Lesbian Bed Death - Evil Never Dies (2016)

Genre - Hard Rock / Gothic Rock / Female Vocal

Label - Pledge Music

Track listing:

01 - Evil Never Dies

02 - Claws

03 - Make Your Wish

04 - Book Of The Dead

05 - Satan In The Swamps

06 - She Sell's Hand Grenades

07 - Church Of V

08 - Son Of A Thousand Maniacs

09 - Survive The Night

10 - Drag Me To Hell

11 - The Final Curtain

"Lesbian Bed Death was founded in the United Kingdom by guitarist Mr Peach as a side project designed to pay tribute to all of the Gothic Punk, Glam, Sleaze bands he grew up with. He was soon joined by Johnny Hell (Vox/Guitar/Keys/Programming) and in 2004, the duo recorded their first song 'Goth Girls Are Easy'. It was put on the internet for free download, and the band started to build a following.  The Duo soon became a trio with the addition of Magic Andy on Bass. A few demos were recorded and Lesbian Bed Death performed a string of live shows, with the rest of the band being made up of various musician friends. The live band varied, depending on who was available to play at the time. Unfortunately things didn't work out with Johnny Hell, mainly due to other commitments and the distance between band members. Lesbian Bed Death brought on board Luci4 as the new lead singer. The only recording from Lesbian Bed Death with Johnny Hell on vocals that received an official release was 'Goth Girls Are Easy' which was featured on the compilation album 'Kill Your Management Volume 6'.
Lesbian Bed Death recorded its debut album 'I Use My Powers For Evil' at the Lizard Lounge Studios in Stoke-on-Trent. It was produced by Alex Jockel, and saw the Lesbian Bed Death recorded its debut album 'I Use My Powers For Evil' at the Lizard Lounge Studios in Stoke-on-Trent. It was produced by Alex Jockel, and saw the LBD trio being joined by members of the 'then live band' including lead guitarist Chuckmaster C, and numerous musician friends from the local scene. It was released on Halloween 2006. The debut album was followed by three music videos and gigs all over the UK, including some underground festivals. The band also played shows in The Netherlands. The band built up a cult following and have sold albums all over the world. People searching Youtube for 'Lesbian' and 'Goth Girls' certainly didn't hurt.
Lesbian Bed Death began working on a new album in the Summer of 2009. On the first day of recording, Magic Andy quit the band. The remaining members recorded almost the entire album over the next few months hoping that he would reconsider and rejoin the band. Eventually, Chuckmaster C had to record the bass parts. Unlike the debut, the second album was recorded by just four people: Luci4, Mr Peach, Chuckmaster C and long-standing drummer Danny Stigmata. Soon after the recording of the album, the band recruited bassist Will Power to complete the line-up. Lesbian Bed Death was now becoming a band as opposed to a 'project'.
In a long standing tradition of utter chaos, Lesbian Bed Death announced the departure of lead singer Luci4 only weeks before the Halloween 2010 release of the album.
The band announced Kittie Racchea as their new singer, and went on to record a further two albums, 'Rise Of The Living Dead' (2012) and 'The Devil's Bounty Hunters' (2013)"

Ok so history lesson over, now I have a confession to make. I lost touch with Lesbian Bad Death shortly after they released their debut album, and until recently I had absolutely no idea that they were still going, yet alone that they had released a further three albums, so I had a little catching up to do before getting my ear lobes around their new, and fifth studio album, 'Evil Never Dies'.

The album opens with the stunning title track and lead single, 'Evil Never Dies' before steam rolling into another slab of infections gothic glam in 'Claws'. The momentum continues until they slow things down with the moody and grinding 'Satan In The Swamp' where new vocalist Sienna Venom's intricate vocals get the chance to shine. The tempo picks back up with the great little rocker, 'She Sell's Hand Grenades'.
'Church of V' is a great atmospheric tribute to the cult sci fi classic show V, whilst 'Son of a Thousand Maniacs' is a rocking tribute to the Nightmare on Elm Street series. 'Survive the Night' pays homage to the classic slasher movies of yester year, with its epic atmospheres!
'Drag Me To Hell' is a rocking track, probably the most up-tempo song on offer here, and a great tribute to horror movies most famous bad guys!
'The Final Curtain'  fittingly closes out the album, a slow atmospheric almost lullaby. with Sienna Venom providing a lovely haunting vocal.

Very, very, very Highly recommended!!

Rating: 10/10

ON TOP - Topless (2015)

Genre - Hard Rock / Glam / Sleaze

Label - Toil Records

 

Track listing:

 

01 - Lie to Me
02 - Crazy
03 - 282
04 - Got Me Runnin'
05 - No Shame
06 - Cold and Blue
07 - Don't Go
08 - Bad Love
09 - Hot N Wet
10 - Into The Night
11 - Sleepless
12 - Too Much
 

