Artist: Tesla Title: “Gold” (remaster) Label: Universal Music Release Date: 8/26/2008 Genre: Hard Rock Rating: 4.5/5
Back when this band was considered a struggling up and comer I had to say that for whatever reason I just refused to pay attention to them despite a couple of my friends lauding their musical excellence when the group was doing tours with Def Leppard. Don’t look at me like that because there are a lot of you that also ignored the band and didn’t start paying attention until they made an appearance on MTV’s “Unplugged” and played the old time hit “Signs”. Let’s be honest here and say that while it was a cover, this was the song that woke the wider audience up for the band Tesla and thank you guys for being so forgiving of us. Truth be told this band is a no holds barred fantastic Rock and Roll outfit that had a lot of good material to be enjoyed and since they were more of a conventional band when compared to their peers of the day, their sound was somewhat lost on the audiences that were flocking to 80’s Melodic Metal rockers and Glam Bands. I guess the timing was a little wrong for them but then again there were fans and the band became one of those underground success stories. Those who followed them did so in earnest and taught a hard lesson to those who were just coming into the game for the 3rd quarter. I was glad that there was a “Gold” remastered collection to enjoy because it’s the perfect place to begin your journey if you were one of those latecomers and an excellent place to rest upon your laurels if you have been following the band for many, many years. Continue reading “Gold” (remaster) by Tesla→
Artist: KISS Title: “Gold: 1974-1982” Sound and Vision Label: Mercury/Universal Music Release Date: 10/5/2004 Genre: Hard Rock Rating: 4.5/5
Thanks to the fine folks over at Universal Music there is no short supply of “Greatest Hits” packages from those masked masters of Rock & Roll KISS. The first “official” hits compilation was the pristine “Double Platinum” and this was released during the band’s original heyday so it remains a cherished favorite of mine. It was followed by “Killers” which was pretty much a Japan only release that some of the fans managed to get their mitts on and how could they not when it was learned how four unreleased songs were a part of its presentation. From there it got a little out of hand and the compilation packages began to be very repetitive and sometimes didn’t even offer up any new photos for us to enjoy. To avoid repetition I am once again presenting my views on the “Gold” (remaster) – It’s easier to do it like this since I obviously feel the same way about this part of the content.
“When you look it up online there really seem to be a lot of KISS “Greatest Hits” albums to choose from. They start at “Double Platinum” and run until “Gold” and when tallied up there are nine such releases to choose from plus the career-encompassing boxed set. Included among this number are Mercury/Universal’s two different “Masters” collections and honestly those are more for the beginner or best served as gifts to those that are for some reason still clueless to the bands impact. With “Gold” however one is able to get a “cream of the crop” collection of the best material from self-titled “KISS” until their album “Killers” which is an import best-of that featured 4 new songs that many KISS fans have not had exposure to. Essentially more of an Anthology package the 40 songs presented here really do give both the KISS fan and the casual listener a great amount of music to enjoy. There are some differences between this and other hits releases by this one making sure that it not only features a handful of live recordings but also a track from each of the member’s solo releases. Overall this is a very well-rounded package and while it omits any music past the “Killers” album there really is a lot of music to sate ones appetite. “Gold” essentially becomes a worthy collection of music from the beginning in 1973 until 1982. Perhaps “More Gold” or “Gold 2” will see the light of day and give focus and attention to the fifteen albums that will come from the band. Paying careful attention to the group’s visual nature there is a nice collection of band photos that I think will go over very well. There are a couple of the most famous shots in the bands history represented such as the Empire State Building shot and the Love Gun era photo that is often used. Historical information is also presented in the booklet that runs a total of 20 pages. There is also a detailed list of the musicians who performed on many of these songs which is interesting information for any musical historian to have. Overall it is an impressive packaging for a hits package. I have to admit that I am a KISS purist and while I followed the band continually during their career I lean to the years that the original line up recorded and toured. Like many fans my very favorite songs come from this era and growing up during the years of their original release makes me say that this is a must have for any KISS fan. It’s even good for the KISS Collector who wants no gaps in their catalog and more important someone who only likes a defined number of hits rather than individual records. Given the growing popularity of buying music online I can see this item doing well via that medium as well.” Continue reading “Gold: 1974-1982” Sound and Vision by KISS→
