Judas Priest – ‘Epitaph’ live DVD review

 

 

 

 

Judas Priest – ‘Epitaph’ live DVD review

Released through: Legacy / Sony. Release date: Available now.

 

 



So when Judas Priest wrapped up their lengthy ‘Epitaph’ world tour in May 2012, they chose to do so at London’s (England) Hammersmith Odeon, sorry, Apollo as it switched to a number of years back now sadly, although those of us that remember going to the old ‘Hammy Odeon’ mostly through the 80’s will always consider it as such!

With Richie Faulkner now in the lineup in place of JP legend KK Downing, joining Rob Halford, Glenn Tipton, Ian Hill and Scott Travis, they’ve done well by the masses that came out to see them in 2011 / 2012.
 

The opening intro for the show, is ‘Battle Hymn’ from Priest’s ‘Painkiller’ album, which then roars into ‘Rapid Fire,’ which is a killer opener for JP in anyone’s book!
Phenomenal lighting and ‘new’ boy Richie Faulkner shows his ‘metal’ – cough, cough … sorry!  – with some great lead work alongside Glenn Tipton.
Rob fronts it all so well, what a vocal range!

 

Flames burst from the stage and the ‘British Steel’ album cover appears on the screen behind the band introduces ‘Metal Gods,’ which just sounds so full.

You know, I’ve been fortunate enough to witness ‘The Priest’ twice live in the past four years, once on the anniversary tour for ‘British Steel’ back in 2009 with KK Downing and then in 2011 on the ‘Epitaph’ tour, both here in the Detroit area and live they are still such a great live act.
 

Rob then introduces the next song with ‘Is everybody ready for some Judas Priest Heavy Metal?’ Cue ‘Heading Out To The Highway’ which brings on a huge Hammersmith roar from this London crowd, who also do an excellent job echoing Rob on each chorus, great!
Really love the band when the harmony lead break kicks in, albeit too brief.
I will add at this point that there definitely appears to be a much better rapport / interaction between the old band members and Richie Faulkner, than how it seemed back in November 2011.



Good to see, although they are saying this was their final, full scale world tour as Priest. Hmmm, I wonder just what that really means, if anything?

 

 

‘Judas Rising’ from ‘Angel of Retribution’ is next and it’s funny as the band had all appeared to have left the stage at the end of the last song, then they all come back out as the actual intro tape for ‘Judas Rising’ acts as a lead in for the band. Just seems a little odd as this DVD is taken from a one night show at Hammy Odeon, sorry … Apollo.

 

‘Starbreaker’ next is introduced by Rob as, ‘This one is from ‘Sin after Sin.’The crowd is more than happy to sing the ‘Starbreaker’ chorus line. Glenn encourages them by cupping his hand behind his ear.

The harmony guitars again come into play on this song briefly and it’s all great, I love it!
Glenn Tipton seems to smile from ear to ear throughout, much happier looking ‘chappie’ than he looked when they played here in Detroit last time out.


Richie and Glenn take the front of stage position to lead the band into ‘Victim of Changes,’ which as all Priest fans know, has a fine harmony intro indeed!
Faulkner is sporting a ‘Flying V’ guitar - Favoured of course by former Priest legend KK Downing - after having started out the show with a black Gibson Les Paul, totally looks more than fitting in Priest.
Glenn Tipton takes a bit of a solo moment here with all but drummer Scott Travis having left the stage for a minute or so and then Richie Faulkner impresses with some truly stunning lead work, to which the crowd praise him up for.
Scott Travis and Ian Hill remain solid to a fault, as the backbone and rhythm section for the band throughout.


Rob then introduces ‘Never Satisfied’ as, “a song from ‘Rocka Rolla’ with some brilliant riffs!”It’s certainly one of those oldies but goodies style tune.


What was great about the ‘Epitaph’ tour was Rob’s little history lesson given before pretty much every song in the set and next tune, the Joan Baez classic, ‘Diamonds and Rust,’ made even more so by Priest is no exception, as he tells the crowd that “this is our latest interpretation of her beautiful song, ‘Diamonds and Rust,” that is a tune that’s starts out gently and then really rocks out, as anyone would expect of a Priest tune, right?!
That said, it does seem rushed in Rob's vocal delivery, once they do start rocking it out.
As the song really gets into its groove, flames appear all over the back video screen to add to the massive finale of the song.


The band all leave the stage once more, as backing tapes start rolling – Unless there’s a keyboards guy behind the curtain? – and then impressive lighting brings the band back out for ‘Prophecy’ with Rob cloaked in a golden hooded cape and clutching a Neptune like trident.

