Classic Rock Bottom

There's a few CDs I have that I haven't or hadn't gotten around to listening to yet. Whether they are too "old" or I end up not really having much to say about them, I'm not doing a full on review.

Instead, I'm just putting in a sentence or two about what I thought of them. I'll probably keep updating this thread as I get around to various albums that have been sitting waiting for me to play them.

Joe Bonamassa - Blues of Desperation - While there were a couple of tracks I wasn't all that enamored with, overall this album was another winning blues solo album from Bonamassa.

Boneyard Dog - Bluesbound Train - Another bluesy rock and roll record, this debut album was pretty much kicking my ass each time I listened to it.

U2 - The Joshua Tree 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition - Sadly, while I absolutely love the album itself (it is one of my all-time favorites), the anniversary edition isn't much to write home about. Disc 1 is the original album while Disc 2 is a live concert from the Joshua Tree tour. It's not bad, but there's nothing special about it really.

Inglorious - S/T - I was really kind of hyped up about this album but I think the fact I've already sold it off on eBay might give you a hint about my final reaction to the album. Okay, that might be slightly unfair but after listening to the album four times and I couldn't really pick a single memorable song out of it, there's obviously something of a disconnect.

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Bob Seger - It's A Mystery (1995) - I'm not quite sure what others might think of this album but since I am slowly accumulating Seger's studio albums I knew I would get this one sooner or later.

Unfortunately for me, I didn't get too excited over this album. I've listened to It's A Mystery a few times now, and I really don't think there's many OUTSTANDING songs on it. Most of the material feels calculated to be as middle of the road as possible.

The one song that I can say got me a little fired up was "Lock and Load" and otherwise I just think this album is one you listen to and kind of move on with your life afterwards. 

There's just not the feeling of urgency to the album's other 11 songs that I would've expected.

I have this on CD but I have never listened to it.  Sounds like I may not be missing much.

Kiss - Dynasty (1979) - I know others will say that they love this album but I had a bit of a hard time getting into it. Besides "I Was Made For Lovin' You", I didn't recognize any of these songs when I first played the album. No, I never owned it until a couple weeks ago.

I didn't find any of the other songs to be so remarkable as to stand out on their own. But after a few plays of the disc, what I did note is that the full album seems to grow on you. The songs might not be all that memorable as individual cuts but when listening to the full album, they do seem to make the full-on experience a ride worth taking.

It is a bit weird that Dynasty makes me think this way but hey, at least I did end up liking it, right?

I like the new Inglorious album from earlier this year.  But I’ve never heard any of their other work.

I thought I would've liked it but they just didn't stand out enough for me to keep buying the music.

The Police - Reggatta de Blanc (1979) - I picked this album up on a whim at my local library's last sale of used material this year. The CDs were $1 and they were running a buy 1 get 1 sale on them the last day of the sale. Normally, there's not a whole lot that interests me but this time I got two albums from The Police.

This is the first of the two I listened to and if I'm being perfectly honest, this one didn't really do much for me. There are the two hits in "Message In A Bottle" and "Walking On The Moon", but after that I didn't really any of the remaining 9 songs much to my liking. I won't say that they were awful or anything, but they didn't rise to the level I would've hoped for to make this a more pleasurable album for me to listen to. 

I'd say instead that it made me wonder if I'd just be better off buying a greatest hits compilation or something, to get the big hits and skip the potential embarrassment if I didn't like the regular studio albums.

I've got the Ghost In The Machine album to check out still and I'm hoping that album turns out better for me than this one did.

Lately, I'm on a Greatest Hits CD hunt.
I think I filled my collection pretty good with what I wanted from the "older" single album releases. There are a few Artists I would be fine to have their Best Of albums. However, Police is not one of them. They are just a Radio band for me. Meaning, I like to hear their songs on the radio, but I wouldn't buy anything from them. You know... Too mainstream for me and whatnot.

I know exactly what you mean. I have some bands like that too. Strictly listen on the radio but don't own any of their material.

The Police - Ghost In The Machine (1981) - Well I have to say that this album ended up being much more enjoyable to me than my recent first time listening experience with the band's Reggatta de Blanc album.

Once again, there are two big well known songs for those fans who only listen to the hits. "Spirits In The Material World" and "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" are indeed the pure classic tracks that everyone credits them with being. I've heard and loved them on the radio for decades and nothing has changed that feeling for me.

What did kind of surprise me is how much I liked a lot of what the rest of the album had to offer. Songs like "Invisible Sun", "Demolition Man", "Too Much Information" and "Rehumanize Yourself" were wonderful to hear either for the first time or if they triggered some long forgotten time in the past when I heard the songs before but didn't recall it until now.

The album does kind of end on a low note with the last couple of tracks not being all that great to my ear, but otherwise I really did quite love Ghost In The Machine.

Accept - Objection Overruled (1993) - I'm not sure how others feel about the albums that resulted from the return of Udo Dirkschneider on vocals but I know that if they are all like this first one to feature him since 1986's Russian Roulette, the band has a lot to be proud of.

Seriously, this album has the classic Accept sound with a furious attacking delivery that repeatedly crushes your skull. I know the good feelings the band had about their reunion didn't last but both Udo and guitarist Wolf Hoffman have said great things about this release so who am I to argue?

There are 11 songs on the album and each of them is outright fantastic. The title cut opens the disc and I can't get enough of it. I've played this album at least 5 times before doing this little write up and each time I find that I'm still blown away each time. "I Don't Wanna Be Like You", "Slaves To Metal", "All Or Nothing" and "Bulletproof" are all anthemic keepers and it just keeps going from there.

This is a fantastic Accept album that everyone should take the time to hear for the first time or take the time to spin again and give it a re-evaluation.

Chastain - In Dementia (1997)

I'm a big fan of Leather Leone's work with the band but I did like the 1995 CD Sick Society which was the first to feature Kate French on vocals. This second album with French however is far harder for me to appreciate. 

I've listened to it a couple times now and I really can't differentiate one song from another. Usually there is at least one or two tracks on a Chastain album that would qualify as their "hit" songs but on In Dementia, there's nothing to make me sit up and take notice of any one particular track.

I find this really disappointing because it makes me not want to listen to the album ever again and since I consider myself a fan of the band, I hate having that feeling. I was pretty excited to finally get my hands on the album but now that joy of heading towards completing the acquisition of the entire discography is slightly tempered by not enjoying this album.

Scorpions - Animal Magnetism (1980)

Other than a few songs here and there, I'm not all that familiar with the Scorpions back catalog of releases before the band hit it real big with "Rock You Like A Hurricane" from the Love at First Sting album.

But I was able to find a CD edition of this album and I've been listening to it a number of times as of late and I have to say that it is a pretty impressive album. You have the two songs I recognized right off in "Make It Real" and the real classic gem "The Zoo".

But most impressively, the rest of the material is pretty darn good as well. Songs like "Twentieth Century Man", "Lady Starlight", the title track, "Only A Man" and "Falling In Love" keep the rock and roll energy flowing throughout the album.

I'm not sure what I was expecting when I first put this album in my player but I got a whole lot of entertainment from the Scorpions past than I could've really expected beforehand.

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