“Passion, Grace & Fire” is the second album by John McLaughlin, Al Di Meola and Paco de Lucía released in 1983. The names follow the words in the album title.
Unlike their first album “Friday Night in San Francisco” which was recorded live, this album consists entirely of studio recordings with the Di Meola and McLaughlin cuts appearing on studio albums previously.
John McLaughlin plays on the centre channel and a nylon-string guitar. Al Di Meola plays on the left channel and plays a steel-string acoustic guitar. Paco de Lucia plays on the right channel and plays a nylon-string guitar.
Aspan
Written by John McLaughlin and it is also the opening song on his “Music Spoken Here” album released in 1982.
It’s impressive in the virtuoso speed at which they play the acoustic guitars.
Orient Blue Suite
Written by Al Di Meola, it’s in three parts, with each part fading out and the new one begins.
Shimmering lush sounding arpeggios begin this song, bringing an Orient and classical feel to the music.
The pentatonic lead breaks, played with intervals delivers an exotic sounding melody.
Towards the end it goes into a flamenco like section, which sounds at odds with the previous sections.
Chiquito
Written by Paco de Lucia it’s impressive in its technicality, but it’s missing a recognisable melodic motif here.
There is a “Live In Spain” version which de Lucia recorded with his group known as “The Paco De Lucia Sextet” and it’s a lot better than this version. There is a 80 second intro played on a woodwind instrument and when de Lucia comes in at the 1.23 mark, with his band it makes the different movements of the song stand out.
Sichia
Side two begins with another Paco de Lucia and like “Chiquito”, its impressive in its playing, but missing a recognisable melody in this format.
David
Written by John McLaughlin and it is also from his “Music Is Spoken” album. It’s not available on the Spotify listing of the album for some reason. Its listed but greyed out. So I went to YouTube to hear it.
The intro is haunting and beautiful at the same time, as one guitar (which I presume is McLaughlin) plays a melody while the other guitars just down strum the chord progressions.
At 1.38, it becomes aggressive with some fast machine gun acoustic lines, as it transitions into a section I call “The Fire Section”. Towards the end of the song it goes back into the Intro, which sounds contemplative.
Passion, Grace & Fire
Written by Al Di Meola, this song appeared on his “Electric Rendezvous” album, released in 1982.
There is the piece de’resistance on the album as it has the arpeggio intro riff that is recognisable and it keeps repeating throughout the song.
The section from 1.49 to 2.02 is a favourite and the riff repeats again.
Basically the skill of the players to interchange between fast melodic licks and rhythm duties is great to listen to.
The three acoustic guitars sound great and it doesn’t get boring. Stylistically it moves between Spanish/Flamenco to Classical to Gypsy to Jazz easily. If you enjoy virtuoso playing, you will love this. If you want your instrumentals to have memorable melodies, then this might be difficult to digest within the flurry of notes on offer.
In 1980, Di Meola released the double album “Spendido Hotel”. Keeping with the Miami Vice covers theme.
And then the subsequent tour was captured live and released at the start of 1982 as “Tour De Force – Live”.
Towards the end of 1982, “Electric Rendezvous” was released.
The band for the album is Al Di Meola on electric and acoustic guitars, Anthony Jackson on bass guitar, Jan Hammer on keyboards, Steve Gadd on drums and Mingo Lewis on percussion.
God Bird Change
Percussionist god Mingo Lewis is still writing a track per album. This is his contribution.
The bass and drum groove throughout the song is a favorite as there is so much energy.
And of course there is a percussion interlude.
Electric Rendezvous
The title track at almost 8 minutes long.
The Intro is essential listening, with a clean tone guitar playing fast arpeggios while a nice relaxing guitar melody plays over it.
From 1.12 it changes. More Jazz fusion and alot of chromatics over time signatures changes.
From 2.11, a bass riff begins which the distorted guitars then copy. This creates a foundation for Di Meola to solo over, but it’s brief as they groove on the riff.
At the 4 minute mark, a metal sounding riff is played which allows Di Meola and Hammer to solo one after each other.
Passion, Grace & Fire
Paco de Lucia appears and the title of this song would be used to promote the run of acoustic shows that Di Meola, de Lucia and John MacLaughlin would do.
So there’s a lot of acoustic playing, fast fingers and lush arpeggios.
Cruisin’
Written by Jan Hammer it’s got a keyboard hook that is addictive and catchy.
It rocks and perfect for doing exactly what the title says.
Black Cat Shuffle
Written by Philippe Saisse, who also plays keyboards on this, it’s a blues groove with Di Meola’s Lydian and Mixolydian soloing.
The last 60 seconds has some great hard rock soloing from Di Meola.
Ritmo de la Noche
Lounge Waltz music with a Flamenco flavor.
