It was the “Comatose” album released in 2006 that made me a fan of Skillet and I followed em up to to “Rise” album released in 2013.
And although I listened to “Unleashed” released in 2017 and “Victorious” from 2019, I didn’t really feel the need to relisten to em.
And when I went looking at their back catalogue I was surprised how much their sound had evolved.
“Alien Youth” is their fourth album released in 2001. Their sound on this is like industrial rock.
The band for this album is John Cooper on vocals, bass, sampling and programming, Korey Cooper on keyboards, sampling and programming, Lori Peters on drums, Kevin Haaland on guitars (except “Earth Invasion”) and Ben Kasica on guitars (“Earth Invasion”).
Alien Youth
It reminded me of Motley Crue’s “Generation Swine” album. And I like that connection.
Vapor
It reminds me of the whole “industrial rock” movement.
Earth Invasion
The best song on the album.
Very “Smells Like Teen Spirit” like.
You Are My Hope
The usual ballad.
It’s catchy and derivative.
Eating Me Away
A fuzzed out bass riff dominates the verses and once the Chorus kicks in, it’s Stabbing Westward and Korn like.
Kill Me, Heal Me
I like it’s swinging drum groove in the verses. I’ve heard Good Charlotte songs with these kind of beats and melodies, but they came after this.
Otherwise it’s all grunge rock.
The Thirst Is Taking Over
My favorite song on the album.
The verses have a programmed drum beat with clean tone and lightly delayed guitars.
And in the Chorus, there’s a distorted and fuzzed out guitar.
One Real Thing
The Chorus is hard rock and it has this “Teenage Dirtbag” vibe.
Stronger
Nirvana meets Ministry.
It has some cool riffs to jam on but lyrically it’s a bit cliched with the repeating “my god is strong” melody.
Rippin’ Me Off
It starts off terribly, with programming and sampling. Then a Nirvana like riff kicks in.
It’s a response to Marilyn Manson and his views on God being dead.
Check out the chorus. It’s heavy and angry.
You say that God is dead but you’re rippin’ me off/ You can’t infect my mind with your vanity/ You’re rippin’ me off!
Will You Be There (Falling Down)
This is a great ballad.
It feels like Bryan Adams and Celine Dion are singing it.
Come My Way
The closer. it starts off with a piano riff that sounds like it came from a soundtrack.
And it’s more hymn “Hallelujah” like.
They are labeled as a Christian Rock act, but they delivered an album that people from all walks of life would like.
Dare was formed in 1985 by keyboard player Darren Wharton after Phil Lynott dissolved Thin Lizzy.
By 1987, they got a record deal with A&M and “Out Of The Silence” was released in 1988.
The line-up for this album consisted of Darren Wharton (vocals/keyboards), Vinny Burns (guitars), Martin ‘Shelley’ Shelton (bass), James Ross (drums), and Brian Cox (keyboards) better know these days as Brian Cox, the physicist and TV star!
Abandon
A keyboard riff that reminds me of soundtracks starts it off and then the guitars kick in. It’s a great piece of AOR rock.
Into The Fire
Press play to hear the verses on this which are better than the Chorus.
Nothing Is Stronger Than Love
It’s hard to describe this song. It’s heavy on the keyboards but it has some cool guitar bits.
Jonathan Waite comes to mind when I think of the keyboard riffs and Boston comes to mind when I think of the cool guitar bits.
Runaway
A great melodic rock song which reminds me of Rick Springfield.
Under The Sun
My favorite song on the album.
As soon as the keyboard arpeggio riff and vocal melody started I was thinking of Marillion. And then I was thinking of Pink Floyd.
The Raindance
Another great song which reminds me of the Celtic influenced work that Gary Moore did on his last few hard rock albums of the 80’s.
King Of Spades
This song wouldn’t be out of place on the “Days Of Thunder” soundtrack. Stick around for the harmony guitars.
It’s also a tribute to Phil Lynott, who had died two years before the album was released.
Heartbreaker
This song is a hit.
And it should have been.
But their label was shit. Terrible at promoting and marketing hard rock acts even though they had some good ones.
Return The Heart
It’s a skip.
Don’t Let Go
An early ASIA like track which also wouldn’t be out of place in the “Cocktail” movie.
In the end the sound is dominated by the double keyboards but there is enough guitar to make it rocked
The follow up album “Blood From Stone” was more hard rock but the label advertised it as “Hair Metal’. Another shit decision by A&M. And when it didn’t sell, they dropped the band.