Pennsylvanian three piece ON TOP have decided that the likes of Poison, Faster Pussycat, Skid Row and Motley Crue had so much fun 30 years ago that there’s very little reason that they shouldn’t join in too. "Topless" is their 3rd effort, and if you think '80s influenced glam metal / sleaze was dead in America, then better listen this corker.
Take the opening lines of '282': "Running with the devil / Pedal to the metal / Its all about getting paid / eyes on the gold / body’s been sold / at least you’re getting laid..." so sneers vocalist / bass player Jaron Gullino, over a riff that takes Crue’s Kickstart My Heart as its inspiration and gets sleazier from there. If that doesn’t make it clear that we aren’t dealing with anything too taxing then nothing will.
Those of us that fancy a dip into the hard rock of old will find much to enjoy in the carefree filthy groove of 'Got Me Runnin', while 'Lie To Me' manages not to be ballad and instead keeps the upbeat rockin' spirit needle in the red.
No, there's not ballads here. In fact, ON TOP are pretty heavy at places, mixing some dark Lynch Mob’s style riff stuff into the mix. Just checkout 'No Shame'.
Jaron Gulino’s double duty of vocals and bass is more memorable for the latter, as the raunchy bass line is excellent. He's not bad on the mic either, he owns a natural hard rock voice, clear & sleazy, just a bit linear sometimes.
Brian Davis is quite hot on guitar, replacing Alex Kulick since the bands’ last release. Danny Piselli’s drumming is heavy yet deliberate, and he completes a band that sound tight and ready to unleash havoc.
'Cold and Blue' has some Motley / LA Guns feel, but the melodic chorus and multiple guitar hooks finds a band simply being themselves. Gulino’s vocals are more aggressive here than your normal glam rock vocalist, and this is refreshing to hear.
'Don’t Go' grabs a few tricks from the old Aerosmith bag o' dirty tricks in the way of snorting riffs and bluesy shucks. However, there's a raucous Sunset Strip ready chorus.
Then the six-minute 'Bad Love' refuses to let up the balls out rawk, more polished than the previous and with some hair metal on it and high quality solos from Davis.
On Top is a band straight to the point: party rockers, easy melodies driven by strong riffs and choruses, combined with the thick and clean production make this a very enjoyable trip back to ‘80s US glam / sleaze hard rock.
However, the trio is pretty modern with the set-up sound, and this could bring young listeners to this genre and forget the crappy modern rock ruling American radio right now.
Great Stuff.
Well Worth Checking Out

Rating - 9/10

I Love Rich - Respect The Rich (2014)

Genre - Hard Rock / Glam / Sleaze
Label - Self Released

Track listing:

01 - Respect The Rich (intro)
02 - (You're So Hot) I'm Gonna Fuck You With The Lights On
03 - Wake Up, Let Me Rock You
04 - We're Here To Save Rock And Roll
05 - Fight The Fire
06 - If You Don't Take Your Clothes Off, Tonight's Gonna Suck
07 - (You're So Hot) I'm Gonna Fuck You With The Lights On (Rock En Espanol Version)
08 - (You're So Hot) I'm Gonna Fuck You With The Lights On ( Clean Radio Version)
        (AKA (You're So Hot) I'm Gonna Love You With The Lights On)

Okay, so where do I start? Chicago's I Love Rich have been around for a while now, peddling their brand of party glam rock / sleaze. You only have to check out the titles in the track listing above to get a good idea of what you're in for with this band. Straight up party rock and roll, possibly a little more Spinal Tap than Steel Panther, but what the hey, these guys are loving what they do, and I'd say most of those choosing to listen to this Ep will be loving what they do too!
There is definitely a relaxed feel to the music, real good time music, with a Kiss / Ace Frehley styled vocals, and to be fair the songs are pretty strong. Did this eight track Ep need three versions of the same song? Not really, but that is probably the only real negative here. As I have already said, the songs are pretty strong, Fight The Fire and (You're So Hot) I'm Gonna Fuck You With The Lights On being the two stand outs here.
If you are looking for some good time rock and roll music for a frat party, or hell any party, then you could do a lot worse than I Love Rich!

Rating - 8/10

Jizzy Pearl (Love Hate) - Crucified EP (2014) Review

Genre - Hard Rock / Sleaze / Glam / LA Rock
Label - Self Released

Track listing:

01 - Hanging You Out To Dry
02 - Sunny Day
03 - You're Making Me Nervous
04 - I Don't Want To Be Your Baby
05 - Love Is All
06 - Too Late

So this was originally intended to be released as a Love/Hate product, but due to legal reasons Jizzy has opted to release it as a solo release. The reasons for this he explained in a recent Metal Sludge article,

"  Why did I change the Love/Hate record to a Jizzy Pearl record?

Simply put, because dealing with ex-members isn’t worth the hassle. I don’t want to spend thousands fighting over a band that makes hundreds. This isn’t Queensryche, or Great White, we’re not talking about a band that makes $12,000.00 or $20,000.00 a night. You know why the 2 L.A.Guns didn’t sue each other? It wasn’t worth the money to sue each other, period. Now cut that money in half and you get Love/Hate. But there are some people out there who still think Love/Hate is the “Golden Goose,” Some people think that Love/Hate sells T-shirts like Iron Maiden or Motorhead. Some people still think MTV plays videos…unless you’ve gassed up the van and done the tours Bang-Tango style like I have then I guess you don’t really know.
So here’s the deal–I’ll do this last and final tour as Jizzy Pearl’s Love/Hate or Jizzy Pearl of Love/Hate, whatever fits, the fans will know who is and who isn’t in the band. After that we’ll put the whole thing to bed and I’ll never play with any of these ex-members again. And to prove how lucrative it is touring in a van I invite all the Love/Hate ex-members to form their own Love/Hate’s, why should I have all the fun eating at Waffle House breakfast lunch and dinner, driving for hours every day hung over and getting ripped off by promoters? C’mon get off the couch, put on those old leather pants from the ‘Blackout’ video and come ‘Live the Dream’.
If there can be two Great White’s and two Queensryches why can’t there be four versions of Love/Hate! It’ll be like the four KISS records.
As for me I look forward to a great 2014 with a great new band, great guys, great stages, great production and food that doesn’t come out of a tube.
I love Love/Hate–The fans are great, the music was superb but in the end ex-members just aren’t worth the hassle…
Jizzy Pearl"

The Ep opens with "Hanging You Out To Dry" which has a typical Love/Hate feel to it, maybe the vocals are a little too high in the mix for me, but a solid song that brings back memories of Blackout....and Waysted In America. "Sunny Day" is up next, with a slightly more polished sound, still very much with that Love/Hate feel. "You're Making Me Nervous" follows, and this is one of my favourite tracks on this ep. It really does capture that old Love/Hate magic, a great song that reminds me of the likes of "Don't Fuck With Me" et all. "I Don't Want To Be Your Baby" is the Ep's ballad, or should that be anti ballad? A great song.
"Love Is All" is up next with its exotic eastern intro. this is a real classy track and again one of the strongest songs on offer. I Love it!
The Ep closes with "Too Late", another classy well polished song. A real gem.