Then some fast shred and make to the Waltz music.
Somalia
A short 90 second instrumental. Arpeggios and an exotic guitar melody as it’s centerpiece.
Jewel Inside a Dream
A riff that reminds me of ELP and their song “From The Beginning” dominates the song.
And you have Hammer and Di Meola trading licks on the keyboard and guitar.
I’m the end it’s a different album from its predecessors but still worthy.
I didn’t get into Black Sabbath until the mid-90’s. I knew of their existence because Ozzy and Dio did a great job promoting his Sabbath legacy.
Then Dio re-joined for “Dehumanizer” in the early 90s and I was interested to hear more Black Sabbath. So the process started.
The fact that everyone was selling their vinyl to second hand record shops definitely helped because it meant I could pick up their older stiff cheaply.
And after Grunge came out, they kept talking about the Sabbath influences in the Seatlle sounds and Sabbath’s renaissance into Mainstream superstars came when they re-joined Ozzy for a few encores on his “No More Tours” shows.
From 1983 up to when Dio rejoined, no one really cared about Tony Iommi in the same way they cared about Ozzy and Dio who had become Multi-Platinum sellers in the U.S. with their solo careers and the Sabbath/Iommi career was nowhere near those commercial highs.
So “Seventh Star” is listed as studio album number 12 for Black Sabbath and released in 1986. This version of Sabbath has Tony Iommi as the only founding member along with keyboardist Geoff Nicholls, drummer Eric Singer, bassist Dave Spitz and vocalist Glenn Hughes.
Once the album came out, Hughes didn’t last long as his addictions made him unreliable. Ray Gillen was hired to fill the vocalist spot for the tour. But even the tour didn’t last long, with a lot of shows cancelled and another restart for Iommi.
In For The Kill
A riff that reminds me of Scorpions “He’s A Woman, She’s A Man” starts off this song and I like it.
No Stranger To Love
This could have come from the Dio version of Sabbath, with its slow groove. But Glen Hughes has a very melodic, bluesy soul voice, so it was always going to come across as a commercial rock song.
Check out the solo from Iommi on this.
Turn To Stone
It’s like Richie Blackmore joined on guitars. It feels like a Deep Purple Coverdale/Hughes era cut, with a riff that reminds me of “Burn” and “Kill The King”.
Iommi delivers another killer solo on this.
Seventh Star
“Egypt (The Chains Are On)” comes to mind and I like it.
Musically, this is one of Iommi’s best.
The main riff is heavy, it sounds exotic, so metal like but it swings the way he plays it. There is a certain fluidity to it.
Danger Zone
If you want to hear one song on the album, its this. I was hooked from the harmony guitars in the Intro riff which also reminds me of Van Halen’s “Atomic Punk”.
And if that main riff doesn’t get you, the interlude/mid section would get you interested which then moves into a Bridge section.
And if the music doesn’t get ya, then the voice of Hughes will.
Heart Like A Wheel
When I hear a blues groove like the one that starts of this song, I think of “The Jack” from AC/DC.
But that blues groove is generic and overused. Remember Alannha Myles and her song “Black Velvet”. Well, it’s the same groove and it went to number 1.
These kind of songs are perfect vehicles for Hughes and his voice.
Angry Heart
This is a great riff, which reminds me of “Wishing Well” from Free and Hughes has so much fun with the vocals.
In Memory
An acoustic riff, with lightly distorted guitars start off this power ballad. It’s short and a strange end to the album.
As a classic Heavy Metal album like “Love At First Sting”, “Balls To The Wall” and “Screaming For Vengeance” it works. Hell it’s probably the best Rainbow album that Richie Blackmore didn’t write.
Compared to Sabbath’s downtuned 70s output, it’s very different. But this was the 80s and this album is a true product of its time.
Its album number 3 for Al Di Meola, released in 1978.
This time around its more of a band with Al Di Meola on all things guitar related, Barry Miles on keyboards, Anthony Jackson on bass, Steve Gadd on drums, Mingo Lewis with Eddie Colon on percussion.
While the first two albums had a lot of rock and metal overtones to it, this one leans more in the jazz fusion domain, in which Rock and Metal is not the dominant fusion partner as it was on the first two albums.
Egyptian Danza
An exotic riff made up of single notes begins this song. If you’ve listened to the first two albums it would be familiar, however if this was your first exposure to Di Meola it would be unusual and innovative, full of time changes, Arabic like influences and unison bass/guitar riffs.
It’s progressive and the drumming from Gadd thunders throughout the song.
Chasin’ The Voodoo
Percussionist extraordinaire Mingo Lewis is back again, with another excellent composition. He is the one that wrote “The Wizard” on the debut album and “Flight Over Rio” on the second album. From the whole album, this song is the progressive rocker and a favorite.