But Dare survived and is still in the game, touring and releasing new music.
Aaron Lewis has been in the news recently. He is touring in the U.S for his “Frayed At Both Ends” Country album, getting criticized for playing the same song at a gig twice and a few months ago he released a song called “Am I The Only One” in which he expressed his political views and questioned the patriotism of Bruce Springsteen.
Music industry blogger Bob Lefsetz didn’t like it and Lefsetz called out Lewis and his label boss Scott Borchetta. However Borchetta in an open letter back to Lefsetz, said that even though Lewis and Borchetta have opposing political views, Borchetta is not going to cancel or drop Aaron Lewis.
Moving away from “Politics 2021”, back in the early 2000’s, Lewis was busy writing and recording “Break the Cycle”, the third studio album by Staind. Released through Elektra and Flip Records in 2001, it is Staind’s most successful album to date, and it was the album that broke them into the mainstream.
Supported by Fred Durst who signed them to his Flip Records label originally, they had the fortunate or maybe unfortunate tag as Durst prodigies. The debut album, “Tormented” was ignored by the press, but Elektra wanted a piece of the action and “Dysfunction” is the result of major label support.
Then came “Break The Cycle”.
At 28 years of age, Aaron Lewis had lived and experienced enough sadness and happiness to put his life and thoughts into his lyrics.
A total of 5 singles were released from this album, “It’s Been Awhile”, “Fade”, “Outside”, “For You” and “Epiphany”, all of which did reasonably well.
On a side note, the album did cost $800K to make and Elektra along with Flip Records, just weren’t sure they would even get close to recouping.
But in its first three weeks, it sold over a million copies in the U.S. Currently it is certified 5x Platinum for U.S sales. In Canada and New Zealand it was certified 2x Platinum and in the U.K it was certified Platinum. In Australia and Sweden it was certified Gold.
And the label is still saying that Staind owe em money.
The band for the album is Aaron Lewis on Lead vocals and Rhythm guitar, Mike Mushok is on Lead Guitar, Johnny April is on Bass and Jon Wysocki on Drums.
Open Your Eyes
It’s like a Jekyll and Hyde. The lush strummed lightly dirty electric guitar which is the verse riff and part of the intro is calm and beautiful.
The riff that kicks in with the natural harmonics and downtuned riffing is aggressive and ugly. Sonically they just don’t go but the jarring difference works this time around.
Pressure
Written by Staind and producer Josh Abraham.
It has metal like riffs and a verse that is very Grunge like.
Fade
One of their best songs.
The bass groove is great and the way the guitar decorates the spaces shows the skills of Mike Mushok.
And of course, Aaron Lewis is more than capable of crafting and carrying a vocal melody.
It’s Been Awhile
I suppose this was the song that got a lot of people to check out Staind and at 194.497 million streams on Spotify it’s remained in the conversation and the various playlists.
Change
A huge metal like riff starts it off before the clean tone verses kick in.
The Pre-Chorus or is it the Chorus, feels like it could come from a Bush song.
Can’t Believe
Not a favourite. It sounds like the vocals are screamed through a loudspeaker and it does nothing for me.
Epiphany
An Aaron Lewis cut, as the acoustic guitar is prominent with a haunting vocal melody.
Suffer
It’s a hard rock riff however the down tuning and phrasing makes it sound like it isn’t.
Warm Safe Place
It’s just down-tuned too much, that the riff sounds like a muddled mess.
For You
My favourite track on the album.
That opening riff is good enough to challenge some of the best metal riffs from the 80’s.
Outside
Lewis again brings his acoustic guitar and melodies to the table.
The song has 95.057 million streams on Spotify.
Waste
A simple drum groove starts it off, almost jazz blues like. A clean tone guitar plays the riff and Lewis delivers his emotive vocal melody.
In the Chorus, the distorted guitar dynamic kicks in before it moves back to the subdued clean tone verses.
Take It
Another killer riff to start it off.
If there is a problem with the album, it’s the down tuning. On some songs it is excessive, to the point that it sounds muddled. But when they get it right, the songs elevate themselves and the slower acoustic pieces add a lot of variety.
Regardless of political alliances, Aaron Lewis does have a great voice. There are YouTube videos in which he covers “Black” by Pearl Jam and “Turn the Page” by Bob Seger live.
Lyrically, he’s copped a lot of flak for his lyrics to the point that people have called em depressive, but then again, no one said that life is all sunshine, happiness and smiling selfies in exotic locations.
