Brief CD Review Thoughts

[TageRyche]

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.

[TageRyche]

Van Halen - A Different Kind Of Truth (2012) - The final Van Halen studio album is also the last album from the band that I acquired on CD over the last few months of searching.

I don't remember if I've heard any of the songs from the album on the radio when it was originally released so this was pretty much a "brand new" album for me. Which is a bit ironic considering most of the album is actually reworked versions of songs the band did demos for decades prior to the release here.

What struck me most is just how fantastic the album is (for the most part). There's no ballads and while there are some slower paced intros and such, the large portion of the album is all uptempo and rocking you straight in the face.

The song "Tattoo" opens the disc and while I thought it was okay, it wasn't until the 2nd song "She's The Woman" where I really started getting into the music full bore. That song's pacing and full on rocking vibe made it hit home hard with me.

And from that song through "As Is", I'd say the same for each of the songs in the running order. "Bullethead" had some fantastic music and "As Is" featured some guitar work that I was really getting into.

The song "HoneyBabySweetieDoll" has an annoying intro and while the music picks up afterwards giving the song an admittedly more interesting feel, I found it hard to overcome that intro.

(Side Note: I really dislike the style the band used for the booklet's liner notes. The cover and back art is fine but the way they did the lyric content inside wasn't what I would've preferred to see.

The final five songs on the 13-track CD are all fantastic, including the track "Stay Frosty" which has a slightly slower and very bluesy delivery for the first 90 seconds of the song.

I don't know how other fans feel about this album but I have to say that I rather enjoyed it and since it served as the final studio release from Van Halen, the band definitely went out with a great representation of themselves here.

[Yngve J. Chapleen]

Although I don't have the album, I liked it enough when it came out.

However, I always had other things to buy, knowing this will be available later, and then I forgot about it.

Now, I'll probably wait for more, till they have an expanded version out. (If that is ever going to happen?)

[TageRyche]

No idea if they will do a back catalog reissue series or not. But that might take a while too.

[TageRyche]

TWISTED SISTER - Under The Blade (1982) - While I know that I have heard songs from this debut Twisted Sister album over the years, it wasn't until I picked the 1985 remixed version of the release up a few months ago that I ever heard the album in full. And while it was a long time coming, I really got into this release. The 1985 remix has an extra song that isn't on the original version of the disc. That song is an anthemic rocker called "I'll Never Grow Up Now!" and style-wise, it shows off the thrust of Twisted Sister's music back then. It's hard hitting, rocks your socks off and though it may seem like it is somewhat juvenile sounding, there's actually a degree of sophistication to the music and lyrics you might not have expected to find in 1982.

Given that Dee Snider is credited with writing all the songs on Under The Blade, this serves as a strong indicator of just how good he is at composing rock songs that stick with you long after the album ends. The original album was produced by UFO bassist Pete Way, with Twisted Sister bassist Mark Mendoza co-producing the remix with Danny McNerney.

A full eight of the songs on the album are fast and furious in tempo. "What You Don't Know (Sure Can Hurt You", "Shoot 'Em Down", "Sin After Sin" and "Tear It Loose" fall into the pure attitude and rambunctious rock and roll energy category. There's a great catchy feel to "Bad Boys (Of Rock 'N' Roll) that made me think it should've been a hit single.

The band does slow the pace a bit on a trio of songs. "Run For Your Life" opens slow, the pacing seemingly glacial for the first verse of the song but after that it blows up into another in-your-face rocker. But the song "Day Of The Rocker" is a through and through methodic stomp. It forgoes much in the way of a fast pace and instead brings a much heavier feel to the song's musical score.

If I was to pick a song that didn't fully grab me, I'd say it would be "Destroyer". As with "Day Of The Rocker", the song style moves slow with a much heavier feel to the music. But about halfway through the track I was just waiting for it to be over.

The album's title track served to get the band "in trouble" with the PMRC back in the 1980's but I dug the track. It rocks but also has an extra sense of ingrained menace to the lyrics and Dee Snider's vocal performance that really appealed to me as I listened to it.

In all, while it may have taken me so very long to actually here Under The Blade as a full album release, I loved it and can now add it as another great Twisted Sister album!

