Judas Priest, one of England's most iconic and enduring heavy metal pioneers, is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a May 28 release of Epitaph (via Legacy Recordings, a division of Sony Music Entertainment), a live Blu-ray disc and DVD featuring 23 classic tracks recorded almost one year ago (May 26, 2012) on the final night of its final world tour ever (which was 50 weeks long). Recorded at the Hammersmith Apollo in London, this truly special release features at least one song from each of JP's 14 studio albums it recorded with legendary singer Rob Halford, from 1974's Rocka Rolla through 2008's concept album, Nostradamus. It is their most truly comprehensive live set to date.
Though Judas Priest initially started out in late 1970 with a different singer (Al Atkins) and had a more blues rock-based direction, 1973 marked the year Halford, one of the most gifted male singers in rock history, joined the band (which had also begun by then to take on a more hard rock/metal direction). Thus, Judas Priest is in essence celebrating the 40th anniversary of the start of the Halford era.
The upcoming release features the expected classic metal tracks and fan favorites from their '70s output, including epic cuts like "Victim of Changes," from 1976's Sad Wings of Destiny, along with "Hell Bent for Leather" and (their popular Fleetwood Mac cover) "The Green Manalishi (With The Two-Pronged Crown)," both of which are from the 1979 HBFL album. There are even more cuts from their '80s catalog (their most commercially successful period), including four from British Steel (hits "Living After Midnight," "Breaking the Law," along with the influential early speed metal classic "Rapid Fire" and "Metal Gods"), as well as more rarely played songs like "Blood Red Skies" (from 1988's Ram It Down).
The lineup for this one-of-a-kind show consisted of Halford, longtime guitarist Glenn Tipton, longtime bassist and band co-founder Ian Hill, drummer Scott Travis, and guitarist Richie Faulkner, who took over for retired six-stringer and band co-founder K.K. Downing in 2011.
The full tracklist of Epitaph, complete with an album index for all selections, can be viewed here.
Fans will also be pleased to know that Judas Priest plans to follow this release up with a new studio album it is currently working on.
Note: This article was first published at Blogcritics Magazine
Showing posts with label Classic Rock. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Classic Rock. Show all posts
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Wednesday, May 05, 2010
Music Review: Jimi Hendrix - First Rays Of The New Rising Sun
The following is an excerpt from my most recent music review, which was posted at the site of Blogcritics Magazine on May 2, 2010
It’s been nearly 40 years since the most revolutionary guitarist of all time, Jimi Hendrix, passed away. With three landmark studio albums to his name, plus gems of unreleased material left behind, making a proper posthumous studio album with the latter has always been a tough and controversial task.
No one will ever know for sure how Hendrix himself would have sequenced, fine-tuned and what he would’ve named the follow-up to his third and final album in his lifetime, 1968’s seminal double LP Electric Ladyland. We do know however, it was meant to be a big project - a double or triple LP – that the guitarist had been working on for over two years before his death in September of 1970 at age 27.
The first few attempts at posthumous releases, The Cry of Love and Rainbow Bridge from 1971 and War Heroes from 1972 were revealing but felt incomplete. It wasn’t until 1997, when Hendrix’s trusted recording engineer Eddie Kramer and drummer Mitch Mitchell used his last handwritten notes and remastered/resequenced his last tracks on the 17-track-long First Rays of the New Rising Sun that one got a true and mostly satisfying picture of the guitarist’s ever changing musical vision at the time, which struck a more serious tone lyrically and incorporated newer sounds to his repertoire.
13 years later, the newest versions of First Rays, an mp3/digital edition available via online stores such as ScatterTunes, plus a CD+DVD edition out this spring do not exactly enhance the actual sound – not that it’s needed with all the previous remastering over the years. But the former is more convenient for the current digital music age, while the latter contains a viewing experience that does enhance and make you appreciate the audio portion a little more via a new companion 20-minute DVD documentary of the making of this “concept compilation.”
Read more here.
It’s been nearly 40 years since the most revolutionary guitarist of all time, Jimi Hendrix, passed away. With three landmark studio albums to his name, plus gems of unreleased material left behind, making a proper posthumous studio album with the latter has always been a tough and controversial task.
No one will ever know for sure how Hendrix himself would have sequenced, fine-tuned and what he would’ve named the follow-up to his third and final album in his lifetime, 1968’s seminal double LP Electric Ladyland. We do know however, it was meant to be a big project - a double or triple LP – that the guitarist had been working on for over two years before his death in September of 1970 at age 27.