Everything we do today is controlled, stored and read by a machine.
Yes they’re making lists of people interested in this And anyone who speaks their mind is labelled anarchist “Are You Interested?” By Cog
There is no doubt that technology rules our lives.
For how long our data will be stored will never be known. What security our data has and who controls it, will never be known.
Up here in space I’m looking down on you My lasers trace Everything you do You think you’ve private lives Think nothing of the kind There is no true escape I’m watching all the time “Electric Eye” by Judas Priest
My Spotify.me algorithm tells me I must be a traveller.
Did it make that assertion based on the length of my playlists or is it taking into account my location/s when I’m listening to music.
My “Maps” app on the iPhone tells me if there is a traffic incident every Monday to Friday on my route to work. It tells me before I even leave home.
Should I care that an AI knows what time I leave home for work and what time I get to work.
At the end of the day I know, That we work all our lives to pay for a cage they own It ain’t no coincidence that the whole world is caught in an endless debt “Problem Reaction Solution” by Cog
Politicians introduce and pass Copyright bills and then refuse to pay the appropriate fees to use music in their ads.
And the Copyright industries, if they can’t get the politicians to pass new laws, they go to courts instead.
In the U.K, Copyright complaints take up most of the High Court’s time. The world is dealing with all forms of crime, but intellectual property crimes are more important.
When you look back to the 1986/87 period, the artists who had their biggest hits and sales during that period, never replicated those numbers again.
Bon Jovi never topped “Slippery When Wet”. Europe never topped “The Final Countdown”. White Lion never topped “Pride”. Whitesnake never topped their “self-titled” album. Guns N Roses never topped “Appetite For Destruction”. INXS never topped “Kick”. Joe Satriani never topped “Surfing With The Alien”. Def Leppard never topped “Hysteria”. U2 never topped “The Joshua Tree”. Stryper never topped “To Hell With The Devil”.
It was a good Release Day Friday playlist which included “This Is War” by Audrey Horne, “Beyond The Pale” by Machine Head, “Walk On Water” (Acoustic) by Thirty Seconds to Mars, “Miracle” by Story of the Year and “American Soul” by U2
You are rock and roll You and I are rock and roll You are rock and roll I came here looking for American soul
In Australia, we had to wait. A geographical windowed release is the business name for it. And one of the main drivers of piracy was windowed releases. Fans of music in other parts of the world, wanted access to new music on the same day, U.S fans had access to it.
The fan has the power as the fan could pick and choose what track they could listen too.
Alter Bridge released “One Day Remains” in 2004. “Open Your Eyes”, “Find the Real” and “Broken Wings” followed as promotional singles.
However it was the metal heavy “Metalingus” that the fans selected as the hits. On Spotify, “Metalingus” has 79 million streams and “In Loving Memory” has 25.37 million streams.
Metal and rock songs are always late bloomers. There is no formula as to why certain songs resonate more than others with fans.
In the end all artists need to do is create great music. The fans will latch onto it eventually.
Every band wanted to be like Bon Jovi in 1987 and by 1988 every band wanted to be like Guns N Roses and by 1989 every band wanted to be sober like Motley Crue and by 1991 every band wanted to be Metallica and by 1992 every band started to incorporate grunge influences.
I started thinking about the above, after listening to the song “Underbite” from Protest The Hero and watching the hilarious puppet clip.
The song “Underbite” has lyrics like “An understanding between you and I that the ground that you stand on is somehow less than mine” and “Now you comprehend our complex relationship—consumer/consumed, You’re just some stupid kid and I’m a megalomaniac.”
The part in the film clip where the fan goes to purchase the merchandise is so spot on. I could relate as it happens to me all the time.
First, the merchandise stand rarely has the size that I want.
Then the prices are ridiculous. So as the clip shows, you end up forking out a decent amount of cash for a band t-shirt that doesn’t fit or is too large.
“Let’s not repackage the same old performance, Original content is so much more rewarding.”
I don’t agree with the viewpoints put out by some artists, that there is no need to create new music.
Listen to the song. There are some hard truths in there and Protest The Hero try to cover them all.
After the success of their debut album “Kezia” back in 2005, Protest The Hero was expected to go into a more commercially viable and poppy influence.
So what did the band do?
They released “Fortress” in 2008, which was less poppy and more technical. As lead singer Rody Walker put it, “a natural progression into further obscurity.”
My favourite song on the “Volition” album is “Mist.”
