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Abe plays that acoustic guitar like he hasn?t done anything else for his entire life,he also seems to enjoy writing songs with a jam attitude to them coz I get the impression these songs would sound different if we heard him perform them on stage.
I wouldn?t be too surprised if it?s a bit like he?s adjusting to whatever mood he?s in or depending on the atmosphere of the place Abe is going to play at.
This kinda laid back acoustic based music without drums should really suit a small club just perfect,that is also the problem with the record coz I believe his songs do sound so much better live - he needs to communicate with the audience to make the songs bloom.
These studio versions works alright in small doses but the whole 50 minutes in one take only makes me sleepy,he sold 4,000 copies of his previous album "Acousticrockjazzfunk" so Abe has a loyal fanbase in the windy city.
Cool fact though that AQ is a huge fan of Styx,hands up! |
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| In the days of all modern singer songwriters that almost always sounding more or less the same (I can admit though, that I almost love ´em all) it´s fresh to hear guys like Jay Quinn combining the modern touch of the style with a cool jazz touch, the way that makes Joe Henry so unique. But where Joe get´s quite deep and hard to discover, Jay goes into the direction of the normal aware guys we all are so aware of combined with a melancholic beautiful edge a´la Coldplay. Is he good then? Yepp, he sure is. I would even like to use words like lovely and great in the review. Cause he is. It´s a beautiful packaged album and even if I just listened to it a couple of times (twice one rainy evening while reading a good book) it feels that the album is a winner in the long run. |
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| We raved about this young man and his last album here at the melodic.net a year ago and he´s allready back with another CD. This time a 5 track E.P, and what can I say more than a big freekin´ bravo once again. This Dallas-born guy deliver an own cool version of modern rock/powerpop with his soothing vocals combined with a raw guitars and some perfect melodies added to it. Second out "Wait A Minute" is a pearl and third out "After All" another. The softer "Bound" shows the other side of Jay. The side he showed more on his album earlier last year, and that is a side where he looks more into the Toad The Wet Sprocket sort of soundscape. A flirt I really like. Jay Quinn have tons of talent and I suggest you jump on the train and check him out. Listen at his homepage. |
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Q-Ten Peck is the front man of this German hardrock band that has released their debut album. Mr. Peck sounds like a dead ringer for Mike Tramp (White Lion) and Martie Peters (Push, MPG). So it’s no surprise that this sounds a lot like White Lion and Push.
Peck sings very good and has a nice feeling with his hoarse voice that really fits to this music. They even do an OK cover of White Lions "Cry For Freedom" and a strong version of Don Henley’s The Boys Of Summer.
But I miss a couple of up-tempo rockers that would have cranked up this album because most of the songs are mid-tempo rockers.
Where I’ve Been is a good rocker with nice riffs. Angel is a fine power ballad with strong melodies. The album ends with 3 live and acoustic tracks that sounds OK, nothing more. A solid debut album that would suit fans of White Lion and Push for sure with some ups and downs. Dan Lucas sings background vocals on this album. |
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Quality Vinyl is a 6 piece acoustic folkrock band from Kansas City,with both male and female vocals - their music feels like a close relative to artists like Kim Hill,Sixpence none the richer and Smalltown poets.
Their independent debut has a weak production and the majority of the songs doesn?t move me at all,I come to think about their music as being perfect in a piano bar or a dinner restaurant - noone will be offended coz it?s soft and harmless but how exciting is that?
A few songs are pretty ok though such as the pianobased "Calling me",the dreamy "Investigate" and the instrumental "No.3". |
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When I read others reviews of this album, many compare QuarterAcreLifestyle with Radiohead but in most cases the influenced band is often better than Radiohead.
I never understood the greatness of that band, people hyped The Mars Volta when they came but how many really listened that much to their records?
I want to say QAL sounds like a mix of U2 (Achtung Baby/Zooropa era), Japan, Björk and Brian Eno - the band admits they are influenced by Massive Attack and Nine Inch Nails which also can be drawn in to this soundscape of industrial pop.
