2 for 2014 (ignoring everyone's heavy metal bias)

Megadeath

There is just something off with this record.  It is a good megadeath cd but each song has its issues.  Be it a week chorus, a week bridge, the bass buried along with the drums in the mix, or the riff just seems as he has done it before each song suffers, and in some cases all  problems exist.  Don’t get me wrong the playing is really good with musicians having their moment.  Of all the problems the bass shows up the most.  Most of megadeath’s truly great songs are accompanied by a strong driving bass line and here none stands out.  Yes there is a good cover of Thin Lizzy’s Cold Sweat, but see above criticism.  Come  on it’s a Lizzy song where’s the bass.  2.5

Hey Hello

I don’t think over the past  five years no one has been more prolific as a writer/performer than Ginger Wildheart.  Throw in gigs as Michael Monroe guitarist( a good thing) and Courtney Love( not so good thing) you can say he keeps quite the heavy schedule.  As he masters this pledge music drive brilliantly, the downside is some uneven product along the way.  Luckily finding a female to play along with his normally cast of chatracters has really inspired him this time.  Throw together some great pop tunes, catchy chorus, switching male female vocals, and even some heavy electronic music, along with Gingers sense of lyric play and you have his most consistant and best cd for years.  Its so good it made my top ten for last year and still is a constant play. 4.0

The Go Go’s

What a great one two punch out of the gate.  Head over Heals and Turn to You start this pop album off great with two of the best songs these girls ever wrote.  And it is a straight ahead pop record which I guess they turned into along the way and into the future after this release.  Gone are the punk chicks that opened for the Police when I saw them live and now we have well produced clean sounding songs.  That’s okay because most of the songs on here are really good pop songs that do stick in your head.  While the rest of the cd has a tough time keeping up with the first two songs having some weaker moments , it does its best with songs like Yes and No and Capture the Light and a few others  along the way.  3.5

Deaths

Freddy Mercury. 

Randy Rhoads

Criss Olivia

Phil Lynott.

Patti Smith

I try and try but voice does matter and if I can’t get by the voice I can’t hear the music.  And this time a made a concerted effort as Patti Smith was a lyricist for Blue Oyster Cult in their beginning.  There is some of that soft white underbelly feel to this disc and that may because of Jack Douglas production. But the other songs just sounded like rehashed Steely Dan with a little more organ than usual.  Then there are those that are just noise and she uses her voice as an instrument.  Bad idea.  Her voice is just so irritating that the words she says are meaningless.  1.5

Mark Lanegan

Mark Lanegan’s voice can either be used as a tired angry story teller or just tired.  It really has to do with who he surrounds himself with as musicians and co singers.  Screaming Trees awesome, Gutter Twins great, Twilight Singers are even better.  Let’s face it Mark Lanegan should either reform screaming trees or just write with Greg Dulli.  Otherwise such a talented man gives us tired stories about tired people with tiring music backing him up. 1.0

Bronze Radio Return

Did not know anything about these guys and they are from Hartford, who knew.  Listed as a Jam band but don’t hear it.  The singer has a voice similar to the guy from Fun and the music is up tempo pop that does leave you tapping your toes and occasionally nodding along too.  The playing is good and at times really interesting but it seems to do what it is supposed to do, support the song rather than overwhelm it.  Again something jam bands don’t do and thankfully Bronze Radio Return does. 3.0

Deer Tick

Have heard a lot about this guy (although thought it was a band) but never took the time to listen to them/him. I liked this cd.  Maybe because it’s a good break album, maybe it’s because after Lanagen or smith anything would be better. Or maybe after the eternal optimism of Bronze some melancholy was needed.  Yes there is that Springsteen foot in the door that we expect from Hopkins release.  But there are other influences that of punk folk crowd similar to Westerberg or the any of the 70’s piano pop players, and it works.  3.0

Wonder Stuff

With reviewing the year and having so many middle school brit pop bands have really good cd’s this year I thought I’d add another for my greatest hits.  For 4 cd’s I thought these guys put out some great pop songs while maintaining a bit of piss and vinegar with the lyrics.  Each album got better and they peaked with Never Loved Elvis although I like Modern Idiot a lot more than many a critic. I chose only the first 4 cd’s because the ones released after the initial breakup were more like Miles Hunt solo albums as the rest of the band make only cameo appearances and I think they are god awful.

Best Of 2013

  1    Eureka Machines,  Remain In Hope.  The best pop rock cd of the year.

22    Wild Feathers, Wild Feathers, Take Tom Petty, Marshall Tucker and yes even the Eagles, press blend and it works.

33     Hey Hello, Hey Hello,  Ginger gets away from the Wildhearts and breathes life into a very productive period.  A hard rocking dance/electronic/pop with a guitar cd.

44  Volbeat, Outlaw Gentlemen and Shady Ladies.  My favorite hard rock band out there and they keep making great Metallica meets Social Distortion at a Johnny Cash concert noise.

o5  Okkerville River, Silver Gymnasium, Just a great cd about going home again.

66  Ocean Colour Scene, The Painting, The best of a very strong middle school brit pop class.  A rare full cd of great songs from a band that usually masks great songs with filler. 

  7  Cauldron, Tomorrow’s Lost, The best three piece to come out of Canada.  Well the heaviest one with the popiest choruses.

88  Black Star Riders, All Hell Breaks Loose, I can’t have Thin Lizzy, but these guys raise their flag in appreciation.  Nice to see that Scott Gorham made sure that they kept those awesome dual twin guitars. 

  9  The Dead Daisies, The Dead Daises.  Great Hard rock cd from Australia with hardens tour players forming a group.  Think Gnr, Thin Lizzy, Inxs, the Cult, Whitesnake.  These guys have played for them and make it work.

 10   Placebo, Loud Like Love,  It’s a placebo record.

Near Misses

·         AFI

·         Alkaline Trio

·         Drivin n cryin

·         Suede

Biggest disappointment, Manic Street Preachers,  lost their guitars and made a soundtrack.  But had a great single.

Hall Of Fame

1.       Beatles

2.       Black Sabbath

3.       Led Zeppelin

4.       Queen

5.       Judas Priest

6.       Iron Maiden

My personal wing

Thin Lizzy, UFO