[TageRyche]

HONEYMOON SUITE - Honeymoon Suite (1984) - I didn't discover Honeymoon Suite until the band's perfect 2nd album The Big Prize, but once I got that, I found this self-titled debut album on cassette. But while I remember the opening song "New Girl Now", I never really got into the album much as a whole. "New Girl Now" is still arguably the song the band is best known for but what surprised me after upgrading to a CD edition of the album was just how much I like this album now.

Three other singles were released from the album. I really like "Burning In Love", a song that is an uptempo rocker and "Stay In The Light" which while still packed with a quick pace isn't quite as rocking as "Burning In Love" The other single is "Wave Babies" which even all these years later still strikes me a bit odd. The song is okay but when the song title is sung in the lyrics, you can still miss it because of the way the vocal is phrased during that part of the song.

As I dug into the other tracks on the album for probably the first REAL listen I've done, I thought "Turn My Head" which bounces back and forth in tempo and packs enough of a punch in terms of hooks, that it should've been another single. And that's the thing about this album. There's the band's rocking side but it comes complete with a fantastic sense of melody woven into each track. The band may never have made it big, but listening to their songs sure makes me think they should have.

Another great track on the album is "Heart On Fire", a pretty rocking track that made me feel like I should be shouting out the song's chorus each time it came up in the lyrics.

I may not have given the Honeymoon Suite album the appreciation I know find that it has deserved all along but now that I've taken the initiative to really dig into the album, I find that it is quite a collection of melodic rock tracks that is deserving of a much larger audience.

[TageRyche]

Tesla - Psychotic Supper (1991) - A couple months back, I was watching a video on Youtube ranking all of Tesla's studio albums. The Psychotic Supper album ranked quite highly and I went to my Tesla collection to give the cassette I had a listen because I hadn't listened to it in a good long while. And I discovered that I no longer had it. I don't know if the cassette wore out or I lost it but I had to get my hands on a copy forthwith. Now that I have it, I can say that I was legitimately surprised at just how much I liked the album.

The 13-track CD opens with five straight killer tracks. "Change In The Weather" is a solidly rocking opener and even thirty years on, the song "Edison's Medicine" is an amazing rocker. Tesla brings a blitzkrieg tempo to "Don't De-Rock Me" and "Call It What You Want" is another bright spot. The ballad "Song And Emotion" is a tribute to the late Def Leppard guitarist Steve Clark and it is done so powerfully that you can still feel the respect the band had for Clark.

While neither "Time" or "Can't Stop" are bad songs, I didn't quite enjoy them at the same level as the rest of the songs on the album. Being the uncool guy that I am, I'm not all that supportive of the seeming drug aspect of the closing track "Toke About It" but in general terms, it is a pretty good track overall.

I liked the short acoustic based track "Government Personnel" a lot. That leads into the stomping "Freedom Slaves". I'm not sure if the two tracks are intended as companion to each other but it sure does feel like they have a common thread between them.

The ballad "What You Give" remains one of the band's better "softer" tracks and it is sandwiched between two more crackling rock tracks in "Had Enough" and "Stir It Up".

It may have taken me a while to realize I'd lost my original Psychotic Supper purchase, but now that I've gotten to listen to the disc almost anew, I have to say that it is definitely one of their better studio releases.

[TageRyche]

AC/DC - For Those About To Rock (We Salute You) (1981 / 2003) - I suppose with the For Those About To Rock (We Salute You) album marking its 40th anniversary this year, now is as good a time as any to listen to the full album for the first time ever. I picked the remastered edition up a few weeks back as I fill in the missing AC/DC albums in my collection.

What I found is that this is a surprisingly entertaining album. The title track is arguably the biggest track on the disc. It was certainly the only one that I remembered right off the bat. It's probably one of the singularly greatest rock anthems that acknowledges the fan community.

While I didn't remember any other songs just by reading the track listing on the back of the disc, once the album started playing, I vaguely recalled "I Put The Finger On You" and "Let's Get It Up". I figure I had to have heard them on the radio over the years. I love the all out blitz of the former track and the rock and roll stomp of "Let's Get It Up" made for a catchy number.

The slowest song on the album is the closing track "Spellbound" and even there the restrained midtempo pacing gives way to a more vibrantly rocking sound over the song's running time. I liked the songs "Evil Walks", "C.O.D." and "Breaking The Rules" well enough.