As expected, the song begins with percussion before a progressive bass riff kicks in. The drumming is frantic. Then the guitars kick in with chords and Di Meola’s superfast machine gun alternate picking.
There is a lot to unpack here, but my favourite section is brief, between 4.15 and 4.25.
And you’ll be pressing play on this, for the very underrated bass guitar playing.
Dark Eye Tango
A slow groovy bass line begins and when the drums come in, it’s like a wedding waltz, which Di Meola solos over appropriately.
At 1.38 it goes into a Latin/Flamenco feel, as the tempo increases and the solos while repetitive are catchy like a good Chorus.
Then at 2.57, a brief distorted guitar riff begins, which reminds me of Rush and Alex Lifeson, before it moves back to the Latin Flamenco feel, 15 seconds later.
On a sidenote, the keyboard riffs are great to play on guitar as well.
Senor Mouse
It’s a Chick Corea cover from Di Meola’s days in Return To Forever before he went solo. But he slows this one down and it doesn’t have the manic interplay of the original.
Regardless it’s still a good interpretation and it feels like the start of a movie.
Some sections are atonal and some sections are locked into a mode, with some chromatic notes being used as passing notes.
I like the bass riff at the 5 minute mark which Di Meola then goes into a flamenco like lead to complement. His palm muting technique is excellent.
Fantasia Suite For Two Guitars
It has four movements, in “Viva La Danzarina”, “Guitars of the Exotic Isle”, “Rhapsody Italia” and “Bravoto Fantasia”.
While all the ingredients are there for a flamenco sounding track, it’s more classical and Tuscany, then Spanish/Portuguese.
The section which I think is “Rhapsody Italia”, has strummed major chords with sevenths and ninths added while Di Meola throws in a fast machine gun lick here and there.
Casino
The closer. 9 plus minutes.
How good is the opening riff?
This album is a lot more experimental than the previous two albums and while “Elegant Gypsy” is the jewel in the crown, “Casino” shows a style that he would carry through from the mid 80’s and into the 90’s.
My journey into the world of Parkway Drive started with “Reverence” in 2018 and backwards I went.
“Ire” came out in 2016. It’s their fifth album, but the second album I’d heard from em. It went to Number 1 on the Aussie Charts and the U.S Billboard Top Hard Rock Albums chart.
The band for the album is Winston McCall on lead vocals, Jeff Ling on lead guitar, Luke “Pig” Kilpatrick on rhythm guitar, Jia “Pie” O’Connor on bass and Ben “Gaz” Gordon on drums.
The label even invested in a vocal coach for Winston McCall to increase his melodic skills as he’s already well known for this guttural vocals.
From listening to “Reverence” first and going back to “Ire”, it’s safe to say that this album was the start of the Hard Rock and Classic Metal tunes this band fine tuned with “Reverence”.
This fusion of Nu-Metal, Thrash Metal, Classic Metal, Power Metal, Hard Rock ad Death Metal is not meant to go together and work, but it does and it works very well.
Destroyer
A repeating guitar lick starts the album. Its low, it build in intensity and it’s a lick that the crowd could sing-along with along with the “Destroy” vocal chant. But this section wouldn’t work without the rhythm and drum work. It’s thunderous and like a military march.
Once the main riff comes in, its melodic and heavy at the same time. If you grew up on a diet of hard rock, then this riff would fit the criteria.
Dying To Believe
Any song that starts with the lyric, “like dragging nails through my skin” is going to be fast and aggressive. And that’s exactly how it plays it in the blast beat intro.
Vice Grip
Sitting at 52.7 million streams on Spotify. The video clip on YouTube has 23 million views.
Another sing-along guitar riff to start the song and a Chorus you can chant along to with the “Yeah, yeah, yeah” vocals.
Musically, it’s a hard rock song and I’m picking up the guitar after I finish this post to learn it.
There is a “Rise” chant section, which reminds me of the “Die” section from “Creeping Death”.
Crushed
Religious chants give way to “tear the throat box out” vocals and riffs which are too good to not listen to regardless of your preference for vocal styles.
The section from the 40 second mark to 1.01. Press play for that, just to hear how the religious chants work with heavy music.
Or stick around from 3.26 onwards, just to hear the guitar melody under the vocals which could have come from an Iron Maiden album.
But the overall style of the track is Nu-Metal. Weird I know, but it works.
Fractures
The riffs remind me so much of the 80’s and Pantera’s first two albums.
But press play for the Chorus guitar melodies and “wooahs”.
Check out the section from 3.30 as it slows down and then builds back up. As soon as the guitar lead lets loose for the last 30 seconds of the song, someone decided to fade out the song. Nooooo.
