Artist: Hardcore Superstar Title: “Hardcore Superstar” Label: Gain Records Release: 5/3/2005 Genre: Glam / Rock Rating: 9/10
Don’t believe the rumors of a breakup! After taking some well deserved time off, Hardcore Superstar are back and better than ever! The fourth album, simply self-titled, is quite possibly their best record to date. Hardcore Superstar formed in Gothenburg, Sweden in 1997 with members Jocke Berg (vocals), Thomas Silver (guitar), Martin Sandvik (bass) and Magnus “Adde” Andreasson (drums). This album is nothing short of a rock n’ roll powerhouse of a record, songs with the stylings of Motley Crue and AC/DC rolled up in their own glammed up sound. Continue reading “Hardcore Superstar” by Hardcore Superstar→
Artist: Crash Kelly Title: Penny Pills Label: Liquor and Poker Release: January 25, 2005 Genre: Glam / Rock Rating: 8/10
When rock suddenly becomes more like background noise and not a life changing experience, along comes Crash Kelly to the rescue. A total return to a healthy mix of 70s glitter rock and classic arena rock with all the attitude, twin guitars, catchy lyrics and style – a rock record was born. Crash Kelly originally formed by Sean Kelly (ex – Robin Black) and co-founder Allister Thompson (ex. Sleepwalker’s Union), started their quest to make rock once again more than just music, but an experience in 2002. Besides Sean (lead guitar and vocals) and Allister (rhythm guitar and vocals), you also have Jordan Michael Stewart (bass and vocals) and Kevin Taylor (ex – Robin Black, drums and vocals). When brought together you have yourself a solid rock record from start to finish. Continue reading “Penny Pills” by Crash Kelly→
Artist: Cinderella Title: “Rocked, Wired & Bluesed: The Greatest Hits” Label: Mercury/Universal Records Release Date: 1/25/2005 Genre: Hard Rock Rating: 8/10
The release of this CD by Cinderella comes to us 7 years after their last hits compilation. Most of the material is the same with the exception that this piece also adds a couple of tracks from “Still Climbing” the bands last studio effort. As someone who always enjoyed the Blues Rock styling of the band it was nice to see a new collection with a couple of more tracks be released. I also felt that this one sounded a little cleaner on the production end with the songs sounding more in your face than before. There is a chance that this is a bit remastered but I did not see anything to note that. Cinderella was a terrific group who showed that not all of the bands that came to be in the “Hair Metal” 1980’s were jokes. The music was well constructed and the choruses often memorable. When they first surfaced there was a big AC/DC reference to them and personally I never quite saw that. Perhaps a certain aspect of Kiefer’s voice led this to be the case. They were a staple on MTV at the time and gave the audience hit after hit. Tom Kiefer was not only a great songwriter but also a kick ass guitarist. His voice was soulful and rugged and brought a unique style to the bands music. The lineup has remained the same with Eric Brittingham, Jeff LaBar and Fred Coury and perhaps this is another one of the reasons they come across so well after so many years. Continue reading “Rocked, Wired & Bluesed: The Greatest Hits” by Cinderella→
Artist: Warrant Title: “Cherry Pie” – Remastered Label: Sony Music Release Date: 4/13/2004 (1990) Genre: Hard Rock Rating: 7/10
The second release by Warrant gave music fans a couple of things. The first is perhaps one of the most over-played songs in “Big Hair Metal” history with title track “Cherry Pie” and the second is the reminder of the lovely Bobbi Brown who danced and created fantasies for all young male rock fans in the video for that same song. Originally released in 1990 the world finds a chance to rediscover some of Warrants music when they were still very new in most peoples eyes. The production of the remaster is just as clean as was done for their re-issue of the bands first outing “Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich” . As a result songs like “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” and “I Saw Red” truly stand out more than they did before and since those were the songs that I liked (as a non Warrant fan) I enjoyed getting to hear a better produced version. “Train, Train” and “Sure Feels Good To Me” remain solid rockers and are perhaps among the more fast-moving of the albums content and merit a listen as well if you have never heard them. The CD has left the track “Ode To Tipper Gore” in place and that was actually a surprise. The track is not so much a song, but instead a loose collection of expletives designed to push in the face of the once annoying PMRC. At the time, a collection of over-empowered Washington Senator’s wives caused great dramas to the music industry by demanding labels of warning be placed on any album deemed suggestive in image or lyrical content. Many bands answered this in their own fashion as proven here in this cut. The inclusion of this track is more of a historical note than of anything that is relevant today. Continue reading “Cherry Pie” (remaster) by Warrant→
Artist: Vixen Title: “Vixen” (remaster) Label: EMI Records Release Date: 11/2/2004 Genre: Hard Rock Rating: 6/10
The all-female “Hard Rock” group Vixen was a nice little combination while it lasted. The premise was simply to have 5 beautiful women who all loved Heavy Metal music and put them together. The results were a number of catchy tunes as all of the ladies in the band could play and were not just eye candy for the Male viewer/listener. This was during the big-hair eighties when MTV ruled and it seemed like this domination would never see an end. Vixen featured the members of Jan Kuehnemund (lead guitar), Share Pedersen (bass), Janet Gardner (vocals and guitar), and Roxy Petrucci (drums) and from this record received a very heavy rotation with the song “Edge Of A Broken Heart”. It was a catchy number and of course the girls were all sexy so this made for the tunes success. I think however the overall appeal of the band by playing “safe” Hard Rock began to seem contrived or cliché and against bands like Whitesnake or Dokken who shared the same audiences the band was not destined for long term activity. If anything I feel the band might have sparked the musical dreams of female listeners in the sense of this proved that success could happen in the seemingly male-dominated genre. The group recently was a featured artist on the VH1 series “Bands Reunited” and this appearance led to the re-release of the 2 CDs that the group recorded. For the pure nostalgia aspect it is worth it to once again enjoy the group and some of its tunes. Yet this release made me wish that EMI had opted to release artists from that time who provided a larger and more profound impact on music than Vixen gave us. This was a nice release but beyond that it is for a select amount of people and nothing more. A booklet with lyrics from the album is included as well as some photos. Purely for the Vixen fans wanting the replace the vinyl or music archivists. Continue reading “Vixen” (remaster) by Vixen→
