Even though I generally hammer out the concerts I liked the most in my year end overview, I figured that it was high time to start using the blog to feature this kind of angle. So what I did was start with the view of sharing my top 10 concerts that I attended in 2011. Then I wrote down fifteen, then twenty and then begged my brain to stop letting the coffee push me towards thirty concerts and end with twenty three. Of course since I saw about “80” shows this past year there were a lot more that I liked but these were probably my very favorite.
1. Kamelot @ Gramercy Theatre: The band returned to the headline stage with Fabio of Rhapsody Of Fire, would he be the new voice of the band? I hope so since he ruled.
2. Trans-Siberian Orchestra @ Prudential Center: This year’s tour was apparently to be the last of the presentations of “Christmas Eve and Other Stories” for awhile and wow how could that not be a thing to see. As always this group pulls out the stops and leaves me impressed and exhausted.
3. Volbeat @ Irving Plaza: These guys are just climbing the ladder of success.
4. Stryper @ B.B. King Blues Club: There is nothing like a little bit of a yellow and black attack in this Times Square venue.
2011 was already off to a bad start in the eyes of music fans as it had taken both Phil Kennemore (from Y&T) and Don Kirshner from us in January and now it is with great sadness that I announce that the music world has lost the legendary guitar slinger Gary Moore. He was 58 years old.
The Legend Has Left Us: Gary Moore Is Gone
For many fans Gary Moore first came into public prominence with his band Skid Row and no, not the Hard Rock/Hair Metal group that was fronted at one time by Sebastian Bach but instead a Dublin based Blues Band. He knew musicians like Phil Lynott and Brian Downey since his high school days and resultant of this had a very early association with their band Thin Lizzy. He was actually a member at three different points in time which I found very interesting. Aside from the work with the legendary Irish band, Gary was also known for a nothing short of prolific solo career. While I was one of those casual fans it was thanks to the efforts of my own music circle that I would enjoy albums like “Corridors of Power” and “Victims Of The Future”. It was great stuff when you took a larger look at it and Gary’s talents shined like a beacon over much of his competition. It’s also important to remember just how great and powerful a voice that the musician had under his command. He was influential to many a Hard Rock and Metal guitar player during these years and even found his music inspiring the Finnish juggernauts Nightwish, who offered the world their take on “Over The Hills and Far Away”. They did a nice job and you should do a search for it to see for yourself.
In 1990, Moore returned to performing Blues music and while this might have surprised his heavy music fans, it did not at all disappoint them since he did this genre so much justice. The album “Still Got The Blues” was a fantastic journey into his musical talent and he would remain on this particular road for many more years. I was never able to enjoy Gary’s talent in the live sense and instead only got to see him on videos, and to listen to his music on record, tape and eventually CD. He was one of the many that I had hoped to see in my lifetime, but now that is no longer possible.
Gary was vacationing in Estepona, Spain at the time of his death. No other information has been released.
The impact of Gary’s legendary skills are far-reaching and we would love to find your own views about the master being left on this memorial as comments. Please feel free to share your stories about shows attended, the music that inspired you or even your encounters with him in person. Rest in Peace Gary Moore. You are once again jamming with Phil Lynott and perhaps even working on material being overseen by Ronnie James Dio. Thanks for all of your musical gifts to the world. You shall never be forgotten.
Artist: Thin Lizzy Title: “Jailbreak” Deluxe Edition Label: Universal Music Release Date: 2/8/2011 Genre: Hard Rock Rating: 4/5
Even though “Jailbreak” was the sixth Thin Lizzy album it was without question the one that really firmed up the bands importance in the eyes of Rock and Roll connoisseurs around the world. I am saying this as one of the more casual fans of the bands body of work having never really been into more than the hits when they were first doing their thing. I appreciated them of course but was not like some of my friends who lived and breathed what founder Phil Lynott was doing. The reason I make such a bold statement was based on the level of exposure that no less than four of its numbers received. Back around the time of its initial release in 1976, you could not turn on Rock radio and not hear “The Boys Are Back In Town” or “Jailbreak” at some point during your listen. My how the times have changed for that medium eh? It was exposure like this that was the Internet and the MTV of its time and helped strengthen bands powers to that of legend. With “Jailbreak” I felt that there was a little of something for everyone on it. The title track was a rousing start and Phil’s vocal was smooth on top of it as he lined out the story. I cannot add much to the views about “The Boys Are Back In Town” other than this is perhaps the most known song in the bands repertoire whether they liked it or not. It’s the kind of tune that always finds the stereo being made louder and the drinks flowing a little faster. Songs like “Emerald” are also long lasting in terms of their reach and it was only about a year or so ago when I caught the band Mastodon doing their own version of it. Despite this being the bands most mainstream success, I think the term of “commercially viable” was a lot different back then and had more oomph than it does today. This would be the album that became a standard purchase for Rock fans and especially those who were forming bands of their own with two lead players. The melodies of Gorham and Robertson were like few others and of great influence to many bands that formed around this time. I had to say that I enjoyed being able to hear the superb re-mastering job and listening to this vintage release with more adult ears. Continue reading “Jailbreak” (Deluxe Edition) by Thin Lizzy→
I don’t think anyone is going to argue about 2009 going by like a train without brakes and yet here we are at the part of the year where we line out what we viewed to be “The Best” of the year in terms of albums, videos, concerts, events and books. We’ve aimed at making this a yearly thing and while it’s a lot of fun to share with you it’s also quite a bit of work; This is especially the case when you go way over a small list and keep on writing. With this this installment I’ll be offering up the albums that I got to listen to and liked the most out of the rest of them during the year. Sure we probably missed some that you are expecting to see here but you don’t get your hands on everything in this line of work no matter how you try. So sit back and relax and lets get to onto the main event.