But dont just take my word for it, here is what Jizzy has to say about the Ep, track by track!


"Jizzy Pearl on 'CRUCIFIED'


Hanging You Out To Dry - “A song about the infamous Hollywood Sign stunt from the viewpoint of the Crucifee himself. The vibe is simple, I tried to get back to the start, a bunch of young kids banging out loud musical joy in a little room and the singer in the middle, one microphone, testifying to the World.”
Sunny Day - “A love song to my girlfriend, plain and simple. Usually I had to break up with my girlfriends to get a good song out of them but not this time, thankfully. Sunny Day is old School Love/hate psychedelia."
You’re Making Me Nervous - “A fictional account of every man’s idea of a bad date. The lyrics come straight from the horse’s mouth as he watches his Friday night fantasy crash and burn."
I Don’t Want To Be Your Baby - “This is a twist on the traditional Power Ballad where the guy not only doesn’t get the girl, he doesn’t want the girl."
Love Is All - “My Led Zeppelin roots come out on this one, all those Kashmir days and nights huddled around the peace pipe. I got to stretch out a bit and do some cool things musically that you can’t normally do in a 3 minute pop song.”
Too Late - “A song about someone near and dear to me who f**ked up. You can’t go back to high school, you can’t go back to those glory days of youth. You just—can’t—go—back.”

Its a problem about the legal issues, and the original band members not being able to put their differences aside, but here Jizzy delivers an Ep that is truly worthy of the Love/Hate stamp of approval, lets just hope thast the Love/Hate fans, and indeed all rock / sleaze fans give "Cruicifed" the chance it deserves as there are some real gems on offer here


Rating - 9/10  (one point deducted for the mix, would have loved the music higher in the mix on the firth couple of tracks!)


Catch Jizzy Pearl On Tour!



Jizzy Pearl UK Tour 2014

Mar 06: Norwich Waterfront
Mar 07: Belfast Diamond Rock Club
Mar 08: Aberdeen Moorings Bar
Mar 09: York Fibbers
Mar 11: Edinburgh Bannermans
Mar 12: Edinburgh Bannermans
Mar 13: Newcastle Think Tank at Digital
Mar 14: Bradford Gasworks
Mar 15: Sutton Diamond
Mar 16: TBC
Mar 17: London Underworld
Mar 19: Wolverhampton Slade Rooms
Mar 20: Ebbw Vale Institute,
Mar 21: Buckley Tivoli
Mar 22: HRH AOR FESTIVAL
Mar 23: Northampton Attic





 

White Pigeon - Property Of White Pigeon (2013)

Genre - Hard Rock / Glam / Sleaze / Pop
Label -

Track listing:

01 - Party
02 - Sea Devil
03 - The Hunt
04 - Kentucky Pie
05 - Rock Me
06 - Ladies
07 - Don't Get Too Close (Squash Song)
08 - Get Me Outta Here
09 - Gladiator
10 - White Pigeon


What would you get if you crossed a little Steel Panther, Tenacious D, Whitesnake and The Darkness. Well I would guess that the result would sound pretty much like White Pigeon.
Less punky than Spit Like This, but in a very similar vein none the less. Property of... is their debut album, featuring revisited, re-mixed, and re-mastered tracks of their now rare first EP as well as five brand new tracks, the release seizes the ear from first note to last to provide an energetic brawl of fun and music, its first track Party the perfect title for the feisty and enjoyable encounter. The opener takes no time in feeding the ear hot guitar melodies and primes riffs driven by infectious vocals and warm inviting keys. The vocals from Nugent and the twins ignites hunger to join the revelry whilst the sounds control the feet and directs their responses to the anthemic lures eagerly at play with masterful efficiency. You know from this opening track that these guys have their tongues planted firmly in their cheeks!
The album continues in much the same vein, only occassionally missing the mark on tracks such as Ladies and Get Me Outta Here, but on a whole its a great fun romper stomper of an album from a young British band!

Rating - 8/10

Lovebite - Lock 'N' Load (2012)

Genre - Hard Rock / Glam / Sleaze / Metal
Label - Independant

Track listing -

01 - No Turning Back
02 - Sin City
03 - Breakin' The Rules
04 - Love/Hate
05 - Hey Baby
06 - Gonna Love You Anyway
07 - Lock 'N' Load
08 - Queen Of Hearts
09 - Can't Fight Your Love
10 - Striptease
11 - Mr. Lonely
12 - Too Much Is Never Enough