That said, I did really love "Inject The Venom" a lot too. When I first listened to "Night Of The Long Knives", I wasn't quite sure what to make of it but it grew on me.But you know what song made the biggest impression on me as I heard it for possibly the first time ever? It was "Snowballed". That is a damn good song. The hard-driving relentlessness of the music and the gripping vocal performance just made this track a real bright shining light for me.

I may not have listened to the full For Those About To Rock (We Salute You) album until now, but I can say that the album stands up quite nicely amongst AC/DC's entire discography!

[TageRyche]

Robin Zander - Countryside Blvd (2011) - The "lost" 2nd solo album from Cheap Trick singer Robin Zander is apparently readily available from online retailers despite having been almost immediately pulled when it was originally released. I got my copy from eBay and I was happy to acquire it. I am a huge Cheap Trick fan and I loved the first solo album from Zander so this was a nice addition to my collection.

This album has been billed as a country album but I think that is a bit of a stretch. While there are certainly elements of country music threaded throughout a number of tracks, this sounds as much like a rock album as well. And let's face it, there's no changing just how Zander's voice sounds. It helps define Cheap Trick's sound and once you hear it, it is forever instantly identifiable.

The album opens with the song "Every Dog" and it's a flat out great sounding rock track. Zander redid the song "Walkin' Shoes" from his first solo album on Countryside Blvd but I really didn't think it had much in the way of a countrified sound to it. In fact, it wasn't until the third song "The Ballad of Jean and Me" that there was a real sense of country music and that was pretty much confined to the fiddle playing that opened the song. After that, it was definitely more of a rock track. And quite a good one at that. The song "Heart Of Glass" (not a cover of the Blondie song) also had a strong feel of the country sound to it as well.

I really dug the song "What's Her Name". It's got a rousing rock feel to it that just got to me. The alternate version of the song that is included as a bonus track on the disc is a bit slower in pace but it works just as well as the original.

The album's two clear-cut ballads are "I Wonder What You're Doing Tonight" which was okay but I did find the other ballad, "Was I Wrong", to be a darn good track. Zander was accompanied on vocals by country singer-songwriter Sarah Buxton on the song and she sounded fantastic which helped put this one over the top for me.

I wasn't crazy about the inclusion of "Save The Last Dance For Me / You Are My Sunshine" as I thought it was done in an almost dirge-like fashion that made me long for the track to be over.

Perhaps the song with the strongest connection to country music is the song "Say You Will". It's got a lot of that expected twang and a lively quick-step to the pacing. Along with "What's Her Name", it is probably my favorite track on the disc.

I'm not sure if the story has ever been told as to why Countryside Blvd got pulled from release but it it is too bad because Robin Zander had a pretty effective 2nd album on his hands and more fans need to hear this one.

[TageRyche]

Armored Saint - Symbol Of Salvation Live (2021) - When Armored Saint went on tour to play the Symbol Of Salvation album in its entirety, I knew that I wanted to see the show. First off, I'd never seen the band live and since I am a big fan I needed to rectify that. Plus, the album is one of my favorites from the band. They played a date near me so I got to see them and it was a fantastic show.

As luck would have it when it came time for the release of this live CD/DVD package, the show chosen was from the Gramercy Theater in New York, the day before they played the show I saw. Curses...foiled again!

As I said, I loved the show I saw and Symbol Of Salvation Live does a superb job of capturing the band in fine form as they rocket their way through each of the 13 songs. The studio versions are powerful and Armored Saint makes the live performance of each track come off just as powerful.

If there is anything to nitpick about is that the album focuses SOLELY on the album while the actual concerts had a few songs before Armored Saint started playing the album and at least one song done as an encore. But given that the album is a celebration of this one particular album, I can understand why they chose not to release the full set.

Symbol Of Salvation Live is a fantastic live release, capturing Armored Saint in peak form and demonstrating just how great a band they are and how great the album is as well.

[TageRyche]

Y&T - In Rock We Trust (1984 / 2008) - As I slowly gather the Y&T discography after years of not owning anything from the band, I got myself a copy of this album direct from the band's website. This is the remastered edition and it contains a bonus track. But before I get to that particular song, let's start at the beginning.

