Artist: Mastodon Title: “Stairway To Nick John” (Single) Label: Warner Music Group Release Date: 5/17/2019 Genre: Hard Rock Rating: 5/5
Back in September 2018, Mastodon longtime manager Nick John lost his battle with pancreatic cancer and during his funeral the band paid a tribute to their friend by covering the Led Zeppelin classic “Stairway To Heaven”. The track was sung by the band’s drummer Brann Dailor and the recording of this happening made its way around the Internet before being professionally recorded and released for this years Record Store Day. Now having listened to their stunning version of the track which is called “Stairway To Nick John” in his honor, I just wanted to throw together some thoughts about their take on such a classic number during such a terrible time. Continue reading “Stairway To Nick John” (Single) by Mastodon→
Today is also the day that the mighty Metallica is celebrating a bit of an anniversary as their extended play “The $5.98 EP: Garage Days Re-Revisited” is thirty years old today. Do you own this one? I must admit that I do not have this on LP but clearly remember seeing it in the bins at numerous record shops back in the day when it had come out. However, since I didn’t recognize any of the songs that they were doing I just didn’t want to take a chance on spending money that could be used on something else KISS or Iron Maiden related at the time. You see back in 1987, I wasn’t really the biggest of Metallica fans but I did purchase their “Master Of Puppets” at Tower Records at the moment that it was uncrated with my friends. I discussed that Music Milestone HERE if you’d like to refresh your memory. Now as usual this is mostly personal recall instead of deep liner notes since you can read all of that stuff down on the Wikipedia link below. There is no sense in repeating what their editorials have already accomplished. Continue reading Still Thrashin’! Metallica’s “The $5.98 E.P.: Garage Days Re-Revisited” Hits 30 (1987-2017)→
Artist: Steel Panther Title: “She’s Tight” (Single) Label: Universal Music Release Date: 9/29/2016 Genre: Hard Rock Rating: 4/5
This is a pretty easy one to do because for as long as I can remember I have been a fan of the band Cheap Trick and one of the songs that I have always enjoyed was the number “She’s Tight” which comes from their “One On One” album. It had a fun video that I used to catch way back in the day on the still relatively new MTV station (when I went to the friend’s house who had the station of course). Now this little summary is not about the band from Rockford but is instead steering focus to those Glam Rock scoundrels in Steel Panther who have just released their own take on the tune. Let’s discuss. Continue reading “She’s Tight” (Single) by Steel Panther→
Artist: Steve ‘n’ Seagulls Title: “Self Esteem” (Single) Label: Spinefarm Records Release Date: 8/18/2016 Genre: Folk Rock Rating: 4/5
It was about a month ago that I discussed the first single from the brand new Steve ‘n’ Seagulls album “Brothers In Farms” with their cover of Iron Maiden’s seminal track “Aces High” and since the band has dished out another one for public consumption I figured I might as well do the same thing for that one. This time around the song is “Self Esteem” that was originally done by The Offspring. Let’s go. Continue reading “Self Esteem” (Single) by Steve ‘n Seagulls→
Artist: Metal Allegiance Title: “Fallen Heroes” Label: Nuclear Blast Records Release Date: 8/12/2016 Genre: Heavy Metal Rating: 4/5
As most music fans will recall, 2015 ended on a really bad note when Motorhead main man Lemmy Kilmister died of cancer. It was a jarring way to close a year and while 2016 was loaded with hope and promise, it quickly slapped us with a hard dose about our hero’s mortality when it took the iconic David Bowie and master songwriter Glen Frey from us one after the other. These three deceased legends are the musical inspiration for this solid EP by Metal Allegiance, that supergroup comprised of Mike Portnoy, Alex Skolnick, Mark Osegueda and many more. The idea for the EP came from the bands founding bassist Mark Menghi and fans will get a track apiece from Motorhead, Bowie and The Eagles. I’ll opine on each of them briefly below. Continue reading “Fallen Heroes” by Metal Allegiance→
