it's odd to hear Franklin's riffs without Eric Wagner singing on top of 'em.). The disc seems to run a bit long for me and maybe could've been a few tracks shorter, but maybe that opinion will change after a few more spins.

 

Armed Forces, TAKE ON THE NATION (1991)- the pick of the litter! Never heard of these dudes before but apparently they were a big draw in L.A. back in the late 80s. This album was released in 1991, which meant they got to the label-signing party a little late, obviously. Their timing may not have been the best, but otherwise this is a solid disc of Priest/Ratt/Malice/CJSS/Dio/Lizzy Borden kinda stuff (with a slight hint of thrash) that was right up my alley. Sadly, a quick Google search of the band's name revealed that their lead singer passed away in 1998.

 

Jesus Freaks, JESUS FREAKS (1996) - I've had the Freaks' debut EP (SOCIALLY UNACCEPTABLE) for awhile now and thought that one was a pretty decent carbon copy of classic Metallica (right down to the Hetfield-ish vox), with an in-yo-face religious message (in case you couldn't tell from the name, they're a Christian band). This was the follow up and though the vox are still very Hetfield-ish, they've settled more on a "groove metal" sound (i.e. Prong, Pantera) with a hit of Alice In Chains (occasionally the vocalist goes totaly Layne Staley on us). At 14 tracks this one is a little too long for it's own good but when this three piece are "on" they could seriously throw down.

[aMetalhead1966]

A whole mess o' "First Spin Impressions" ... all of these were received from my home boy aMetalhead1966 yesterday... thansk again brotha

 

Labyrinth, RETURN TO HEAVEN DENIED (1998) and LABYRINTH (2003) - this is an Italian power metal band, which basically means they sounds like they worship Michael Kiske-era Helloween or Stratovarius (I know, I know - same difference!), with a hyperactive keyboardist added to the mix. Of the two discs, I preferred the self titled one, which has a bit more crunch/edge to it than the overly-syrupy RETURN TO HEAVEN DENIED.

 

Torch, FIRERAISER (1982, reissued 1990) - Whoa! Where have these guys been hiding? This is a reissue of an early 80s disc by a Swedish (I think) band, very much in the vein of the classic Maiden/Diamond Head/Judas Priest/Raven/NWOBHM era stuff. No frills, no glossy production, just straight forward, hard charging metal. Too bad it's only a five song EP, cuz it definitely left me wanting to hear more!!

 

Supershine, SUPERSHINE (2000) - a collaboration between Bruce Franklin (Trouble guitarist) and vocalist Doug Pinnick from King's X. Interesting combo but on the first pass only two or three tunes jumped out at me (I will say it's odd to hear Franklin's riffs without Eric Wagner singing on top of 'em.). The disc seems to run a bit long for me and maybe could've been a few tracks shorter, but maybe that opinion will change after a few more spins.

 

Armed Forces, TAKE ON THE NATION (1991)- the pick of the litter! Never heard of these dudes before but apparently they were a big draw in L.A. back in the late 80s. This album was released in 1991, which meant they got to the label-signing party a little late, obviously. Their timing may not have been the best, but otherwise this is a solid disc of Priest/Ratt/Malice/CJSS/Dio/Lizzy Borden kinda stuff (with a slight hint of thrash) that was right up my alley. Sadly, a quick Google search of the band's name revealed that their lead singer passed away in 1998.

 

Jesus Freaks, JESUS FREAKS (1996) - I've had the Freaks' debut EP (SOCIALLY UNACCEPTABLE) for awhile now and thought that one was a pretty decent carbon copy of classic Metallica (right down to the Hetfield-ish vox), with an in-yo-face religious message (in case you couldn't tell from the name, they're a Christian band). This was the follow up and though the vox are still very Hetfield-ish, they've settled more on a "groove metal" sound (i.e. Prong, Pantera) with a hit of Alice In Chains (occasionally the vocalist goes totaly Layne Staley on us). At 14 tracks this one is a little too long for it's own good but when this three piece are "on" they could seriously throw down.

Yeah you pretty much nailed them all...I too like the Torch and Armed Forces (I had 2 copies of each).

[Geoff]

Blue Tiger - 'Untamed Spirit' ; I have to be honest and say I was a little disappointed with this one. Mostly because it came to me with good recommendations. That said, it's good fun, solid 80's hard rock. I have no doubt that in time I will enjoy this one quite a bit, but I guess I always hope for something a little amazing... especially when it comes in a package with Defcon as a comparison. Good tracks, though.