Writings On The Wall
The drum groove is like “We Will Rock You”, so you hear McCall carrying the vocal over a bed of ominous piano notes, synths, bass and abstract guitar lines.
“Put your hands up, put your hands up, we’ll fight until we die, this ain’t ever gonna stop”, whispers McCall in true spirit of the 80’s ethos like “Stand Up And Shout”, “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and “Bang Your Head”.
Then at 2.30, the song kicks in with some metal like riffage.
At 2.55, my favourite melodic riff from the album kicks in. And the song ends with the haunting piano lines heard throughout the song.
Bottom Feeder
There are so many riffs that people will class as hair metal in this song. But it’s all Metal to me. It’s one of the heaviest tracks and catchiest.
The Sound Of Violence
The intro riff gets me to pay attention and the breakdown Chorus would work well in the live arena.
Vicious
Musically, this song has some serious hard rock cred. Even Metallica “Black” album era.
Dedicated
I feel like I’m listening to a Killswitch Engage tune on this.
Stick around for the breakdown at the end.
A Deathless Song
Acoustic guitars with a fusion of flamenco vibes and baroque start the song. But at 0.44, those iconic sing-along melodic leads kick in.
And those melodic sing-along leads are heard throughout the song, especially in the last minute outro, as they give way to the same riffs, but played with violins.
In the end it’s a “hard core hard rock” album, Somehow it makes perfect sense.
“Elegant Gypsy” is the second album by Al Di Meola, released in 1977 by Columbia Records.
The musicians for the album are Al Di Meola on guitar, piano, synthesizer and percussion, Paco de Lucia on guitar, Jan Hammer and Barry Miles on keyboards, Anthony Jackson on bass guitar, Steve Gadd and Lenny White on drums and Mingo Lewis on congas, synthesizers, organ and percussion.
“Flight Over Rio”
Percussionist Mingo Lewis has written another 10/10 opening track.
Like “The Wizard” on the debut album, this track is loaded with great riffs.
At 7 minutes and 16 seconds, it’s the first 90 seconds which is essential listening, just for the bass riff.
Tool built a career from bass riffs like this. It also reminds me of the soundtrack work that John Carpenter would do, like in “Escape From New York”.
Then it goes into something similar to “The Wizard” with a bass groove, which allows Al Di Meola to flex his chops.
Check out the lead break from 2.48 to 3.48. After that Di Meola goes into a solo tag with the keyboardist Jan Hammer, which has Di Meola soloing on a few bars and then Hammer and they go back and forth. Like the Dream Theater guys.
“Midnight Tango”
Written by Al Di Meola and at 7 minutes and 28 seconds in length.
Press play to hear jazz rock fusion in all its glory from the 3 minute mark. It begins with some fast major key playing, however it is brief and then it goes into a Latin-esque passage. It stays within this domain, while Di Meola delivers a lead break which Santana lovers would say is from good ol’ Carlos.
At 4.58, it goes into a lick which reminds me of licks from 80’s Heavy Metal artists. And Di Meola knows a good lick when he hears one and he carries this lick and chord progression all the way to the end.
“Mediterranean Sundance”
Just over 5 minutes long, this Al Di Meola composition is the first song I heard from Al Di Meola and it made me a fan instantly.
It’s the crown in his jewel and showcases his acoustic prowess to the world. Of course he calls in his friends to lend a hand in Paco de Lucia and their playing is at another level.
This song would also get released many years later, from a live recording that Al Di Meola, Paco de Lucia and John McLaughlin would do on the “Friday Night In San Francisco” album.
Listen to the sections from the 28 second mark to the 51 second mark. It’s all fingers folks, no pick. So just press play, lay back, close your eyes, be in awe at the playing and let the music take you away.
“Race with Devil on Spanish Highway”
Written by Al Di Meola, this is the track that was referenced by the 80’s players as an influence. Once you hear it, you will know why.
A simple bass riff begins proceedings, then Di Meola joins with a distorted guitar. After repeating a few times, they both go into some serious fast alternate picking. Hearing the bass and guitar play in unison is pure bliss.
After the hectic intro at around 1.15 it goes into this jazz rock lounge section. Its relaxed and it actually feels that you are cruising the streets in your car.
But at 2.09, a section begins which is heavy metal. While those riffs are playing, Al Di Meola starts his shred solo. By 3.13, it ends and transitions into a different section which is a combination of the previous sections mentioned.
Then “the section” begins from 4.10. The Intro riff is played, but everything is faster, more frantic. And at 4.51, Di Meola is soloing super-fast to about the 5.10 mark.
He then pulls an awesome riff out for the outro, which has some of his best soloing in it, moving from emotion to super-fast alternate picking.
“Lady of Rome, Sister of Brazil”
A short acoustic piece at 1.46, a calm within all the technicality delivered by Di Meola and de Lucia.
