NMC #97 THE SWORD/BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION/KISS

[RJhog (Admin)]

The Sword

Apocryphon

1. Cloak Of Feathers

2. The Hidden Masters

3. Execrator

4. Hawks & Serpents

5. Apocryphon

Black Country Communion

Afterglow

6. Big Train

7. Midnight Sun

8. Cry Freedom

9. Dandelion

10. Common Man

Kiss

Monster

11. Wall Of Sound

12. Freak

13. Shout Mercy

14. Outta This World

15. Last Chance

[Scott]

THE SWORD ... 2 thumbs two-thirds up

Huge Sabbath flashback listening to this.  Very talented band!  Geetar riffs and solos were awesome, problem here is that it really started to blend into each song.  Maybe too Sabbath-like?  After the first 2 tracks I was fully engaged and digging it, then for whatever reason the songs ran together and I lost interest by the time it ended.  I need to come back to this one and see of it is different next time.

BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION ...  Two Thumbs way up!

Own it!  And really like this one much like their last release I really took to it on the first listen, and so it goes again!  Love the 70's feel, love the Zeppelin/Purple feel even more!  I hope these guys figure out a way to continue.

KISS ... Two Thumbs not buying this Brand

Actually that Wall of Sound tune isn't terrible.  But its only downhill from there, Freak is awful, Shout Mercy?  Would love to but there's still two songs left!  Outta This World, is plain plain plain, gotta wonder if Ace would have got a hold of this one if he could rework it and make it into a good song.  Last Chance, well...  now this may be a very true statement.  I have fussed about the direction of KISS for a while now.  I wore the badge of honor for this band for years, defended them within a inch of my musical life, and this is the repayment we get.  KISS the original Band will always be my preference, KISS the Brand is off my radar totally - Last Chance indeed!

[RJhog (Admin)]

Other than Hell or Hallelujah (how ever you spell that), Wall Of Sound is the only real standout track here.  Now you can see why I did not plan to post it.  It hurts me to say that Monster is nowhere near my Top 10 albums radar.  And for possibly the first time ever, I'd say that as a whole, Gene's songs are definitely better than Paul's.  And why are Tommy and Eric being given 1 song each on the last 2 albums?  They complained 'cause the real Catman always complained about not being used enough, then they let the Fox stay in the band for 10 plus years without as much as throwing him a bone.  Now imitation Catman gets a song written for him (sucky songs at that) for every album.  And poor imitation Spaceman.  His songs are good enough to make the album, but they will not be played live.  'Cause they suck.  And that's for real, no imitation sucking, real sucking.

[RJhog (Admin)]

And although it's very early, BCC is not speaking to me yet.  

Your comments are dead on regarding The Sword.  The previous album was pretty good.  But this one, while not bad, does sound like one long song.  Musically, they are terrific, but the vocalist leaves a bit to be desired.

[Gordon Williams]

Glad I got a chance to listen to this today. The Sword is definitely good for me. Scott is right on with his Sabbath comparison. To me, the vocalist even sounds like Ozzy sounded back in the day. The little bass guitar intro of track two even reminds me of the debut Sabbath record. I am definitely considering a purchase of this...and if the previous album is even better, it will be under consideration, as well. I dont get the "one long song" feeling at all.

The BCC is good...nothing less expected. After 1 listen, the best track posted for me has to be "Cry Freedom". This would be a purchase without hearing any of it.

And finally, KISS...what?? RJHog doesn't like it? I do. I think it's actually better than Sonic Boom, which was very good. Other than Kiss Alive and Rock and Roll Over, I was not into the studio releases too much until Bruce Kulick joined the band. But these last two studio releases are great rockers for me.

[Jon]

Kiss--between 1/2 and 3/4 up

That first song was really good. I mean REALLY REALLY good. The more I listened to it, the less it sounded like Kiss and more like someone else. Then I checked the player and found that I had started with The Sword. As for the Kiss songs, I like 3/4 of them, I think it was Shout Mercy that sucked. Still probably won't buy. But these are beter than the songs posted here previously. Now, how many times has Paul said the word "yeah" in every song he's sang?

The Sword--Thumbs Up

The one song was GREAT. Will give more thoughts next week.

BCC--Don't know

Umm...next week too.

[Niels (Mod)]

Jon, you're a KISS-fan. Admit it, and you'll feel better about yourself.

[Jon]

No. But still want to know about them "yeahs". Count 'em. You have all the albums.

[Niels (Mod)]

Oh no, you got the wrong one there, buddy. I've got all the right KISS-albums up untill "Dynasty". Then I got the 80's KISS-albums until "Hot In The Shade", and that's it. That's about 250 "Yeahs".

[Jon]

Damn!

[Niels (Mod)]

BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION - 3.5 out of 6 somethings

Hmmm, I'm a little bored listening to this. I'm refering to the whole album. The first 3 tracks on the album are pretty good, but a whole album with Hughes on lead-vocals is too much for me. He sings fine, but sometimes his voice get on my nerves. How old is he nowadays? 62? This sounds like what is was supposed to be: A Glenn Hughes solo-album. The others sounds like his backing-band. I'm not a fan of Bonamassa, or whatever he's called. His guitar-playing is fine, but I'm not thinking or saying "Wauh, this guy is good". Bonham jr. will never be nowwhere near the greatness of his legendary daddy, but some of the drumming on this album, is some of the best drumming, I've heard from him. I do not give a s... or whatever, if this is the last BCC-album. They sounds almost just like they did on the first and the second album: A cross between Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and a bar-band.

KISS - 2 out of 6 somethings

KISS or whatever you should call this version of a once great band, should have stopped a loooooong time ago.

The last album wasn't bad at all, but it wasn't KISS either. I've tried a few times now, to listen to all of the album, but I feel I'm strongly wasting my time. Eric Singer is a good drummer, and should be playing as himself in another band. It's like "where's Eric Singer. You know, the drummer who played in Badlands with Jake E. Lee, and in Tony Iommi's late 80's version of Black Sabbath"? Speaking of Peter Criss, are you going to read his new book, RJhog? Back to the album: There's not one good song on this album. A few okay tracks, but only very few. The album feels like it's 70 min. long, but it's only around 40 min. And the stupid album-cover doesn't make it any better. If they just had made a cool cover with a big version of their logo in cool covers, I think they would have sold more copies. More T-shirts, for sure!! I do NOT trust Classic Rock Magazines or all the other magazines, that have been giving this album very good reviews, any more. 9 out of 10 in CRM is completely nonesens. In the same magazine, they gave Bob Dylan's album 10 out of 10. That's almost as much nonesense. Or more?

I'll have to listen to Sword some other day.

[RJhog (Admin)]

Yes Niels, I have the Peter Criss book.  I'm only about 25 pages in.  I haven't had much reading time lately.

[Niels (Mod)]

Good. Then you can tell about the juicy parts, if there are any. I think, he's rather pissed at both Gene, Paul and Ace these days. 

I will concentrate my reading skills on Pete Townshend's and Neil Young's books. Maybe Rod Stewart's some time later on.