Yes, that’s Van Halen. Not to be confused with the Van Hagar version of the band that clogged the 90′s with prom themes and mediocrity but the real deal.: The full-throttle, David Lee Roth led sonic explosion that fans have been waiting for since 1984. For the first time in 28 years (save a couple of throwaway tracks on a compilation) Eddie and Alex Van Halen have managed to get along with Roth long enough to produce a staggering return to form. It is a throwback to their classic sound and swagger and a welcome respite from a lot of generic pop tarts and emo bands currently on the airwaves. But is it any good? Departed vocalist Sammy Hagar, in his autobiography, painted Eddie Van Halen as a cash-strapped drunk who could barely stand, never mind play. So is this just a calculated cash-grab by the brothers VH or simply a bunch of old friends re-discovering their love of basic, balls-to-the-wall heavy rock? Let’s check the Scorecard: Read the rest of this entry »

After performing at the world famous Cafe Wha? January 5th in New York City to announce their upcoming world tour, the Big Apple Press roundly applauded as fans and followers posted videos and photos of the band’s unique first show opening. Tickets for additional dates are going on sale Saturday, January 28th. Tickets are available at Ticketmaster.com and LiveNation.com. The band continues its campaign with the release of its brand new studio album A Different Kind Of Truth on February 7th. Read the rest of this entry »

2005 saw the release of The Complete Mercury Recordings by Spanky McFarlane and her gang, a 5,000 only press run of 4 CDs on Universal Music’s Hip-0 Select.com. Seven years later the lot of them have sold out. The run time is 261 minutes and in January of 2012 you can buy a copy for 249.97 (that’s almost a dollar a minute), or one collectible edition (probably used) for $148.98. The boxed set, as a marketing tool, is as valuable for certain artists as the Franklin Mint is for specialty numismatists or Genesis Publications for those who love a free CD in rare book form. As Willie “Loco” Alexander said to me years ago “Let’s make it nice ‘n rare!”. But when the everyday fan can purchase all the music on the box as a download on Amazon for a mere 45.15 does it take some of the fun…and the magic…away? To those of us who like tangibles, collectibles, the download is a bit of a blasphemy. Read the rest of this entry »

In “The Devil’s Last Word” Fred Gillen Jr. sings “Well I’m staying on these tracks until I hear the Devil’s last word…” and it is perhaps a Freudian slip that the songwriter/vocalist is talking about his own recorded tracks, splashy and glorious with high production values and catchy guitar playing. The disc starts off with “Come and See Me” and, personally, I would have preferred the CD to launch with a more uptempo version of this same tune a la George Harrison’s “Isn’t It A Pity” with the opening rendition placed somewhere in the middle of this Match Against A New Moon album. Start the listeners off with a good boot in the pants to get the party started. Read the rest of this entry »

This is a wonderful recording of classic Deep Purple music featuring Gillan, Glover and Paice, three of the main components of Deep Purple Mach III (depending on how you count the various versions of this venerable group).

Let’s get this straight from the outset, Ian Gillan (vocals), Ian Paice (drums), Roger Glover (bass), Steve Morse (guitar) and Don Airey (keyboards) with orchestra directed by Stephen “BK” Bentley-Klein has only one truly original member of the band, drummer Ian Paice. Read the rest of this entry »

Elliot Murphy, like Garland Jeffreys, continues to put his stream-of-consciousness ideas out into the universe, cyberspace being an interesting avenue for these hard-working street poets. Five of the tracks on the eponymous Elliot Murphy disc (his 35th or something around that incredible mark) are his alone, Olivier Durand co-writing four of the compositions, Iggy Strange-Dahl co-writing two. With song names like “Gone Gone Gone”, “Rock’n Roll ‘N Rock’n Roll” and “Rain Rain Rain” it is almost like a Talking Heads album rife with one-word titles in triplicate…a Ramones-moment for the folk crowd? Read the rest of this entry »

The twelve songs on Characterist present Christopher Brown in a simple setting, his Harry Chapin-esque story songs sometimes happy, sometimes plaintive, yet always textured in pretty sounds. “Do the do over, starting now” is a simple and snappy ode to reinvention, reworking one’s perspectives in sometimes startling ways. “Not so polite” is the direction here, to ruffle feathers, talk louder and get into fights. Provocative talk for a cute ditty, indeed. Read the rest of this entry »