The first few attempts at posthumous releases, The Cry of Love and Rainbow Bridge from 1971 and War Heroes from 1972 were revealing but felt incomplete. It wasn’t until 1997, when Hendrix’s trusted recording engineer Eddie Kramer and drummer Mitch Mitchell used his last handwritten notes and remastered/resequenced his last tracks on the 17-track-long First Rays of the New Rising Sun that one got a true and mostly satisfying picture of the guitarist’s ever changing musical vision at the time, which struck a more serious tone lyrically and incorporated newer sounds to his repertoire.
13 years later, the newest versions of First Rays, an mp3/digital edition available via online stores such as ScatterTunes, plus a CD+DVD edition out this spring do not exactly enhance the actual sound – not that it’s needed with all the previous remastering over the years. But the former is more convenient for the current digital music age, while the latter contains a viewing experience that does enhance and make you appreciate the audio portion a little more via a new companion 20-minute DVD documentary of the making of this “concept compilation.”
Read more here.
Saturday, November 07, 2009
Music Review: Kiss - Sonic Boom
Rock ‘til you drop. Or at least until you can’t do it anymore. For B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Roger Daltrey and so many other active icons of rock and blues circuits, those are words to live by. And 35 years after influential NYC quartet Kiss came on the scene with its self-titled debut and immediate follow-up Hotter Than Hell, they too are back touring the world and releasing new music.
Released last month exclusively to Walmart as a three-disc set, Sonic Boom is Kiss’s 19th studio album and first since its 1998 album Psycho Circus. Disc one has 11 new tracks, disc two has 15 re-recorded Kiss Klassics, and disc three is a six-song excerpt from a Kiss show this past spring.
Age is of no concern to this band – half of whose members are pushing 60 years of age. Nor does it show on record or in concert for these make-up-wearing mega rock stars. Founding member and rhythm guitarist/singer Paul Stanley still has his dynamic vocal range and knack for writing instant hard rockin’ classics, like album opener “Modern Day Delilah.”
Co-founder and bass machine Gene Simmons still effortlessly spouts out groove-laden licks (not to mention fire, in concert) and gruff vocals. Guitarist Tommy Thayer, who plays a similar style of lead guitar as the “space man” he replaced, Ace Frehley, does a more than admiral job throughout the album of playing exciting leads and fills, as on “Delilah,” the excellent ‘80s-ish “Danger Us,” and the Simmons-sung “I’m An Animal.”
Not all 11 tracks are A-material, however. Recycling is good for the environment but doesn’t always work in a musical setting. For example, the Thayer-sung and cowbell-strong “When Lightning Strikes” again recycles the same old AC/DC chords and rhythm in its chorus you’ve heard before. Thayer’s ascending guitar solo is the song’s pure highlight. “Never Enough” has an anthemic-sounding chorus but from its beginning sounds like “Rock And Roll All Nite” if it was written by AC/DC or Ozzy (think: “Flying High Again”). And silly, clichéd lyrics like “If it’s too hot, then you’re too cold” drag down “Hot And Cold” a bit.
Disc two’s Kiss Klassics compilation was, before this release, exclusively sold in Japan in 2008, along with a live 11-track DVD of a Kiss show in Budokan in 1977. Most of these re-recorded Kiss Klassics don’t veer much from the originals. But, the new version of fan favorite “Black Diamond” (with drummer Eric Singer replacing Peter Criss on drums and lead vocals) is an improvement over the original simply because the slowed down tape at the end lasts for under 30 seconds now instead of going on and on for nearly two whole minutes.
Disc three, the six-song DVD, is a short excerpt of a Kiss show from Buenos Aires, Argentina in April of this year during its KISS Alive/35 World Tour. And the selections from it are all aces, from “Deuce” and “Hotter Than Hell” to “Watching You” – one of Kiss’s most underrated hard rockers – and closer “Rock And Roll All Nite,” the band’s signature party rock song. Also included is a stretched out version of “100,000,” which on record and on stage still has a vintage Black Sabbath-type rhythm to carry it along.
The only disappointing aspect of the DVD portion of this release is that it is only six songs long. Ones guesses that the band had to resort to the short DVD in order to keep this three-disc set at a reasonable price. Kiss fans can certainly live with and appreciate that. And besides, any fan looking for a full Kiss show has decades of live albums and bootlegs to choose from. Ones does hope that eventually Kiss will release this full Buenos Aires show, as the rowdy, enthusiastic fans down in Argentina always seem to bring out the best in bands who play there, especially metal bands.
In short, Sonic Boom, even with its few flaws, is a fun, sleazy hard rock and roll record mostly in the vein of its ‘70s material. In other words, it’s the album Kiss fans have been wanting the band to make for over 20 years and likely wondered would never be made.
