Brian Robertson - Dio - Sin - Atra - Stryper
Brian Robertson - Diamonds and Rust
SPV
By Jeffrey Easton
Well known and noted guitarist Brian Robertsomn is back in a big way. Former guitar slinger for the legendary Thin Lizzy as well as Motorhead has put together a stellar record of hard rockin blues tracks to satisfy the appetite of any diehard rock fiend. A mix of newer originals as well as his own personal reworkings of some Thin Lizzy tracks makes for a record that no rock fan should be without. The opening cut, Diamonds And Dirt, with its solid riff, pushes the volume to the limit with its classic guitars and AOR melodic feel. This is a rock radio staple in the making, a pure classic. The blues really sink in with cuts like Running Back, Blues Boy and the amazingly stunning Devil In My Soul. Devil In My Soul seeps of a ripped soul as Brian pours his hard edge vocals over slide guitars over the thought of a woman doing him wrong. There are some guests on the record, more notably Ian Haugland of Europe fame and Rob Lamothe from the Riverdogs. Brian is a top notch guitarist and this record shows why as he goes from straight hard rock to the most gut wrenching of hard blues. Do not let this disc get by you..
BUY DIAMONDS AND DIRT!!
By Jeffrey Easton
Well known and noted guitarist Brian Robertsomn is back in a big way. Former guitar slinger for the legendary Thin Lizzy as well as Motorhead has put together a stellar record of hard rockin blues tracks to satisfy the appetite of any diehard rock fiend. A mix of newer originals as well as his own personal reworkings of some Thin Lizzy tracks makes for a record that no rock fan should be without. The opening cut, Diamonds And Dirt, with its solid riff, pushes the volume to the limit with its classic guitars and AOR melodic feel. This is a rock radio staple in the making, a pure classic. The blues really sink in with cuts like Running Back, Blues Boy and the amazingly stunning Devil In My Soul. Devil In My Soul seeps of a ripped soul as Brian pours his hard edge vocals over slide guitars over the thought of a woman doing him wrong. There are some guests on the record, more notably Ian Haugland of Europe fame and Rob Lamothe from the Riverdogs. Brian is a top notch guitarist and this record shows why as he goes from straight hard rock to the most gut wrenching of hard blues. Do not let this disc get by you..
BUY DIAMONDS AND DIRT!!
Dio - At Donington UK: Live 1983 & 1987
NIJI
By Jeffrey Easton
We lost a phenomenal performer when we lost Ronnie but he left behind a trove of performances so we as a metal nation are lucky to have the first pieces of it in this Donington set. Recorded for the BBC originally, these tapes from his massive sets at Donington represent what Dio was about at the time, powerful songs and an amazing stage presence. The 1983 set of course was heavy with his pre Dio bands as he was only on his first solo albums but songs like Starstruck, Stargazer, Children Of The Sea felt as if they WERE his solo songs as he owned the performances and the Holy Diver material came through live as menacingly as it did from the studio. Stand Up And Shout and Holy Driver drove a stake through the crowd as if they had just witnessed a metal rebirth with Ronnie’s presence. With the 1987 set Ronnie had just released the sinister Dream Evil record and he had a deeper personal well to go to. With tracks like Naked In The Rain, Dream Evil, The Last In Line and All The Fools Sailed Away he was cemented as THE solo singer who just happened to have an amazing past as well. The new material was as stunning as the Holy Diver era of the last time he was at Donington and it tapped into the fears of the unsuspecting. Tapping the past once more, he brought back Neon Knights, Heaven And Hell as well as Man On The Silver Mountain and Long Live Rock N Roll. If you were at those gigs, lucky you, here is your permanent souvenir from those special outings. Ronnie is still the king of metal, long live DIO!!
BUY AT DONINGTON UK!!
By Jeffrey Easton
We lost a phenomenal performer when we lost Ronnie but he left behind a trove of performances so we as a metal nation are lucky to have the first pieces of it in this Donington set. Recorded for the BBC originally, these tapes from his massive sets at Donington represent what Dio was about at the time, powerful songs and an amazing stage presence. The 1983 set of course was heavy with his pre Dio bands as he was only on his first solo albums but songs like Starstruck, Stargazer, Children Of The Sea felt as if they WERE his solo songs as he owned the performances and the Holy Diver material came through live as menacingly as it did from the studio. Stand Up And Shout and Holy Driver drove a stake through the crowd as if they had just witnessed a metal rebirth with Ronnie’s presence. With the 1987 set Ronnie had just released the sinister Dream Evil record and he had a deeper personal well to go to. With tracks like Naked In The Rain, Dream Evil, The Last In Line and All The Fools Sailed Away he was cemented as THE solo singer who just happened to have an amazing past as well. The new material was as stunning as the Holy Diver era of the last time he was at Donington and it tapped into the fears of the unsuspecting. Tapping the past once more, he brought back Neon Knights, Heaven And Hell as well as Man On The Silver Mountain and Long Live Rock N Roll. If you were at those gigs, lucky you, here is your permanent souvenir from those special outings. Ronnie is still the king of metal, long live DIO!!
BUY AT DONINGTON UK!!