One of the things that has always got me about Rob, is that he never seems to make any real eye contact with the crowd, with his head always looking down at the stage or side to side of the stage, as he ‘stalks’ around the stage area. I’ve never really understood that and I’ve never heard it discussed in any interview with him either?
Kind of weird …
Of course he’s doing exactly this throughout the song ‘Prophecy.’It’s also very obvious the prominent keyboards evident throughout the song.
I guess the album did feature Don Airey (Rainbow, Ozzy, Deep Purple) on keyboards, so how did they cover the keyboards here .., pre-recorded backing tracks ...?
 

‘Night Crawler’ next is an absolute epic like track and it gets very intense and actually brings Iron Maiden to mind in places, although we all know Priest have been around longer than Maiden, although ‘Night Crawler’ was not released until 1990 ...
Anyway, monster track nonetheless.


Another old favourite these days is ‘Turbo Lover,’ which I can remember back in the day, Priest fans questioning the bands use of synths at the time. That seems to be a minor detail today, as this track goes down a storm with the London crowd, with the ‘Hammersmith choir’ taking over singing the chorus.


So all the band except Rob Halford take another walk from the stage, who remains to talk some about the ‘Stained Glass’ album and what “a huge ballad ‘Beyond the Realms of Death’ is” next.
It’s always been such a monster, monster track in my mind and once more Richie Faulkner as the new guy deserves much praise for some great guitar work, but for me the icing on the cake is Glenn’s killer solo.


Glenn and Richie walk out first again and tease the crowd – as they are roaring … - that they can’t hear them!
This leads to their joint introduction to ‘The Sentinel’ and then the band all return and how Rob sustains his voice as long as he does always astounds me still.
Love the guitar duel between both Richie and Glenn, brilliant!


You know the more Priest you take in, the more you hear where Iron Maiden got a hell of a lot of their influence from …
‘Blood Red Skies’ is a killer song up next and again, those keyboards are very, very obvious and it’s yet another crowd pleaser!


Rob does a little more crowd chat, saying that “as the stage has turned green, that can only mean one thing, it’s the ‘Green Manalishi (With the Two Pronged Crown’” and the band proceed to rip through their version of the Peter Green era Fleetwood Mac classic.


Then its sing-a-long time for the crowd as Rob leads the crowd into, “’Breaking the what?’ BREAKING THE WHAT?!’ ‘Breaking the Law’” and he lets the crowd sing the entire lead vocal for the massive hit song. Brilliant!

Scott Travis gets a brief drum solo spot, which then leads into ‘Painkiller.’ It's monster double bass drum time here and another monster solo from Glenn and likewise, Richie's solo in the song isn't too shabby either!

Once again the band all depart the stage, only to return soon after for the double barrelled assault of 'The Hellion / Electric Eye.' Killer stuff!
The band departs at the end of the song, but only until we hear the rev's from Rob's Harley, that he then rides out onstage, leather whip in mouth to signal 'Hell Bent For Leather.'
Amazing that Rob can sing the track while sitting astride the monster bike, but he does and the crowd helps once again with each chorus of the song.

The clearing the stage after each or every other song continues and when Rob comes back next he asks the crowd to make as much noise as possible for the Judas Priest crew that is behind the band to put on show. Of course the audience duly obliges!

Rob then does a little playing vocally with the crowd, in a similar fashion to what Freddie Mercury always did with Queen audiences, pacing up and down and gets a good sing-a-long, back and forth activity with his crowd and then the band joins him for '(You've got) Another Thing Comin'.'
Rob works the crowd some more having them sing every second line of the first verse and it's great stuff.

'Living After Midnight' is the evening closer, to wrap up an impressive set once again for Judas Priest in front of final audience of the 'Epitaph' tour.

It's a very good DVD concert, although surprised there are no bonus features here.
You'd think if they're saying it's the final full scale world tour, that they'd be some interview footage or something from behind the scenes, but alas no.

Still, I enjoyed it, Priest fans will no doubt love it too!