The Best Albums Of 2009:
Mastodon “Crack The Skye” (Sire Records): Mastodon continually push their own musical envelope and this release finds them more a Progressive Psychedelic Rock outfit than a Metal band and the band’s following didn’t mind a bit based on the incredible music that was to be found on this one.
Epica “The Classical Conspiracy” (Nuclear Blast Records): Their 2nd effort for NB is this incredible concert experience that finds the band presenting mostly film score classics and then their greatest numbers with a full orchestra accompanying them. A wonderful experience and one that will impress the most difficult of fans – my hope is that this comes out on DVD sometime soon.
Heaven And Hell “The Devil You Know” (Rhino Entertainment): The most anticipated release for the first half of the year would be this new “Sabbath” album and it did not disappoint at all. Nice and heavy and loaded from beginning to end with solid Metal memories. Hoping this lineup hangs around a lot longer before pursuing other projects.
KISS “Sonic Boom” (KISS Records): Whether you support the fact that a couple of new faces wear familiar makeup or not, the band released a strong album and offered a great batch of extras with it to boot. The Wal-Mart exclusive nature of it made it a best seller that was actually a lot of fun.
The 69 Eyes “Back In Blood” (The End Records): Thanks to producer Matt Hyde The 69 Eyes were indeed back to raw Goth Hard Rock basics and moving on from the glitz they were steadily approaching. Lots of catchy stuff on this one and let’s hope this direction maintains course. Continue reading PiercingMetal’s “Best Of” 2009: The Music Part 1→
Artist: Thin Lizzy Title: “Still Dangerous – Live At The Tower Theater Philadelphia 1977” Label: VH1 Classic Records Release Date: 3/2009 Genre: Hard Rock Rating: 4/5
Music history has wisely penciled in the tomes that that make up their vast library that Thin Lizzy is one of the true great Hard Rock bands and this is probably the reason that their tunes can still be found in semi-regular rotation on both terrestrial or satellite radio stations that cater to the genre. The recent issue of “Still Dangerous” takes us back in time to a smoldering set of the band during a two day stint at The Tower Theatre in Philadelphia circa 1977. By this point in their career, the group had already been through a number of lineup changes but that fact does not change the clear sound of a group that is on fire on the stage. Led by Phil Lynott on vocals and bass, the band for the recording was comprised of Scott Gorham (guitar), Brian Robertson (guitar) and Brian Downey (drums) and to say that they are locked into the pocket for this concert would be an understatement. With the discovery and release of these recordings the fans of Thin Lizzy will get what amounts to be the second actual live set from the band at the time of their recording of the “Bad Reputation” tour. The first is the famous “Live And Dangerous” – an album that is often referred to as a Hard Rock genre defining and very exciting live effort that has withstood the tests of time. That being said it makes the finding of these recordings all the more important because they come from a time period where no overdubbing was being done and it gives us another taste of just what a tour de force on the stage this band was during their heyday. Of course there are those who believe that some of the recordings on “Still Dangerous” had been used for portions of “Live And Dangerous” but I did not sit and do a side by side comparison of its similar tracks to see if they were correct. Either way, it’s nice to have another great live recording in the collection that represents this band. An early reservation I had about the release was with some of the levels that would be found on it, as parts of the band are lower than they should be and with the technology of today being what it is should not have found this being the case. An upside is we get a lot of crowd banter from Phil who pauses often between the tunes to speak to the sold out crowd. Continue reading “Still Dangerous – Live At The Tower Theater Philadelphia 1977” by Thin Lizzy→