This is the 6th album from the band and as I've been learning, is yet another album chock full of great hard rock songs filled with both power and melody. In Rock We Trust opens up with a trio of songs that unless I'm completely misunderstanding the lyrics, all three seemed to have a slight political bent to them. Now, assuming I'm right, it's good to know that the perceived message doesn't overwhelm the tracks. I say this because all three ("Rock & Roll's Gonna Save The World", "Life, Life, Life" and "Masters And Slaves") are fantastice. While "Life, Life, Life" moves about in terms of pacing, the other two songs are full on rockers.

With 11 tracks on the album, I never really found a track that I disliked. But I will say that I liked the power ballad "In This Time" a lot better when the music's intensity picked up.

The album does have two classic Y&T songs on it in the form of the monster "Lipstick And Leather" track as well as the rollicking "Don't Stop Runnin'". No surprise here I'm sure but I loved those two a lot.

Of course, then you have songs like the bonus cut, a studio version of the track "Go For The Throat", "Break Out Tonight" and "I'll Keep On Believin' (Do You Know") which are all purely invigorating rockers.
Other than the two classic tracks, my favorite song is "She's A Liar". It's a relentlessy paced rocker that just seemed to get better and better each time I listened to it.

Each time I pick up a new Y&T album, I'm forced to the realization that having missed the boat on the band the first time around, I cost myself decades of appreciation for the band. In Rock We Trust is yet more proof of this belief!

[TageRyche]

AC/DC - Let There Be Rock (1977 / 2003) - I finally got my hands on a brand new copy of the remastered edition of this album and I have to say that it turned out to be a heck of an entertaining album for me.

I was familiar with three of the eight songs on the album without having every heard Let There Be Rock in full before now.

The title track I knew of but oddly enough, I first discovered the song via a cover of the track by the band Onslaught when they had Grim Reaper vocalist Steven Grimmett singing for them. And I do love both "Problem Child" and the blazingly intense "Whole Lotta Rosie".

As for the rest of the songs? I thought the first two songs on the disc, "Go Down" and "Dog Eat Dog" were pretty solidly thumping rock numbers for sure. I liked "Bad Boy Boogie" though the song title in the chorus did seem to be lost in the mix a lot. And I dug "Hell Aint A Bad Place To Be" as well.

"Overdose" intrigued me because it starts out a bit slow and I didn't really think it would work for me. But over the  course of the song, it got so much better than how it began. 

Overall, this was a heck of a listen and I'm glad to add it to the collection.

[TageRyche]

Journey - Departure (1980/1986/1996) - You'll note that there are three year dates listed for this album. I took it from the CD I picked up the other day. And though I didn't get the version that was released with 2 bonus tracks in 2006, there's apparently that fourth version of the release out there as well.

That said, it's funny how things work sometimes. I'm a big fan of Journey but I wouldn't say that I listen to many of the band's albums in full all that often. I think the Frontiers album (my favorite) is the only one that I play all the way through time and time again.

But that doesn't stop me from knowing the band's material. Because I listen to a lot of classic rock radio I guess. After all, they play a LOT of Journey songs!

So as I listened to Departure, I was a little surprised to see that so many of the songs were memorable to me even though I couldn't tell you the last time I listened to the album (I have owned it on cassette for a long time).

And I'm not talking about the stone cold classic tracks like "Any Way You Want It" or "Walks Like A Lady". This album is chock full of tracks that I like a lot. "Someday Soon" with Gregg Rolie singing lead with Steve Perry is very cool and almost a re-discovered song for me. There's also rockers like "Where Were You", "Precious Time", "Line Of Fire" and "Homemade Love" that got me fired up too.

But then slower tracks like "I'm Cryin'" (Perry's vocals really soar on this one)  and "Good Morning Girl" are also surprisingly memorable to me as well.

In fact, the only song I really don't remember much about is "People And Places". Neal Schon sang lead with Steve Perry on the track but I couldn't recall it at all.

It's not like I haven't heard the songs before and since I own this on cassette, I know I've heard the album in full. But it's been quite a while and hearing it on CD for the first time has given me a renewed appreciation for Departure as a whole and I'm just enjoying the heck out of it!