1/31/2020 releases of note

This looks to be less busy than last week, but busy nonetheless, with several good releases aimed for tonight.  Last week also brought the surprise releases of new singles from Pearl Jam, Demi Lovato and Hayley Williams, so there might be some nice surprises this week as well.

Glenn Hughes-Justified Man 1995-2003: A box set of five Glenn Hughes solo albums from the 90s and 2000s.  Included is "Addiction," one of my favorite albums of his, with a live performance of the Deep Purple song "You Fool No One."

Gary Moore-Live in London: A live release of the late British Blues singer/guitar player, including his songs "Still Got The Blues" and "Parisienne Walkways."  Moore was also influential in the Hard Rock scene, with Bob Daisley making a tribute album for him a couple years ago that included contributions from Eric Singer, Doug Aldrich and Glenn Hughes.

Clint Lowery-God Bless the Renegades: Lowery is best known as the guitarist for Sevendust, and wrote the riff for the Stryper song "Yahweh."  Here, he plays a grungy, alternative rock/hard rock album with some theological themes present.

1/24/2020 Releases of Note

As opposed to last week being relatively quiet, there are quite a few releases on Spotify already on my radar scheduled for this week.  This seems to be the week Frontiers Music SRL is releasing several of their albums, them being an Italian label that holds the rights to several 80s bands, bands in that style and supergroups they made with the members of those 80s bands.

Blue Oyster Cult-Hard Rock Live in Cleveland 2014: As a Godzilla fan, Blue Oyster Cult holds a special place in my heart, and I saw them in 2014, so this album will likely be very close to what I saw back then.  Songs like "Don't Fear The Reaper," "Cities on Flame With Rock and Roll" and one of my personal favorites, "Black Blade" are on this album and I look forward to a stroll down memory lane.

Jorn-Heavy Rock Radio II: Executing the Classics: A covers album from the Norwegian Metal Band and Ronnie James Dio enthusiast.  This actually features songs from non-metal acts, such as Bryan Adams, Foreigner and Russ Ballard.  However, there's still songs from harder rock acts, such as Deep Purple and Dio, Jorn's favorite.


Elton John-Live From Moscow 1979: A live album of pop sensation and expert pianist Elton John from behind the Iron Curtain.  It includes hits like "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me," "Rocket Man" and "Bennie and The Jets."  There's also a "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting/Pinball Wizard" Medley, as well as a Medley of "Crocodile Rock" and two Beatles' songs, "Get Back" and fittingly enough, "Back in the USSR." 

Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys-Lukas Nelson and Shooter Jennings (The Ranch Netflix)-The Netflix show "The Ranch" releases its soundtrack tonight, and of note is the sons of Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson singing one of their dad's biggest hits.

1/17/2020 Releases of Note

It looks to be a mostly quiet week this week on Spotify, but there could be some surprising singles.  Last week, Ozzy Osbourne released the third single from his upcoming album "Ordinary Man," which he's going on tour for with Marilyn Manson this summer.  It was the title track and featured piano and guest vocals by Sir Elton John, which was a nice surprise.  Also, according to Wikipedia, Slash has contributed some guitar work to the project.  The first single for the album for the upcoming DCEU Superheroine film "Birds of Prey" was also released, and Amazon.com states every track will be sung by a woman.  The film's character Black Canary gets a song, and Lesbian Alternative Rock/Pop singer K.Flay has a track, her second contribution to a licensed Warner Brothers movie, the first being Tomb Raider in 2018, which was one of the best video game movies I've ever seen.

Anyway, onto the upcoming releases:

Duane Allman/Eric Clapton-Jamming in 1970: This may be a vinyl-only release, but it would be a good addition to any classic rock collection.  Eric hired the Allman Brothers' guitarist to help him complete the Derek and the Dominos album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs.  One August night, the two were fiddling around and producer Tom Dowd let the recording tapes roll.  I imagine there will be more than a few blues jams, Blues music was a big passion of both guitarists, both have recorded the Blues classic "Goin' Down Slow" and a song that sound like a jam session on the album is the Blues standard "Key to the Highway."

