9/25/2020 releases and a look back at last week

 

               Another week gone by, and more music to talk about.  Last week was rather busy, but I can say I really enjoyed Ace Frehley’s new album on Spotify and am looking forward to the CD shipment as a woman sang his version of “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and I would like to know who she was.  There was also a surprise re-release of Ozzy Osbourne’s first solo career album, Blizzard of Ozz, with new, never-before-heard live tracks featuring Randy Rhoads on guitar from the first tour.  I honestly recommend both the Origins Vol. 2 album and this for Metal/Classic Rock fans and the Alicia album for Pop fans.

 

               There are two releases I’m looking forward to right now that will be available tonight at 9:00 PDT, both being opportunities to get some good mental release.

 

Carrie Underwood-My Gift: The First Christmas album, a month before Halloween.  Its poor timing aside (though as I saw last year, October is when artists’ Christmas albums tend to get released), this is the first full album of Christmas music by Carrie Underwood, who is a great singer, and her single from the album, “Let there Be Peace,” was an inspiring message we all need right now in our time of polarization and weariness from political problems.  Carrie is no stranger to putting herself out there with strong messages, such as “Love Wins” on her last album, a supportive anthem to the LGBTQ+ community, and this album looks to continue that and also offer classics like “Mary, Did You Know?”

 

Natalie Grant-No Stranger: A Gospel album, this got on my personal radar due to the cover of Casting Crowns’ “Praise You In This Storm” on it.  I’m hopeful the rest of the album will consist of messages that people can find either applicable or uplifting, rather than just providing lip service to conservatives as quite a few “Gospel” albums have been in the last decade.  I won’t name names, but I think people know there’s quite a few that just say, “keep doing what you’re doing, nothing you do is wrong, the other guys have the problem,” much like the Pharisee praying, when what people need is something like the tax collector, “have mercy on me, a sinner,” or reassurance God is there, listening and caring, no matter who you are or what you do.

I would like to take this opportunity to remind people to register to vote, and I have to state if you want things to change, you have to vote for Biden.  Voting for a third-party or write-in candidate is just throwing your ballot away.  Also, if you vote for the current guy to "silence the whiners," you won't get that unless it's through bloodshed, and even then, that will just make people protest louder.