First Spin Impressions

[Dead Planet]

Mirror Mirror..........Kick It...........Good stuff........well worth more spins.....

[KarpetRydOFunk]

Orphan Project - Orphan Found

 

When I first heard these guys being described as being a bit hard rock, a bit progressive, and a bit adult contempary I didn't quite understand how that would work. Now I do. This is a great release from one of my new favourite bands. Gotta get their new one.

[Jez]

Leverage - Circus Colossus

 

In a word, Excellent. Similar style as before, but the songs are way better in quality with maybe more of a shift into BFT territory on certain songs than before. The keys seem to be more prominent aswell this time around (which is a good thing in this style of stuff), check out the very excellent 'Revelation' and 'Broken Wings' for further proof. Bombastic is certainly the word that springs to mind listening to this and I would say that this is definitely their best one so far, by some way.

 

Mastedon - 3

 

As Shawn mentioned elsewhere, this neatly covers stylewise, all era's of John Elefante's career in one disc and is really quite excellent througout, so existing Kansas/Elefante solo fans will be salivating over this one. Songs vary from 'One Day Down By The Lake' which is a an 11 minute monster and covers the more Kansas type stuff through to the more commercial 'Nowhere Without Your Love' . Soundwise this is a really excellent sounding album aswell and along with no weak points songwise on first couple of spins, this gets a massive thumbs up.

 

Foreigner - Can't Slow Down

 

Had a sneaky peak at this a few weeks ago and was impressed on first listen, but now I have the CD proper, it has had a real workout over the last few days. Song quality is most definitely very high on this, with the ballads being to the fore 'When It Comes To Love' is especially good and probably my fave track on here. The 'Rockers' are good aswell, albeit typical Foreigner fare in places. Even with only Mick Jones remaining from the original lineup, you most definitely know who you are listening to. Kelly Hansen is the spitting image of the mighty Lou Gramm in places and I sometimes had to pinch myself to remind me it wasn't Lou singing he is that close on occassions. Production is very nice, without overdoing the 'Slick' and overall this is another disc that gets a big thumbs up. Special mention to the fantastic Remixes disc that comes with the 3 disc package. Never have the Foreigner 'classics' sounded this good and crisp before.

 

W.E.T - S/T

 

Again had a sneaky peak a month or so back to see what all the fuss was about, and as with most other people, I will say that this is a hell of a good disc, very consistent with filler kept to an absolute minimum, really great production and songwise, not the AOR wimp out I was expecting when this lineup was announced way back, JSS on top form (as usual) and generally a really first class melodic rock disc that actually rocks. Of it's type, definitely the best this year but certainly no 100 points from me (me thinks the JSS fan club has gotten a little over excited again) , but a very healthy 90'ish for sure.

[heaven&hell]

Leverage - Circus Colossus

 

In a word, Excellent. Similar style as before, but the songs are way better in quality with maybe more of a shift into BFT territory on certain songs than before. The keys seem to be more prominent aswell this time around (which is a good thing in this style of stuff), check out the very excellent 'Revelation' and 'Broken Wings' for further proof. Bombastic is certainly the word that springs to mind listening to this and I would say that this is definitely their best one so far, by some way.

 

I was hoping that they would go in a heavier direction.

I like Brother Firetribe and all but don't want Leverage to sound like them.

Leverage>Brother Firetribe(IMO of course).

[Fat Freddy]

Mastedon - LOFCAUDIO

Picked this up for a buck at the local thrift shop the other day, mainly because I recognized it as a collectible. Tho the booklet was heavily water damaged the disc played just fine. Mastedon's 80s style AOR isn't exactly my "thang" but it was well played catchy stuff (pretty badly dated nowadays though) in the vein of Journey, Survivor, Van Hagar, Night Ranger, etc. Not bad but I certainly wouldn't have paid the stooopid $$ this disc goes for on eBay for it.

 

Gama Bomb - TALES FROM THE GRAVE IN SPACE

Never heard this Irish thrash band before but their label (Earache) is giving their new album away (!) as a free download so how could I resist? In short, if ya like Exodus, Slayer, and Nuclear Assault style riffs mixed with mid-period Anthrax's goofy sense of humor, you're gonna like Gama Bomb. These guys are all about beer, video games and B-Grade horror/sci-fi movies and that's just fine by me. Vocals remind me of Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth of Overkill with a hit of Gerre from Tankard. This is the kinda stuff that makes you wanna pound a 40 ounce of something cheap and then kick somebody's ass!

If you wanna hear it for yourself, check out the Gama Bomb thread I started in the Heavy Metal section for the download link.