The band was founded by the 2 New Zealand born brothers Aaron (drums/keyboards) and Cameron Pollack (bass/vocals) in 2000, they released their self titled debut in 2006 and now returns with the new full length "Blood on the lawn".
Tony Masterantonio (guitars) and Kristin Brown (vocals) joined the band for a broader sound, it´s no doubt this album is perfect for a moment with your headphones.
Talk about effects made in stereo! |
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Quecia are a female fronted British rock band that delivers raw rock with emotive lyrics and a strong pop feel in their songwriting.
Kirsty McCarrick (vocals), Paul Ayre (guitars), Chirs Picton (Bass, Keys, Guitar), Steve Atkinson (Drums) and Haley McCarrick (BGV) have recently released their 2nd studio album entitled "Quecia II", the debut album "This Is Where We Are" was released in 2001.
They play a mix of 70s and 80s pop/rock in the veins of Heart and Fleetwood Mac.
Very much of Heart?s early years comes in mind when I listen to this nice album. The beautiful Kirsty has a voice that reminds of a young Nancy Wilson of Heart and also Lana Lane.
The songs are written by McCarrick, Ayre and Picton with a mixed result. Some of the songs falls out of the frame a bit and vanish in the haze. But when the songs are good,they are indeed really good.
"The Rhythm" is a nice acoustic piece of work with a laid-back and dark feel over it. The rocker "Bird In A Cage" is great and sounds like early Heart with nice guitarriffs.
Listen to "New Dress" and you?re gonna think that you?re listening to a Heart album. Brilliant song with great melodies with Kirsty bringing out her best vocal performance. The pianoballad "Too Late To Say Goodbye" is pure pop heaven with lovely harmony vocals from the McCarrick sisters.
If you are looking for more AORish sound then check out "Rescue Me". This is the highlight of the album with an awesome AOR-chorus and even more brilliant harmonies. It also includes nice keyboards in the background that lifts up this song even more.
Quecia?s 2nd album is a nice pop/rock album with few fillers-as I said falls out of the frame. But this do sound like a very promising band and I think that the next album will be even better.
So if you?re into the 70s and early 80s sounding Heart and Fleetwood Mac, this is a must for you to check out.
I had hard time to get into this album in the beginning but after a couple of turns in the CD-player- I was convinced and I have to admit that Quecia has a great sound and strong songs. |
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Queen?s 5th Live album is a special one coz it?s the first one without Freddie Mercury but featuring another great rocksinger - namely Paul Rodgers of Free and Bad Company.
I?m glad they called it Queen+Paul Rodgers coz then I can listen to it in a new perspective,I have to admit though that I was a bit sceptical at first how they could reform the band without Freddie and John Deacon.
With no expectations at all and maybe being a bit doubtful,I put "Return of the champions" in my stereo and worked on the site with some news as usual but to my surprise - this was a real enjoyable listening affair with a dedicated audience singing along to all these Queen classics and the wonderful voice of Paul Rodgers at his best.
Live albums belongs to the 70?s coz not many live recordings from the 80?s and after are that funny to listen to but this double disc sure sounds like a true live recording,a bit rough and huge sounding as the Arena recording it is - I?m glad it isn?t just a studio sounding cd with a recorded live crowd over it.
And don?t you just hate it when the band never talks to the audience between the songs but you get a load full of that on "Return of the champions" so thumbs up for Brian,Roger and Paul for letting us listeners being a part of that night in Sheffield,U.K in May,2005 when this was recorded.
Additional musicians are:Spike Edney (vocals, keyboards); Danny Miranda (vocals, bass guitar); Jamie Moses (guitar).
Live Killers (1979),Live Magic (1986),Live at Wembley 86 (1992-rereleased 2003 with 4 more tracks),Queen on fire-Live at the Bowl 82 (2004)......you can now add another fine Live album to that list.
