First Spin Impressions

[JamesEagle]

Heaven’s Edge – s/t

Going to make myself unpopular again when I say I wasn’t hugely impressed with this. A few good tracks, but overall nothing spectacular. I suspect my copy of this CD will be on eBay soon!

 

Crashdiet – Generation Wild

Sounding like this will live up to the hype. I thought the title track was a bit weak, but most of the other songs sound good and ‘Chemical’ has one of the best choruses ever!!!

 

Slik Toxik – Doin’ The Nasty

Liking this, the first track is one of the worst, just gratuitous swearing without a good tune imo, but after that there are a few nice songs. There are a few poor tracks along the way, but overall this is a decent album.

[All Nights Reserved]

Heaven’s Edge – s/t

Going to make myself unpopular again when I say I wasn’t hugely impressed with this. A few good tracks, but overall nothing spectacular. I suspect my copy of this CD will be on eBay soon!

 

 

 

I remember after the first spin I thought 'Hey, nice Skid Row influences but nothing special. I give it a 6/10'. After the fifth spin I was blown away. Give it a chance, James.

[Glen]

Heaven’s Edge – s/t

Going to make myself unpopular again when I say I wasn’t hugely impressed with this. A few good tracks, but overall nothing spectacular. I suspect my copy of this CD will be on eBay soon!

 

 

 

I remember after the first spin I thought 'Hey, nice Skid Row influences but nothing special. I give it a 6/10'. After the fifth spin I was blown away. Give it a chance, James.

 

yep great album, with 'Come Play The Game' being one of my top 10 MHR songs of all time. That song is just about perfect.

[JamesEagle]

Heaven’s Edge – s/t

Going to make myself unpopular again when I say I wasn’t hugely impressed with this. A few good tracks, but overall nothing spectacular. I suspect my copy of this CD will be on eBay soon!

 

 

 

I remember after the first spin I thought 'Hey, nice Skid Row influences but nothing special. I give it a 6/10'. After the fifth spin I was blown away. Give it a chance, James.

 

yep great album, with 'Come Play The Game' being one of my top 10 MHR songs of all time. That song is just about perfect.

 

Given it a few plays this morning and my verdict is that it's pretty good. I like 'Skin To Skin', 'Find Another Way', 'Can't Catch Me' (probably my favourite for the guitar work) 'Bad Reputation' and even the ballad 'Hold On To Tonight'. After reading the HH comments, I thought 'Come Play The Game' was going to knock me for six, but while i think it's a good rock song, it doesn't blow me away.

 

Now for another blast of 'Chemical'...

[Nazz]

Slik Toxik – Doin’ The Nasty

Liking this, the first track is one of the worst, just gratuitous swearing without a good tune imo, but after that there are a few nice songs. There are a few poor tracks along the way, but overall this is a decent album.

 

Midnight Grind is one of my favourite songs ever! Love that guitar solo.

[Chris]

F*cked up...

[JamesEagle]

Rob Rock - Holy Hell

 

So far, so good. Heavy, with some nice headbanging tunes and of course great vocals.

 

[phaffas]

Rob Rock - Holy Hell

 

So far, so good. Heavy, with some nice headbanging tunes and of course great vocals.

 

Great album. Give it a few spins and the melodies really start to shine

[phaffas]

Legacy ~ s/t (Eonian)

2 quick spins the other night. The first few tracks stuck with me more, but overall this felt like Stryper or Recon, minus the hooks.

[TIM (2)]

SAVATAGE - Edge of Thorns (remaster)

 

Awesome remastering of this classic disc. Sounds great, with a couple of really good acoustic tunes as additions, plus it only cost £7. Worth getting even to replace a tired/old copy...

[Jez]

Y&T - Facemelter

 

The day has arrived for a new Y&T disc & one I never thought would see the day if I am honest. What I love most about this album (bar the tunes of course) is the way they have completely nailed the 'Old' Y&T sound. Don't get me wrong, I loved albums like 'Contagious' & 'Ten', but they were much slicker & not the Y&T of old for me. 'Facemelter' most definitely is though & sounds much better for it imo. There are some very very fine songs on here , 'Shine On' 'I'm Coming Home', 'Wild Child', 'On With The Show' & 'Blind Patriot' just for starters, all unmistakably Y&T trademark tunes & all excellent. It maybe could have been slimmed down a little, 'Hot Shot' and 'Gonna Go Blind' being the two big culprits for the 'Filler' tag, that could & should have been lost along the way, but 2 blips out of 14 still makes for a top quality album. As I said, I for one never expected a new Y&T disc, never mind one as good as this,so just sit back, relax and enjoy a fine band doing what they do best.