Where do I start?
Lovebite, (love the name by the way!), are a Birmingham (Midlands, UK) band that claim they are destined to be one of the hottest glam-metal bands to arrive on the UK scene, and to be fair I have to disagree. I feel that that particular statement sells the band short, as there is so much to these guys than being just a glam band. Sure, Lovebite's music is '80s Melodic Hard Rock influenced, not only in style / songwriting, but also in the way that they pull it off sonically. The guitars are loud and we have gang vocals all over, all wrapped with an intense and dynamic rhythm section, complete with cowbell and all.Yes there you can hear the influence of the genre legends such as Motley Crue, Skid Row or L.A Guns all over the place, but the songs are also more melodic and polished with infleneces such as Firehouse and Danger Danger clearly there to be heard.
A perfect example being Breakin' The Rules, a song that could quite easily be coming right off of Firehouse's debut in the way its composed and arranged.
With vocalist Johnny Sparks coming across as a blend of a young Vince Neil and Mike Tramp and the riffs coming loud and fast this album really does take me back, yet despite the clear 80's influence on the bands sound, the production brings that same said sound band upto date, leaving us with a great contempory sounding album.
For a band that have only been together for a relativly short time these guys show a helluva lot of promise.

Great debut, very highly reconmended!

Rating - 10/10
Website - http://lovebiteofficial.com

Spit Like This - Normalityville Horror (2012)

Genre - Hard Rock / Sleaze / Rockabilly / Goth / Glam
Label - Dark Lord Records

Track listing -

01 - Sick
02 - Normalityville Horror
03 - Zero To Sixty
04 - Very Very Good At Being Bad
05 - Dragged Kicking & Screaming
06 - Teen Angel
07 - The Life & Times Of The Suicide Kid
08 - Oh No! Here We Go!
09 - The Dumb Song
10 - Dead To Me Now

Lord Zion, Vicky Spit and Co return with their second album and the follow up to 2009's debut, We Wont Hurt You, But We Wont Go Away, in the form of Normalityville Horror.
Here we have more of what Spit Like This do best, a perfect blend of Hard Rock / Punk / Sleaze / Rockabilly and sixties rock 'n' roll musical influences. To be honest, the best way to describeSpit Like This is to imagine if you threw Alice Cooper, Iron Maiden, Early Motley Crue along with some Sixties Rock N Roll into a blender, then mixed the result with a healthy dose of Rocky Horror, then you maybe close to describing the bands sound. The songs themselves are full of life almost theatrical, cominag accross kind of like a modern day Rocky horror Picture Show!
From the opening moments of Sick to the closing riffs of dead To Me Now, this album is pure Spit Like This, pure and simple.
the only fault that I can find is that despite having the skills of one Chris Tsangarides on hand as producer, sometimes the songs just feel a little too loose for me, nit picking probably, but hey Spit Like This have never fitted into any particular genre any how so who am I to comment lol.
Stand out tracks for me include, Zero To Sixty, Very Very Good At Being Bad, Teen Angel and Dead To Me Now.
If you're a fan of the band then you are going to love this album, if you have never heard of them, well check them out, you never know you may discover a unique new band to love!

Rating 8/10

Alice Cooper - Welcome 2 My Nightmare

Genre - Hard Rock / Shock rock / Glam Rock

Track listing -

01. I Am Made Of You

02. Caffeine
03. The Nightmare Returns
04. A Runaway Train
05. Last Man On Earth
06. The Congregation
07. I'll Bite Your Face Off
08. Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever
09. Ghouls Gone Wild
10. Something To Remember Me By
11. When Hell Comes Home
12. What Baby Wants
13. I Gotta Get Outta Here
14. The Underture

Recorded with longtime collaborator Bob Ezrin, who produced the original multi-platinum "Welcome To My Nightmare" album in 1975, the record picks up right where they left off, with Alice trapped in his own warped mind. "This is Alice's nightmare 35 years later," explains Alice, "Bob and I created this character and we know how to write for him. I play the part but we're not writing for me, we're writing for Alice. We kept the first 'Nightmare' album very personal to us, on this one we found more humor and we were more open. This was our world and we want to present it to the fans. The original album was my first solo album after all those huge hit records with the original band and now that nightmare is exposed, this one can be a little bit more open. The music crosses all sorts of boundaries; we went where the lyrics took us."


"There is a vast array of collaborators on the new album, including original Alice Cooper members Denis Dunaway, Michael Bruce and Neal Smith reunited on three tracks; global pop superstar Ke$ha, who affectionately calls Alice "dad"; and legendary Alice and Lou Reed guitarist Steve Hunter, who is part of Alice's current touring band and featured prominently on the first "Nightmare" album.

Musically, the album ranges far and wide, from trashing disco to garage punk, pop balladry to a rocking number very much in the spirit of THE ROLLING STONES. And then there's the ballad "Something To Remember Me By", described by Alice as "the prettiest song we have ever released."
Glimpses of themes from the original album are intertwined throughout, each track representing a different aspect of Alice's nightmare."

The first thing that I did before listening to this album was to give the original 1975 Welcome To My Nightmare a spin, just so that I could honestly say as to whether Welcome 2 My Nightmare stands up to its predecessor, and not to be comparing it through the eyes of nostalgia.

Welcome 2 My Nightmare, just like its predecessor has a wide range of music styles and themes going on, from the Rolling Stones influenced lead single, I’ll Bite Your Face Off, to the Beatles / Oasis themed Last Man On Earth, to the rock n roll / Ramones groove of Ghouls Gone Wild.
One thing that I have loved when listening to this album is the way that they have interwoven themes, snippets of piano or guitar refrains from the original 1975 masterpiece. All of a sudden, you hear a piano segment from Steven, or a little theme from Only Women Bleed, and all done without it sounding tacky or forced, awesome!

I love this album and I can honestly say that Welcome 2 My Nightmare is the best album Alice has released in years, and I love most of the albums that he has released in his long career!