[Jez]

Leverage - Circus Colossus

 

In a word, Excellent. Similar style as before, but the songs are way better in quality with maybe more of a shift into BFT territory on certain songs than before. The keys seem to be more prominent aswell this time around (which is a good thing in this style of stuff), check out the very excellent 'Revelation' and 'Broken Wings' for further proof. Bombastic is certainly the word that springs to mind listening to this and I would say that this is definitely their best one so far, by some way.

 

I was hoping that they would go in a heavier direction.

I like Brother Firetribe and all but don't want Leverage to sound like them.

Leverage>Brother Firetribe(IMO of course).

 

Don't worry too much about the BFT comment Wes. There are a few moments that I thought of BFT more on this release than the previous ones, but I think it is more in the use of keys on some songs and obviously Pekki Heino's vocals rather than the songs themselves, which are still in the same style as the first 2 albums.

[Dead Planet]

Lordi...........The Arockalypse.................this is my second exposure to this band and I like it....too bad about the vocals but the music rips along nicely....

[Dead Planet]

Illusion....I Like It Loud............good music but a piss poor recording.......

[Dead Planet]

Raw Silk..........Silk Under The Skin...............love the sound of this one....nice mixture of guitars and keyboards....many more spins expected.....

[Dead Planet]

UFO .....Monkey Puzzle...........okay but not one of their best.....

[Dead Planet]

Bride.........Scarecrow Messiah..........good stuff and better than the only other release by these guys that I have..."Snakes in the Playground".............anyone have opinions on their other releases..??

[phaffas]

Bride.........Scarecrow Messiah..........good stuff and better than the only other release by these guys that I have..."Snakes in the Playground".............anyone have opinions on their other releases..??

very erratic band.

[heaven&hell]

Oracle - As Darkness Reigns

 

Holy shit this is awesome Power/Prog Metal. Being a huuuuuge fan of old school Queensryche this is right up my alley. The vocalist sounds like a young and maybe even better Geoff Tate and musically again very much like early 'Ryche but maybe a little heavier and more progressive in places. Excellent stuff IMO.

[Geoff]

Raw Silk..........Silk Under The Skin...............love the sound of this one....nice mixture of guitars and keyboards....many more spins expected.....

Great disc... under-rated.

[Fat Freddy]

Brain Surgeons NYC - DENIAL OF DEATH

I had no clue who this band was when I picked this up @ a thrift shop (still sealed) for a buck yesterday. The album cover looked kinda "rock" (and one of the band members was wearing an AC/DC shirt in the back cover photo) so I figured "what the hell." Turns out that this band features ex-Manowar guitarist Ross the Boss and former Blue Oyster Cult drummer Albert Bouchard in the lineup so they kinda got a "supergroup" thing going here. Musically it's pretty basic punk-flavored metal/dirt rock, the vocals on most of the songs are handled by the female guitar player and she's got a bit of a Wendy O. Williams kinda thing going on. Not bad for a blind buy.

 

Nightwish - CENTURY CHILD

I know this band has been providing collective orgasms to the female-fronted symph-metal geek crowd for a while now but other than an odd track here and there over the years I have never heard a full album from 'em till I stumbled across this one (for a buck at the same thrift shop). So what's my take on Nightwish? Well, they're WAAAAAYYYY over the top. Kinda like if the chick from Lacuna Coil and the members of Stratovarius gave birth to a love child at a Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert. Tarja Turjunen has a pretty good set of lungs (and she's cute too) and the album is decent enough but this is the kinda band I'm only ever gonna need one album from.

[TIM (2)]

W.E.T - S/T

 

Finally we get a truly killer AOR/MHR disc in 2009. Even after 1 spin this is a very special album. Amazing songwriting and a great combination of 80's style and modern-day production/sound make this pretty damn essential stuff. JSS is on great form, but he wasn't the right choice of vocalist here (presumably he was picked because his name on the CD helps sales?) & someone like Jim Jidhed/Tomas Vikstrom would've been a better fit. That aside, this is virtually flawless stuff IMO....

[Glen]

W.E.T - S/T

 

Finally we get a truly killer AOR/MHR disc in 2009. Even after 1 spin this is a very special album. Amazing songwriting and a great combination of 80's style and modern-day production/sound make this pretty damn essential stuff. JSS is on great form, but he wasn't the right choice of vocalist here (presumably he was picked because his name on the CD helps sales?) & someone like Jim Jidhed/Tomas Vikstrom would've been a better fit. That aside, this is virtually flawless stuff IMO....

 

Airrace / White Sister, still to follow mate - i havent forgotten, just been a crazy couple of weeks at home.

