| Artist/CD Title | Stars (Out of 5) | Brief Review | |
|---|---|---|---|
"Greatest Hits + 5"  | I don't know if anyone really deserves to have a "greatest hits" if you only have two records but I think the album title is a bit misleading in this case. The "greatest hits" of this cd are five selections from Steve's first solo album which included the hits "Oh Sherrie" and "Foolish Heart" & two tracks from his second album as well. The rest of the ten remaining tracks consist of b-sides, unreleased material, and demos. For a Steve Perry fan it is a nice, but I don't think it is geared towards your everyday Joe. My biggest issue with the album is that the new, unreleased songs don't seem to live up to the other "hits" they are grouped with. But, to me, Steve will always have the best voice in rock & that's still enough for me! | ||
"Psycho Circus"  | If you already didn't know, KISS is my favorite band. But, I have never been a big supporter of the reunion. This is the first album in 18 years to feature all the original members of KISS. While I would say it is "good", it fails to be "great". The title track along with "Raise Your Glasses", "Within", "We Are One", and "Journey Of 1000 Years" are all standouts individually, the album as a whole doesn't blow you away. Also, the fact that it only sports just 10 songs is a bit bothersom as well. While it may find a way into my top ten favorite KISS albums (out of thirty-one), it will still find itself toward the bottom of that list. | ||
"Mechanical Animals"  | Ok, here's what's weirder than Marilyn Manson....the fact that I really dig this album! I don't own nor really care for any of his past efforts. But, as soon as I heard "The Dope Show", read some positive reviews of the album and saw his change of image, I knew I had to bite. Hook, line and sinker, I'm a fan. At least of this album. This album is very deep song quality-wise and tracks like "Great Big White World" and "New Model No. 15" are lodged my head! Most of it is very catchy and with less noise compared to his prior releases. From start to finish, this one is very solid throughout!!! | ||
"Spice"  | Well, I got turned on to these girls over a year ago and this album was the one that sold me. Sure I had seen the "Wannabe" and "Say You'll Be There" videos but it wasn't until I listened to this entire CD that I realized I was a "fan". This is a solid album and has many great songs even beyond the first three singles. "Love Thing" and "Last Time Lover" are two non-single standouts along with "Who Do You Think You Are" which is really one of my absolute favorite Spice songs. Maybe the Spice Girls are almost the anti-Marilyn Manson, but to me, I guess I enjoy the best of both worlds. This album is a must-have! | ||
"October Rust"  | These guys have gotten better and better. Their first album was only 7 songs of angry heavy metal (not that that's bad). But over time, they have evolved into a goth-metal band. Sonically, this album is one of the finest produced albums that I've ever heard. Frontman/bassist Peter Steele has a very deep, dark, emotion filled voice who can creepily lull you or scare you depending on the song! "Love You To Death", the first track on this album, is my favorite T.O.N. song overall. "Wolf Moon" and "Christmas Mourning" are two other standouts. The latter has touches of Christmas carols with a depressing, morbid twist. While this doesn't have a ton of "single potential", the album is very solid throughout. | ||
"Van Halen III"  | This album is not as bad as some would make you believe. VH is now on their third singer who is former Extreme frontman, Gary Cherone. While he has the best vocal talent of all the VH singers, it goes unutilized on this CD. The lask-luster production doesn't help this album out either. "Without You", the first single off this album, is by far the best track. "One I Want", "Josephina" and "Year To The Day" are other standouts. VHIII doesn't really capture that classic Van Halen sound but there is enough decent material worth building on for the future. They just have to remember to NOT let Eddie sing lead on any more songs. Yikes! | ||
"American Psycho"  | Before even listening to this record, you must ask yourself "can I accept the Misfits without Glenn Danzig?" For those who can't, they will pan the album. For those who can, they can tell you how the band really pulled off making a pretty good album. And that is what I say. New singer Michale Graves has a great punk voice as well as a good singing voice that Mr. Danzig set the standard for 20 years ago. "Dig Up Her Bones" is the first single from this album and it really shows off Graves' vocal talent. "American Psycho" and "From Hell They Came" are great tracks that really capture the old vibe with a modern feel. I like this album quite a lot! | ||