Well worth checking out!

Website - Alice Cooper
Rating - 10/10

Baby Scream - Secret Place

Genre - Rock / Pop / Powerpop
Label - Eternal Sunday

Tracklisting -

01 The Last Call
02 Hit And Run
03 Secret Place
04 Going North
05 Cold Weather Reggae
06 Bad Seed
07 Patiently
08 London Sun
09 The Atmosphere
10 Eating My Face

Baby Scream return with their Eighth studio release, hot on the tail of last year’s self titled album, with Secret Place.
"The story behind Secret Place, Baby Scream's eighth album and the first to be released by Eternal Sunday, begins when the government office Opción Música, that belongs to the City Government of Buenos Aires, announced that local indie labels could present proposals for recording an album at Estudio Urbano, a cultural centre dedicated to rock music and youth culture. The winners could use 80 hours of recording. Eternal Sunday proposed recording a new Baby Scream album (the band was releasing its homonymous album by OK! Records in the UK) and the project was accepted, so the band has to enter the studio to make a new album in two weeks."

The result is a refreshing laid back and honest album upon which composer Juan Pablo Mazzola takes us on a journey through a myriad of music styles and influences from the relaxed rocker, opening track The Last Call, through the Lennonesque Hit and Run (which is set to be released as the lead single from this album!) on through the darker themed songs like Going North. Cold Weather Reggae throws us a bit of a curve ball, but once again shows that Juan can turn his hand to writing almost any musical style that he chooses. The rest of the album continues in the same vein, relaxed laid back songs covering almost every emotion, even Eating My Face, which covers a dream where composer Juan was served his own head to eat in a restaurant!

The standard of the song writing and the musicianship on display here is as always top notch. THERE REALLY ISNT A BAD SONG ON THIS CD!
Secret Place maybe a little more laid back than some of Baby Screams previous release’s, but its still a truly stunning album, if you are a fan of Baby Screams previous releases then you will love this album, if you’ve not heard Baby Scream before, then why not? Check them out, they’re a great band producing great music!
The albums out August 15th, do yourself a favour and grab a copy!

Website – Baby Scream

Rating – 10/10

Hit And Run (single)
Faithful to the classic rock tradition followed by Baby Scream, Eternal Sunday announces the release of the single "Hit And Run" backed with "20th Century Baby". "20th Century Baby" is a song written by the legendary Marc Bolan (the leader of T-Rex) that was only released as a demo after the composer's death. Baby Scream recorded its version during the Secret Place recording sessions.

The single will be available at every major digital store (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon, Spotify, etc.) on July 15th, 2011. (OUT NOW!)

Queen - The Game (2011 Deluxe Edition Remaster)

Genre - Classic Rock / Hard Rock / Glam / Pop
Label - Island Records

Track listing -

CD1:
01 – Play The Game
02 – Dragon Attack
03 – Another One Bites The Dust
04 – Need Your Loving Tonight
05 – Crazy Little Thing Called Love
06 – Rock It (Prime Jive)
07 – Don’t Try Suicide
08 – Sail Away Sweet Sister
09 – Coming Soon
10 – Save Me

CD2:
01 – Save Me (Live in Montreal, November 1981)
02 – A Human Body (B-Side)
03 – Sail Away Sweet Sister (Take 1 With Guide Vocal)
04 – It’s A Beautiful Day (Original Spontaneous Idea, April 1980)
05 – Dragon Attack (Live at Milton Keynes Bowl, June 1982)

This album has always been one of my favourite Queen albums, originally released in 1980, and featuring some wonderful songs from the title track, Play the Game, the world wide chart buster's, Another One Bites The Dust and Crazy Little Thing Called Love, to the quirky Dont Try Suicide and Sail Away Sweet Sister and power ballad Save Me. A Great album. A great thing about this release is that includes the original spontaneous idea that became Its A Beautiful Day, and an early take of Sail Away Sweet Sister, plus the Roger Taylor sung B-side A Human Body and a couple of live tracks.
Production once again is top notch with this remaster, a truley great album very highly reconmended.

website - www.Queen-online.comrating - 10/10

Queen - Jazz (2011 Rematered Deluxe Edition)

Genre - Classic Rock / Hard Rock / Glam / Pop
Label - Island Records

Track listing -

CD1:
01 – Mustapha
02 – Fat Bottomed Girls
03 – Jealousy
04 – Bicycle Race
05 – If You Can’t Beat Them
06 – Let Me Entertain You
07 – Dead On Time
08 – In Only Seven Days
09 – Dreamer’s Ball
10 – Fun It
11 – Leaving Home Ain’t Easy
12 – Don’t Stop Me Now
13 – More of That Jazz

CD2:
01 – Fat Bottomed Girls (Single Version)
02 – Bicycle Race (Instrumental)
03 – Don’t Stop Me Now (With Long-Lost Guitars)
04 – Let Me Entertain You (Live)
05 – Dreamer’s Ball (Early Acoustic Demo)

Originally released in 1978, Jazz continued to give Queen hits and anthems in the form of Bicycle Race, Dont Stop Me Now and Fat Bottomed Girls as well as continueing to show case the bands experimental side with tracks like Let Me Entertain You and Mustapha.
A Great album and once again the remastering really brings every sound to life. Bonus tracks are pretty interesting too, An acoustic demo of Dreamers Ball, I different mix of Dont Stop Me Now, an Instrumental, a Live and single mix.
Well reconmended, especially as an introduction to some of the bands lesser known classics such as Jealousy,Dead On Time, Leaving Home Aint Easy and Dreamers Ball.

