That’s right, thanks to a new webcam (kept on crappy setting for better framerate/upload footprint, etc), Genghis is back with what may become the new standard for The Metal Minute in all its glory.  NOTE: The Right To Rock.com does not guarantee glory or even satisfaction.  Enjoy!

- Genghis kinda likes this format…

It seems like just yesterday when I saw the video for Teasn’ Pleasn’ on Mtv for the first time.  Can you believe it has been 20 years since that tune came out?  Damn I’m getting old.   Dangerous Toys isn’t a full time gig for any of the guys anymore, but they do get together for a few shows each year, to keep the fans happy.  As you know I saw them a few years back at Rock the Bayou and they smoked.  That being said, the boys have gotten back together to commemorate their 20th year of existence with their new release 20th Year Anniversary Concert Celebration.  The show was shot in their home town of Austin TX at the Red Eyed Fly in May of 2005.  The set includes tunes from all 4 studio albums and comes packaged in a DVD/CD format.  The DVD features 21 songs, while the CD only covers 13.  Still, not a bad deal.

20th Year features all of the hits like Teasn’ Pleasn’, Scared, Queen of the Nile and many more.  The show is shot okay, but unfortunately it becomes distracting at times.  The picture quality jumps back and forth between video and film, which takes away from the final product.  Also, the camera angles are questionable at times, coming off looking like a bootleg.  There are several shots that look like they came straight out of the audience with hands and heads in the way.  Due to the fact that the band is not as big as they once were, I’m sure some shortcuts were taken during the filming and making of this DVD.  I don’t want to be too critical, because this is a pretty cool package.  It is cool seeing a band like Dangerous Toys tear up the stage again.  The band sounds good and vocalist Jason McMaster puts on a killer show as usual. The performance is pretty strong even though the guys were on a fairly cramped stage.  Jason still sounds good vocally, but may have lost few notes over the years.  All in all a pretty solid package here.

Bottom Line: A band from the 80’s that is still kickin.  This is a cool package that gives you the best of both worlds, with a CD and DVD.  The band is a little older and may have lost a few things along the way, but they still sound pretty damned good.

Ragman doesn’t fear clowns.

Dark Age is a 5 piece from Hamburg, Germany and Acedia marks the band’s sixth full length release.  I have to admit, I have never heard of them before, but thank God for labels such as AFM for bringing bands like this to the public’s attention.  I cannot believe I have never heard of this band and they have been around since 1994.  To be fair, to me and others, they didn’t release their first full length record until 1999.  Dark Age is a mixed bag, combining elements of death metal and goth into one killer sound.  Imagine Dark Tranquility mixed with a little Him with just a hint of the more melodic side of Killing Joke, and you would be close.  This band has a killer way of blending the heavy sounds of melodic metal with the layered keyboard sounds prevalent in a lot of goth music.  The vocals are a mix of growls with clean tones.

Acedia starts off with killer track Kingdom Nevercome, which is a mid-tempo melodic death metal rocker.  It has a cool chord progression that reminds me of Dark Tranquility combined with the more modern sounds of In Flames.  The song has a commercial vibe to it, but maintains it’s heaviness with the death vocals within the verses.  The next track Devote Yourself To Nothing, brings in the more goth sound of the band.  It starts off sounding a little like a Him tune, until the death vocals start.  Like it’s predecessor, it is a really cool melodic tune layered with keyboards.  The next track and probably my favorite is Neon Gardens.  The tune is fueled by a killer riff combing melody with aggression.  Vocalist Eike Freese does a nice job on this tune sounding like a pissed off Chester Benninigton (Linkin Park).  Freese does a nice job on the whole CD mixing the death with the clean vocal style.  The guy has a really versatile voice, and is able to change it to fit each tune.  For example, in the tune Halo Meridian, Freese sounds like Killing Joke’s Jaz Coleman. The CD has a balanced variety containing a solid selection of well written tunes that will keep you listening from start to finish.

