Metal Church - Generation Nothing

Metal Church kind of fell off my radar, several years ago.  For the most part, I lost interest, in the band, after the departure of David Wayne (R.I.P.) in the late 80's.  I still followed them, but was never blown away by them again, as I had been with their first two releases.  It wasn't just the departure of Wayne, because it seemed like the songwriting fell off, right around that same time.

The Metal Church line ups, as well as their releases have been fairly hit or miss, over the last several years, but they have shown some stability as of late.  Ever since the band re-united back in 2004, the line up has been fairly stable.  To be honest, the band did shut it down in 2009 for approx. 3 years, before resurrecting once again.  In 2012 the band fired up again, and their first release since re-uniting is Generation Nothing.

Generation Nothing is the first thing I've heard the band do, since their somewhat disappointing 2004 release, A Light in the Dark.  I have to say, I was pretty excited to hear the band had new material coming out, so I jumped at the chance to review this one.  It is like that old friend you hadn't seen in about 10 years, your curious to see what they've been up to.  Know what I mean?

Generation Nothing starts off a little stale with the somewhat generic track Bulletproof.  It is your run of the mill, up-tempo rocker that just sounds like, been there done that.  Truthfully, it sounded like a poor man's Overkill tune.  I think I'm thinking Overkill because vocalist Ronny Munroe has a similar singing style to Mr. Blitz.  The CD didn't come alive for me, until the track Noises in the Wall, which starts off a little eerie, which brings back memories of classic Metal Church.  It is a well constructed tune that is melodic an heavy at the same time.  Killer tune.  From this point on, the CD gets pretty strong.  Though some of the tracks come off as a bit generic, there is still enough good material on this one to make it a keeper.

Standout Tracks: Noises In the Wall, Suiciety, Scream and Hits Keep Comin'.

Bottom Line:  Metal Church dusting off the cobwebs to give it another go.  This is probably the strongest thing that band has done in years, and is worth checking out.

-Ragman is thinking he may be digging into some classic MC for the weekend.

Portnoy, Sheehan, MacAlpine, Sherinian - Live in Tokyo

Ready for a shred fest?  Well, that's exactly what you'll get with the new release, Live in Tokyo, from 4 powerhouse musicians. The band is comprised of some folks you might of heard of before: Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater, The Winery Dogs), Billy Sheehan (Talas, DLR, Mr. Big, Vai, The Winery Dogs), Tony MacAlpine (Project Driver, Planet X, Vai) and Derek Sherinian (Dream Theater, Planet X). All of these guys have a common bond between them, being virtuosos, but they've also played together before, in some combination, in other projects.

The idea for this collaboration is basically an avenue for the guys to play together live and showcase some tunes from their various catalogs together with some well-placed covers; Bill Cobham's Stratus and Jeff Beck's The Pump. Let's face it, this is an instrumental wankfest (the only song with vocals is the Talas classic, Shyboy), as all involved are masters of their respective instruments, and it's no wonder they work so well together live. Portnoy takes the role of frontman from behind the kit and provides a good entertaining banter between the songs. All in all, this is a very entertaining listen.

Standout Tracks: Stratus, Lines in the Sand, The Stranger and Atlantis Part 1, and Apocalypse 1470 B.C.

Bottom Line: From the billing, you know this one will be amazing.  With this many talented guys jamming instrumentally only good things could happen - and they did, live in Tokyo. The video for this one must be amazing.

- Ragman wonders what it would sound like if these guys made a record full of original new material(please!)...

Sammy Hagar - Sammy Hagar and Friends

Sadly, I don't get too excited about Sammy Hagar releases, these days.  The Red Rocker died many years ago for me, once he formed the Waboritas.  Since then, he has been closer to a wanna be Jimmy Buffet, than the Red Rocker.  I had hope with Chickenfoot, but they come off a little stale and tired.   Alot of star power, but not a lot of substance.  

In hearing of the upcoming Hagar release, my ears perked up, because it was going to be an album, that was a retrospective of his career.  He was going to do some stuff with Montrose and the original Hagar band as well as try to mend the fence with Van Halen.  Unfortunately, the VH brothers squashed that one, before it got legs.  Since the VH brothers weren't cooperating, Sammy went back to the drawing board and decided to do a record with his friends.  Little did I know, he had so many country friends ARGHHH!!!!

