Europe - Live at Sweden Rock (30th Anniversary Show)

It is hard to believe that Europe has been around for 30 years.  Seems like just yesterday, when I saw the video for The Final Countdown debut on Mtv.  Damn, I'm getting old!  Europe has just release the 30th anniversary show, which was filmed at the Sweden Rock festival.  The DVD is jam packed with 28 songs, clocking in at 2+ hours.  The show is a best of, spanning the band's entire career, as well as a few covers.  The band even had a few guest appearances from Scott Gorham (Thin Lizzy) and Michael Schenker (ex-UFO and Scorpions).  I will say, I was a bit disappointed to see that former guitarist Kee Marcello wasn't invited back for a few tunes.  That would have made the DVD for me.

As I stated earlier, Live at Sweden Rock, is a celebration of the band's 30 year career.  Even though the band shut it down for a while in the 90's, for awhile, they are still counting the missed time.  If you're a stickler for this type of thing, you might want to put an asterisk by the 30, but if not, then you'll enjoy this for what it is.  The DVD is shot very well, and is one of those DVD's that gives you the sense of being there  The band are spot on and sound great.  This DVD is a very fitting gift to the fans, from a band celebrating their career.  This one's a keeper.

Bottom Line:  Europe 30 years later.  The band proving that they can rock us, even if they have a few more years, under their belt.

- Ragman has been very impressed with the last couple of Europe DVD's, he has viewed. 

EtHERSENS - your wandering ghost

Ethersens returns from France to rock you with some powerful shoe-gazing tunes. Cela semble bon pour moi!There's some interesting music to be had out there on the heavier side of things without it all being emo. And I find this latest penchant for mixing heavy rhythms with shoe-gazing is a pretty good way to spend idle time. Think of it as the anti-progressive vibe, where listeners can get back to just experiencing music as a backdrop to life rather than having to concentrate on its intricacies and decipher the meanings of arcane plots and concepts.

French alt metallers Ethersens know how to craft some great music that entertains without demands, as exemplified by their sophomore effort, your wandering ghost. It's a great groovy soundtrack to a road trip or working from home, full of introspective moments of textured guitars and keyboards that occasionally break into waves of crunch and tribal rhythms. In short, I'm loving this stuff.

The Bottom Line: Ethersens is another talented band in a growing subgenre of what I'm calling ambient metal, and makes for an entertaining soundtrack to your daily grind. Vive la France!

Tracks To Enjoy While Spending A Winter Weekend On The Couch: This is Where You And I Part Ways, Livin' Memory

- Genghis could use a little more down time...

Ministry - Enjoy the Quiet (Live at Wacken 2012)

Ministry is one of those bands, that threatens to retire from time to time, but this time I think they mean it.  With the release of their stellar swan song From Beer to Eternity and most recently Enjoy the Quiet, I think this may be the last we see from the godfathers of industrial music.  The most recent rumors of retiring came out, after the passing of the band's longtime guitarist Mike Scaccia.  Scaccia died in late 2012 whilst performing with his other band Rigor Mortis.

Enjoy the Quiet is an excellent swan song release, for the band.  It is a 3 disc package, which includes 1 DVD and 2 audio CD's.  The package includes 2 shows from Wacken.  One from 2006 and the other from the 2012.  The 2012 show is the selling point, and the 2006 show s just the bonus.  This is a nice package.  Both shows are shot well and the performances are outstanding.  The band is on fire in both.  The band cover the spectrum, including new tunes as well as some classics.  A very cool watch.

Bottom Line: Ministry retiring while they are still on top.  We'll just have to see how long it lasts.  Jorgenson and company are on fire in each performance, which makes this one essential to any Ministry fan.

-Ragman forgot how heavy this band was...

Boston - Life, Love and Hope

It has been 11 years since Boston, has put out a new record.  Their last record was a bit of a disappointment, so I had high hopes for their latest release Life, Love and Hope.  Part of the reason I was put off by their last release, was the inclusion of additional vocalists.  I always thought that Brad Delph's (RIP) vocals helped drive the band.  Delph could handle the vocals by himself with ease, so I always wondered why others were brought in.  He and guitarist Tom Scholz are the signature sound of Boston, so I wasn't sure why they were tinkering with the formula, on the last release.  Unfortunately Delph passed away, so for the new release, they had no choice.

Life Love and Hope is a fair album.  Criticism one, is that the production is off, which I can't believe I'm saying, because this is a Boston album.  Scholz is a genius as a producer, but for some reason, many of the tracks on this CD sound like demos.  It sounds like a drum machine was used on more than half of the tracks.  This CD is fair, at best.  The songs are okay, but seem a bit tired.  There is no real energy or fire in the songs to make you want to turn your stereo up to 11, which is unfortunate, considering this is a Boston release.

As stated previously, it is a bit off-putting with all of the vocalists involved in this project.  Scholz needs to pick a guy and stick with him.  It doesn't need to be a variety show on each release.  With all of the different vocalitst, it seems like a solo effort rather than a group effort.  Even though the late Brad Delph is included on a few tracks, that wasn't enough to save this one.  Don't get me wrong there are some strong tracks, but they suffer due to the poor production.  Their are elements of the glory days, but they lack the spark, that ignited their sound back in the day.  All in all, not a bad release, but not a great one either.

Bottom Line:  Hopefully this isn't Boston's swan song, because it comes off a bit subpar.  Good ideas that fall a little flat due to poor production.

Standout Tracks: Heaven on Earth, Someday, Someone 2.0

-Ragman is thinking he would like to see a vintage Boston show.

Bronies - The Extremely Unexpected Adult Fans of My Little Pony

I had never heard of a Brony before, until I heard them being goofed on, by the Howard Stern Show.  If you're not familiar, a Brony is a young adult male that worships My Little Pony.  Kookie, I know and that is why I decided to watch a documentary about these pony loving freaks.  There is a lot of strange fetishes out there, but this one take the cake.  How odd is it, that a bunch of grown men, worship a cartoon created for little girls?  To each his own, I guess.

The film takes an in depth look into the lives of some Bronies.  It gives the back story as to how they becames Bronies, as well as the challenges of dealing with friends and family, after they come out of the proverbial closet.  If that weren't enough, you even get a glimpse of every Bronie's dream - Brony-con.  Brony-con, like comi-con or any convention, brings all of these folks together to celebrate My Little Pony for a day or so. 

I decided to watch this for a goof, and then realized that is was for real.  Pretty disturbing.  It is amazing to me that this isn't just a U.S. thing, it is global.  Folks from all over the world travel to these Brony-cons.  The film was well done and tries to convince viewers that Bronies are people to, and this sort of behavior is natural.  Yikes!  I guess there are worse things these people could be up to.

Bottom Line: An in-depth look into the lives of Bronies.  A well done documentary that keeps you interested from start to finish, even if it is a bit creepy.

-Ragman wonders if Jon is a closet Brony.