I will play this album many more times to come.....from the magic intro with Rodgers on "Reaching out" through Queen fave?s like "Fat bottomed girls","Love of my life" (gives me the goosebumps),"I?m in love with my car","The show must go on" and "Bohemian Rhapsody" - we also get to hear 4 songs from Rodger?s time in Free and Bad Company and they are "Wishing well","All right now","Feel like making love" and "Can?t get enough"!
BLOODY GOOD! |
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The first music since 1995 from Queen but this time without the late Freddie Mercury and bassist John Deacon that is living a quiet and private life without touring and recording.
The mega voice Paul Rodgers is the new frontman and I think it´s a good idea that they call themselves Queen and Paul Rodgers because their new album sound more like a Bad Company/Free record than Queen´s pomprock style.
Paul Rodgers is singing lead on all the songs except the ballad "Say it´s not true" that features lead vocals from bothPaul, Brian and Roger.
The new single "C-lebrity" features some really great lyrics about modern stardom and the song bring thoughts to the Queen classic "Tie your mother down".
The first 3 tracks "Cosmos rocking", "Time to shine" and "Still burnin´" are the best tracks here, in some moments they could be lost cousins to the 80´s Queen song "Hammer to fall".
On the downside we find the terrible "Call me" that sounds like a poor Irish folk song version of "Crazy little thing called love" and the bluesy "Voodoo" that never should´ve made it to the record.
This is a rocknroll record so don´t expect any pomp on "Cosmos rocks", but Paul Rodgers is a fantastic singer so I cannot say it´s bad - it just doesn´t sound like Queen. |
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Something happened after the excellent "Empire"(90), the albums from this leading progressive metal band
Queensryche that came out during the 90s such as "Promised land" from 94 (still had some nice songs like "I am I","Damaged" and "Lady Jane").
"Hear in the now frontier" from 97 (leaving behind the prog rock influences that made them distinctive and Chris DeGarmo left the band when the album fell down the charts) and "Q2K" from 99(with guitarist Kelly Gray replacing DeGarmo,the band did a successful tour but
the songs on then album were too experimentful).
The music never seemed to find its way back to the elements of the classic early works "Rage for order", "Operation mindcrime" and ofcourse "Empire".
Now that Chris DeGarmo is back in the band writing songs again and playing on this new album (but not touring??!!),many of us Queensryche fans had high hopes of something great coming from this experimenting rock band.
The music is very deep like on the latest releases but the songs are stronger and the visits in the progressive world feels oh so welcome.
The oriental "Desert dance" contains some gorgeous riffs from DeGarmo and Wilton, the title track "Tribe" is their best song written since 90 - pure magic a la Rush
and this is what I would have liked more of on the new album but even if its better than the material weve heard from this band in a decade, it wont match the classic stuff.
Also have in mind that it takes 3-4 times to get into the music on "Tribe", however they are on the right path again....that leads back to the Empire. |
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Geoff Tate and Co are back with a new Queenr?che live album from their US "Tribe" tour earlier this year,they are coming to Europe now for some gigs and they have this live album and DVD in the luggage.
I?m not that fond of their latest studio album "Tribe" and many of the songs on this live are taken from that album.
I was looking for a hardrockin live album but I was totally wrong. They deliver many of the songs very laidback and acoustic. When they rock they rock. The sound is very good I must admit but the choice of songs is very strange in my opinion. Ok, they have released other livealbums as well but I had expected more songs from "Operation Mindcrime".
It?s only at the end that the album picks up the speed with the classic songs "Anybody Listening"(fantastic livesong), "Breaking The Silence",
"The Needle Lies" and "Best I Can"(Best song on the tracklist).
Another song that hooked me up was "Sign Of The Time" that they do very well.
No, this is ONLY for the die hard fans and I?m sure they will love this but I?m not satisfied with "The Art Of Live".
When they are good they are really a fantastic liveband and Geoff Tate sings brilliant but many of the songs don?t reach the higher level. |
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18 years after the classic "Operation mindcrime" album, Queensryche releases their 10th studio album which also is an album I never thought they would make - "Operation mindcrime II".