For fans of solid metal pop that was the mainstay of groups like Quiet Riot, Ratt and other architects of hard music, Boston veteran Joe Black and his band, Ball ‘n’ Chain, have come up with a top notch outing that begs repeated spins.   When Black was bassist for Balloon (a band featuring Charlie Farren, who would go on to the Joe Perry Project), they rocked the local venues like the Club in Cambridge. Check out a 1978 video on YouTube with the boys creating a menacing neo-death metal goes prog/rock rendition of Fleetwood Mac’s “Green Manalishi”(With The Two-Pronged Crown)…deeper than Judas Priest’s take on Peter Green’s notorious song around that same time period. Read the rest of this entry »

Hurtsmile’s debut CD features lead guitarist Mark Cherone of the band Flesh, a rocking outfit that had some hard-hitting radio songs in the 1990s on WAAF and WCGY in the Boston area.  Mark is the younger brother of lead singer Gary Cherone, of Extreme and Van Halen fame,  both brothers also performing in yet another group, Slip Kid, a tribute to the rock group The Who. Read the rest of this entry »

Just as her terrific Undercover album out-Stoned The Rolling Stones in this 21st Century, Genya Ravan’s cover of Lee Michael’s chestnut, “Do You Know What I Mean” explodes from the moment it opens, giving a “Tumblin’ Dice” frosting to a magnificent melody. This rendition of a song about “steppin’ out” with the great line “14 days since I don’t know when…”is the perfect theme song for the reality TV show “Cheaters”…send your votes to Cheaters.com and tell them Genya should be the voice for their provocative tv program! Read the rest of this entry »

Chickenfoot III opens with a sonic slam between the eyes. The arena rocker Last Temptation has some echoes of The Who not a lift, but definitely a nod. Very dark and heavy, with a lethal dose of Joe Satriani ripping up and down the neck. The disk slides right to soon to be party anthem Alright Alright.

Different Devil the disk’s 3rd tune is a slightly different sound for Chickenfoot. It is a great song but it sounds a bit more like Kid Rock than it does Chickenfoot. Not that it is a bad thing, I happen to like Kid Rock. Still I think this ballad could have been saved for a little latter on the disk, it slows the momentum a bit. Read the rest of this entry »

Eleven titles were released in 1987 when Ryko Distribution issued Live At Winterland from The Jimi Hendrix Experience.  The potent new team of Experience Hendrix with Sony Legacy issuing a quartet of Hendrix music – an expanded edition of the venerable old lp Hendrix in The West, Murray Lerner’s Blue Wild Angel: Jimi Hendrix Live at the Isle of Wight (DVD), a DVD with every Hendrix appearance on the Dick Cavett Show and another four discs, a box set of Jimi Hendrix Live at Winterland. Read the rest of this entry »

What is HURTSMILE? If you’ve heard of Tribe of Judah or Atunga or Flesh you know that these are groups that have the distinction of having one of the Cherone brothers from Malden, MA.  participating in the music making. Hurtsmile has the added bonus of two of the Cherone clan working side by side, Markus and Gary. Read the rest of this entry »

What is Readercon, you ask? This 22 year old convention for Science Fiction and Fantasy readers is an essential event held annually at the Burlington Marriot in Burlington, Massachusetts. As I write this the four day event is in high gear, parties in some of the suites, authors talking to fans, tons of books for sale in a huge dealer’s room set up smack dab in the middle of the festival. Read the rest of this entry »

Songs such as “Ride Like The Wind” had real drama and introspection and as massively popular as the three main hits from the first album were – “Sailing” and “Never Be The Same” along with “Ride Like The Wind” (“Say You’ll Be Mine” was a fourth top 20 hit from that affair as well) Christopher Cross has become a sort of an artistic asterisk in the history of popular music. AMG’s Stephen Thomas Erlewine hits in on the head noting how Cross was embraced by the industry but not the critics. Not that one has to satisfy critics but…when those reflecting on artistry across the board find a musician too bland to keep on the radar screen it is problematic. Read the rest of this entry »

James Osterberg keeps on rolling on. I’m a firm believer in the boxed set as the medium to convey the artistry of deep-catalogue performers and this tidy four disc set does a great job of providing a glimpse for the uninitiated into how very credible Iggy is, as well as his unbelievable consistency. We are talking about 32 years of recordings which cover songs that were Stooges’ staples as well as key items from his solo repertoire. Read the rest of this entry »