Rating: 4 out of 5

Weblink:
http://judaspriest.com/


To purchase this DVD or on Blu-ray:

DVD - http://www.amazon.com/Judas-Priest-Epitaph/dp/B00C4XYEBW/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1373428015&sr=1-1&keywords=Judas+Priest

Blu-Ray -
http://www.amazon.com/Judas-Priest-Epitaph-BluRay-Blu-ray/dp/B00C391Y3I
 

  



The Poodles – ‘Tour De Force’ album review

The Poodles – ‘Tour De Force’ album review

Released through: Frontiers Records. Release date: Available now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

OK, let get this clear from the get go, The Poodles ARE a band to take seriously, even if that name may misguide you as it did me initially for a couple of years, that maybe you could not do so ... Take them seriously, but you really should!



I’d almost like to say to them, ‘Guys, please change the name,’ but …, they have their reasons.

 

 

 

I’d heard of them in 2009, but did not pick up on them until 2010’s live ‘No Quarter’ release – Review link here: http://chambersofrock.blogspot.com/2011/02/poodles-no-quarter-live-album-review.html - which I found great to listen to, even if it did sit with me for a little while as I found it difficult to think about a hard rock / heavy metal band called The Poodles.

I also got a copy of the related ‘In The Flesh’ DVD release at the time, which just convinced me completely that these guys were for real.

Track it down if you can, it shows the funny side to these guys as well as great performances!

 

 

 

In 2011, the album ‘Performocracy’ – Yes, strange title … - was released and I really enjoyed that one too - http://chambersofrock.blogspot.com/2011/05/poodles-performocracy-album-review.html - and now here we are two years on and we have a new one from the ‘unruly dogs’ of Sweden, in ‘Tour De Force.’



Yes they are a Swedish band who generally really has their own sound, although at times, they do remind me of German rockers The Scorpions. Am I getting your interest yet folks?

 

 

The lineup of Jakob Samuel (Vocals), Pontus Egberg (Bass), Christian Lundqvist (Drums) and Henrik Bergqvist on guitars, really packs quite a punch I can tell you!

 

Hard to believe there are no keyboards – Ahem …, are all the backing effects all guitar, really? – as to me, elements throughout truly sound like keyboards or even orchestra, yet there’s no credit in the press release?

This is what I hate about digital copies of new albums, no info?!

There are clearly keyboards and strings present on ‘Leaving the Past to Pass.’

 

Well, there’s plenty of good stuff about this album, there really is and in my book, it’s another winner.
There is though, an incredibly gentle starting power ballad that many rockers may just go, ‘That intro is way too soft,’ likewise another track starts with a very poppy, well more catchy AOR like actually but then the rock kicks in, so really I say, get over it folks!

 

 

 

So, to the opener and ‘Misery Loves Company,’ is an in your face out and out rocker, with great hook lines and had me sold right away. It’s certainly a very hard hitting song to kick off the album to get a message across to the doubters out there and a massive pre-chorus and strong / catchy chorus.

 

 

‘Shut Up!’ certainly gives a little nod in it’s opening and verses to some of David Lee Roth’s solo material – Think Steve Vai era – or even Van Halen to me and yet then just kills with a very hard edged AOR like style chorus. With these two opening songs alone, it’s an impressive new release.

 

 

Next track ‘Happily Ever After’ is yet another winner, great twisting verses and nice big choruses, killer guitar work from Henrik Bergqvist here – As elsewhere of course! – and pummeling double bass drum in the choruses, wonderful bass lines too.

You just have to hear it to grasp where I’m coming from.

 

Really love ‘Viva Democracy’ too, a constant edgy groove throughout, yet the song as all Poodles songs, maintains its melody and the song’s light moment mid-way through. Another winner!

 

 

Heavy and hard rocking is the best description for the opening on ‘Going Down,’ then it eases back into a wonderfully melodic verse and then the pre-chorus gets a little meaner and then the chorus is a monster hook. The little melodic bridge, is great if too brief as well. Jakob Samuel’s vocals throughout are unique, they truly are and his style and phrasing so often just blows me away with his overall range.

 

 

So to the big old power ballad that is ‘Leaving the Past to Pass.’
It’s seriously as good as anything else you’ll ever hear and it really emphasises once again about how classy hard rock bands are about writing brilliant power ballads …

The balance is superb, it really is and if mainstream radio was like it used to be where big stations won’t play current melodic rock bands new rock released singles, but they will gravitate to the power ballads, this could be monster!

 

I say that, thinking back to the early 80’s days in the UK, where US AOR bands (Journey, Styx, Toto, etc) would only be made known to the British public through the bands ballads. Sad but true …

Radio One or any other local radio station would never have played ‘Blue Collar Man’ or ‘Renegade’ by Styx, but they’d play ‘Babe’ or ‘Boat on a River’ to death!