The song is basically talking about Newfoundland and Rody Walker’s love for it.
And “Skies” is what progressive music should be.
As an artist you have the power to make your own choices. Make them and live by them. Protest The Hero have. They are a special band. Support them.
Eskimo Joe are an Australian alternative rock band that was formed in 1997 by Stuart MacLeod, on lead guitar, Joel Quartermain, on drums and guitar, and Kavyen Temperley, on bass guitar and vocals.
Their road to fame started with a University Battle of The Bands contest. They won their local campus event, won the State event and then won the National event.
Released in 2006, this album is Number three and it’s noted for having the sound of the early 1980s Australian rock movement.
From the bands point of view they wanted to make a record as if they were stadium rock band. In other words if they were like INXS, what kind of record would they make.
The band recorded “Black Fingernails, Red Wine” on the central coast of NSW’s The Grove Studios. The Grove Studios were originally known as Mangrove Studio and were formerly owned by INXS bass player Garry Gary Beers.
In Australia it was certified 4× Platinum. It went to number one and spent 62 weeks on the ARIA Charts.
I never really appreciated this album when it came out. I was heavily into Progressive Metal, Nu-Metal and Metalcore bands at the time and I was devouring bands from those genres. I heard the singles and I liked em, but didn’t invest time.
A decade later, I finally did.
Comfort You
A great pop song with a piano line that reminds me of “Speed Of Sound” from Coldplay.
As soon as the drums and the fuzzed out guitar kick in, I was hooked. It’s almost new wave, but hard rock as well.
Lyrically there’s not much to it with a simple repeating line of “I will come, come to comfort you”.
But that’s all that is needed as the music and the groove is intoxicating.
If you’re not tapping your foot and nodding your head by the end of it, check for a pulse.
New York
This song is excellent.
It’s constructed with all the right atmospherics and ambient noises, plus an emotive piano melody and Temperley’s glimmering voice powers the melody.
Hey, hey, I know it wasn’t New York Where I lost my mind.
The opening lines. A habit will always follow you regardless of which city you wake up in.
Black Fingernails, Red Wine
This song is huge. And the hook.
Black fingernails, red wine I wanna make you, all mine
It reminds me of Icehouse, Eurythmics and INXS.
The Chorus is arena rock.
Breaking Up
An acoustic guitar and an addictive vocal melody.
And how descriptive is “A mouthful of glass / That cuts up your words”.
Setting Sun
The song was called “Forever Young”.
U2 comes to mind but press play on this track to hear the bass playing.
If your scared about the future, I’m scared about the past
While you’re at it, check out the guitar melody which starts at 2.32.
London Bombs
Coldplay comes to mind. And I like it.
Sarah
Killers comes to mind with a bit of Rick Springfield.
This Is Pressure
An acoustic strummed passage starts the song.
There is no romance in suffocation
Truth right there.
Beating Like A Drum
If you like INXS, you will like this song. it’s not that it sounds like the band, it just has this spirit and attitude of Michael Hutchence.
I had a lot to drink last night Now I’m feeling old Is there anything that I can buy That I have not sold
I’ve grown up with a father who likes to drink a lot and an older brother who likes to drink more. And all they think about is the next drink. Lucky for me they didn’t sell stuff to feed their habit.
Reprise
It’s a short instrumental, cinematic like piece.
Press play on it to hear the emotive piano melody.
Suicide Girl
Oasis and Radiohead comes to mind.
My social suicide girl Poison in the wall Razors in the apple core
These lyrics are hard rock. Nikki Sixx and Rachel Bolan would be proud.
How Does It Feel
A piano riff and a Muse/Coldplay feel.
You’re gonna lose everything / How does it feel
Not the best when it happens but as time goes on, a lot better.
There isn’t a song on this album that I will skip. It’s perfect from start to finish. So if you want to experience Australian Pop Rock, press play on this.
And the band is still active releasing new music and touring. But those reviews will be in other Australian posts.
Alice Cooper did really well between the difficult periods of 1993 and 2003 for rock artists. It didn’t matter what kind of music came out, the Alice Cooper brand was known for doing things different. The 70’s output alone is very diverse. The experimental early 80’s period, although not commercially successful, introduced new wave sounds into the mix. His stage shows bordered on the horror and macabre, with a lot of theatre thrown in. And one thing I do know as a fan of the horror genre, you don’t just stop being a fan.