Website - www.Queen-online.comRating - 9/10

Hollywood Killerz - Dead On Arrival

Genre – Hard Rock / Glam / Sleaze
Label – logic(il)logic

Track listing –
01. 700.000
02. Grey Celebrations
03. Luxury Depression
04. Girls ® Dead
05. How (Could I)
06. Going Down
07. Somewhere Out Of This Mind
08. All Tomorrow's Parties
09. Over And Over
10. Through The Sand
11. Our Memories May Be Right
12. Lovecrash
13. More Than It Hurts You

Italian sleaze / glam / hard rockers Hollywood Killerz unleash Dead On Arrival upon the world, and well, it’s not at all bad. I can truly imagine fans of Alice Cooper, Dogs d’ Amour, Michael Monroe and Demolition 23 falling in love with this album. Straight up sleaze rock with a punky edge. This album is filled with catchy melodies punctuated by spiky guitars, sleaze heaven!
The only faults I can really pick out here are that, one there’s nothing really new on offer here, it’s all been done before, but Hollywood Killerz do it very well! And two, a problem for a lot of European vocalists where English is not their native language, sometimes the pronunciation of certain lyrics can be off, but that said it does add a little something to the all over charm of the songs.
If you like your rock downright dirty and truly sleazy then check out this album!

Website - Hollywood Killerz
Rating – 8/10

Def Leppard - Mirror Ball Live and More

Genre - Hard Rock / Pop Rock / Glam
Label -

Track listing -

CD1:
01. Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)
02. Rocket
03. Animal
04. C’Mon C’Mon
05. Make Love Like A Man
06. Too Late For Love
07. Foolin’
08. Nine Lives
09. Love Bites
10. Rock On

CD2:
01. Two Steps Behind
02. Bringin’ On The Heartbreak
03. Switch 625
04. Hysteria
05. Armageddon It
06. Photograph
07. Pour Some Sugar On Me
08. Rock Of Ages
09. Let’s Get Rocked
10. Action
11. Bad Actress
12. Undefeated
13. Kings Of The World
14. It’s All About Believin’



'Mirror ball' was recorded across the world over the course of many of the band's sold-out dates and features all of the classic songs that have made Def Leppard one of the most respected and beloved power rock bands in the world. Attempting to capture the group's legendary concert experience, this double disc set bring together many of the bands classic tracks such as 'Pour Some Sugar On Me', 'Rock Of Ages','Foolin'', 'Hysteria', 'Photograph' and 'Bringing On The Heartbreak', a great set list, I just wish that they were all from the same show!

The thing that is of real interest to me are the last three tracks on disc two, new studio recordings, current single Undefeated, Kings Of The World and It's All About Believin', each a future Leppard classic in their own right, but Undefeated is definitely one of the strongest songs that the guys have come up with in years, as is Kings Of The World with its very Queen - esque sound, awesome

A great introduction for new fans, and a pleasant addition to us older fans

Website - Def Leppard
Rating - 9/10

Queen - Deep Cuts Volume 1 [1973-1976]

Genre - Classic Rock / Hard rock / Glam / Pop
Label - Island records

Tracklist:
01 – Ogre Battle
02 – Stone Cold Crazy
03 – My Fairy King
04 – I’m In Love With My Car
05 – Keep Yourself Alive
06 – Long Away
07 – The Millionaire Waltz
08 – ’39
09 – Tenement Funster
10 – Flick Of The Wrist
11 – Lily Of The Valley
12 – Good Company
13 – The March Of The Black Queen
14 – In The Lap Of The Gods…Revisited

"Queen release the album'Deep Cuts Volume One 1973-1976'on March 14th 2011, a bespoke collection of hidden gems from the band's first five albums, specially chosen by Roger Taylor and Brian May in consultation with life-long fan, Taylor Hawkins from the Foo Fighters.

'Deep Cuts Volume One' is designed as a companion piece to the first five Queen albums which are being re-issued by Island Records on March 14th as part of the bands 40th anniversary celebrations.

Designed to dig a little deeper than their multi-million selling 'Greatest Hits' compilations ('Greatest Hits', by the way, is officially the biggest selling British album of all time with sales of an incredible 5.7 million copies so far in the UK alone), 'Deep Cuts Volume One 1973-1976' showcases a less well-known side of the early Queen story and reveals some brilliant tracks to listeners looking to delve into the band's founding years' work for the first time.The first five Queen albums – Queen, Queen II, Sheer Heart Attack, A Night At The Opera and A Day At The Races - are a testament not only to the band's skills as songwriters and musicians, but also to their determination to push the creative and technological envelopes to their absolute limits.

Challenging the traditional practises of the studios of the time, pioneering new methods of recording and refusing to use synthesisers, the band's unique sound was born out of their incredible individual talents and ingenuity. Breaking the mould with multiple vocal harmonies, multi-layered guitar harmonies, cross rhythms and multiple repeats, Queen would layer so many tracks onto recording tape as to render it literally translucent, their 15 hour studio sessions now the stuff of legend within the studio community.

For Queen, the studio was a place of boundless possibilities. From the raw energy and heavy rock of Queen I to the polished splendour of A Day At The Races, they continued to challenge and innovate. Listening to 'Deep Cuts' in the 21st century, you can hear how Queen revolutionised both rock music itself and the way rock music was made.

The booklet notes for 'Deeper Cuts' were especially commissioned by Roger Taylor and Brian May from comedy actor and writer Rhys Thomas, an unlikely but unquestionable Queen fan and expert. Thomas publicly showed his vast knowledge of the band appearing on the New Year special edition of Celebrity Mastermind where, answering questions of the subject of his favourite band, Queen, he achieved the distinction of scoring the highest number of correct answers in the history of the television series."