Same with Journey, all we’d hear is ‘Open Arms’ or ‘Who’s Crying Now,’ back then – Ironic they’ve played ‘Don’t Stop Believin’’ to death now over there, but never would have done when it first came out. – you’d never have heard ‘Escape’ or ‘Separate Ways.’

No way and the exact same with Toto, we got ‘Africa,’ ‘I Won’t Hold You Back’ and ‘Roseanna’ nothing like ‘Only The Children.’
That said, they (Toto) did get lucky with ‘Hold The Line’ getting some play and breaking in the charts, but then that was ’78 …

 

Sorry, got of track with that rant there, so let’s get back to it!

 

 

Next song ’40 Days and 40 Nights’ was recently released as a single and rightly so, as it’s hugely commercial with plenty of hooks about it and right from the almost poppy like keyboard intro right through the massive chorus, it’s begging for radio play.
Very strong contender for a hit song …

In the right market / territory perhaps it will be big. Here’s hoping for these guys …

 

 

To the very Aerosmith like ‘Kings and Fools’ next and it just has a certain groove about it that actually has elements of possibly Beatles – Think ‘Revolution’ – and even a bit of Robert Plant like phrasing in the verses, so clearly these guys are very influenced by some classic players.

 

 

Cowbell anyone? It’s what we get as ‘Miracle’ kicks off and then gets into its steady, yet edgy verse groove that actually took me a while to get into this track. Perhaps a little less instant, yet then with the chorus it does grow on you and then the bridge takes the song down another path. It’s a song that has really grown on me a lot more with each subsequent play.

 

 

I’m still wondering who does the keyboards on here, as they are what provides the intro and background throughout ‘Godspeed’ next.
It’s a solid enough track but for me, perhaps the least outstanding track here in my opinion. 

‘Now is the Time’ is next and picks up the tempo quite a bit from ‘Godspeed’ and it’s pretty good at getting back on track here.

 

 

There’s a distinct metal edge to the riff throughout the verses in ‘Only Just Begun,’ certainly at the beginning and the way Jakob presents the song and then the chorus brings it back again. 

It’s feeling like to be honest that towards the end of the album, it lost a little of it’s infectious vibe.

 

With the final bonus track ‘En För Alla För En,’ sorry, but as it starts, I can’t help but think of the Eurythmics ‘Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This),’ obviously with significantly more edginess to it, oh and it’s sung in Swedish!

It was jointly written by the band with Treat’s guitarist Anders Wikström and songwriter Fredrik Thomander, for the Swedish national Ice Hockey team.
It’s musically very catchy and if I only knew Swedish, I could probably sing along no problem, but right now it’s just an enjoyable listen to wrap the album up.

 

So a good album yet again from these guys, that I really recommend and I know I’m a little biased as I’ve really got to enjoy their music since discovering the band just a few years back, but this album for the most part is great!

 

 


Perhaps the tail end of the album has a couple of tracks that I’m still not 100% sold on, as the rest of the album, but they are still good tunes.

 

Rating: 4 out of 5

 

 

Weblinks:

http://www.poodles.se/
https://www.facebook.com/thepoodles
https://www.Frontiers.it


Jeff Healey – ‘As The Years Go Passing By’ 3 CD set review

 

 

 

 

Jeff Healey – ‘As The Years Go Passing By’ 3 CD set review

Released on: Inakustik Release date: Available now

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was indeed a sad day in March of 2008 when the world mourned the loss of the Canadian blind and incredibly talented blues guitarist, Jeff Healey.

You know in complete honesty, I’m not 100% sure when it was that I first heard this legend play and yes, I do call him a legend and although perhaps he was never as well-known as he deserved, in blues, rock and even some jazz circles, the guy was greatly admired and by many. A lot of guitarists have also claimed to have taken inspiration from this talented individual.

I think it was quite possibly the 1989 movie ‘Road House’ that also starred the late actor, Patrick Swayze that was where I first saw and heard him.
Since then I couldn’t help myself, but to track down 1988’s ‘See The Light’ album from the Jeff Healey Band that featured some absolute gems in both original Healey compositions and covers from the likes of John Hiatt, Freddie King / Sonny Thompson and ZZ Top to name just three.

His band then managed to release a further four great releases in ‘Hell To Pay’ – Killer! – ‘Feel This,’ the covers release ‘Cover To Cover’ and his last from the band in 2000, the excellent ‘Get Me Some.’

Subsequent releases followed under his name only, as a solo artist until his passing in 2008 captured four albums, a fifth ‘Mess of Blues’ was being worked on for a while before Jeff’s passing and released shortly after his death.