With 33 tracks for a recession-friendly price of $12 at your local Walmart, it’s one hell of a bargain (though one wishes it was available at this price at other actual music stores). Nonetheless, if you’re a new or longtime fan, you’d be a fool to not pick it up. And with the holiday season fast approaching, Sonic Boom will make a great stocking stuff for dad as well.
3.5 stars for the album
4.0 stars for the whole package
FYI, Kiss will continue its current tour in the USA and Canada in November and December. For dates and more info on Kiss, visit KissOnline.com.
Please note: This article was first published by Blogcritics 11/5/09
Released last month exclusively to Walmart as a three-disc set, Sonic Boom is Kiss’s 19th studio album and first since its 1998 album Psycho Circus. Disc one has 11 new tracks, disc two has 15 re-recorded Kiss Klassics, and disc three is a six-song excerpt from a Kiss show this past spring.
Age is of no concern to this band – half of whose members are pushing 60 years of age. Nor does it show on record or in concert for these make-up-wearing mega rock stars. Founding member and rhythm guitarist/singer Paul Stanley still has his dynamic vocal range and knack for writing instant hard rockin’ classics, like album opener “Modern Day Delilah.”
Co-founder and bass machine Gene Simmons still effortlessly spouts out groove-laden licks (not to mention fire, in concert) and gruff vocals. Guitarist Tommy Thayer, who plays a similar style of lead guitar as the “space man” he replaced, Ace Frehley, does a more than admiral job throughout the album of playing exciting leads and fills, as on “Delilah,” the excellent ‘80s-ish “Danger Us,” and the Simmons-sung “I’m An Animal.”
Not all 11 tracks are A-material, however. Recycling is good for the environment but doesn’t always work in a musical setting. For example, the Thayer-sung and cowbell-strong “When Lightning Strikes” again recycles the same old AC/DC chords and rhythm in its chorus you’ve heard before. Thayer’s ascending guitar solo is the song’s pure highlight. “Never Enough” has an anthemic-sounding chorus but from its beginning sounds like “Rock And Roll All Nite” if it was written by AC/DC or Ozzy (think: “Flying High Again”). And silly, clichéd lyrics like “If it’s too hot, then you’re too cold” drag down “Hot And Cold” a bit.
Disc two’s Kiss Klassics compilation was, before this release, exclusively sold in Japan in 2008, along with a live 11-track DVD of a Kiss show in Budokan in 1977. Most of these re-recorded Kiss Klassics don’t veer much from the originals. But, the new version of fan favorite “Black Diamond” (with drummer Eric Singer replacing Peter Criss on drums and lead vocals) is an improvement over the original simply because the slowed down tape at the end lasts for under 30 seconds now instead of going on and on for nearly two whole minutes.
Disc three, the six-song DVD, is a short excerpt of a Kiss show from Buenos Aires, Argentina in April of this year during its KISS Alive/35 World Tour. And the selections from it are all aces, from “Deuce” and “Hotter Than Hell” to “Watching You” – one of Kiss’s most underrated hard rockers – and closer “Rock And Roll All Nite,” the band’s signature party rock song. Also included is a stretched out version of “100,000,” which on record and on stage still has a vintage Black Sabbath-type rhythm to carry it along.
The only disappointing aspect of the DVD portion of this release is that it is only six songs long. Ones guesses that the band had to resort to the short DVD in order to keep this three-disc set at a reasonable price. Kiss fans can certainly live with and appreciate that. And besides, any fan looking for a full Kiss show has decades of live albums and bootlegs to choose from. Ones does hope that eventually Kiss will release this full Buenos Aires show, as the rowdy, enthusiastic fans down in Argentina always seem to bring out the best in bands who play there, especially metal bands.
In short, Sonic Boom, even with its few flaws, is a fun, sleazy hard rock and roll record mostly in the vein of its ‘70s material. In other words, it’s the album Kiss fans have been wanting the band to make for over 20 years and likely wondered would never be made.
With 33 tracks for a recession-friendly price of $12 at your local Walmart, it’s one hell of a bargain (though one wishes it was available at this price at other actual music stores). Nonetheless, if you’re a new or longtime fan, you’d be a fool to not pick it up. And with the holiday season fast approaching, Sonic Boom will make a great stocking stuff for dad as well.
3.5 stars for the album
4.0 stars for the whole package
FYI, Kiss will continue its current tour in the USA and Canada in November and December. For dates and more info on Kiss, visit KissOnline.com.
Please note: This article was first published by Blogcritics 11/5/09
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