[heaven&hell]

Legacy ~ s/t (Eonian)

2 quick spins the other night. The first few tracks stuck with me more, but overall this felt like Stryper or Recon, minus the hooks.

 

It's pretty solid but not great IMO and the other new Eonian disc Charlotte kills it IMO.

[TIM (2)]

GRAND ILLUSION - Brand New World

 

Long-awaited return of one of my fave Pomp/AOR bands. They retain the OTT harmonies and slick production and pretty much continue where they left off previously. First spin shows this to be a pretty inconsistent disc though, with tunes 5 to 9 really lacking major hooks/melodies. Luckily the opening 4 tracks, and the closing 3 are all utterly killer. In fact opening duo "Never Find Her Alone" and "All Out of Love" are well worth the admission price alone, as is mega-ballad "Emily". Closing ballad "Forever With You" is pretty cheesy with it's Christian lyrics but is still awesome, and hopefully that mid-section will grow on me...

[Geoff]

Heaven’s Edge – s/t

Going to make myself unpopular again when I say I wasn’t hugely impressed with this. A few good tracks, but overall nothing spectacular. I suspect my copy of this CD will be on eBay soon!

 

Slik Toxik – Doin’ The Nasty

Liking this, the first track is one of the worst, just gratuitous swearing without a good tune imo, but after that there are a few nice songs. There are a few poor tracks along the way, but overall this is a decent album.

That to me is a perfect indication of what a creep you are. I'm like anyone else and enjoy both these CDs, but being unimpressed with Heaven's Edge whilst in the same hour being more impressed with Slik Toxik? Totally wild. I like both discs, but imo there's no comparison between the 2, quality-wise.

 

And for the record, 'Big f*ckin' deal' is the best song on that disc! Doesn't he pretty much only swear in the chorus?

[heaven&hell]

Heaven’s Edge – s/t

Going to make myself unpopular again when I say I wasn’t hugely impressed with this. A few good tracks, but overall nothing spectacular. I suspect my copy of this CD will be on eBay soon!

 

Slik Toxik – Doin’ The Nasty

Liking this, the first track is one of the worst, just gratuitous swearing without a good tune imo, but after that there are a few nice songs. There are a few poor tracks along the way, but overall this is a decent album.

That to me is a perfect indication of what a creep you are. I'm like anyone else and enjoy both these CDs, but being unimpressed with Heaven's Edge whilst in the same hour being more impressed with Slik Toxik? Totally wild. I like both discs, but imo there's no comparison between the 2, quality-wise.

 

And for the record, 'Big f*ckin' deal' is the best song on that disc! Doesn't he pretty much only swear in the chorus?

 

I love the "Big Fuckin Deal" tune but the best song on the disc is "Helluvatime" with "By the Fireside" very close. "Sweet Asylum" and "White Lies/Black Truth" are awesome too.

[Geoff]

Heaven’s Edge – s/t

Going to make myself unpopular again when I say I wasn’t hugely impressed with this. A few good tracks, but overall nothing spectacular. I suspect my copy of this CD will be on eBay soon!

 

Slik Toxik – Doin’ The Nasty

Liking this, the first track is one of the worst, just gratuitous swearing without a good tune imo, but after that there are a few nice songs. There are a few poor tracks along the way, but overall this is a decent album.

That to me is a perfect indication of what a creep you are. I'm like anyone else and enjoy both these CDs, but being unimpressed with Heaven's Edge whilst in the same hour being more impressed with Slik Toxik? Totally wild. I like both discs, but imo there's no comparison between the 2, quality-wise.

 

And for the record, 'Big f*ckin' deal' is the best song on that disc! Doesn't he pretty much only swear in the chorus?

 

I love the "Big Fuckin Deal" tune but the best song on the disc is "Helluvatime" with "By the Fireside" very close. "Sweet Asylum" and "White Lies/Black Truth" are awesome too.

Yeah, 'By the fireside' grew on me and most the songs are pretty cool - I just thought 'Big fuckin' deal' was the coolest thing on the disc.

[JamesEagle]

That to me is a perfect indication of what a creep you are. I'm like anyone else and enjoy both these CDs, but being unimpressed with Heaven's Edge whilst in the same hour being more impressed with Slik Toxik? Totally wild. I like both discs, but imo there's no comparison between the 2, quality-wise.

 

And for the record, 'Big f*ckin' deal' is the best song on that disc! Doesn't he pretty much only swear in the chorus?

 

Apparently so. I do seem to be unimpressed by a lot of stuff most people on here think is classic, so it must be me. Heaven's Edge is good, but has a few weak tracks and no songs I would call fantastic. And I do really hate that Slik Toxik track!

 

On the bright side, the only person I have to buy CDs for is me!

