Gene The Werewolf

“I Should’ve Known Better” appeared on my Release Radar playlist on Spotify. I remember hearing “Rock N Roll Animal” back when it came out in 2012 and liking it, but then I lost track of the band.

But when I went to the Spotify account and saw all these releases since 2012, well I went into a rabbit hole with it. The bands take on ZZ Top’isms, with the AC/DC blues riffs mixed with hard rock and southern rock is interesting.

“Love And Touch” is a single released in 2019 which was a quick save based on the riff.

The following songs are from “The Loner” album, released in 2016.

“Too Kool For Skool” is a ZZ Top like track in the verses. “The Loner” is a 12 bar blues romp. “Fortune And Fame” could have come from an AC/DC album.

The following songs are from the “Rock N Roll Animal” released in 2012.

“Wicked Love” needs to be listened to, to be appreciated. “I Only Wanna Rock N Roll” sounds like a certain song called “Long Way To Top (If You Want To Rock N Roll” and I like it. “Heart Of Steel” is one of those major key pop rock songs that I like. The title track, is a party anthem. “Light Me Up” is one hell of a ballad, a glorious collision between The Cars and hard rock.

“Give It Up” could have come from “Unmasked” or maybe there is more “Beat It” from Michael Jackson than Kiss.

The album closes with “The Ballad Of Gene”, an Alice Cooper, Aerosmith and Beatles mash up, about trying to make it.

It’s perfect.

But there is still more, “Make Love” is an iTunes bonus track, and it could have come from the pens of the Madden brothers.

David Lee Roth

“Somewhere Over The Rainbow Bar And Grill” is Roth’s tribute to EVH. These dudes changed the game for hard rock music and EVH changed the game for all guitarists.

Press play and enjoy.

Doro

Doro is a powerhouse singer and Warlock was the vehicle for her voice to break into the lucrative U.S market back in the late 80’s.

And Warlock did have some success, but she built her career as Doro after Warlock.

I liked “All We Are” back then and when “All We Are” (The Fight Version) kicks off this 56 song, set called “Magic Diamonds – Best Of Rock, Ballads & Rare Treasures” I was all in because I haven’t heard much of Doro’s work after Warlock.

“Haunted Heart” gets me with the riffs, the vocal delivery and melody and the double kick metronomic drumming throughout the whole song.

“I Rule The Ruins” from the Warlock albums appears a few times, as a live version and as a classical version with all the guitars and bass played by violins and cellos. There is an excellent cover of “Egypt (The Chains Are On)” from “The Last In Line” album by Dio. And another bone crunching cover of “Nothing Else Matters”.

Raven

I never gave em a chance back in the day. But in 2020, I gave the “Metal City” album a listen and it was the title track that got me to press save.

And the rest of the tracks seemed interchangeable with each other, which is a good thing as it shows consistency.

And then “When Worlds Collide” started, with a Sabbath like groove as its foundation,

Durbin

From when I saw clips of James Durbin covering “You Got Another Thing Comin’” on American Idol many years ago, I became a fan and have followed his solo career and his time with Quiet Riot with interest. Now he has gone to Durbin, which is being promoted as a Dio like project.

“Kings Before You” is the pre-release track of this project which features, Phil Demmel on guitars and Chris Jericho on backing vocals and second verse duties.

Lyrically, it’s about castles, skies, horizons and wizards.

I’m interested to hear what comes next.

Joel Hoekstra’s 13

“Hard To Say Goodbye” is the first pre-release of Hoekstra’s next album release. This is in Night Ranger territory, which isn’t a surprise considering he spent time with em before joining Whitesnake.

Apart from crafting a great melodic rock song, Hoekstra uses it as a springboard to some superb guitar moments in the bridge before the solo and the solo itself.

I’m interested to hear what comes next.

David Hodges

I went into a rabbit hole with David Hodges.

Hodges, along with Ben Moody and Amy Lee wrote/co-wrote a monster album called “Fallen”. Then Moody and Hodges became a song writing team, writing songs for other artists and for themselves.

While none of these albums came out in November, I did give them time.

AVOX is an instrumental cinematic rock project between David Hodges and John Campbell. The album “The Fragile World” came out in 2010.

Opening song “The War” had this piano riff that kept on repeating while the guitars, drums and orchestra kept building. “The Fuse” borrows from that same template. “The Legacy” gets me thinking of the “Intermission” movie from Christopher Nolan. “The Breach” reminds of the first “Transformers” movie. “The Source” feels sad, yet hopeful.

Trading Yesterday is a band project, like a melancholic acoustic rock with different moods. They released “The Beauty And The Tragedy” album in 2004 and “More Than This” in 2011.

Songs from this project which made it to instant saves are “The Beauty And The Tragedy”, “She Is The Sunlight”, “World On Fire”, “Love Song Requiem”, “Shattered” and the haunting “For You Only”.

And five of these songs (except “World On Fire”) appear on the “More Than This” album.

“Revolution” opens the “More Than This” and this time around, the mood is still slower, but there are rocking guitars and busier drums. Like “Lifehouse”. “One Day” reminds me of “The Calling”.

Arrows To Athens is a band project that I am aware of. The “Kings And Thieves” album from 2011 is an essential rock album for me which I have covered on this blog before. Tracks like “Stars”, “Used To Be” and “Alive” are prefect. And then there is the six song “Exile” EP which was unknown to me.

And finally there are David Hodges albums.

These are made up of “The December Sessions” Volumes 1 to 5 albums, released separately over the years. “Volume 1” came out in 2011, “Volume 2” in 2013, “Volume 3” in 2015, “Volume 4” in 2016 and “Volume 5” in 2017.

And there EP’s. “Passengers: Sirens” and “Passengers: Weapons” came out in 2014. “Discrepancies In The Recollection Of Various Principles/Side A” and “Discrepancies In The Recollection Of Various Principles/Side B” came out in 2019. Also in 2019, a single release called “Waking Up With You” with Armin Van Buuren also came out.

Hodges is one hell of a talent.

Part 7 is coming up.