“Elegant Gypsy Suite”
At 9 minutes and 16 seconds long, it’s definitely elegant. So many different styles are covered but back then it was all just music. Styles and genres didn’t matter.
My favourite section is from the 8 minute mark to the end of the song.
This album is his masterpiece. If you like guitar instrumental music, then your collection is not complete with this album.
“Peace Sells… but Who’s Buying?” was released on September 19, 1986.
Edward J. Repka as the cover illustrator is the rock star here. While the concept design is listed as coming from Dave Mustaine and Andy Somers, its Repka who brought the concept to life.
There is Vic Rattlehead, portrayed as a real estate salesman, in front of a desolated United Nations Headquarters with fighter jets in the sky and frayed flags still on the poles.
Brilliant.
The band for this album is the same as the debut, with Dave Mustaine on guitars and lead vocals, David Ellefson on bass, Chris Poland on guitars and Gar Samuelson on drums.
The album is produced by Mustaine but Casey McMackin as the engineer also deserves credit as he was involved with mixing or engineering quite a few albums from the California Thrash Metal scene, for bands like Vio-Lence, Saint Vitus, Nuclear Assault, Zoetrope, Dark Angel and Flotsam and Jetsam. And in the 90’s he did “1916” and “March or Die” by Motorhead. Mixing was done by Paul Lani and Stan Katayama but there’s a story in that as well.
The album was troubled due to the high level of drug abuse. Mustaine and Ellefson were already heavy users, however Samuelson and Poland were said to be even more extreme, something which Poland has disputed to say that what he did was nothing different to what other people were doing at the time. Regardless of the differing point of views, Samuelson and Poland got fired after the promotional tour for this album.
Another issue was the record label. The project started with Combat Records, resulting in the original mix of the album and a co-production by Randy Burns, however Capital Records then purchased the rights to the album (and the band) and got Paul Lani to remix it himself. Lani was more of a Pop Rock mixer, so he knew how the album should sound to get favourable MTV and Radio treatment. And it got that attention as well.
All songs are written and composed by Dave Mustaine, except “I Ain’t Superstitious” by Willie Dixon.
“Wake Up Dead”
The film clip got me interested. It was the steel cage and the chaos around it, with people climbing all over it towards the end. It was dystopian and unsettling and I loved it.
I wasn’t a huge fan of Mustaine’s voice to begin with, but man, the music had me hooked. There was just so much guitar playing to unpack and learn.
Like the head banging riff that plays between 1.10 to 1.40. Or the blistering super-fast picked riff between 2.03 and 2.26. Or the change in groove in tempo from 2.42 with the unorthodox solo from Chris Poland combining exotic lines with fast jazz chromatic lines.
And there wasn’t much singing in this “single” like the hard rock singles I was growing up with. Actually I think all up there are about 8 lines as those lyrics describe Mustaine cheating on his current partner however he stayed with her because he was homeless at the time and needed a place to stay. But he had to leave her because he thought she had intentions to kill him.
“The Conjuring”
The song is about black magic and contains instructions for hexes.
The intro is ominous but it’s the fast riff from 0.57 which I like while Chris Poland moves in with another atonal solo, making sharps and flats fit chords they shouldn’t fit.
Check out the galloping and progressive riff between 1.43 and 1.58. A favourite and so fun to play. Or the fast riffs from 2.36 to 2.57 and then my favourite foot stomping, head banging riff in the song from 2.58 to 3.29.
And Mustaine is not working within a Verse and Chorus structure. Until the next song.
“Peace Sells”
It’s iconic, musically and lyrically.
The bass intro sets the tone. Even though Ellefson plays it, Mustaine wrote it.
The “No More Mr Nice Guy” vocal delivery over a riff that Mr Hetfield would use for the “Enter Sandman” verses is excellent. Then again, the E pedal point with a F chord chucked in was a staple of thrash metal music and Mustaine’s favourite band “Diamond Head”.
The Motorhead inspired outro from 2.20 is where it’s at. It’s fast, its unrelenting and Mustaine’s war cry of “Peace Sells But Who’s Buying” echoes the great work to come, especially in the track “Holy Wars” from “Rust In Peace” a few years later.
I like the lyric “What do you mean, I don’t support your system? I go to court when I have too”
Its clever.
And the best summary of the song is the way Mustaine put it on a VH1 doco; “peace is something we all want, but nobody wants to give up stuff.”
“Devil’s Island”
Mustaine takes some of his riffs from his Metallica days and re-uses em here as the intro reminds me of a section in the song “Phantom Lord”. He also used a similar riff in “This Was My Life” from the “Countdown To Extinction”.
But my favourite riff is the Chorus riff. Check it out.
Another great riff is from 2.22 to 2.43.