 

So there’s quite a bit of history behind the guy’s twenty year recording history.
This release 'As The Years Go Passing By,' comes from ‘The Estate of Jeff Healey,’ so it has his family’s blessing.

It’s a nice kind of collection too, as it features three concerts recorded in Germany, where he was always welcomed, with the first dating back to 1989, at the Ohne Filter Extra event, when Healey was just twenty three with his trio comprising of Joe Rockman (Bass/Vocals) and Tom Stephen (Drums) alongside himself.

The second from 1995, was the ‘Extraspät in Concert’ with the same guys and the addition of second guitarist Pat Rush.

The third and final concert disc is again from the Ohne Filter Extra event in 2000, still with Rockman and Stephen on Bass and Drums respectively.

 

 

So, the first disc starts with the Sonny Thompson gem, ‘I’m Torn Down,’ and this is a prime example of why I like Jeff Healey’s material, as for me his style is often similar to what grabbed me from Pat Travers back in the late 70’s.

Wonderful jamming, rockin’ blues!
Then it’s a Healey original in ‘My Little Girl’ next which is an edgy grooving jam. Love it!

With a great interpretation of John Hiatt’s ‘Confidence Man’ next, which became a staple in Healey’s set over the years that followed and the man and his band play like seasoned players and it’s such a pleasure to listen to.

 

Another original next follows appreciative applause, in the shape of the almost (Eric) Clapton like ‘I Need To Be Loved’ and really, if you’re reading this and have never heard Healey’s playing before, I think this three disc live set is a great introduction for anyone!

 

 

Healey picks the Bob Dylan tune ‘When The Night Comes Falling From The Sky’ next and I’m sorry if there are any Dylan fans reading this, but in my mind, anyone that has covered one of his songs has made it better and this version is certainly nice and lively!
I’m pretty certain I hear keys here for sure from time to time, but there’s no one credited with playing keys, so who knows who joins them?

 

‘River of No Return’ next is very catchy and again I swear there’s keys here ... Nonetheless, it’s another great song, performed solidly here.

Another Hiatt song in ‘Angel Eyes’ is next and another regular track in the Healey set list it seems and it’s a more laid back tune, still good stuff!

 

The two songs that wrap up this first disc is first off Jeff’s cover of The Doors classic ‘Roadhouse Blues,’ which has always come across kind of strange to me without keys, which was of course paramount to The Doors but Healey makes this his own and then his own song in ‘See The Light.’

The title track of the man’s first album is a great set closer here, after some messing around before it starts proper it gets into its groove and some serious riffing from Jeff.

The track clocks in at just over nine minutes and in the mid-section solo, Jeff’s is playing his heart out with the band and then just jams by himself, wildly and I mean that as very well indeed and more so than anywhere else on this first disc. Brilliant!

 

 

Disc two opens with one of my favourite Jeff Healey covers in his interpretation of Spirit’s ‘Got A Line On You.’ This totally rocks!
Its classic blues with the Robert Johnson classic ‘Stop Breaking Down’ next and they don’t come much more trad than this one!

A tune made popular by Albert King next and the title of this complete package in ‘As The Years Go Passing By,’ is more classic blues for you folks!
Then it’s over to the second appearance of ‘Confidence Man’ which Jeff and band have really made this their own tune.

It was pleasing to see the Steeler’s Wheel cover, ‘Stuck In The Middle’ written by the late Gerry Rafferty and Joe Egan.
I think as with Healey, that Gerry Rafferty was hugely overlooked / underrated.
Jeff, I wish I could say this to you today, but if Gerry was here and you, I believe he’d tell you, ‘Thanks Jeff, that’s sounds great!’ RIP guys! :(

This whole disc was of course recorded during the ‘Cover to Cover’ tour by Jeff and his band, so there really is more emphasis on cover tunes here.

 

I’ve always loved the (Jimi) Hendrix tune ‘Angel,’ which I first heard in the 70’s by Rod Stewart, then I heard the Hendrix version and enjoyed that one as well, so it‘s great to hear Jeff’s live version here. Wonderful tune with Jeff’s twist on it too!

Next here we get Jeff’s take on Lennon / McCartney blues jam, ‘Yer Blues’ which gets a real down and dirty groove and he also rips out a killer solo!