"Darkest Days"  | This is a great album! Sixteen songs that are filled with anger, hate, rage, and regret all due to a single relationship failure. This is Stabbing Westward's third effort and the topic has yet to change. The first single "Save Yourself" got a good share of radio airplay and can be even be heard on NFL promos. To me, this band takes all the best aspects of Nine Inch Nails and adds some great vocals and loud guitars on top of that. This album is solid from its start with "Darkest Days" and "Everything I Touch" to its finish with "The Thing I Hate" and "Waking Up Beside You". If you've ever been emotionally scarred in a past relationship, you can definately identify with this band! | ||
"Blackacidevil"  | This album was one of the biggest disappointments for me. I am a big fan of Mr. Glenn Danzig but this record was just a disaster. What I always liked about Danzig was his voice, catchy driving guitar riffs and creative lyrics. Unfortunately on this album, his voice is either muffled or distorted for the majority of the disc, most the guitars were replaced by industrial noise, and his lyrics were pretty ho-hum. But even out of this lack-luster effort, I do think that "Sacrifice" and "7th House" are very worthwhile tunes. But, there is little else to salvage overall. If he gets back to what once made him great, we can forgive him for this one slip up. | ||
"Trial By Fire"  | The best thing I'll say about this album is that at least we got one more for the road. I became a pretty big Journey fan long after they had broken up seemingly for good. I am a huge fan of Steve Perry and I feel he has the best voice in music ever while Neal Schon is one of my favorite guitarists as well. Unfortunely, old problems arose once again and it resulted in a confused effort by the band. Journey isn't all ballads and love songs but you wouldn't know it from this CD. "Message Of Love" is the best rocker while "When I Think Of You" & "If He Should Break Your Heart" score the biggest of the mellowier stuff. Heck, I love ballads and slower stuff but how many does one album need from a 'rock' band? Certainly not this many. | ||
"SpiceWorld"  | I would have to say, all and all, that the Spice Girls' second effort was equally as good as their first. Sure, for some reason, they didn't have any #1 singles off this one, but I personally feel that "Spice Up Your Life", "Stop", and "Too Much" were better singles than the three they released off the first record. On SpiceWorld, they diversified quite a bit and dabbled with a variety of different music types all while still being able to stay true to their original sound and style. "Viva Forever", which was a non-American released single, is one of their best songs to date. This record definately ruled out any chance of them being billed as a one hit or album wonder. | ||
"Coal Chamber"  | After seeing this band open up for some of my various faves on three separate occasions, I broke down and bought the cd. This band's debut album is one of the heaviest albums in my collection. Now, while I admit that this cd isn't spinning in my player everyday or anything, it is a very good album for what it is: agressive metal with a groove. The bass and drum beats are simply contagious. There's a good amount of traditional metal-maniac, screaming-like-a-crazy-man vocals as well but it's all in good fun! The opening song "Loco" is awesome. "Bradley", "Oddity" and "Sway" are very strong as well. Not all of the tunes on this album are as good as these, but this cd will fill your fist-pumping & head-banging needs just fine. | ||
"Carnival Of Souls"  | The shame of this Kiss album is that it was completed just before they decided to do the reunion tour. This forced COS's release date to be well over a year and a half later than planned. Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons and ex-Kissers Bruce Kulick (lead guitar) and Eric Singer (drums) round out the musicians on this one. This cd was a change of pace for the band while they tried to incorperate the '90's grunge sound to their already heavy music. But, the end result was very cool! Songs like Paul Stanley's uncharacteristic "Rain", "Master & Slave" and "It Never Goes Away" are simply killer. Gene Simmons comes up big too, most notibly with "Childhood's End". Just when '90's Kiss seemed to be headed in the right direction with this disc, the reunion nixed that altogether. | ||
