BILLY IDOL - Kings & Queens of the Underground (2014)

Genre - Hard Rock / Pop / Punk

Label - BFI Records via Kobalt Label Services

 

Track listing:

01 - Bitter Pill
02 - Can't Break Me Down
03 - Save Me Now
04 - One Breath Away
05 - Postcards From The Past
06 - Kings & Queens of the Underground
07 - Eyes Wide Shut
08 - Ghosts in My Guitar
09 - Nothing To Fear
10 - Love And Glory
11 - Whiskey and Pills

12. Hollywood Promise (Bonus Track)

Iconic '80s singer BILLY IDOL will release his first new album in almost a decade with "Kings & Queens of the Underground".
It's mostly produced by the legendary Trevor Horn, so you can expect a big, bombastic sound and a CD plenty of anthemic tracks.
At his 59, Billy Idol is still more than capable of making a very good album, just like this one, if he find the right people to work with. Trevor Horn was the man properly chosen, providing the bombastic sounds, the bubbling synths and those stabs of '80s sounding keyboards. Greg Kurstin was responsible for tweaking two tunes, and both have done a good job by giving the album a dynamic and energetic sound.
"Kings & Queens of the Underground" is a very easy-listening FM Rawk album and no different to the rest of Billy’s solo output.
And Billy has an 'ace': 'atomic playboy' Steve Stevens on guitar, and you are guaranteed of superb riffs and killer solos.
Musically, Stevens is the driving force on the record, which is great news.
"Kings & Queens of the Underground" rocks much more than I expected, and there's even space for acoustics and string arrangements on the title track, a semi-ballad where Billy revisits his past on the lyrics.
Of course there are no mega hits like 'Rebel yell' or 'White wedding' to expect, this is a much more mature record. We have 11 solid rock (at places bordering hard rock) songs on the album that are dominated by Idol's unique vocals and Stevens' screaming guitar.
The start with "Bitter pill" couldn't be better. Stevens' guitar rocks already from the beginning and Idol's throat are as we know it from him, the man is still in good form. A great driving song well chosen as opener for the album.
With "Can't Break me Down" it gets even better. A song with all Billy Idol trademarks, with a catchy chorus.
"Save Me Now" is a more silent tune that reminds with its melody to the Eighties. The sound gets more venturous with "One Breath Away". The sphereful tracks shows a new side from Billy Idol which fits very well.
A song that reminds to the good ol' times is "Postcards from the Past". I think that 'Rebel Yell' was the blueprint for this song. At least a lot of elements incl. Stevens excellent solo reminds me the THE Idol anthem. I love the track.
"Whiskey and Pills" is the hardest song on the album, a pounding speed train that mercy less kicks you out of the album. This song rocks.
If you thought that the good ol' Billy was finished, you are terribly wrong.
"Kings & Queens of the Underground" Rocks greatly, and it's among Idol's best records of his career. The songs are all entertaining, while production is shiny, pumpin', vital.
And we have Steve Stevens... what a genius.
Much, much better than I expected, "Kings & Queens of the Underground" is a very, very recommended new CD from the rustless Billy Idol.

Rating - 10/10

Ginger Wildheart - G.A.S.S. Month 5 EP (2014)

Genre - Hard Rock / Punk / Pop / Experimental

Label - Self Released

Track listing:

01 - The Pendine Incident

02 - Carriageway Roses

03 - Brand New Original Sin

Bonus Demos

04 - Shine

05 - Superpowered Superfly

So here we have the fifth instalment (of twelve) of Ginger Wildheart's G.A.S.S. project and once again we get a truly eclectic mix of tracks that showcase ginger's renowned songwriting ability.
First up comes The Pendine Incident, a great little up tempo acoustic based track that has already been described as sounding like  The Wonder Stuff but with a Geordie accent and  Modern Romance and   feature's the talents of Kelii Compulsive on vocals and  Laura Wilcockson on fiddle (courtesy of Steel Thread) and mixed by Jason Sanderson.. This a great song which I am sure is destined to become a fan favourite.
Carriageway Roses follows, this time featuring the talents of  Yolanda Quartey on vocals, Steve Conte on  guitars and  Tim G on keys and is mixed by Kevin Vanbergen. this song really does showcase the quirky side of Ginger's songwriting at its best, opening off with a great bass riff and some almost spoken lead vocal from Ginger, before building into a real monster. this is a really great song a worth the price of the G.A.S.S. subscription alone!
Closing out this month's new songs is Brand New Original Sin. This song features the talents of  Micko Larkin on guitars and backing vocals together with Neil McMinn on drums. Once again this track is mixed by  Kevin Vanbergen. The song is a real rocker, with an almost Wildhearts / Mutation feel in places. Another great song.
Next up we have this month's bonus / demo tracks,

which come to us in the form of Shine and an original demo of a song written for Michael Monroe's album a couple of years back, Superpowered Superfly. I'll allow Ginger to explain,