[heaven&hell]

Keel-Lay Down the Law

 

With this being the first time this has been issued on cd(officially) I was really looking foward to this one. While it's still awesome to have I am a little dissapointed with the packaging and the sound quality. The package is a stupid digipack that has liner notes written behind the cd and there is not insert with the lyrics or anything which pisses me off. Shrapnel has drug their feet with this release for years and could of done so much more but instead went the cheap route. It's still awesome to hear these classic songs on finally but I was hoping the sound would be better, to be honest it doesn't even sound like it was remastered. At least it sounds better than my cdr, but just barely.

 

White Lion - Return of the Pride

 

I'm not sure what most peoples problem with this cd is but I actually like it. Sure it doesn't sound like classic White Lion but maybe a little more like Tramp solo stuff, but there's some damn good songs on here. "Battle at Little Big Horn" is probably my song of the year so far. "Dream", "Set Me Free"(Broken Heart part II), "I Will", "Let Me Be Me", and "Never Let You Go" are all great songs IMO. Even though I do miss Vito the new guy Claus can play too.

 

Love/Hate - The Very Best Of

 

I wish if a cd was full of re-recorded songs the damn thing would have a sticker on it telling you that. I happened to be a used cd shop that had this for $7.99 still sealed and without the sticker I assumed it was original recordings and with me missing a few Love/Hate albums I thought it would be cool to have. Well it's not. This is all re-recorded songs that sound like shit IMO. AVOID!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Geoff]

Waltham - 'Awesome EP' ; Wow, they were not lying. I love the debut, but this EP is even stronger because all 5 songs kick my f*cking ass. These guys are such a good band and I'd hate this to be the last we hear of them. This is purely essential.

 

Glamour Of the Kill - 'Through the dark they march' ; Recommended by Tim (2) as a band that sounds like BFMV... and they do! This was good, I liked it a lot. Looking forward to more spins.

 

Cute is What We Aim For - 'Rotation' ; Anyone who heard their debut, 'Same old headrush with a new touch' (I think?) knows that they guys are on the poppier side of modern rock... but f*ck me with a jigsaw puzzle if they do not write some of the catchiest tunes around. This time they've "beefed up" the sound a little, and you know what... I loved this thing. I thought it was a really good solid slab of commercial rock.

 

Ivoryline - 'There came a lion' ; Wow, nice. Real nice. Picture Anberlin with Saosin-style choruses. This was a really good modern rock disc. I will spin it a few more times before more comments, but initial big thumbs up.

 

Rookie of the Year - 'The goodnight moon' ; probably the weakest disc I heard this weekend, but that's a compliment to the rest. Good solid modern rock, if not a little unspectacular.

 

Signal the Escape - 'All that you deserve' ; Love it. Another one for fans of A Change of Pace or this year's Throw the Fight. Uptempo, passionate and melodic modern rock. There are some absolute cracking songs on this one. Instant fan.

[Geoff]

The Almost - 'Southern Weather' ; Not bad at all. I kind of feel there guys could have been a little more amazing and they have some great big commercial hooks/choruses, but I think in the sake of not wanting to appear too commercial they played down this aspect with a few so-so musical decisions here and there. I don't know exactly what I mean, but if you heard it it would probably make sense. Good album though.

[phaffas]

Wild Ride - tension and desire

Half the tracks on this are as good as commerical hard melodic rock gets... however the other half is pretty standard hard rock.

 

Rob Rock - Garden of chaos

I couldnt get through this... Its even heavier then Holy Hell however it just lacks hooks on the first spin and the songs sounded the same, but there were some cool huge riffs.

 

Masterplan - mk 2

Pretty good disc. Doesnt really live up to the first two, but pretty close. The singer even sounds like Jorn sometimes. There are 3 or 4 stand out tracks with the rest being straight forward Masterplan tracks.

[Fat Freddy]

A couple of "Steels:"

 

Steel Assassin - WAR OF THE EIGHT SAINTS

This is a pretty cool debut album from a Massachusetts band that deals in old-school "epic" traditional/power metal. (the horseback riding, sword wielding knight in shining armor on the cover should make that obvious before you even put it in your stereo.) The first bands that came to mind when I pressed "play" were Iron Maiden, HammerFall and Armored Saint, which is a very nice combo IMO. Steel Assassin's vocalist has definitely got a John Bush kinda thing going on, and the musicianship is pleasantly chugging, heavy, and catchy throughout. I could take or leave the "concept" of the album (which tells the true story of a war that took place in the 1300's) but otherwise I'd say this is a damn solid CD that will be getting more spins from me.

 

Steel Prophet - UNSEEN

I'm not enjoying this one as much as I dug the previous S.P. disc I picked up (BEWARE). BEWARE had more of a balls-to-the-wall, semi-thrashin' feel to it, but UNSEEN is more progressive and laid back. Each track starts off promising enough, but I find myself wishing they'd kick it up a notch about halfway thru each song. I'm not crazy about the vocalist (Rick Mythiasin, or however the hell you spell it), either, I greatly preferred the ballsier work of Nadir D'Priest on BEWARE (which was sadly his one and only album with this band). BEWARE sounded like Maiden meets Priest meets early Metallica; UNSEEN is more like Maiden meets Yes meets Rush. Oh well, can't win'em all I guess.