"Medazzaland"  | I really wouldn't have called myself a Duran Duran fan before I picked up this CD but I now have a whole new respect for the group. I grew up during the band's most vital MTV years but the music on their latest effort has much evolved. The first single, "Electric Barbarella", initially hooked me with the band's tradional sound with a '90's feel. The rest of the album, however, is a bit darker then what you might expect. Songs like "Who Do You Think You Are", "Be My Icon", & "So Long Suicide" contain a darker edge but are very cool and it doesn't come across as generic either. This album is very complete and I was pleasently surprised to find out that not only could they still produce a good single but really make a great album. | ||
"The Rocky Story"  | Who doesn't like the music in the Rocky movies? This cd is fantastic! It is a 'best of' album with all the great songs from the movie series. While it has a heavy dose of songs from Rocky IV (since it had the best music), it still provides you with the two biggest hits of them all in "Eye Of The Tiger" and two versions of the "Gonna Fly Now" theme song. If you throw this on when you are working out, it'll give you that extra lift I swear! You'll think your training for the big fight along with Rocky. Maybe that's a slight exaggeration but I can't stress how cool this album is. It, by far, is the best soundtrack I own! | ||
"Waiting For The Punchline"  | When people think of the band Extreme, their hit ballad "More Than Words" is the first thing that comes to mind. But this song, while it was a great hit for them, has little to do with the band's overall sound. This cd was the last effort from the group before they broke up. I really like this album and it a shame that they could not have stayed together and continued on. The record received some critical acclaim but since they were tagged (unjustly) as a glam band, they had a hard time changing people's minds. None-the-less, songs like "Hip Today", "No Respect", and "Evilangelist" are not only great tunes, but they rock. I think they are/were one of the most talented bands around and it is a shame that they couldn't earn more respect. | ||
"Bloody Kisses"  | No, that is not scribble on the album cover but an autograph by lead singer/bassist, Peter Steele. This was the album that broke the band. To some people, T.O.N. is still considered an unknown but in the rock/metal world, they are seen as an up & coming band. It was the song "Black No. 1" on this CD that really put them on the map. While the single version clocks in around four minutes or so, the album version is a stunning twelve minutes long! "Christian Woman" and "Too Late: Frozen" are also strong tunes on this record. And the cover song, "Summer Breeze", cannot be forgotten. It is done in their own dark, gothic flavor and is simply unreal! Anyhow, this cd made me a fan and I feel that it is one of the finest production jobs that I have ever heard. | ||
" 4P "  | This was the fourth Danzig album & the last one with the original band lineup. | ||
"For The Love Of Strange Medicine"  | This is one of my favorite albums & I can't even fully explain why. Initially, when I gave the cd its first listen, I thought it was way too mellow. But, after I listened to it more, I found something in this album that I usually fail to find in many others. It was the seemingly sincere passion & soul in Steve's singing and his lyrics that grabbed me the most. "You Better Wait" kicks of the album and it is the most Journey-like song on the CD. "Missing You" and Donna Please" are some of the best sang tracks that I have ever heard. It just sounds like Steve is pouring it out straight from his heart. It's hard for me to make note of my favorite songs here because I think the album is the most complete cd that I own. There are too many bands out there who throw together an album based on one or two hit songs and it's nice to see one that seems as if every song is just as important as the next. | ||
"Kiss Unplugged"  | At the point Kiss got around to recording an unplugged for MTV, it had already become a watered down concept. Even so, the first airing of Kiss Unplugged was the second highest rated unplugged program which featured the reunion of the original members for the first time in 17 years. Kiss put together a setlist which consisted of songs that hadn't been performed in years and some, not at all. Highlights were "Comin' Home", "Do You Love Me", "Sure Know Something", and an acustic rendition of their biggest hit single, "Beth" performed by the original four members. The show concludes with a six man performance of "Rock and Roll All Nite" which included two drummers (Eric Singer and Peter Criss). This was the show that ultimately led to the infamous reunion of the original band. Despite that fact, it is still an excellent cd. | ||