Just as I feared, this album is an abomination.  Okay, to be fair there are a few redeeming qualities, Neal Schon was involved.  When I heard that, I instantly thought HSAS, but got something else.  Neal was featured on two covers.  Personal Jesus (Depeche Mode) and Going Down (Don Nix).  Out of the two, Going Down is probably, the more listenable.  It would have been cool if they would have written something new together, because I think that would have come off better than the covers.

I think the saddest thing for me on this record, is Sammy's increasing love for country music and Jimmy Buffet style island music.  Unfortunately, when the songs, Bad on Ford's and Chevorlets, Margaritaville and All We Need is an Island, come on the stereo, I can't hit the skip button quick enough.  To be fair there are a few listen able tunes, but that is about it.  I know Sam doesn't need the money anymore, so he can put out what he wants, but before he hangs it up, I wish he would put out one more solid hard rock album, just for his core fans.  

Standout Tracks:  Going Down, Knockdown Dragout and Winding Down.

Bottom Line: Sammy, once again, disappointing and sinking further down to where many of us just won't care anymore.  Another subpar record from one the greats.  Hopefully he'll want to rock again and we'll get one more good one, before he hangs up his red sneaks.

-Ragman was bummed to be this harsh, but wanted to be honest.  He just wants his red rocker back.

Def Leppard - Viva! Hysteria

It's hard to believe the Lep's have been around 30+ years.  Man, I'm getting old.  I remember the first time I saw, Bringin on the Heartbreak, on MTV, and instantly falling in love with the band.  They had a solid run for the next few albums, before hitting some rough patches, musically.  Though they've had their ups and downs, over the past 30 years, it is hard to deny that they aren't a great band.  It is up for debate, as to what album put this band on the map, but it would be hard to argue that it is not Hysteria.  Though Pyromania took the band to a new level, it was really the success of Hysteria that catapulted them to the top of the hard rock heap.  

To celebrate their landmark album Hysteria, Def Leppard took up residency at The Joint in Las Vegas and performed the record in its entirety.  The band recorded the show and has recently released it as Viva! Hysteria.  The show is available in a 2CD format as well as on DVD and Blu-ray.  The set list is comprised of the Hysterdia album as well as many well known and less known classics.  It is a solid set list, which makes one wonder, if the band will go into a heavier direction, for their next release.  

The band sound great and extra heavy live.  I was really impressed as to how well they sounded.  Joe Elliot struggles at times vocally, but mainly in the beginning.  By mid-set, he is hitting more of the notes he was missing in the beginning of the show.  I think the best part of this package is the set list, mainly featured on the second disk.  Their are several cuts featured from the first record as well as from High and Dry.  I would have liked to have heard more off of Pyromania, but was good with what was performed.

Standout Tracks:  Mirror, Mirror, Stagefright, Undefeated and Another Hit and Run.

Bottom Line:  The Lep's proving they still got it.  The band sound tight and heavier than I've heard them sound in a while.  This gives me hope for the next studio release.

-Ragman is looking for a Union Jack T.

Asomvel - Knuckle Duster

Oi! This is some kick ass motör-lovin' UK metal an' you better believe it!The retro train keeps on a rollin'. And, in fact, it's been doing so long enough that one might have to question whether this is "a thing", or simply the evolution of rock music happening right in front of us. After all, it's not that the music itself is a bad thing, it's the poseurs that make it annoying.

The lads of Asomvel have been doing their thing for nigh 20 years, so the idea of them being poseurs is ridiculous. And you'll know it as soon as you get a listen, as this is classic British hard rock/heavy metal in the vein of their legendary fellow countrymen Motörhead.

Their second(!) album, Knuckle Duster, marks the triumphant return of a band whose story reads like that of Spinal Tap or Bad News, having actually gone through much of the same trials (multiple drummers, obscurity, etc.) on their way to rock history - even culminating with the tragic loss of one of their founding brothers, bassist/vocalist Jay-Jay Winter in an auto accident. This is as real as metal gets, folks, and you can hear it in their music that's so down and dirty you'll need a pumice stone to wash your hands and face after a listen.

The Bottom Line: This is some authentic, working class metal from the UK happening here. If you're a fan of Ol' Lemmy and company you owe it to yourself to check these Brits out. It's as simple as that. Now somebody beer me! Anybody got a light?

Tracks That Require You Wear A Leather Jacket Or Pants: The whole damned thing

- Genghis always did want a leather biker jacket...