The track listing is amazing, and this album is a great way for a fan to see if they want to invest in the rereleases of the bands first five albums, but to me its stands as a great compilation of the bands formative years!

website - Queen
Rating - 10/10

Queen - A Day At The Races (2011 Remaster)

Genre - Classic Rock / Hard Rock / Glam / Pop

Label - Island Records
Tracklist:
01 – Tie Your Mother Down
02 – You Take My Breath Away
03 – Long Away
04 – The Millionaire Waltz
05 – You And I
06 – Somebody To Love
07 – White Man
08 – Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy
09 – Drowse
10 – Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)

Bonus CD:
01 – Tie Your Mother Down (Backing Track Mix 2011)
02 – Somebody To Love (Live At Milton Keynes Bowl, June 1982)
03 – You Take My Breath Away (Live In Hyde Park, September 1976)
04 – Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy (Top Of The Pops, July 1977) (Mono)
05 – Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together) (HD Mix)

A Day At The Races was originally intended to be released together with A Night At The Opera as a double album, but the band decided to release them as two separate albums, and in my opinion A Day At The Races is often overlooked by many rock fans despite containing some real gems like Tie Your Mother Down, Somebody To Love, the sublime You Take My Breath Away, which see’s Freddie Mercury in absolutely great form vocally, Long Away and Teo Torriatte, some of Queens finest songs.
Again the re-mastering is excellent.
The bonus disc offers up some interesting tracks but I would have loved to have seen some demos included here.

A great album

Website - Queen
Rating - 9/10

Queen - Sheer Heart Attack (2011 Remaster)

Genre - Classic Rock / Hard Rock / Glam / Pop
Label - Island Records

Tracklist:
01 – Brighton Rock
02 – Killer Queen
03 – Tenement Funster
04 – Flick of the Wrist
05 – Lily of the Valley
06 – Now I’m Here
07 – In the Lap of the Gods
08 – Stone Cold Crazy
09 – Dear Friends
10 – Misfire
11 – Bring Back That Leroy Brown
12 – She Makes Me (Stormtrooper In Stilettos)
13 – In the Lap of the Gods… Revisited

Bonus CD:
01 – Now I’m Here (Live At Hammersmith Odeon, December 1975)
02 – Flick of the Wrist (BBC Session, October 1974)
03 – Tenement Funster (BBC Session, October 1974)
04 – Bring Back That Leroy Brown (A Cappella Mix 2011)
05 – In the Lap of the Gods… Revisited (Live At Wembley Stadium, July 1986)

Sheer Heart Attack gave Queen their first commercial chart success in the form of a brilliant little song about a high class hooker in Killer Queen. Sheer Heart Attack really does contain some gems, from the rocking likes of Brighton Rock, Now I’m Here and Stone Cold Crazy, to the pop genius of Killer Queen and Misfire, to the quirky but brilliant Tenement Funster, Flick Of The Wrist, Lap Of The Gods and Bring Back that Leroy Brown, in fact a great all round album!
Again the re-mastering really adds a new lease of life to these classics, enabling even hardened life loving Queen Fans like myself to hear things that they had never heard before within the tracks!
The bonus disc contains a few BBC session tracks from the era, could have possibly have included the stand alone versions of Flick Of The Wrist, Lily Of The Valley and Tenement Funster, and a few demos that are known to exist, but maybe they’ll be on the Anthology.
A great album

Website – Queen
Rating - 9/10

Queen - Queen 2011 Remaster

Genre - Rock / Hard Rock / Glam / Classic Rock
Label - Island Records

Tracklist:
01 – Keep Yourself Alive
02 – Doing Alright
03 – Great King Rat
04 – My Fairy King
05 – Liar
06 – The Night Comes Down
07 – Modern Times Rock’n'Roll
08 – Son and Daughter
09 – Jesus
10 – Seven Seas of Rhye…

Bonus CD:
01 – Keep Yourself Alive (De Lane Lea Demo, December 1971)
02 – The Night Comes Down (De Lane Lea Demo, December 1971)
03 – Great King Rat (De Lane Lea Demo, December 1971)
04 – Jesus (De Lane Lea Demo, December 1971)
05 – Liar (De Lane Lea Demo, December 1971)
06 – Mad The Swine (June 1972)

Queens mighty debut album gets the 2011 re-mastering treatment and yet another rerelease here, but to be honest I think they've done a great job. The new re-mastering leaves every note crystal clear, and really shows the original albums tracks in all their glory. Queen features some of my favorite Queen tracks, Liar, Great King Rat, Jesus, Son & Daughter to name but a few, and they sound even better now. For the uninitiated, Queens sound at this time had more in common with the power and pomp of the likes of Led Zepplin than the pop majesties that they later became known for, and the amazing thing is that despite the many sounds you here on this album they famously never used synphs!
The bonus disc is a little disappointing to be honest, yes it does include the often bootlegged but never officially released famous De Lane Lea Demo's, taken directly from Brian Mays own Acetate copy, and Mad The Swine, an outtake that first saw the light of day back in 1991 on the Hollywood records rerelease of this album, but I was hoping that a few other famous gems would get to see an official release like Silver Salmon, Polar Bear (Queens 1972 reworking of the Smile track), and the infamous Hangman, which also exists on acetate. They could have also included the relevant tracks recorded for BBC sessions.
On a whole though it’s still a great release and brings warm fond memories flooding back, and as for the missing demos. Well maybe we'll see them when they release the Anthology set they promised back in 2000 when they released the Freddie Mercury Box Set!