The title is a reference to a former French penal colony off the coast of French Guiana. The lyrics detail the thoughts of a condemned prisoner awaiting execution. He is spared by God, but must spend the rest of his life on the island.
“Good Mourning/Black Friday”
Side 2 begins with this.
“Good Mourning” begins with a clean tone acoustic guitar begins. Its haunting.
And some serious shred is heard as the song transitions from “Good Mourning” to “Black Friday”.
How good is the musical groove and feel from 1.48 to 2.23?
“Bad Omen”
Another ominous like intro with arpeggios as the song builds into a thrasher from when the fast bass riff begins at 1.19. But it’s the groove metal riff at 1.36 which gets me interested to learn it.
The soloing from Chris Poland is so different to what I was used to. Very Jazz fusion like in the vein of Al DiMeola.
At 2.50 it goes into a supercharged neck breaking riff and some serious shredding.
“I Ain’t Superstitious”
Other artists did it, but I feel that Mustaine showed the metal community that you could cover songs that didn’t really come from the genre you are classed in and still make em sound like they are from the genre, like this blues funk song, suddenly sounds like a metal blues song.
From a reference point, “I Ain’t Superstitious” is written by Willie Dixon and originally recorded by Howlin’ Wolf in 1961.
“My Last Words”
Mustaine again showcases his arpeggio clean tone riff writing for a song about playing a game of Russian roulette.
The intro on this song is excellent. After the clean tone arpeggios and open string pull offs, it goes into a face melting riff.
But check out the riff from 3.10 to 3.25 and the solo after it. Even Lars Ulrich has given this track his tick of approval.
At 36 minutes long, Mustaine created an album that took hours and hours of learning in order to get the riffs and leads down. And from that, I became a fan of Megadeth.
“Peace Sells… but Who’s Buying?” is very influential in the movement of technical thrash metal. Mustaine (if he hadn’t done so already) raised the bar here. Along with other thrash releases from Metallica and Slayer, future extreme metallers had a holy trinity of release for reference points.
From a commercial point of view, the use of the “Peace Sells” bass riff to introduce the MTV news segment, showed other thrash bands the commercial potential of thrash metal if done right. But MTV didn’t pay em, because they used the “fair use” defence which is why they cut off the music after a few seconds, as if they went past that timeframe, they would have to make payment.
Musicians who would go on to form Sweden’s Melodic Death metal scene have always referred to this album as an influence.
The album does have a Platinum certification for the U.S and Canada and a Silver certification for the U.K.
Chris Daughtry (and as a byproduct Daughtry) had a decision to make after “Break The Spell”.
Should they stay with the same sound?
Should they change their sound completely?
Should they stay with the same sound but experiment with a few songs by bringing in different sounds?
“Baptized” came out in in November 2013 on RCA Records and it was an electro synth pop sounding album, a significant departure from the group’s hard rock sound from their first three albums.
Like the previous albums, RCA farmed Chris Daughtry out to work with different writers and to record with those different writers like the debut album. But while the writers previously had some rock pedigree, the writers on “Baptized” album specialized in other styles.
There is a song called “Long Live Rock N Roll” and it doesn’t even rock, as it’s more in the vein of “I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker”, an acoustic folk story telling song of growing up with a certain type of music.
But lead single “Waiting For Superman” did stick around and is at 83.7 million streams at the moment on Spotify.
Then came a “Greatest Hits” album in 2016 with two new songs called “Torches” and “Go Down.
“Torches” is actually a good bridge between the old sound and the “Baptized” sound,
The song “Go Down” has your typical catchy Daughtry vocal melody but it’s instrument sounds are routed in synth pop and electronica. Think of the band “Garbage”.
Most artists who found success playing a hard modern rock style in the 2000’s started to experiment and bring in sounds from Adele, Maroon 5, The Fray, Train, OneRepublic and Imagine Dragons.
Shinedown was in a similar predicament as Daughtry but I believe they did a better job at bringing in those new sounds, while still staying true to their old sound.
“Cage To Rattle” came out in 2018. 10 songs that total 38 minutes. RCA again was spending a lot of money for Chris Daughtry to write with so many outside writers in the quest to find hits.
But what the record executives failed to understand is that Daughtry’s audience is predominantly made up of rockers.
And there is a saying, when your chasing hits it don’t mean the hits would come.
Then Daughtry and RCA parted ways.
And a new look was in play for a dystopian story called “Dearly Beloved”, released in 2021.
Plus the hard rock distorted guitars are back with a vengeance, something which Daughtry hinted to in 2016 when the “Greatest Hits” album came out but then the label got in the way.
The band for the album is Chris Daughtry, Josh Steely and Brian Craddock on guitars, Josh Paul on bass, Elvio Fernandes on keyboards and Brandon Maclin on drums.