[heaven&hell]

A couple of "Steels:"

 

Steel Assassin - WAR OF THE EIGHT SAINTS

This is a pretty cool debut album from a Massachusetts band that deals in old-school "epic" traditional/power metal. (the horseback riding, sword wielding knight in shining armor on the cover should make that obvious before you even put it in your stereo.) The first bands that came to mind when I pressed "play" were Iron Maiden, HammerFall and Armored Saint, which is a very nice combo IMO. Steel Assassin's vocalist has definitely got a John Bush kinda thing going on, and the musicianship is pleasantly chugging, heavy, and catchy throughout. I could take or leave the "concept" of the album (which tells the true story of a war that took place in the 1300's) but otherwise I'd say this is a damn solid CD that will be getting more spins from me.

 

Steel Prophet - UNSEEN

I'm not enjoying this one as much as I dug the previous S.P. disc I picked up (BEWARE). BEWARE had more of a balls-to-the-wall, semi-thrashin' feel to it, but UNSEEN is more progressive and laid back. Each track starts off promising enough, but I find myself wishing they'd kick it up a notch about halfway thru each song. I'm not crazy about the vocalist (Rick Mythiasin, or however the hell you spell it), either, I greatly preferred the ballsier work of Nadir D'Priest on BEWARE (which was sadly his one and only album with this band). BEWARE sounded like Maiden meets Priest meets early Metallica; UNSEEN is more like Maiden meets Yes meets Rush. Oh well, can't win'em all I guess.

 

I hate to read that about Steel Prophet because I liked "Beware" too.

[Geoff]

Ivoryline - 'There came a lion' ; Wow, nice. Real nice. Picture Anberlin with Saosin-style choruses. This was a really good modern rock disc. I will spin it a few more times before more comments, but initial big thumbs up.

This does not sound like Anberlin, this is deadset Anberlin's 4th album. They are identical.

[glam_junkie]

69Eyes - Devils

 

I think this one is a few years old now (not totally sure) but picked it up as at half price. I really liked some of the bands earier sleazy, dark, hard rock. They have definitely migrated towards a far more goth rock sound as the years have gone by. I'm not really a big fan of the vocal styles on this album - like Nick Cave on vallium. A little too deep for my liking. Some good songs through out the album but all have that goth 'keys' sound to them. Wouldn't say I dislkie it, but I prefer their earlier stuff much more over this sort of stuff.

[Fat Freddy]

I hate to read that about Steel Prophet because I liked "Beware" too.

 

Yea, I was bummed. Even though Nadir D'Priest was obviously not a popular vocal choice for Steel Prophet (he only did the BEWARE disc with them and then split) I liked him a lot better than Rick Mythiasin.

 

I think you'd really dig that Steel Assassin disc though Wes. Very good stuff.

[heaven&hell]

Journey - Revelation

 

I've never been a huge Journey fan but for $12 you can't wrong with this one since you get the new cd, a cd of re-recorded classics and a DVD.

 

Now if you're one of those old Journey fans that miss the sound of the early to mid 80's with Steve Perry, then this cd is for you because this new guy can flat out pull off all of the Perryisms. There's quite a few solid new songs here with not one that I'd consider a bad tune. I'm not sure if it's better than Arrival with Augerri, but it's a damn good cd if you're into AOR or Melodic Rock in general. My only complaint is there isn't any songs where they let it rip, or at least let it rip as well as Journey can, like they did on "Seperate Ways. All of the songs are either midtempo or ballads, but I still recommend this one to all Journey and AOR fans.

 

I still would of like to hear what they would of come up with if Jeff Scott Soto would of been given a chance to record with them and I noticed that not one person in the notes for the cd thanked JSS but Dean Castronova thanked Augerri and they recorded a Augerri cowrite from the last album "Faith in the Heartland". Not sure if they felt bad about Augerri not being there anymore so they threw him a bone.

[heaven&hell]

Motley Crue - SOLA

 

Upon first spin I think this thing rocks. Sure it's not as good as "Shout", "Too Fast" or "Feelgood" but for it being this late in the bands career I can't complain. "Face Down in the Dirt", "The Animal in Me", "Down at the Whisky", "SOLA", "MF of the Year" and "Goin' Out Swingin" all are great songs.