Then “Trash” came out with its slick “hair metal” production and Alice was really back. His stage shows got even more extravagant and he hasn’t looked back since.
“Hey Stoopid”, the concept album “The Last Temptation” and “Brutal Planet” which told us we are all going to die, continued his brand in the 90’s.
And then there is “Dragontown” was released in 2001.
The band is Alice Cooper on Vocals, Ryan Roxie on Guitar and Greg Smith on Bass.
The studio session Guitar players are Wayne Swinny from the band Saliva and Tim Pierce who did a lot of session work and can be heard doing guitar on songs like “Runaway” from Bon Jovi, “Don’t Dream It’s Over” from Crowded House, “Iris” from Goo Goo Dolls and “Black Or White” from Michael Jackson.
Producer Bob Marlette plays about every string related instrument like Rhythm Guitar, Bass, Keyboards and String Arrangements.
Sid Riggs is on Keyboards and programming and Kenny Aronoff on Drums.
Backing Vocals are provided by Teddy Andreadis, Eric Dover, Calico Cooper and Gionvanna Morana.
If the first two names of the backing vocalists look familiar, they should, as Teddy has done a lot of work with G’n’R and Dover was the singer in Slash’s Snakepit. And the third backing vocalist is Alice Cooper himself, making an appearance as Calico.
All tracks are written by Alice Cooper and producer Bob Marlette.
Triggerman
The sound is definitely on that industrial hard rock style that bands like White Zombie, Coal Chamber and Orgy did.
But in its essence, it’s still a rock song.
Just listen to the Chorus, its 60’s pop. And the ending is in the vein of “Paradise City”.
I am always out of sight A shadow in the mist I don’t need no alibi, cos I don’t exist
Lyrically, it’s about a nobody, a person ignored by society, a person who doesn’t exist, but when that trigger is pulled, they do exist.
Deeper
A very heavy and down tuned chugging riff opens the song. The Pre-Chorus is haunting, with the symphonic Church sermon like voices.
Down and down and down we go We’re in a deadly spin
Dragontown
An ominous like Intro begins it.
Then Alice starts his vocal melodies.
Well, here you are Lying bleeding on a grimy street See the broken glass sparkling darkly As it cuts your feet
So descriptive.
The Pre Chorus is heavy and I like the vocal melody when Alice is singing, “come on, I’ve got something to show you”.
And the Chorus tells the story of how anyone can disappear in “Dragontown”.
This song is as good as any “metal” song released during this period.
Sex, Death and Money
This cut could have been on a Rod Zombie album. And the Alice sarcasm is back as by the end of the song, we are all going to fry because of our lack of morality.
Sex, death and money, sonny Makes this wicked world go round Sex, death and money It’s the Gospel here in Dragontown
Amen to that.
Fantasy Man
You just want to squeeze my masculinity Why can’t you leave it alone
It feels like a cut from “Hey Stoopid”, a mixture between “Hurricane Years” and “Feed My Frankenstein”.
Somewhere in the Jungle
From reading the lyrics, you get the idea that somewhere in the jungle the devil is laughing, as an African genocide takes place, making even the wild animals run away from the madness and slaughter while the million bodies are piled on top of each other, arms and legs, feet and hands.
It’s heavy like Ozzy’s “My Jekyll Doesn’t Hide”.
Disgraceland
Downtuned 12-bar blues. That’s what this song is.
An Elvis Presley inspired verse, which also reminds me of a cross between Johnny Cash, Chris Issak and George Thorogood.
And Alice is doing a commentary on the absurdity of how the greatest rock ‘n’ roll hero of all time died on a toilet.
Sister Sara
How low can a guitar go?
In this song, very low.
And like “Sister Mary” in Operation Mindcrime, “Sister Sara” is in a bit of trouble. While “Sister Mary” had issues with an terrorist organisation controlling sleeper cells, “Sister Sara” gets caught with the Bishop and many other cardinal sins to feed her habit.
Every Woman Has a Name
An acoustic guitar arpeggio riff starts it off and Alice tells the story how dreams of youth are taken away by the cold hard and unforgiven world we live in.
I Just Wanna Be God
A bone crunching intro riff starts it off reminding me of Godsmack, Monster Magnet, Mudvayne, Static X and I like it.
And there’s a killer solo as well.
It’s Much Too Late
Then this one kicks in, more Country Rock and totally out of leftfield.
Alice is in his demented “Steven” character voice.
The road to hell is littered with nice guys with good intentions But once you’re there, you’re there
The Sentinel
And the album is rounded out by another dose of massive industrial downtuned riffs.