Desperation
Written by Chris Daughtry.
It simmers in the verses, with Daughtry singing in the lower registers as he blends his voice with the synth and guitars.
It’s a slow rocker before soaring in the Chorus.
And the heaviness of the guitars definitely captures my attention.
It also sets the lead in for the next track “World On Fire”.
World On Fire
Written by Daughtry and producers Scott Stevens and Marti Frederiksen.
The film clip for this and “Heavy Is The Crown” is set in a dystopian future while Chris Daughtry looks like an “Assassin’s Creed” character.
Heavy Is The Crown
Written by Daughtry, John Cummings, Elvis Fernandezs, Scott Stevens and Marti Frederiksen.
It’s a song writing committee. John Cummings is from the band Mogwai, who is accomplished on guitar, as well as keyboards.
The guitars dominate here along with Daughtry’s voice. Check out the Chorus.
Changes Are Coming
Written by Daughtry, Stevens and Frederiksen.
More of the same 120bpm, guitar heavy modern Arena Rock.
Dearly Beloved
Written by Daughtry, Brian Craddock and Mark Holman.
It’s a ballad and Daughtry knows how to deliver em.
The guitars are load and so is the electronica and keyboards.
Cry For Help
Written by Daughtry, Stevens and Frederiksen.
Acoustics and piano give way to loud distorted guitars and another hooky Chorus.
Asylum
Written by Daughtry, Cummings, Fernandezs, Stevens and Frederiksen.
Its sort of gospel heavy rock cut and why wouldn’t it be, with lyrics like “the lunatics have taken the asylum.”
Evil
Written by Daughtry, Stevens and Frederiksen.
Check out the bridge.
The Victim
Written by Daughtry, Stevens and Frederiksen.
If you like hard rock you will like this.
Somebody
Chris Daughtry is the songwriter and he delivers vocally on this while the guitars get loud in the Chorus.
Call You Mine
Written by Chris Daughtry in and his wife Deanna.
The Intro with the palm muted chugging acoustic guitar is the best.
Lioness
Written by Chris Daughtry.
Check out the Outro.
Break Into My Heart
Written by Daughtry, Stevens and Frederiksen.
A piano and a voice to close the album.
“Dearly Beloved” is a return to form which shows the world that Daughtry still knows how to rock!!
“Romeo’s Heart” was released in Australia on 3 June 1996 by John Farnham.
His comeback to mainstream success started with “Whispering Jack” released in 1986. It is certified 24x Platinum in Australia, Platinum in Sweden and Gold in Canada and Germany.
“Age Of Reason” came in 1988 and it is certified 11x Platinum in Australia.
“Chain Reaction” in 1990 is 7x Platinum in Australia.
“Then Again…” in 1993 is 4x Platinum in Australia.
This album is also 4x Platinum in Australia.
The band is top notch as well with Brett Garsed from Nelson fame on guitars along with Stuart Fraser from Noiseworks.
Joe Creighton from The Black Sorrows is on Bass and Angus Burchall also from The Black Sorrows is on drums with Steve Williams on harmonica.
Vocals are provided by John Farnham with Lindsay Field and Lisa Edwards providing excellent backing vocals.
And from when Farnham made his comeback in the mid 80s as a solo artist, the songs he performed on his albums were written by other artists/songwriters.
This album is no different, with every song on it coming from outside writers.
Have a Little Faith (In Us)
Written by Russ DeSalvo (who at the time was writing and working with Celine Dion) and Arnie Roman (who also was working with Celine Dion).
Great song title and a major key chord progression to give its uplifting vibe.
But press play for the gospel like backing vocals in the outro which
Little Piece of My Heart
Written by C. Celli, A. Levin and Jack Ponti.
The same Jack Ponti who co-write “Shot Through The Heart” with Jon Bon Jovi and a heap of songs for Baton Rouge, Alice Cooper and Babylon A.D.
I’m not sure on why they would use this song title for a totally different song. It’s like reusing “Smoke On The Water” for a totally different song and not for a cover.
But in the end a simple funky rock groove is heard throughout the song and it’s cool to jam to.
A Simple Life
Written by Jon Lind and Richard Page. The same Richard Page from Mr Mister and Jon Lind had written or co-written songs like “Crazy For You” for Madonna and songs for Earth, Wind And Fire.
This one is a soft rock song.
Check out the vocal melody for the Chorus.
All Kinds Of People
Written by Eric Pressley, Sheryl Crow and Kevin Gilbert.
Yep the same Sheryl Crow and her songwriting partner Kevin Gilbert from her debut album were in demand and writing songs for other artists as well.
It’s in that soul contemporary pop rock vibe which was prominent in the 90s.
