You know the Metal weekend is off to a great start when you learn that the legendary Judas Priest will be embarking on a new tour to promote their latest album and it was only a few hours ago that the official press copy hit my mailbox and I could not wait to share some of this with you fine readers of the PiercingMetal.com site. Check it out:
Press Release: “Ever since it was announced that metal icons Judas Priest would be unleashing their 17th studio album overall, ‘Redeemer of Souls’ (on July 8, 2014), their legion of fans have been wondering if the band would be launching a supporting tour. And the answer is a resounding YES – Priest will be touring the US in the fall, with dates running throughout October and for most of November. Steel Panther will be “special guests” for all the dates.” Continue reading Judas Priest Confirm “Redeemer Of Souls” Tour Dates 2014→
Artist: Judas Priest Title: “Setlist: The Very Best Of Judas Priest – Live” Label: Sony Legacy Release Date: 7/13/2010 Genre: Heavy Metal Rating: 3.25/5
The newest “thing” we are finding being done outside of the never ending supply of “Greatest Hits” packages is the issuing of classic bands and their rich history in the form of the “Setlist: Live” CD’s. These albums take a wide sampling of an artists catalog as done in concert and presents it to the listener in the hopes of giving them the feeling that they were taking part in the show. My first sampling of this new adventure came with the Judas Priest “Setlist” and having been a fan of the band since around 1978 or so, I could safely speak about what is included. Historically speaking, The Priest now has officially released six live albums. Four are with Rob Halford while two are with Tim “Ripper” Owens. This “Setlist: Live” CD delivers material from three of these six albums and I guess in some sense it’s a good way to start your live Priest journey. They start off with “Judas Rising” which hails from the bands “Angel Of Retribution” CD, which was the album that found them again with Halford on the microphone. I will admit that I felt a few different tunes should have been selected for the release and was scratching my head at some of the omissions but despite this did like that we get a healthy sample of “Unleashed In The East” which is not only one of my favorite live albums in the Metal genre, but also perhaps one of the best ever recorded in history. I was happy to find “Living After Midnight” excluded since we don’t need to hear that every five minutes but I would have swapped “Dissident Aggressor” for “Electric Eye/Hellion” in a moment. “Beyond The Realms Of Death” and “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’” are the two tracks that were unreleased in the US Region but appeared on Japanese issues and while the first track is amazing, the length of ‘YGATC” is ponderous since we get the whole extended stage rap as well. Even though I love the song, I just hate how long it is during a show and feel the band should be sliding another song in for the crowd instead of “working us up” a little more. Continue reading “Setlist: The Very Best Of Judas Priest – Live” by Judas Priest→
Artist: Johnny Winter Venue: B.B. King Blues Club (New York, NY) Opener: William Bell with G.E. Smith & The Uptown Horns Date: 1/11/2009 Label: Epic Legacy
I know what you’re thinking………Johnny Winter’s concert covered as an show on PiercingMetal.com as opposed to being part of the blog content? While this might confuse the diehard reader of our work, it might also make a whole lot of sense based on the impact that this musician has had on a wide number of genres over the course of his career. Brother to equally legendary Edgar Winter, Johnny has been and remains one of the true greats on electric guitar and when the announcement came about his doing a three night residency at B.B. King Blues Club & Grill we knew that we had to catch at least one of the shows to absorb his mastery. The other reason was based on the need to begin the year with a larger sense of musical appreciation and after having clocked in some 95 shows across 2009, I could think of no better way to start the process again in 2010 than with some amazing Blues Rock. Joining me for the show would be PiercingMetal.com’s own Peter Parrella and Joe Kaufman, and opening up the gig would be William Bell, a legendary Soul singer. This was not my own area of expertise, so I let Pete give us the whole introduction about Mr. Bell’s set and here is what he had to say…… Continue reading Johnny Winter @ B.B. King Blues Club (1/11/2010)→
Artist: Santana Title: “The Woodstock Experience” Label: Sony Legacy Release Date: 6/30/2009 Genre: Rock Rating: 5/5
In celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the Woodstock Festival, Sony Legacy has released a number of special recordings under the title of “The Woodstock Experience”. While available as a limited edition boxed set, the five recordings are also available separately. Each comes packaged in a sturdy cardboard slipcase that houses the album that the artist had released or been supporting at that time in 1969 along with a second CD that features their full Woodstock Festival performance. They are placed in mini-album covers and where the original album is a complete replica, the Woodstock set offers historical liner notes about the gig. It also features a poster of the artist that was taken at the show. The five releases present Johnny Winter, Santana, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane and Sly & The Family Stone. As we did not have the limited edition box set we are instead offering up views on the releases on a one by one basis. Here are our thoughts on the “Santana: The Woodstock Experience” CD.
“Santana” – Santana’s self-titled debut album was a really interesting point in music history as it bridged the gap between soulful Latin styles and Progressive Rock music while managing to keep you interested in its groove with melody after melody. The stunning guitar wizardry of Carlos Santana and Neil Schon combined with the powerhouse drumming of Michael Shrieve made this a powerful Rock combo in and of itself but when you added in the likes of Chepito and Michael Carabello on timbales and congas, the unmistakable Latin flair just hooked you in and kept you. When you consider how the rich Hammond organ sound and vocals from Gregg Rolie were there as well you knew that the output was just going to be magic. This debut album from the band had only just come out after their appearance at the legendary Woodstock Festival and there are no less than five numbers on it that were played at the show. Most of the release is instrumental in base, but there are bona fide classics among these such as “Evil Ways”, “Jingo” and “You Just Don’t Care”. It’s one of those amazing places to start ones adventure into a bands material as many of these songs are still played in concert today by Santana and the other members of his band that have long gone their separate ways. Continue reading “The Woodstock Experience” by Santana→
In an age where popular musicians are releasing holiday themed albums by the dozen it was nice to find this little surprise being released from an era where such an occurrence was a very special rare feat and not something one did on a regular basis. The CD single by the legendary Jimi Hendrix had been recorded in 1969 as a special treat to his fans and this was done with his band of Gypsy’s players Billy Cox and Buddy Miles. The liner notes explain how this was recorded while the musicians were preparing for Fillmore East appearances. We get two versions of the tune and one is the extended version which I feel is the better track since it is more encompassing. It obviously has Jimi’s signature flair to it and while he most likely put a healthy amount of thought into it, the whole tune seems to just be a flowing jam that calls to mind these three classic holiday numbers. I never owned the original of this but was told it was released on a 45 many, many years ago. We also get “Three Little Bears” which is performed by the members of The Experience (Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding) and this charming little tale by the master guitar player has not been available anywhere in more than twenty five years. It was originally recorded in 1968 as a part of his “Electric Ladyland” sessions. Continue reading “Merry Christmas & Happy New Year” by Jimi Hendrix→