[TIM (2)]

W.E.T - S/T

 

Finally we get a truly killer AOR/MHR disc in 2009. Even after 1 spin this is a very special album. Amazing songwriting and a great combination of 80's style and modern-day production/sound make this pretty damn essential stuff. JSS is on great form, but he wasn't the right choice of vocalist here (presumably he was picked because his name on the CD helps sales?) & someone like Jim Jidhed/Tomas Vikstrom would've been a better fit. That aside, this is virtually flawless stuff IMO....

 

Airrace / White Sister, still to follow mate - i havent forgotten, just been a crazy couple of weeks at home.

 

No worries mate - is much appreciated....

[heaven&hell]

Anvil - This is Thirteen

 

This kicks ass. There are a few fillers towards the later half of the disc but overall if you're a fan of Anvil you're gonna love this. A good production from CT and some great songs like "Flying Blind", "This is Thirteen", "Bombs Away" and "Burning Bridges", "Worry", "Game Over" and "Thumb Hang". It's very cool that VH1 Classic Records have stepped up and released this disc.

[Geoff]

Faber Drive - 'Can't keep a secret' ; It had escaped my mind how highly I regard the debut, but when I saw a pre-release listening of this album available I was on it like AIDS on a homosexual. Man I was excited!!! Another sign was my strong desire, as the album went on, for it to magically grow additional tracks. Basically, the maths is simple. If you loved the debut you'll love this. If you hated the debut you'll hate this. No ifs, no buts. That's how it'll be. The ballads are again stunning, especially 'You and I tonight' and there are some killer melodic pop rockers like 'I'll be there' which absolutely make this album for me. There are a couple of songs - the new single, 'G-Get Up And Dance!' and the killer 'Give him up' - which are a bit more "electronic" than the debut, but otherwise this is pretty much pop rock perfection. The manner in which these guys write a hook/chorus is top range. So if you loved Boys Like Girls and The Sunstreak from this year and need one more to cap it off, make it this one. Excellent stuff.

[Jez]

Blanc Faces - Falling From The Moon

 

I always thought that the first album was a good, if a little generic debut and certainly had some good songs throughout, but I certainly didn't rave about it like certain parties did at the time and thought it definitely had some flaws. 'Falling From The Moon' starts out well enough with the first 4 tracks. The title track sounds like a Pride Of Lions song and along with 'I Swear To You' are the best 2 tracks on the album. After that, it all becomes a bit samey, safe and sorry to say, a little boring if I am honest (I have been saying that fairly often about some AOR releases recently, which is not like me at all). This is a great sounding disc though with a really nice Dennis Ward mix and isn't a complete disaster as it does have some very nice moments, but I can picture now all the ardent AOR chaps wetting themselves saying how good it is. Well believe me it isn't and it's not even as good as the debut either.

[TIM (2)]

Blanc Faces - Falling From The Moon

 

I always thought that the first album was a good, if a little generic debut and certainly had some good songs throughout, but I certainly didn't rave about it like certain parties did at the time and thought it definitely had some flaws. 'Falling From The Moon' starts out well enough with the first 4 tracks. The title track sounds like a Pride Of Lions song and along with 'I Swear To You' are the best 2 tracks on the album. After that, it all becomes a bit samey, safe and sorry to say, a little boring if I am honest (I have been saying that fairly often about some AOR releases recently, which is not like me at all). This is a great sounding disc though with a really nice Dennis Ward mix and isn't a complete disaster as it does have some very nice moments, but I can picture now all the ardent AOR chaps wetting themselves saying how good it is. Well believe me it isn't and it's not even as good as the debut either.

 

Yeah I agree mate. I like it but it falls-away in quality, and the album front/back covers are awful! It does close with a KILLER tune though, "Fly" - what an awesome song this is...

[phaffas]

Vicious Mary = s/t

Geoff has been trying to get me to listen to this for years by saying it sounds like Talon. Idiot. Sounds nothing like Talon. Talon is hard melodic rock like Dokken. This is more on the melodic metal side. But i do love you Geoffy. This is awesome! Rocks, big choruses, and plenty of twists and turns to keep even the proggy boys happy.

AND.. everyone can afford it = http://www.nuclearhell.com/store/product.p...at=0&page=1. US$7.99 with free postage worldwide. HOW CAN YOU NOT BUY IT (it is russian pressed... but do i care.?.... no i do not care,)

[Dead Planet]

Poisonblack...........Lust Stained Despair...........decent goth rocker.....although I don't listen to this stuff much anymore......

[Dead Planet]

Barakade.....Volume 1....probably just as well there wasn't a volume 2 as the first one isn't very good....