Newly Purchased Cd's

[RJhog]

What cd's have you purchased lately? Tonight I bought:
1. Crooked X - Self Titled
2. Uriah Heep - Wake The Sleeper
3. Blackfoot - Strikes
4. Dokken - Lightning Strikes Again
5. Nazareth - The Newz
6. King's X - XV
7. Alice Cooper - Along Came A Spider
8. Mastodon - Crack The Skye

Last week I bought:

1. Journey - Arrival
2. Neil Young - Greatest Hits
3. Black Sabbath - Paranoid
4. Heart - Dreamboat Annie
5. Def Leppard - High 'N' Dry
6. Eagles - Long Road Out Of Eden
7. Night Ranger - Midnight Madness
8. Night Ranger - Dawn Patrol

Some of these I've had before and somehow managed to lose (probably that ex-wife). Most are totally new to me and I can't wait to listen. These will be on my iPod tonight and in my ear starting tomorrow. Maybe I'll actually start posting some reviews one of these days.

[RJhog]

The Beatles Box Set (Stereo)
Cavo - Bright Nights Dark Days
Chevelle - Sci-Fi Crimes
Cheap Trick - Sgt. Pepper Live
Kiss - Kiss (S/T) [Remaster]
Kiss - Dressed To Kill [Remaster]

[Bluesman Mark]

The Rolling Stones, "Hot Rocks 1964-1971". Still one of the best "greatest hits" packages ever put together.

The Black Crowes, "Before The Frost.....", ".....Until The Freeze". What may be the greatest rock & roll band we currently have working delivers one of the greatest albums they've ever done, & an instant classic in it's own right.

The first album, "Before The Frost.....", is more of a commercial sounding release, without sacrificing any honesty or artistic integrity. The opening track, "Good Morning Captain" sounds like nothing less than classic mid period Lowell George led Little Feat or the best work of the Band, filtered through the Crowes style & sensibility. "A Train Still Makes A Lonely Sound" is indebted to the loose jangle & rawness of the Faces, just a rollicking sounding song until the lyrics begin to sink their hooks into you. "I Ain't Hiding" is a straight cop of mid 70's-early 80's Rolling Stones disco/reggae/dance influenced rockers, such as "Miss You", "Emotional Rescue", & "Hot Stuff", weaving a hypnotic groove along, with very "Stonesian" harmonies, until the choruses & the bridge kick in, where they rip loose & wail, with great guitar lines & solos, again like the disco era Stones. Those are merely three highlights of a great album, you'll surely find your own in this cornucopia of musical riches. Just the acoustic material itself will weave a trance in you, as Chris Robinson's singing stands out in stark relief. "The Last Place That Love Lives" closes the album with a weary sadness & muted brilliance.

"....Until The Freeze", the download only, (free, via a code included with the purchase of "Before The Frost...."), companion to "Before The Frost....", continues in this vein, with lots of acoustic textures, with more of a loose feel overall, highlighted by "Lady Of Avenue A", a great ballad in the tradition of their "She Talks To Angels" or "Descending", a song written, played & especially sung so richly by Chris that it reverberates long after it's done playing.

While just like with any great band, some releases are better than others, I can safely say that for me, the Black Crowes have done it yet again, making music that has substance, feeling & meaning behind it, all while still continuing to rock. I have never heard a bad album by them, & I have them all, including Chris & Rich Robinson's solo releases, but this ranks up there with such classics as "Amorica", "Warpaint", "The Southern Harmony & Musical Companion" by them, & great classics such as "Exile On Main St" or "Sticky Fingers" by the Stones, (to just namne two of their classics), or much of Little Feat, the Band, or the Allman Brothers Band's work. Timeless music, played & sung superbly. The fact that these two releases of new material were recorded live before a select audience at Levon Helm's studio the Barn only underscores how confident they had to be of this great material.

Check those albums out, you will not be sorry.

[RJhog]

Pearl Jam - Back Spacer
Pearl Jam - Ten Deluxe Edition (I was not gonna buy this, as I already had the original, but Target had the Deluxe package at $9.99 the other day, so I picked it up for the bonus CD)

Ingram Hill - Cold In California
Three Days Grace - Life Starts Now
The Black Crowes - Before The Frost...
Ben Harper And Relentless7 - White Lies For Dark Times

[RJhog]

That was yesterday, this morning I stopped by Walmart and picked up:

Alice In Chains - Black Gives Way To Blue
Lynyrd Skynyrd - God & Guns
Breaking Benjamin - Dear Agony
Foreigner - Can't Slow Down

One side note, none of these were tagged for profanity and none were edited versions like Walmart usually does. However, after one listen to AIC, one song dropped the F bomb twice. Does anyone know if they only require edited versions for a specific amount of profanity? Just curious....

[Jon]

Think it's still up to the record company to put the label on the album. If it's not on, Wal Mart won't know there's profanity until someone brings the album in and complains. And then that album goes bye-bye.

[Dave]

What is your opinion of the new Foreigner and the new Skynyrd?

[RJhog]

Hey Dave, I'm not sure if you are asking me or Jon, but I really like the new Foreigner. It's a little ballad heavy, but Foreigner has always had pretty good ballads. Kelly Hansen sounds amazingly like Lou Gramm (not saying that is good or bad), especially on the slower songs. In my opinion, the best of the 13 songs are:

Can't Slow Down
In Pieces
When It Comes To Love
Living In A Dream
Give Me A Sign
Too Late
Lonely
Angel Tonight
Fool For You Anyway (Re-recorded original-just a great song)

That's 9 excellent songs, and the other 4 aren't bad.

As far as Skynyrd, I've only listened to it once, and it's better than I expected. This is my first post-plane crash Skynyrd disc. It's nowhere near the original band, but, if it was labeled as a Van Zant (spelling?) disc, it would be decent.

[Dave]

I just wanted a review of the Foreigner cd before I decided to buy it. I finally did and am glad....I think the new cd is very good, the remix cd is killer and the live dvd blows me away...and the price...this is one way to keep people buying cds!

[Bill Monroe]

I just bought the new Lynyrd Skynyrd album God & Guns. It came out today 'n I have to say it’s one of the best of theirs I’ve heard in a long time. I’ve been a fan for so many years I can’t even count ‘em. I found this website- http://radiobase1.clearchannel.com/front/OpenContest.asp?Action=Log... where you can enter to win tickets to see the boys live in New York City tomorrow. A free concert ‘n the greatest classic rock band of all time doesn’t sound like a bad deal to me.

[RJhog]

Winger - Winger Live
Winger - Demo Anthology
David Lee Roth - Skyscraper
David Lee Roth - A Little Ain't Enough
David Lee Roth - Your Filthy Little Mouth
Van Halen - Balance
Van Halen - Van Halen III
Kip Winger - Down Incognito

[Jon]

Trans Siberian Orchestra--"Night Castle"
Foreigner--"Can't Slow Down"
Lynyrd Skynyrd--"God & Guns"
Leaves' Eyes--"Njord"
Sonata Artica--"The Days Of Grays"
Devin Townsend--"Addicted"
Kiss--"Sonic Boom"

[Niels]

Flaming Lips : Embryonic
Pearl Jam: Backspacer
Alice in chains: Black gives way to blue
Beatles remastered: Rubber soul, Revolver,Sgt. Pepper, The white album, Abbey road and Let it be.