website - Queen
Rating - 9/10

Michael Monroe – “Sensory Overdrive”

Genre - Hard Rock / Sleaze / Glam / Punk
Label - Spinefarm Records

Track listing -

01. Trick Of The Wrist
02. '78
03. Got Blood
04. Superpowered Superfly
05. Modern Day Miracle
06. Bombs Away
07. All You Need
08. Later Won't Wait
09. Gone Baby Gone
10. Center Of Your Heart
11. Debauchery As A Fine Art (featuring Lemmy)
12. Another Night In The Sun [bonus track]
13. You're Next [bonus track]


Pure Rock 'n' Roll with (punk) attitude! This album is awesome.
When Michael Monroe released the live album last year, Another Night In The Sun, I hoped that we would be in for something special, especially with a lineup featuring Ginger, Sami Yaffa, Steve Conte, Karl Rockfist and of course Mr. Monroe on lead vocals, and boy, this album doesn’t disappoint!
The sound comes across as a mix of later day Hanoi Rocks, Michael’s solo stuff and a little Demolition 23, all with a great pristine production, oh and of course some cracking songs!
Now let’s just say this and get this out of the way, Ginger has hi stamp throughout all of these songs, and must have been heavily involved in the songwriting, and thank god!
Later Won’t Wait could be a Ginger solo or even a Wildhearts track, the riff is just so familiar, and Uk bonus track, Another Night In The Sun, could have stepped right off of Warrior Souls Space Age Playboys album, great riff, great song.
This album is a contender for album of 2011, all the songs are great, the musicianship awesome (although could you expect anything less from this line up!), and well, it’s just a bloody fantastic album, simplez!
At the moment my favorite tracks include, Later Won’t Wait, Bombs Away, 78, Trick Of The Wrist, Modern Day Miracle, You're Next and Debauchery As A Fine Art, a song that is co written with Lemmy, and appeared in an earlier form as Motorheaded For A Fall on last year’s live album, Another Night In The Sun.
This is a great rock n roll album, go get a copy now, you won’t regret it!

Website - Michael MonroeRating - 10/10

Falling Red - Hasta La Victoria Siempre

Genre - Hard Rock / Sleaze Rock / Punk / Glam
Label - Rocksector Records

Track listing -

01 - Come On Down
02 - My Little Vice
03 - The Last Kiss Goodbye
04 - Aint Down With The Rock (2011)


Hasta La Victoria Siempre is a new four track Ep for British Superstars in the making Falling Red.
Falling Red put the world to rights with the release of the phenomenal debut album last year, Shake The Faith, really putting British Glam and Sleaze rock back on the map with the album being credited as the most relevant album since Guns N Roses released Appetite For Destruction.
This Ep is a follow up release, to plus their new UK tour with label mates Velvet Star, and the European Tour with Hardcore Superstar.
The EP opens with a rabble rousing anthem in Come On Down, quickly followed by the sleazy little number, My Little Vice.
They follow these up with the power ballad, The Last Kiss Goodbye, a song Bon Jovi / Poison or Guns N Roses would kill for. It’s a great commercial song, with real heart, love it!
Rounding up this little Ep is Aint Down With The Rock, a song that has become a kind of anthem among Falling Red fans, a great calling card.
These guys obviously love what they do, and they do it very well!

A great little Ep very, very highly recommended!





Falling Red Tour Dates:
March 26 - ReSession, Workington (warm up show)
April 1 - The Brickyard, Carlisle (EP launch)
April 2 - Wildside, Nottingham
April 3 - Yardbirds, Grimsby
April 4 - Satan's Hollow, Manchester
April 5 - Snooty Fox, Wakefield
April 6 - The Dome, London
April 7 - Stereo, York
April 8 - Hyem, Newcastle
April 10 - Classic Grand, Glasgow
April 29 - Czech Republic (to be confirmed)
April 30 - Czech Republic (to be confirmed)
May 6 - Gasworks, Bradford
May 7 - O2 Academy, Newcastle
June 4 - Airfest, Chepstow

Website - Falling Red
Rating - 10/10

Jezebel - The Sting In The Tale

Genre - Hard Rock
Label - Unsigned

Track listing -
01 - All Night
02 - Psycho
03 - Running Free
04 - Sting In The Tail

Nottingham rockers, Jezebel, return with their latest Ep / demo entitled 'The Sting In The Tale', a four track release showcasing the bands diverse songwriting skills.
First up is 'All Night', a good rock, contemporary but some classic rock noddings in the direction of ACDC and even Chuck Berry, (well that’s what they say, I just call it great rock music!).
Next up is Psycho, another great song, which as the press release says does have some NWoBHM leanings, but again is just a good solid song to me.
Running Free is this Ep's penultimate song, and know it’s not a cover of the classic Iron Maiden track, it’s a 'rock ballad that ignores genre rules with a nice twist', but I have to be honest, I think this song is quite possibly the best song that the band have come up with to date!
Sting In The Tail closes out the Ep, an up-tempo yet chilled out track, which again showcases a different side to the bands songwriting.
The band still maintain that raw sound, which works well for them and the guitar is excellent., the songs are very, very strong, I really can’t wait to hear a full length album!
If I had to pick a fault for this self released and self financed Ep, I would say it would have to be the production, don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing particularly wrong with it, it’s clear and you can hear everything, it just comes across a little thin to me. I’d love to see what Jezebel could do with a top notch producer, because there is simply no denying this bands undoubted talent and songwriting ability.
Definitely a band to keep an eye on!

Highly reconmended

Website -
http://www.facebook.com/Jezebelrockuk
rating 9/10