[Jez]

Molly Hatchet - Justice

 

First new material since the excellent 'Warriors Of The Rainbow Bridge' which was 5 years ago now. Hatchet have always been one of the top Southern hard rock bands in my book, with a very consistent back catologue of work. 'Justice' slips nicely onto that list of fine albums and is a little beauty. It's a long album, clocking in at over 64 minutes, so lots to get your teeth into, with the best moments going to 'Been To Heaven, Been To Hell', 'Deep Water' 'Fly On The Wings Of Angels', 'I'm Gonna Live 'til I Die', 'Safe In My Skin' and the 2 belters 'Vengeance' and 'Justice', with 'In The Darkness Of The Night' being the only real filler on show for me. There are plenty of tasty guitar work outs throughout the album, aswell as a little more keys than featured on their last few albums (check out the intro to 'Vengeance' and 'Deep Water' especially).'Justice' is pretty much a no brainer for all Hatchet fans, so is gonna please pretty much all of them would say. Buy with confidence, as it is another fine addition to the Hatchet legacy.

 

 

Shining Line - S/T

 

Been hearing lots of good things about this one on various sites and the couple of tracks I had heard were quite promising. I mentioned somewhere else that this has the feel of another 'Voices of Rock' project and now I have heard the whole thing, I definitely stand by that comment, although Michael Voss' production for the 'VOR' albums is alot better than on here. This is a good album with quite a few good tracks, but somehow, it isn't blowing me away just yet, sort of like I hoped it would and on first couple of spins I am a little disappointed to be honest, after all the raving I have read elsewhere. It's good don't get me wrong, but something is lacking along the way somewhere. It may grow on me a liitle more, so will live with it and see what happens.

[Geoff]

Scorpions - 'Blackout' ; not bad at all. Actually quite a bit better than the 'Love at first sting' disc I heard recently, which I did not expect. It's not an amazing disc or anything, but solid stuff. The first few tracks were the strongest by quite a margin too.

[Glen]

 

 

Shining Line - S/T

 

Been hearing lots of good things about this one on various sites and the couple of tracks I had heard were quite promising. I mentioned somewhere else that this has the feel of another 'Voices of Rock' project and now I have heard the whole thing, I definitely stand by that comment, although Michael Voss' production for the 'VOR' albums is alot better than on here. This is a good album with quite a few good tracks, but somehow, it isn't blowing me away just yet, sort of like I hoped it would and on first couple of spins I am a little disappointed to be honest, after all the raving I have read elsewhere. It's good don't get me wrong, but something is lacking along the way somewhere. It may grow on me a liitle more, so will live with it and see what happens.

 

backed on those comments. As many filleresque type songs as there are gems for me.

 

Some songs a tad too long as well...could easily have been stripped back to 4 min in most cases without detracting from the quality of the songs.

 

The first 2 are killers tho no doubt.

[Geoff]

 

 

Shining Line - S/T

 

Been hearing lots of good things about this one on various sites and the couple of tracks I had heard were quite promising. I mentioned somewhere else that this has the feel of another 'Voices of Rock' project and now I have heard the whole thing, I definitely stand by that comment, although Michael Voss' production for the 'VOR' albums is alot better than on here. This is a good album with quite a few good tracks, but somehow, it isn't blowing me away just yet, sort of like I hoped it would and on first couple of spins I am a little disappointed to be honest, after all the raving I have read elsewhere. It's good don't get me wrong, but something is lacking along the way somewhere. It may grow on me a liitle more, so will live with it and see what happens.

 

backed on those comments. As many filleresque type songs as there are gems for me.

 

Some songs a tad too long as well...could easily have been stripped back to 4 min in most cases without detracting from the quality of the songs.

 

The first 2 are killers tho no doubt.

Yeah, I must agree too. Definitely on the long song comments too, Glen. Which as you know is a pet hate of mine. There are some good tunes around the start of the CD, especially the Hess-fronted tune... but just as many fillers at the back end of the disc.

[Geoff]

Okay, haven't been for a while so I have a few to go through:

 

CrashCarBurn - 'Long live tonight' ; great follow-up to a very strong debut from this fine South African band. There are a lot of songs on this, and to be without filler is a triumph in itself. Plus there are a couple of excellent stand-outs too. Only way to fault this album would be to point out the fact that there are plenty of very good tracks, but maybe not enough of those stand-outs (oh, and the fact it was only released on Itunes). Very strong release, though.

 

Hawthorne Heights - 'Skeletons' ; It seems that once you get past their rather screamy debut, the rest of their work is really quite similar. Strong, solid modern rock with good choruses, whiney voice and lyrics... but overall a competent band with enough good songs to make each CD worthwhile. This one's no different. Very solid release.