The Moog Machine-Switched On Rock: Based on the MP3 tracks listed for this, this seems to be late 60s, maybe early 70s rock songs performed on a Moog synthesizer.  Favorites of mine such as "Jumpin' Jack Flash," "Get Back" and "Hey Jude" are listed and I figure it's at least worth a listen for curiousity's sake.

On 1/21, there will be a Blind Faith MP3 release of their live performance in Hyde Park in 1969.  Blind Faith was another supergroup Eric Clapton made, most famous for the song "Presence of the Lord."  This song was famous enough live recordings of it while Clapton had Derek and the Dominos have been released.  I feel Clapton has since regretted the song because I've known from experience Christians can develop a cult around a celebrity who is willing to praise Jesus, then immediately slam them into the wall when they do something not up to their moral code, rather than realizing every person sins and we all need forgiveness for the people we've hurt.

Reviews of Favorite Albums

Doing a pair from 1973 today, been feeling nostalgic to that year since I hit 73 playlists of what I'd call "Party Rock" in Spotify.


Lynyrd Skynyrd-Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd (1973): The Debut album of Jacksonville, FL Rock Band Lynyrd Skynyrd, bringing a lot of classic rock to the air waves.  We start with I Ain’t The One is a swampy powerhouse rocker with a solo by Allen Collins about an obsessive woman.  Tuesday’s Gone is next, a somber farewell to a woman departing on a train with the solo performed by Gary Rossington, who performed most of the solos on this album.  This song was later covered by Metallica on their Garage, Inc. album, with Gary Rossington playing the solo again.  Gimme Three Steps is next, an upbeat rocker about a man who is threatened by an aggressive man who thinks our narrator dancing with his girl at a club called The Jug.  This is followed by Simple Man, a ballad with a solo by Gary Rossington about practical life advice from your parents.  This song’s lyrics were apparently thought up when Ronnie Van Zant took a shower after a conversation with Gary about their parents and grandparents.  Things Goin’ On criticizes the Nixon administration and still works for the current one, especially with the song’s barbs about careless attitude to war, spending and pollution.  Mississippi Kid, an acoustic number, is next, about a tough son of a gun who should not be messed with as he heads to Alabama.  Poison Whiskey follows it, a grungy rock song about the dangers of drug use, something that became a recurring theme in Lynyrd Skynyrd’s music, with the next album’s “The Needle and The Spoon” and Street Survivors’ “That Smell.”  Last, but definitely not least, in fact, it is most, is Free Bird, is an epic ending with a wailing solo by Allen Collins, driving you to the highest heights of excitement that rock can bring.



Ringo Starr-Ringo (1973)-Ringo Starr has had the most fascinating solo career of all the members of The Beatles to me, mainly because of the guest appearances of so many other famous musicians on his albums.  On his first solo effort after the breakup, the first track, “I’m The Greatest,” was written by and features backing vocals and piano by John Lennon.  George Harrison provides guitar and Billy Preston, who was on The Beatles’ “Let it Be” and “Abbey Road” sessions plays keyboard.  Klaus Voorman, who was on John and George’s solo albums, provides bass and John has Ringo refer to himself as “Billy Shears,” a name he was referred to on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.  The 3^rd track, “Photograph,” was written by Ringo and George, and due to its somber tone and lines like “Every time I see your face, it reminds me of the places we used to go/But all I’ve got is a photograph and I realize you’re not coming back anymore,” the song has become a tribute to George Harrison.  “You’re Sixteen, You’re Beautiful and You’re Mine,” (written by the Sherman Brothers of Disney fame) features a kazoo solo by Paul McCartney, while Ringo Starr wrote “Step Lightly” and shows off his tap-dancing skills in the song.  Paul also contributed the love ballad “Six O’Clock” and sang backup and played synthesizer on it.  To me, “Ringo” almost feels like the lost last Beatles album, and with it ending with Ringo thanking everyone who helped him, including John, Paul and George, it feels like a better note for the best band in history to end on than Phil Spector ruining “The Long and Winding Road.”

1/10/20 Releases of Note

After two weeks, this finally returns.  I will admit, there were some nice surprises on Spotify since the last one, such as live albums by Cheap Trick and Ariana Grande and new singles from Hailee Steinfeld (A Pop singer best known as the voice of Spider-Gwen in "Spider-Man; Into the Spider-Verse) and Moriah Formica (a hard rock young woman with a Christian background).  However, now we delve into albums I know will be released tonight at 9:00 pm PST/Midnight on the East Coast.