Bottom Line: A killer new release from a new/old band.  I know many of us haven’t heard of these cats before, but Acedia will all make us believers.  The songs combine killer heavy grooves with the melodic chorsues, which will get thy head banging.   Oh yeah, I almost forgot, there is some killer ripping on this one to.

Standout Tracks: Neon Gardens, Kingdom Nevercome, Underneath These Burdens and Halo Meridian.

Ragman loves a great new old band.

Drop Dead Rock is a cult classic, which was just recently released on DVD by MVD Visual.  I’m not quite sure why this movie is considered a cult classic, but apparently this 1995 film has impressed enough people, that it is now considered a classic.  Drop Dead Rock stars 80’s rock icons Adam Ant (Adam and the Ants) and Deborah Harry (Blondie).  Having these two in the film is probably the reason for the cult status.  The movie is about a down and out rock/punk band named Hindenburg, willing to do anything to make it.  The band is constantly being booed off stages and kicked out of clubs for their bad music, but for some reason they still think they can be successful.  The band figure they can’t make it on their own so they decide to kidnap one of the hippest artists around name Spazz-O, played by Ian Maynard.  At this point I’m sure you can pretty much figure out the rest of the plot.

Ant plays Spazz-O’s crooked manager who just wants to steal his money and run off with his wife.  Deborah Harry is a record exec. that wants to sign Spazz-O to a new deal, but can’t until Ant recovers him from the kidnappers.  The premise is okay, but with all of the bad acting and utterly stupid dialog, you kind of get bored after awhile.  I’m a fan of cheezy B flicks, but this one didn’t have enough oomph to keep me hooked.  Spinal Tap this is not, even though it might get the comparison, this movie is not even in the same league.

Bottom Line: A cheezy comedy based on the music industry.  For fans of Adam Ant and Blondie.  One interesting note is that their is song by Warrior Soul (Totally underrated band) as well as some cameos by Slayer, Def Leppard and a few others.

Ragman was hoping for more.

I have to admit, I’ve never been a big fan of the Gary Moore’s blues music.  Don’t get me wrong, I dig it, but I prefer his heavy stuff.  Gary’s roots are based in blues, but once he joined up with Thin Lizzy, back in the 70’s, he went for a heavier rock vibe.  After leaving Lizzy, Moore released a string of killer hard rock/heavy metal albums throughout the 80’s until returning to his roots in the 90’s.  Gary left the hard rock scene back in 1990 to pursue his love for the blues.  Gary released his first solo blues record Still Got the Blues to critical acclaim, and hasn’t stopped since.  To me, it is ashame that Gary left the world of heavy rock, because he was so good at it, but he ain’t bad at the blues either and the his latest DVD release The Definitive Montreux Collection will prove how bad ass a player this guy is.  The Definitive Montreux Collection chronicles 5 of Gary’s performances from this annual festival.

The Definitive Montreux Collection is a killer collection which includes 2 DVD’s and an audio best of CD.  The DVD’s are done well, as with all of the videos I ever seen from this festival, and will leave you wanting more (no pun intended).  The package includes performances from 1990, 1995, 1997, 1999 and 2000.  Gary must be popular there.  It is interesting seeing Gary over the different periods in time.   As you get through the DVD, you will notice how the quality of the film improves with each year.  The music selections as you would have guessed concentrate on Gary’s blues catalog, but there are a few surprises thrown in like Out in the Fields and Parisienne Walkways (Thin Lizzy).  The CD (Not on the DVD’s) even includes a live performance of the track Over the Hills from the Wild Frontier album.  There are some killer surprises on this DVD, one being the appearance of Albert Collins in the 1990 performance.  Friggin Cool!  The only complaint, other than not including more of the hard rock material, is that the audio is off at times.  I think the worst case of it was during the 1997 show on the DVD, but on the audio CD it is pretty poor the whole way through.  There are times to where it is difficult to hear Gary sing, but other than that it was a very enjoyable watch/listen.

Bottom Line: A retrospective of Gary’s blues career, with a few blasts from the past.  It is Gary at his finest…wailing.

Ragman is wondering if he has had the blues.