 

Pangea - 'Retrospectacular' ; Good solid disc with a strong Extreme kind of vibe throughout. As I said on the main pages, the 2 super melodic songs are the clear highlights on this CD and I wish there were more of them. As it is, there are enough strong songs to make this a worthwhile new disc. There are a few fillers, though.

 

Dive - 'Picture Perfect' ; Very solid album. Again, one of these very strong albums suffering from a slight lack of real stand-out songs. There were some very good ones towards the end if I recall, but this is in desperate need of a re-listen. On first spin, I don't think it was as good as the debut. Very tight band, though.

 

It's Alive - 'Human Resources' ; good, strong emotive modern rock. Again, same story. No fillers, a few tracks stronger than others, but no real winners travelling their way out the ballpark. A good album, probably one to grow even stronger in time too. I guess pace (a lot of slower paced songs) might also be an issue with this one.

 

American Diary - 'Theodore Rough' ; this is trash. A good example of how adequate musicians (they actually sound pretty good to be honest) mixed with a perfect production job just means absolutely nothing if you can't write a decent song... which these guys cannot. Messy album, super poor song writing. Yeah, not good. Avoidable pop-punk. Killer production job, though.

 

American Hi-Fi - 'Fight the frequency' ; what a weak album. This band has done nothing to make me think this would be any good, but for some reason I kind of thought it might be. But it's not. Just spacey kind of pop punk... reminds me of a weak version of Tsar's debut. Really not worth hearing.

 

Four Year Strong - 'Enemy of the world' ; recommended to me by the one and only Tim (2), and he was spot on. This one sounds great. He said it was like A Day To Remember, and I can see the similarities. No screaming here, and it's nowhere near as heavy as ADTR, but it still has a similar vibe. Very strong, melodic choruses. I'll pick up a hard copy of this asap. A bit hesitant to try earlier albums as I always believed they were a punk/hardcore band before.

 

Framing Hanley - 'Promise to burn' ; another good solid album, but amazingly so still suffering from the same lack of killer tracks. There were some highlights towards the end of the CD which need further investigation (and I still like the single, 'Stupid Girl') but overall I was hoping for more. Still, very consistent/strong album.

 

We are the new year - 'An amazing situation' ; run-of-the-mill pop punk with a very promising opening track that got me excited... the rest bored the hell out of me. Pass.

 

Wild Side - 'Speed devil' ; Good, solid heavy melodic hard rock band. I assume this'll get a solid mention in the forum soon. It's very well played, but like most albums in this bundle it too was missing the highlight songs. I think the write-up I saw compared them to Motley Crue (because of band name?) but it's just heavy Euro melodic hard rock.

[Glen]

 

 

Dive - 'Picture Perfect' ; Very solid album. Again, one of these very strong albums suffering from a slight lack of real stand-out songs. There were some very good ones towards the end if I recall, but this is in desperate need of a re-listen. On first spin, I don't think it was as good as the debut. Very tight band, though.

 

It's Alive - 'Human Resources' ; good, strong emotive modern rock. Again, same story. No fillers, a few tracks stronger than others, but no real winners travelling their way out the ballpark. A good album, probably one to grow even stronger in time too. I guess pace (a lot of slower paced songs) might also be an issue with this one.

 

 

My standouts would be

 

Dive - 'This Time' & 'My Way'

Its Alive - 'Pieces' & 'Dialysis'

 

All 4 of them are excellent tunes, with 'My Way' being the pick of the bunch....excellent ballad with a killer solo at the end. Great stuff.

[Fat Freddy]

Nelson - AFTER THE RAIN

Yeah, I know, you're probably all like "what the f*ck is the Metal Eater doing listening to Nelson?" Well, I found it at a yard sale for a quarter over the weekend, it was in mint shape, and I always did kinda like that title track so I figured "Ehhh, what the hell." One spin thru and I'm like "Ehhh, why did I bother?" Not my sorta meat at all. Way too many keys, too smooth, too gooey. This makes Trixter sound like Grindcore by comparison. I'd rather listen to Ricky Nelson.

 

Velvet Revolver - CONTRABAND

Another yard sale find. Can't say much about this one cuz after the fine first track ("Sucker Train Blues") the disc became a skipping clusterf*ck. I looked at the back of the CD and it looks like someone let Kitty use it as a scratching post. Kinda ironic that the 20-year-old Nelson disc looks like it just came from the factory while the VR, which is less than half its age, is totally unplayable. Oh well, it was only a quarter, into the wastebasket it goes. Sigh.

[Fat Freddy]

Still workin' my way thru them yard sale pickups:

 

Richie Sambora - UNDISCOVERED SOUL

...a 12 track sleeping pill. Yawn. Zzzzzzzzzzzzz.