Chris DeGarmo was back in the band shortly on "Tribe" (2003) but was replaced by Mike Stone who also shares the guitar duties with founding member Michael Wilton on "OM2".
So should I and all their fans be jumping high of joy?! Well, dont get too excited because has the band ever managed to record an album as good as the first 5 after "Empire"?
No,they havent.
Do they have the same budget today as they had with the first OM?! Not,even close Im afraid and was it really such a good idea to produce the follow up album by themselves?!
I wont even answer that question because those who knows the big difference between the early albums compared to the newer self produced efforts knows what Im talking about.
Ronnie James Dio makes a guest appearance on "The chase" but its one of few highlights on OM2, the album has a real weak start the first half just to get a little better on the second half but its not enough to make this a worthy follow up.
It wouldve been better if they had given it another title because now, everyone will compare it to the first masterpiece and since the production lacks a bit - this one is doomed to fail.
Only a few songs like "Hostage", "Re-arrange you", "A murderer" and "Fear city slide" are good enough to have been featured on the first one.
A big disappointment but not that surprising! |
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| I think this is the third Queensrÿche compilation in just a couple of years, so not a very necessary one if you ask me, but they have done their best to fill the CD, seventeen tracks and only three seconds from clocking on eighty minutes! The reason I bought it (and reviewing it) is due to the fact that there is a slightly more limited two CD edition available. The second disc is filled with goodies from then and now (mostly then) and a major part of the rarities hasn’t been available before. We get demos from the time when the band was called Myth, Queensrÿche demos, soundtrack compositions, b-sides, live tracks and other previously unreleased gems. Fifteen tracks in total and of course a must for the already initiated… |
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This year must have been like heaven for all fans of Queensryche with 3 releases, the compilation "Sign of the times" feat.bonus tracks and unreleased songs, the Double Live CD/DVD "Mindcrime at the Moore" plus the cover album "Take cover".
Normally I´m quite fed up with tribute and cover albums but Queensryche has managed to create an interesting album of odd songs of completely different music styles than we´re used to hear from a hardrock band.
It´s not the first time they´re taking on a cover, they did an excellent version of Dalbello´s "Gonna get close to you" on Rage For Order.
Ok, there are a few mediocre songs like the Crosby,Stills,Nash and Young original "Almost cut my hair", the operatic "Odissea" and the 10 minute long live version of U2´s "Bullet the blue sky".
But the R&B classic "For the love of money" (originally recorded by The O´Jays) is pretty cool and they have done a nice metal version of "Heaven on their minds" from Jesus Christ Superstar.
Their take on Queen´s "Innuendo" sounds very close their own material and it´s ok but the great stuff on this album are: "Neon Knights" (Black Sabbath), "Red rain" (Peter Gabriel), "Synchronicity II" (The Police) and the brilliant "Welcome to the machine" (Pink Floyd).
Don´t avoid this album, it´s better than you think. |
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American Soldier is a concept album from the Pioneers of metal, Queensryche.
The band is saluting the troops with this 1 hour long album that truly is their best album in 19 years, you have to go back to "Empire" to find a better record.
More and more bands are saluting the American soldiers, Drowning Pool recorded the song "Soldiers" in 2007 and Winger gave us IV which is a mighty popular album among the troops.
I am happy to hear the band this vital and hungry again, I was major disappointed with the Operation Mindcrime II album and never thought Tate and Co could write another fine prog metal album ever again.
This new album reminds a bit of their darker 90´s era but the songs are better here, there are several great songs but my favorites are "Sliver", "Man down", "If I were king" and "Hundred mile stare".
I save the best for last, take a moment and soak in the beautiful "Home again" - without doubt their finest ballad since "Silent lucidity".
Bravo! |
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Did you know that?
Prior to forming Paramore, Haley Williams and bassist Jeremy Davis took part in a funk cover band called The Factory, while the Farro brothers had practiced together after school. The other members of what was soon to be Paramore had been "edgy about the whole female thing" of having Williams as vocalist, but, because they were really good friends, she started writing for them and it eventually worked out.
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