I am the sentinel I want the world to know I’m sending you all to hell I’m tired and I’m wired here to blow
Amen. The countdown has begun.
While none of the songs became concert staples, the album did what it needed to do. Get Alice Cooper on the road.
Dare is an English rock band, formed in 1985 and fronted by former Thin Lizzy keyboard player Darren Wharton.
The “Real Love” single was the first thing I purchased from Dare in 1991. I liked it a lot, so I purchased the album before it, “Out Of The Silence” released in 1988 (and that review is next) but not the album “Blood from Stone” released in 1991, the single was on.
Why?
Because the album wasn’t readily available in Australia upon release. A&M Records wasn’t really renowned for their excellent release strategies. And the album isn’t on streaming services either. Go figure.
Back to the single, you get one album track in “Real Love” and two B sides, in “Killer Lover” and “Rideaway”.
Real Love
It’s a ballad.
The melodic lead in the Intro which also appears in the Chorus is excellent. Very singalong like and Wharton’s raspy/throaty voice adds the right emotion to it.
Killer Lover
It’s a generic hard rock track in the style of artists like Winger and Steelheart.
Rideaway
This is a great melodic rock track.
And I always wonder why some songs break through and become popular and some don’t.
“Real Love” has all the right ingredients to be a monster song, but it never came to fruition. But it got me interested to check out the debut album.
“Animosity” is album number 3 and it was released on November 13, 2001. Four months later it was certified gold by the RIAA.
This is their best album, a mixture of their Nu-Metal grooves with a lot of melody and head banging riffs.
Just think Rage Against The Machine riffs merging with Metallica riffs and melodies and Faith No More riffs and melodies.
Sevendust is Lajon Witherspoon on lead vocals, Clint Lowery on lead guitar, and co-lead vocals on “Xmas Day” and “Angel’s Son”, John Connolly on rhythm guitar, Vinnie Hornsby on bass and Morgan Rose on drums.
This album really highlights what a great talent Lajon Witherspoon is. His vocals are exceptional.
T.O.A.B.
Written by drummer Morgan Rose, it stands for “Tits On A Boar”.
In case you are not familiar with it, it means a person, place, event or item in which there is little or no value.
Musically and vocally it could have come from the debut.
And any song that starts off with “Die you piece of shit!”, well you know you ain’t gonna get a love song.
Praise
Written by Clint Lowery, Lajon Witherspoon and Morgan Rose.
A great riff kicks this off, something that Stone Sour would do a lot off.
Trust
Written by Clint Lowery and Lajon Witherspoon.
The power of the Intro riff hooks me in immediately.
Then it’s just bass and drums for the verses and Lajon delivers a killer vocal melody.
And if you are in any doubt, press play for the Chorus.
Also it wouldn’t be a Sevendust song with a head banging interlude.
Crucified
Written by Clint Lowery, Lajon Witherspoon and Morgan Rose.
It continues the standard set with “Praise” but the Chorus is more melodic. Very Disturbed like.
And lyrics like “Don’t you feel like a bitch / Don’t promise shit you’ll never be” set the aggressive tone.
Xmas Day
Written by Clint Lowery.
A ballad, which reminds me of Soundgarden, Alice Cooper 70s version and other
Don’t know how she gets by Sleeps with a phone on her chest And a bottle that’s totally dry Forgets the day I was born But if she saw me right now
The lyrics more or less sum up what the song is about.
But press play to hear the Chorus and the great vocal performances.
Dead Set
A Lowery, Rose and Witherspoon composition. It’s a heavy rocker with another killer Chorus.
I dodge the grave almost every day
Shine
A Witherspoon composition with a syncopated groove riff in the verses which is head banging material.
I’m on a free fall / So hard for me to shine
Follow
A Lowery and Connolly composition with Aaron Lewis doing additional vocals. Goddamn it could pass as a Staind or A Perfect Circle song.
And how good are the opening lyric lines.
Time can take everything that surrounds you
Damaged
It’s a Connolly and Rose composition.
How could you really know as your blood flows The damage left inside
No one will ever know the damage done especially the mental damage.
Live Again
Another Connolly and Rose composition. And if you press play on a track from this album this is it.
Look at yourself and live again
That Chorus. So emotive and catchy.
Beautiful
A Lowery, Rose and Witherspoon.
Another killer heavy Intro that gets me thinking of Faith No More with a Chorus that reminds me of Godsmack.