SHINE – Here’s my ‘big rock voice’ tryout (shudder) for a band of name US musicians looking for a singer to complete a project that never got off the ground. They had designs on Corey Taylor, and let’s be honest everyone else falls short of that guys voice. Still, he couldn’t commit to the gig so the project fell apart.
Featuring Duff McKagan and Steve Stevens, my friend Billy Morrison offered me a crack at the front person job, and let me write the melody and lyrics, but my talents lie in other areas than bellowing out huge arena rock, as this demo will testify.
Still, they shoulda just got Seb Bach or someone, right?

SUPERPOWERED SUPERFLY – When I joined Michael’s band my secret mission was to get rid of the generic songs they were playing. Harsh but true, I love Michael and honestly thought that peddling Stooges/MC5 facsimiles wouldn’t relaunch his solo career with the glory befitting a rock n roll icon.
I’d written a few songs in band rehearsal, guaranteeing a bad ass backbone (those guys can fucking play), but this was the first time I’d presented a ‘pop’ song to Michael. Knowing his love for Cheap Trick and Sparks, I was still surprised by how much he loved this track, and even wanted to call the album by its title, which I talked him out of. A killer song to play live, this demo was knocked up in 15 minutes with an acoustic guitar and a Garageband drum loop.

To be honest I think that Ginger hits the nail on the head with his comments regarding Shine. Its a great song even if it has been compared to WWE Video Package! The song itself is great only Gingers vocal lets it down, purely because his voice just isn't suited to the "Big Rock Voice" kind of song. Would love to see it recorded by someone with such a voice though as it really does deserve to be heard by the wider public.

The demo of Suiperpowered Superfly once again allows us a little insight into the development of a song, and has a great curiosity value.

So there we go, almost half way through the awesome and ambitious project, fifteen brand new songs, ten unreleased / demo tracks and there's been no signs of any dips in quality yet.

G.A.S.S. is not only proving to be a great success, but has given us some of the best songs Ginger has ever written, and we are not even half way through!

Rating - 10/10

 

Sebastian Bach - Give 'Em Hell (Japan Edition) (2014)

Genre - Hard Rock / Heavy Metal

Label - Frontiers Records

Track listing:

01. Hell Inside My Head

02. Harmony

03. All My Friends Are Dead

04. Temptation

05. Push Away

06. Dominator

07. Had Enough

08. Gun To A Knife Fight

09. Rock N Roll Is A Vicious Game

10. Taking Back Tomorrow

11. Disengaged

12. Forget You

13. Rock N Roll Is A Vicious Game (Acoustic) [Japan bonus]

"Give 'Em Hell" is the latest and fifth solo studio album by ex- Skid Row frontman SEBASTIAN BACH.
Sebastian Bach has one hell of a distinctive voice, one of the most cherished in the history of Rock, and although some legends seem to lose their energy over time, he has never lost his focus and attitude.
Previous album Kicking & Screaming was a mighty fine affair, but Give Em Hell sets the bar even higher, and is possibly Seb's best solo release to date! This is in part down to the line up that he has assembled in order to produce Give Em Hell. Firstly, on bass, we have none other than Mr Duff McKagan (Velvet Revolver, Guns N' Roses).
Not to be outdone, there are three great guitarists involved. John 5 (Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie), the awesome Steve Stevens (Billy Idol, Atomic Playboys) and Devin Bronson (Avril Lavigne, Pink) and it is their riffs and solos that lift this album beyond good.
Last, but certainly not least, is drummer Bobby Jarzombek (Halford, Riot, Fates Warning) who lays down some pretty thunderous stick work. Sebastian himself is in better voice than I've heard for a long time and, together, they have made an album that is pretty heavy, full of hooks and great playing but, most importantly, melody, but it's certainly not stuck in the past. Bob Marlette (Rob Zombie, Halford, Alice Cooper, Tony Iommi) once again returns to handle the production duties which together with the great songwriting, makes everything sound huge!
"Give 'Em Hell" is one of those rare albums that is immediate but also improves with each listen, unleashing more and more hidden layers each time around. It pretty damn near impossible not to love this album!
In many ways Give Em Hell captures the spirit of Skid Rows seminal classic Slave To The Grind without sounding like an attempt to recapture and clone past glories. there really is not a bad track on here!

Quite possibly one of the best albums to released in 2014!

Rating 10/10