Romeo’s Heart
Written by Jennifer Kimball and Randy VanWarmer it appeared on Randy’s solo album “The Third Child” released in 1994.
And here it is a few years later as the title track. It has a soft rock Springsteen vibe.
Don’t Let It End
Written by Aaron Hendra an Australian-born songwriter, singer and guitarist who lives in the U.S.
It reminds of “Time Of My Life” from the “Dirty Dancing” movie.
Hearts On Fire
Written by Tom Kimmel and S. Lynch. I was wondering which S Lynch is a co-writer.
Could it be the Steve Lynch from Autograph?
Nope it’s Stan Lynch, the ex drummer from Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers who became a successful producer and songwriter.
On a side note, “That’s Freedom” was also written by Kimmel which Farnham recorded and it became a Top 10 hit for him in late 1990. So it’s no surprise that Farnham used him again.
The “Rocky IV” track comes to mind but it’s not it. The song is more blues soul rock.
Hard Promises To Keep
Written by Kimmie Rhodes and the song appeared on her “West Texas Heaven” album released in 1994 and it’s in the vein of country ballads musically, but the vocal melodies are more in line with pop melodies.
Over My Head
Written by Ricard Pleasance and A. Tanner.
Richard Pleasance is an Australian rock musician and producer. He was a founding member of Australian band “Boom Crash Opera”.
It’s a ballad and it’s chord progressions is more like country rock ballads, reminding me of current songs like “Home” from Daughtry.
May You Never
Written by John Martyn it’s an up beat acoustic track that is played in the way Nuno Bettencourt plays on “More Than Words”.
John Martyn, is a British singer-songwriter and guitarist who released 23 studio albums over a 40-year career. He’s been described as blurring the boundaries between folk, jazz, rock and blues”.
Second Skin
Written by John Farnham, producer Ross Fraser and Chong Lim.
Finally Farnham gets a co-write in a track that is a cross between “Superstition” and “Play That Funky Music”.
If you want to hear John Farnham in a rock way, then “Whispering Jack” and “Age Of Reason” would suffice. If you want to hear Farnham in a soul and country rock way, then this album would donyje
“Break the Spell” is the third album by Daughtry, released on November 21, 2011, by RCA Records.
It follows the sound of the previous album’s and it’s more of a band album this time around with Chris Daughtry writing all of the songs with band guitarists Josh Steely and Brian Craddock, bassist Josh Paul, and in collaboration with Marti Frederiksen, Busbee and Brett James.
The band for the album is Chris Daughtry on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Josh Steely on lead guitar, Brian Craddock on rhythm guitar, Josh Paul on bass and Robin Diaz on drums.
The album was produced again by Howard Benson and mixed by Chris Lord-Alge.
And the certification trend in the U.S continued, this time a Gold certification.
Renegade
When I saw the title, Styx came to mind along with Tommy Shaw’s voice.
It was released as the album’s lead single and it rocks from the opening dropped D riff. It’s the most heaviest song, but the album doesn’t follow that path.
And the message of busting out of the comforts of your town like a renegade resonates with the ones who desire that change.
Crawling Back to You
In 2019, 8 years after its release, it received a Platinum certification.
An acoustic guitar and a vocal melody starts the song. So simple and so effective.
Outta My Head
It’s a funk rock song. Sixx AM did something similar on their “Modern Vintage” album.
The groove is sleazy and it reminds me of Shinedown.
The Pre-Chorus is my favorite.
Start of Something Good
It’s “Home” Part 2.
And I like it.
Crazy
It’s a power ballad in the Bon Jovi vein.
Break the Spell
Faux Rocker 1.
It’s the title track, but by now all of the songs on the album are written so concisely for radio, that at 3 minutes and 30 seconds long, they feel stale and lifeless.
We’re Not Gonna Fall
Faux Rocker 2 at 3.18 long.
Gone Too Soon
Simple acoustic Intro and an emotive vocal melody.
That’s all you need.
Losing My Mind
Press play just to hear Daughtry sing, “Losing My Mind” and using his falsetto for “mind”.
Rescue Me
It’s like a Hoobastank song.
Think of “The Reason”.
Louder Than Ever
“Summer Of 69” and I like it. One of my favorites on the album.
Spaceship
Faux Rocker 3.
Now for the deluxe edition tracks.
Who’s They
I like this song. It percolates like “Bad Company”.
And at 1.38 it explodes into an angry Chorus.
Maybe We’re Already Gone
Press play for the Chorus.
Everything But Me
It’s “September” Part 2 and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Lullaby
Yeah.
There is quality on the album. The reviews weren’t kind to it, stating that Daughtry is suffering an identity crisis.
They criticized the 17 songs clocking in at 61 minutes, with an average of 3.30 for each song.
destroyerofharmony 