Redefine
A Lowery, Rose, Witherspoon with a heavy riff that reminds me of Disturbed.
But that Chorus riff. So cool to play with the octaves.
Angel’s Son
A Lowery and Witherspoon acoustic composition.
It was originally released on “Strait Up”, a tribute album of Lynn Strait, former lead-singer of the band Snot. Strait died in a car accident on December 11, 1998, at the age of 30.
If you thought Sevendust was just too heavy for ya, then check this album out.
Aerosmith had a way of making the blues sound current and modern but for them to do that, they needed to jam.
But on “Just Push Play”, released in 2001, the majority of the album is co-written with Marti Frederiksen and Mark Hudson. It was recorded at eight different studios, so it would have been impossible to get all the band jamming and financially irresponsible to get the whole bands gear set up and then packed up and then transported and then set up again.
Joe Perry hates it. The Wikipedia entry for this album carries a 2010 quote from Perry which states;
I don’t think we’ve made a decent album in years.
Just Push Play is my least favorite.
When we recorded it there was never a point where all five members were in the room at the same time and Aerosmith’s major strength is playing together.
It was a learning experience for me: it showed me how not to make an Aerosmith record”.
From a sales point of view, Aerosmith was on a spiral down. The gaps between albums started to become every 4 years.
But not a lot of 70’s bands had a renaissance like Aerosmith when it came to album sales.
It started with “Permanent Vacation” released in 1987 and it has a 5x Platinum certification in the U.S.
“Pump” released in 1989 has a 7x Platinum certification in the U.S and “Get a Grip” released in 1993 has a 7x Platinum certification in the U.S.
These two albums are the pinnacle of Aerosmith’s comeback.
“Nine Lives” released in 1997 showed a downward trend as it has a 2x Platinum certification in the U.S and “Just Push Play” only has a Platinum certification in the U.S.
Beyond Beautiful
It sounds heavy and exotic while Kramer is channelling John Bonham, with his Kashmir like groove.
And it doesn’t sound anything like the blues, but that verse riff is a bluesy groove. If you don’t believe me, check out that bluesy solo in the outro which is played over the verse riff.
Just Push Play
“Walk This Way” gets a rewrite.
Even in the Chorus, instead of saying “Walk This Way”, Tyler is singing “Just Push Play”. Replacing three single syllable words with three other single syllable words.
And I like it.
Jaded
Kramer lays down a groove, while Perry and Whitford bring out riffs that reminds me of bands like “The Foo Fighters”, “Filter”, “Matchbox 20” and “Tonic”.
Fly Away From Here
Piano ballads and Aerosmith go hand in hand.
While “Dream On” is my favourite, its “I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing” which is their streaming star, much to the disgust of Tyler and Perry.
While they were paid well for doing the song for the “Armageddon” movie, they didn’t think that it would become their most streamed song ever. Well they couldn’t have, because streaming didn’t exist back then.
For the numbers, “Dream On” is at 541.59 million Spotify streams and “I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing” is at 650.1 million Spotify streams.
And this one doesn’t have an Aerosmith member in the songwriting credits either.
But, there is this section which I call the Bridge, that reminds of a section in “Livin On The Edge”.
Trip Hoppin’
Its old school Aerosmith, jamming on a blues groove and writing about having a good time and getting laid.
With the addition of the horn section, the song takes on a Soul Rock feel.
Sunshine
I like this song.
The riff has this laid back feel which sort of reminds me of “Kings And Queens” and “Don’t Fear The Reaper” in the Verses.
And lyrically, Tyler is in his element here.
Under My Skin
Like the song “Beyond Beautiful”, this one is also a great example of taking the generic blues riffs and making em sound heavy and current.
The verses are my favourites here, how the guitar riff and the vocal melody are the same, and while they pause the horns mimic it.
In the Pre, there is a symphony, evoking memories of “Kashmir”.
Luv Lies
A ballad that reminds me of songs like “What It Takes” and “Crazy”. Perry is bringing out his repertoire of country licks here.
Outta My Head
Another attempt to recreate “Walk This Way” in the verses, with a more modern Alanis Morrisette style Chorus.
Drop Dead Gorgeous
Check out the groove that Hamilton and Kramer set up to allow Perry and Whitford to play blues/jazz like 7ths and 9ths triads.
But the vocal melodies are pretty average.
Light Inside
Electronica drums start it off, but as soon as the fast bass riff from Hamilton kicks in, the song is anything but electronica.