Sin-Atra - A Tribute to Frank Sinatra
Armoury
By Jeffrey Easton
Wow, it really amazes me what can be accomplished when you have too much time on your hands. Bob Kulick, who has had his hands on a number of tribute records, has finally been given one that he could butcher in the end. I like Frank Sinatra, I respect his music as he was a master at his craft and a superior singer. Now here we have a metal tribute to a great lounge singer and to me this is the one place metal does not belong. The songs, for the most part, come off as an overly brash stab at a moment in time that had a “particular sound” and throwing a bunch of riffs together to fill in around the words does not make sense. The songs sound nothing like the originals at all. If I was scoring it I would have at least followed the melodies. The only salvageable songs here Summer Wind performed wonderfully by Geoff Tate and Witchcraft performed by Tim Owens. These songs were well guided and did not fall off the mark to much. Also I will throw in the fact that “That’s Life”, sung by Jani Lane, was close with Ritchie Kotzen’s guitar not butchering anything with unneeded riffs. Songs like It Was a Very Good Year, Strangers In The Night, High Hopes, New York New York, were all ruined in my opinion. I felt as though Robin Zander would have done a great job with Fly Me To The Moon but I was dashed. What’s next, Dean Martin?
BUY Sin-Atra…
By Jeffrey Easton
Wow, it really amazes me what can be accomplished when you have too much time on your hands. Bob Kulick, who has had his hands on a number of tribute records, has finally been given one that he could butcher in the end. I like Frank Sinatra, I respect his music as he was a master at his craft and a superior singer. Now here we have a metal tribute to a great lounge singer and to me this is the one place metal does not belong. The songs, for the most part, come off as an overly brash stab at a moment in time that had a “particular sound” and throwing a bunch of riffs together to fill in around the words does not make sense. The songs sound nothing like the originals at all. If I was scoring it I would have at least followed the melodies. The only salvageable songs here Summer Wind performed wonderfully by Geoff Tate and Witchcraft performed by Tim Owens. These songs were well guided and did not fall off the mark to much. Also I will throw in the fact that “That’s Life”, sung by Jani Lane, was close with Ritchie Kotzen’s guitar not butchering anything with unneeded riffs. Songs like It Was a Very Good Year, Strangers In The Night, High Hopes, New York New York, were all ruined in my opinion. I felt as though Robin Zander would have done a great job with Fly Me To The Moon but I was dashed. What’s next, Dean Martin?
BUY Sin-Atra…
Stryper - The Covering
BIG3
By Jeffrey Easton
I am not a huge fan of established bands doing covers albums as that usual signals the band is tapped material wise but this one is interesting. The guys in Stryper came up listening to the same stuff I did but with their own band they went the Christian metal route while their mentors continued to don the overly secular material. This tribute contains notable tracks from Deep Purple, Kansas, KISS, Led Zep, Scorpions etc and to me the stand out is the ominous Heaven And Hell. I find it interesting that Stryper challenged themselves to do this particular track and I must say it came out as gut heavy as the original. Blackout, the monstrous Scorpions anthem, was amazingly sung by Michael, I am shocked at how close he got to Klaus’ tone. Lights Out by UFO is one of my top rock songs of all time and Stryper nailed it perfectly. Oz and Michael rip the guitars apart here, stunning. The only drawbacks to the record are the tunes that are over saturated from rock radio as it is, like Over The Mountain, Shout It Out Loud, Breaking The Law and Highway Star. I would have picked lesser played songs but they are well known and it does translate into sales. The record closes with the sole original composition, God. Great tune, very guitar heavy and right on target with their message and it lets you know that Stryper can still be a source of inspiration. The packaging is also very well done with a well illustrated booklet which makes picking the actual CD up a must.. As far as covers album, this sits right at the top for how well the guys in Stryper executed their mission!
BUY THE COVERING!
By Jeffrey Easton
I am not a huge fan of established bands doing covers albums as that usual signals the band is tapped material wise but this one is interesting. The guys in Stryper came up listening to the same stuff I did but with their own band they went the Christian metal route while their mentors continued to don the overly secular material. This tribute contains notable tracks from Deep Purple, Kansas, KISS, Led Zep, Scorpions etc and to me the stand out is the ominous Heaven And Hell. I find it interesting that Stryper challenged themselves to do this particular track and I must say it came out as gut heavy as the original. Blackout, the monstrous Scorpions anthem, was amazingly sung by Michael, I am shocked at how close he got to Klaus’ tone. Lights Out by UFO is one of my top rock songs of all time and Stryper nailed it perfectly. Oz and Michael rip the guitars apart here, stunning. The only drawbacks to the record are the tunes that are over saturated from rock radio as it is, like Over The Mountain, Shout It Out Loud, Breaking The Law and Highway Star. I would have picked lesser played songs but they are well known and it does translate into sales. The record closes with the sole original composition, God. Great tune, very guitar heavy and right on target with their message and it lets you know that Stryper can still be a source of inspiration. The packaging is also very well done with a well illustrated booklet which makes picking the actual CD up a must.. As far as covers album, this sits right at the top for how well the guys in Stryper executed their mission!
BUY THE COVERING!