A tune made popular by Lonnie Johnson, ‘Me and My Crazy Self,’ gets the Healey solo acoustic treatment next, including some serious acoustic riffing in the second half of the tune, which just goes to show that the man had no inhibitions on how he jammed either just him and an acoustic or fully electric with his always class backing band. Good stuff indeed!

 

To another staple in his live set, the John Hiatt tune and always beautifully presented ballad ‘Angel Eyes’ next and it’s a nice little diversion from the blues set to show the lighter side to Healey’s playing and then it’s back to the rockin’ with a nine plus minute version of The Doors ‘Roadhouse Blues.’

A bit of laid back acoustic intro with some fooling about brings on his own song ‘See The Light’ which becomes an almost fifteen minute monster!

Can’t say enough about how much Jeff and the band put into the song and then to close this disc, a truly wonderful version of George Harrison’s ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps.’
Some serious guitar work from Jeff here that almost feels in moments like the soloing on  Lynyrd Skynyrd’s live version of say ‘Freebird,’ although clearly not as lengthy!

 

 

The last disc here is from Jeff's last tour with the Jeff Healey Band, in support of the band’s last album, ‘Get Me Some’ released in 2000 and reissued again in 2011, through Eagle Rock.
It was and still is in my books a great album that featured songs co-written by some real greats from the AOR world, like Dianne Warren, Arnold Lanni, Marti Frederiksen, Stevie Salas amongst others, but that said, this recording only features three songs from that release as well as seven other classic gems.

 

 

Opening with his own composition ‘My Little Girl’ from first album ‘See The Light’ you’d think Jeff had been doing this for not twenty but more like thirty years!
It’s got a great groove not unlike Santana at times.
Next it’s ‘Which One’ from the ‘Get Me Some’ album and the chorus will really grab you, as it did me, great jam!

 

 

Another from that album next is ‘Love Is The Answer’ which is a little more laid back and as close perhaps as his blues rock got to a kind of power ballad. Really nice song …
Then it’s back to the real blues of ‘How Blue Can You Get,’ made famous by B.B. King, which Jeff really makes the most of in this eight plus minute jam!

You really could play Jeff, you are missed …

 

Possibly Jeff’s favourite in his live set, ‘Confidence Man’ is next, which I’ve quite possibly said enough about already, as it also featured on the first two CD’s here too!

 

 

I really do love what Jeff does with ‘Put The Shoe On The Other Foot’ next, with some gentle picking and playing at the start and some truly soulful singing and even a scream before the song really gets into its groove and then when Jeff gets soloing, boy does he rock out!
This is another monster jam, that rocks some but then takes things down real low a little after the midway point and then comes back with venom with some absolutely kick ass rockin’, jamming!

 

 

‘Feel Better’ again from ‘Get Me Some’ up next has it’s up and downs in soulfulness and then dark yet rocking edginess, almost Hendrix like to a point and I begin to wonder if Jeff Healey influenced Joe Bonamassa any, as this isn’t far away from something you’d hear from Joe.

 

So to another favourite in a Jeff Healey set with John Hiatt’s ‘Angel Eyes’ next which is as I’ve said before, a truly beautiful song, which is followed by another of his live favourites in another cover, ‘Roadhouse Blues.’ ‘Keep your eyes on the road, your hands upon the wheel …’

Indeed Jeff, you rock it here!

 

Then to close the collection ‘See The Light’ does the trick nicely!

 

 

This is a great live collection to have, a really great memoir of another truly great talent that the world and of course Jeff’s family lost way too soon.

If you’ve never heard Jeff Healey, then do yourself a favour and go get yourself some,' to take a line from the man!

This is the three CD set, but there's also a deluxe set of two DVD's and these three discs too.

It’s a real pleasure to get to listen to this and better still, to have the honour of reviewing the man’s great work.

Thank you Jeff Healey and band, for some great music you left us to remember you by, RIP Jeff.

 

 

Rating: 4.75 out of 5

 

 

Official website – With links to purchase the album too!

 

http://jeffhealey.com/

 

 



Brief Site Update - June 10th, 2013

 

 



Chambers of Rock - Brief Update

 

Hi rocker's 'n' rollers!

 

Just thought I'd take a few minutes to drop a brief update here and sorry it's nothing more substantial at this time.

 

Still hoping to get back to more news updates soon, but for now still keeping it to just album (CD), DVD and the odd gig review until I get to that point where everyone's not screaming for more blood from me and I won't name names - Close friends know those I'm talking about! LOL! - but as I say, hopefully soon.

 

Would be nice if the current day job situation changed somehow or another, that could help hugely, but there you go ...