Artist: Scorpions Title: “Gold” Label: Universal Music Release Date: 4/25/2006 Genre: Hard Rock Rating: 3.5/5
If you look at the amount of notable output that the Scorpions have released since their inception you can easily see why they are one of the top listed veterans in Hard Rock music society. While the band was never quite Metal they often skated around the genre during their heavier years and as result offered up some anthems that are still powerhouse tunes in today’s music world. Their influence has been vast and their style and players all respected for their accomplishments in the genre without question. They were a band who over the course of their career gave the Hard Rock world not one, but three incredible guitar heroes and thanks to the Scorpions the world of shredders everywhere have the influences of Uli Jon Roth, Michael Schenker and Matthias Jabs to inspire them every day. As a fan I did not get into the group as far back as the beginning and it was not until the album “Lovedrive” that I caught on. If not for the help of some friends I might never had realized just how magical some of the older stuff actually was in terms of guitar riffing and song composition. The growing MTV generation that came into its own in the eighties can count “Rock You Like A Hurricane” as the track that made them jump on board with the band but I am proud to say that for me the beginning was traced back to “The Zoo” and “Holiday” from a couple of albums previous to the blockbuster. Yet no matter when you got into them or based on who was in the lineup the one thing that was brutally clear was that Scorpions were a powerhouse of Rock and a band whose music would largely withstand the tests of time. Continue reading “Gold” by Scorpions→
Artist: Whitesnake Title: “Gold” Label: Universal Music Release Date: 6/27/2006 Genre: Hard Rock Rating: 4.5/5
David Coverdale might have come into the public eye a little more prominently when he joined Deep Purple in the mid-70’s, but it would be the band that followed this one that would exponentially increase the singers incredible talents and appeal on the Hard Rock/Heavy Metal genre as a whole. That band is of course the one and only Whitesnake, and with “Gold” we get a rich stock of the bands back catalog that allows us to observe their changes and modification of sound and style as it spanned the decades. This collection itself comes not long after the release of “The Definitive Collection” which was a pretty solid sampling as well. As a single CD release that release possessed most of the expected tracks and outside of the songs “Ready An’ Willing” and “Looking For Love”; with the “Gold” edition the listener gets everything else and then some. It’s true that a band like Whitesnake deserves an anthology of this type because there were just so many good songs in their career catalog to enjoy. They began their history as more of a Blues-based Hard Rock outfit and eventually became Heavy Metal superstars in the mid-eighties. It was during this time that they would give their fans a lot of anthems and some great videos to go along with them. Similar to the other “Gold” editions all of the tracks have been remastered so they sound fantastic and they are also laid out in chronological order. Continue reading “Gold” by Whitesnake→
Artist: Styx Title: “Gold” (remaster) Label: Universal Music Release Date: Genre: Progressive Hard Rock Rating: 4/5
Styx is a band who many feel were one of the finest of the Progressive Hard Rock outfits ever established and this view finds little argument when you add up the number of hit makers they have in their songbook. “Gold” has done right by the fans in its issue because unlike a typical greatest hits package that gives you but a sampling, this as an anthology works very well and touches upon a lot more music. While no release can ever capture every single amazing song that a group might have I think that 35 selections is a great start for any fan. As you peruse this particular track listing you do find a representation from some of their most pivotal and respected albums. The band was started in the early 60’s under a different name eventually becoming Styx for the release of their first record in 1972. The brothers Panozzo, Dennis DeYoung and James “JY” Young formed the nucleus of what was to become a musical blockbuster. Eventually recruiting Tommy Shaw the band would mix powerful Melodic Arena-styled Rock with elements of Progressive bands of the day. Listen to “Lorelei” on Equinox if you have any doubts on that. The band would find a breakthrough epic in their release “The Grand Illusion” and lead them to the chart-topping “Paradise Theatre”. Songs from all of these albums are here to enjoy (with five of them from “Paradise” alone). There is even some music from the confusing “Kilroy Was Here”, an album that essentially caused the end of the band of the time before the reunions with varied memberships would take place in the following years. Continue reading “Gold” by Styx→