Ronnie Dunn-Re-Dunn: A covers album by one-half of country music duo Brooks and Dunn.  He has already released 10 of the 24 tracks as singles, including "Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress)" by The Hollies, "I Won't Back Down" by Tom Petty and "Wonderful Tonight" by Eric Clapton.  Tracks still to be released include "Against The Wind" by Bob Seger (the second time he's recorded this song) and "Brown-Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison (the second time I've heard a 90s Country singer cover this song).  It's already been a fun blend of country and soft rock and I look forward to the rest of the album.


Selena Gomez-Rare: The third Disney Channel girl during the era of Cyrus and Lovato, Selena Gomez is famous for playing Alex Russo in "Wizards of Waverly Place" and Mavis in the "Hotel Transylvania" series.  This is her first album in quite some time, the last one I remember from her was "Revival," released in 2015.  Her singles from the album show she hasn't lost any steps and I look forward to hearing the rest.


Carl Perkins and Friends-Blue Suede Shoes, a Rockabilly Session: Recorded in either the late 80s or early 90s, this CD and DVD combo showcases one of the finest songwriters of the early days of Rock and Roll playing with some people he's influenced, namely, Ringo Starr, George Harrison and Eric Clapton.  Ringo and George get to sing their Carl Perkins covers from "Beatles for Sale" or "Beatles 65" if you purchased the vinyl records before both countries had one standard release in 1987 with the CD issues.  I don't know if this will be available in MP3 format, but I did see a clip of Carl, Ringo and Clapton singing Matchbox on YouTube from this session, so I know it's a quality release all the same.

Be Ready, Because This May Be Our Future

This may seem like an alarmist post, but this is a possibility no one is considering that has been lingering in my head since 2016 and I need the world to hear this.  I don't want to scare or sadden my friends and family of Facebook, and the other website I post on doesn't care about "serious stuff," just Anime and Video Games.  So, here's the dark scenario that my anxiety keeps creating about America's future under the Republicanazi Party.

He couldn’t believe the news as he read the email on his phone.  He had feared this for almost five years, ever since the Pulse Nightclub Shooting was unanswered, with a homophobic maniac to whom violence and contempt was the first and only response to any action, stole the White House.  Now he was reading it; in a trio of executive orders, Martial Law had been declared, putting the US military, with machine guns at the ready, in place of the police, ready to murder any sign of resistance.  The House of Representatives had been abolished, so a second impeachment trial would never happen.  And the one he feared most of all had come true.  The entire LGBTQ+ populace, as well as the reconciling congregations that had sheltered and defended them, like his own, had been declared non-citizens and non-human, also members of a “radical terrorist group” and were to be gathered up in a new Holocaust to be exterminated from the country in what was called a “holy cleansing.”  Anyone who was to declare opposition was to be shot as soon as they made their declaration.  A couple tense minutes passed as he considered grabbing the steak knife and slitting his own throat.  Before he could reach a decision, a Marine kicked the door down, aiming the machine gun barrel at him.  “You Daniel Short of Garden Street Methodist?” he barked.  He fearfully nodded to the soldier.  The soldier hit him with a sweep kick, punched him across the face, breaking his jaw and nose, then positioned his hands behind his back, hauling him to the permafrost cap of Mt. Baker.  He was stripped down to his underwear and tossed in the cell, where his thigh bones were broken, forcing him to crawl before the cell door slammed shut.  This was to be the rest of his life, decades of agony, being tortured and brought within inches of death time and time again, driven near the point of insanity over and over with the intention of making him lose his mind completely and physically maul what was left of him.  Trump gave way to Pat Robertson, who gave way to Mike Pence, who gave way to Franklin Graham, who gave way to Kirk Cameron, each continuing the massacre of all who they despised.  The UK, EU, Canada, China and Japan collectively embargoed the United States, but each leader eased the people by telling them they needed to fill Leviticus 20:13 more than they needed International Friends.  If non-Abrahamic religious people protested, they were murdered.  It was only with the second coming of Jesus that things were put right in the infernal pit of sin known as the United States.