 

 

So, are you enjoying the summer so far?

We don't feel that it's really kicked in here in Michigan, but it seems it's getting more and more like the UK for being unpredictable!

 

Anyway, enough about all that you really want to know what's going on don't you and what you can expect here ..., soon!

 

 

OK, reviews coming soon for releases for Jeff Healey, a three disc live collection of German shows, Queensrÿche featuring Todd Le Torre, Chasing Violets second album, Judas Priest's 'Epitaph' DVD, Dio's 'Magica' remastered deluxe CD set, The Poodles 'Tour De Force,' State Cows 'The Second One,' Bonfire 'Live in Wacken' and also coming soon I'm pretty sure - Although release date still TBC - the new one from Newman, entitled 'Siren.'

 

I guess I might just cover Black Star Riders, 'All Hell Breaks Loose' release, even though they wouldn't send it my way, but since I HAD to hear it, I went ahead and ordered it and I love it!

 

Couple of gigs coming up soon too that I'm hoping to cover, but knowing how crazy life is here right now, who knows how that will pan out!

Boy, would've I have loved to have attended Sweden Rock Festival this last weekend, by all accounts it sounds like it was another cracker!

Download this coming weekend in the UK, likewise ..., wish I was going ....

 

 

Sad news recently on the passing of Uriah Heep's Trevor Bolder.  on May 21st, 2013.

RIP Trevor, a lot of history there too from his part in David Bowie's Spider's From Mars band, he was also part of Wishbone Ash, as well as former band mate from the Bowie days, Mick Ronson's (RIP) band.

Then he did some shows with Def Leppard's Joe Elliott and Phil Collen in the Cybernauts who paid tribute to Bowie and Mott The Hoople with a few select gigs.

 

Another good guy gone ...

 

I dropped my old mate Mick Box my condolences and he shared this back:

 

Thanks for your kind words mate!

Trevor is at peace now, and in the hearts of those who loved him, he will always be present, and in the heads of those who listened to him, Trevor will always be heard.

He leaves an amazing musical legacy!

It is so sad, but the love shown around the world for Trevor, both for his playing ability, and as a person is overwhelming.

Cheers,

Mick

 

Tough for Mick indeed and of course Trevor's family and all the other Heep guys.

Belated birthday greetings to Mick for yesterday too ... How old mate?!

 

 Today also Def Leppard's Vivian Campbell announced that he's been battling cancer - Hodgkin’s Lymphoma - so our thought's and prayers go out to him for recovery through his chemo treatments.
http://www.defleppard.com/news/2013/06/10/message-Vivian


Former Journey singer Steve Perry too, just learned that a mole recently removed from his face was cancerous as well ...
 http://www.classicrockmagazine.com/news/steve-perrys-cancer-hell/


Cancer folks, it's awful ... It's all we ever hear about these days ...
I've had close friends go through it too ...
Seriously, can't say enough that if you have a niggling ailment that you're not sure what it is, but can't seem to shake it ... Go get yourself checked out, please!

 

So, you can see it's certainly not a case of nothing going on, it's just getting these reviews typed up!

Stick with me folks, I'll keep you entertained, hopefully! LOL!


One final thing, US fans, check out Jay Leno tonight, at 11.35pm EST for an appearance tonight by Bad Company, as a pre-cursor to their 40th anniversary tour and a co-headline tour with Lynyrd Skynyrd that starts in Auburn, WA on June 20th.
Check out more details here:
http://www.badcompany.com/news.html
 

 

Have a great summer, however you handle it!

Cheers and keep on rockin'!

 

Al

Chambers of Rock 

 

  

The Wild Lies – 'Jack’s Out Of The Box' EP review

 

 

 

The Wild Lies – 'Jack’s Out Of The Box' EP review

Released on: Izzi Records. Release date: Available now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So here we are with a band that most likely, none of you have heard of. Why?
Well, most likely it’s because The Wild Lies are currently – As yet - an unsigned young British act from High Wycombe (England), who put together this wonderful, self-financed release and yes, I know it’s just an E.P. of five songs – that are killer! – but they clearly wanted to get something out there quickly and it seems in recent times, even some established acts have been reluctant to record a full blown album, for various reasons and have done the same.

 

I know a few right off the bat, who did so because their take is that many people, modern listeners, simply lose interest in one act’s whole new album of say twelve to fifteen or so songs, so they feel it’s better to focus on a handful of top notch tracks.