 

 

Judas Priest - Nostradamus

 

A concept album about Nostradamus. I knew going into this cd it was gonna be a different style for Priest and that is exactly what it is. Keyboards, Strings and cheesy lyrics. It's not horrible by any means but it's not great either. I'm one of those Priest fans that would prefer to hear the heavy shit like "Painkiller" so in some small way this album dissapoints, but on the other hand I'll give them props for trying something new and different. I'm sure this will take a quite a few more listens to fully appreciate.

 

 

After spinning the Crue many times it's probably in the #2 position, behind Whitesnake, for my album of the year.

As for the Priest, it's gonna take many more spins to totally get this and probably won't hurt to read along with the lyrics. I will say the second spin was better than the first so hopefully it keeps getting better.

[phaffas]

Lovechild - soul collector

Pretty decent heavy melodic rock in the vein of Helluva time era Jaded Heart, with maybe some MoonDoc thrown in. Starts slowly, but the middle picks up. Decent album, but not something overly great.

[hardrockhaven]

SIXX A.M.--Heroine Diary Soundtrack. Picked this up during the Cruefest concert I went to. Some very cool tracks on this release. Loving the trax "Life Is Beautiful" and "Accidents Happen". They also sang them in concert which was excellent.

 

Chris

[heaven&hell]

SIXX A.M.--Heroine Diary Soundtrack. Picked this up during the Cruefest concert I went to. Some very cool tracks on this release. Loving the trax "Life Is Beautiful" and "Accidents Happen". They also sang them in concert which was excellent.

 

Chris

 

There's about 6 or 7 awesome tracks on that cd IMO.

[heaven&hell]

Heavens Basement

 

These guys don't have a cd that I know of but from the tracks they have on their myspace page it's gonna be one rockin' cd. For those that remember and loved Roadstar and Hurricane Party then this is the same band and the same sound. This is kicking my ass.

[glam_junkie]

Bastardz - Jungle Outlawz

 

Could this be the 'glam' album of the year 2008. After 2 listens me thinks so.

[TIM (2)]

ELEVENER - When Colleidoscopes Collide

 

This is the guy from M.I.L.L.I.O.N, finally doing something worthwhile with his time. It's ultra-lite Euro AOR, very similar to things like STREET TALK, which is definitely worth a listen for anyone who loved that bands "V" album. For me it's just a bit too forgettable, no huge hooks just a lot of lush keys & harmony vocals. And it does have two major problems, some pretty godawful lyrics & some even worse vocals. This could've sounded good with a Goran Edman up-front, but instead the guy gives this a westcoast feel with his rich but totally-lacking-in-range vocals. Joseph Williams he is not. If you can look past the issues then it's probably worth a listen, but it isn't from the same planet as other 2008 AOR like: Journey/Brother Firetribe/Work of Art....

[Jez]

ELEVENER - When Colleidoscopes Collide

 

This is the guy from M.I.L.L.I.O.N, finally doing something worthwhile with his time. It's ultra-lite Euro AOR, very similar to things like STREET TALK, which is definitely worth a listen for anyone who loved that bands "V" album. For me it's just a bit too forgettable, no huge hooks just a lot of lush keys & harmony vocals. And it does have two major problems, some pretty godawful lyrics & some even worse vocals. This could've sounded good with a Goran Edman up-front, but instead the guy gives this a westcoast feel with his rich but totally-lacking-in-range vocals. Joseph Williams he is not. If you can look past the issues then it's probably worth a listen, but it isn't from the same planet as other 2008 AOR like: Journey/Brother Firetribe/Work of Art....

 

 

Really liked the 3 tracks they have up on their myspace, so put an order in for the album a while back - it's out next week I think, so am looking forward to hearing some more of this lot. I will let you know my 2 cents worth after it arrves.

[TIM (2)]

ELEVENER - When Colleidoscopes Collide

 

This is the guy from M.I.L.L.I.O.N, finally doing something worthwhile with his time. It's ultra-lite Euro AOR, very similar to things like STREET TALK, which is definitely worth a listen for anyone who loved that bands "V" album. For me it's just a bit too forgettable, no huge hooks just a lot of lush keys & harmony vocals. And it does have two major problems, some pretty godawful lyrics & some even worse vocals. This could've sounded good with a Goran Edman up-front, but instead the guy gives this a westcoast feel with his rich but totally-lacking-in-range vocals. Joseph Williams he is not. If you can look past the issues then it's probably worth a listen, but it isn't from the same planet as other 2008 AOR like: Journey/Brother Firetribe/Work of Art....

 

 

Really liked the 3 tracks they have up on their myspace, so put an order in for the album a while back - it's out next week I think, so am looking forward to hearing some more of this lot. I will let you know my 2 cents worth after it arrves.

 

I posted twice so I obviously have strong views on it!! I just got mine today from AOR Heaven (the label it's on, which I assume is why they got it in before anyone else). Only played it through once but it's pretty good stuff - definitely worth further spins...