Its heavy for an Aerosmith song. The Modern Rock sounds are different and I like it.
Avant Garden
I think this is one of Aerosmith’s better ballads.
It has a chord progression that reminds me of “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Werewolves In London” in the verses and a Chorus which has this Beatles feel.
Check out the Bridge, very ELO with the violins and the debop backing vocals.
And finally, Perry gets a chance to do a guitar solo longer than 5 seconds.
And Perry goes a chance to go again in the outro.
Press play on the album just to check out this track.
Overall, it’s Aerosmith trying to be modern, trying to be bluesy, trying to have Arena Rock choruses and trying to have a bigger ballad to rival the ballad that they didn’t write.
At times it comes across confusing, but it’s still Aerosmith and I’m okay when artists don’t stick to formula and try something different.
Dark Tranquillity is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Gothenburg. They are considered one of the pioneering acts of the Gothenburg metal scene, which also includes bands such as In Flames and At the Gates.
The band was formed in 1989 and in August 1993, the band released this album.
And they never stopped releasing music.
But when you look at their catalogue of releases, it’s like this album doesn’t exist.
Wikipedia describes “Skydancer” as a “very weird album and there really isn’t anything else like it – for good and bad. Most of the songs contain 20+ riffs that never are repeated in the same way, and the integration of clear vocals and acoustic guitars were extremely unorthodox for its time, as were the advanced use of counterpoint and recurring musical motifs”.
And I agree.
If you got into the band, post 2010, the debut album would be very strange to your ears and you would be questioning if it’s the same band.
The recording process was stressful. They only had a budget for 10 days of studio time, and working with studio engineers who were clueless about extreme metal. Which tells as the production is definitely demo like.
The band for the album is Anders Fridén on lead vocals, Niklas Sundin on lead guitar, Mikael Stanne on rhythm guitar, backing vocals, Martin Henriksson on bass and Anders Jivarp on drums.
Vocalist Anders Fridén either left or was fired after this album as he joined In Flames and was replaced by then rhythm guitarist, Mikael Stanne on vocals.
And recording history would have it that Mikael Stanne was the lead vocalist on the first In Flames studio album, “Lunar Strain”.
And for all the accolades of being a melodic death metal band, this album is part of the death metal genre.
Nightfall by the Shore of Time
Well it starts off with a guttural scream of the word “Nightfall”. And for the almost 5 minute song, the riffs move between fast thrash riffs, tempo changes and melodic Maiden like riffs.
With guttural singing.
Crimson Winds
It’s mid-tempo rock intro has a sing-a-long melodic lead. Then at the 1 minute mark it goes into a progressive like riff reminding me of Thin Lizzy and Iron Maiden and the guttural vocals kick in.
The interlude/solo section is so Maiden like.
A Bolt of Blazing Gold
It has an acoustic intro that sounds like it came from a Spaghetti Western. At about the minute mark, distortion guitars kick in. And 90 seconds in, guttural vocals kick in. At approx. every 30 seconds there is a change in music or tempo or time signature and that’s how this song progresses.
At 2.40, it goes back into a slower doomier tempo and we get clean tone vocals along with the guttural vocals.
In Tears Bereaved
This one is fast. Blast beats everywhere, tempo changes, time changes and guttural vocals.
Musically, there are some cool bits but overall, it’s a skip.
Skywards
Its relentless, with riffs crashing into each other, guttural vocals everywhere and hard to follow.
Through Ebony Archways
It’s a classical guitar piece at the start, almost waltz like. The acoustic riff changes as the song moves into clean tone vocals.
Shadow Duet
There’s some good riffs in this and the singing moves between growling and melody.
My Faeryland Forgotten
Chaos is how I describe this song.
Alone
A slower more doomier groove for the album closer.
However the release I have has the 1994 EP, “Of Chaos And Eternal Night” added to it. And the sound is remarkably improved than the debut.
Of Chaos and Eternal Night
You can hear the fast melodic metal riffs more prominent in this track.
With the Flaming Shades of Fall
This one is a mid-tempo track and the riffs are excellent.
Away, Delight, Away
Press play just to hear the intro as the guitars play an open string lick in harmony that reminds me of “Wasted Years”.
Alone ’94”
An updated version with better production.
If you like melodic vocals, then you will hate this, as the vocals are more growling than singing.
If you want to hear youthful enthusiasm and creativity by putting in as many riffs as possible into a song, then press play.