 

Others I’ve heard say they’re reluctant to do a full album, because so many people simply find pirated tracks online, download them for free or for a ridiculous nominal fee – That they, the pirates. – keep for themselves without any royalties going to the artist, to which I say to the artists, I don't blame you!

 

There’s also another angle that I’ve not heard said, but there’s probably a lot to it and that is, when an act goes out live and plays their sets, how many new songs off their latest album, do they ever play? One? Two? Maybe five tops right, so right there is maybe a valid reason and angle today, certainly from established acts for sure.

Sad days, as I indeed love hearing a completely new album’s worth of material!
Maybe I’m the exception though ….?

 

 

To the E.P. that we are covering here though, is The Wild Lies first recorded output, ‘Jack’s Out Of The Box.’The lineup that recorded this E.P. was – Yes, I’ll get to that … - Matt James - vocals, Rob Gamble - guitar, Dylan Smith - bass and Ralph Morris on drums.

 

 

I just love how strong opening track ‘Falling’ is, especially the killer chorus, strong hook line, great vocal from Matt James – He should go far! - great catchy lyrics and the band recorded an interesting video for this track. Check it out on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tG2b4on3N0
It’s weird because the opening of the song seems to come across very heavy, but then before long it just grabs you as it’s such a hooky song … ‘That’s why I’m F-a-l-l – i-n-g, Got no destination … I don’t want this, to be the end. I’m dreaming, not cheap imitation, I don’t want this, to be pretend!’

Love the chorus, then into the heavy chord changes again through each verse and then, once again ‘I’m F-a-l-l-i-n-g …’ You’ll get it when you hear it!
Very heavy bridge and then a ripping solo from Rob Gamble.
There are clearly loads of influences across just this song alone, but the album, sorry, E.P. is just solid!

 

 

 

‘Stone Cold Love’ next is equally as edgy as ‘Falling’ and at first I didn’t feel that the chorus was as catching as ‘Falling,’ but you know what? It really is!
Plenty of timing changes throughout the song, which is possibly why it didn’t grab me in the same way as ’Falling’ from the start but once you’ve played this a few times, you’re like kicking yourself for not thinking it from the get go.
The band has got great harmonies too on the vocals, all to just make this better and better.

 

 

Next track ‘Relive the Ride,’ was the first track I ever heard of this band from a good old friend in the UK – Thanks Ian! – who asked me if I had heard of these guys before.

He sent me the You Tube video link for this – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sEOsXcBFUA – and it was like, wow! Who are these guys? Then I found the ‘Falling’ link from there and was hooked and could not figure out, how I missed this band before?!

The song opens with an almost – Oh boy, here I go … Comparisons! – Def Leppard like groove intro, then gets driving with a very familiar like driving riff and becomes an absolutely killer song with big vocals, big dirty yet catchy chord patterns and wonderfully subtle guitar licks that aren’t overpowering, just accenting the song. Wonderful stuff!

 

 

Who’d of thought after all the powerful hard rockin’ and drivin’ of the three previous songs that they’d then come up with the magical power ballad ‘Beginning To End.’Love Rob’s lead guitar sound, very (Michael) Schenker like and once more I can’t emphasize enough how strong Matt James vocal is. The whole song structure is very well written, as are all the five songs on here.

 

  
Final of the five tracks here is ‘Heartbreaker’ which starts with a big old dirty, sleazy intro and then just rocks out, in an edgy style not unlike Jet when they do it.
All the songs have very many elements to them that may have you comparing those  elements to other bands, but as an all-encompassing package here this is simply great!
Again on ‘Heartbreaker,’ as elsewhere here, the timing changes show just how tight the band is and seeing them live for me would be just another wonderful dimension personally.

 

 

So here’s the thing, I love everything here and it’s very worthy of the rating it receives and so I wanted to know more about the band and have found out that they have toured as a support act in the UK and have also lined up a prestigious appearance at this year’s UK Download festival on June 15th, fantastic.

 

 

I wanted to also know about future plans too and have learned that the lineup has now changed, from the guys that recorded the E.P. and two promo videos.

The current lineup features original member Dylan Smith on Bass, Matt Polley – Vocals (Who is in fact, Matt James! Name change!), Tom Miles – Drums, Andre Ruffell and Zak Muller on Guitars.

It will be interesting to see where the band goes from here and hope to hear more of them in the future.

 

 

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 – Just wish there was a full album’s worth of material though …

 

 

Weblink:

https://www.facebook.com/TheWildLies?fref=ts

 

 

Wanna buy the E.P. folks? Here's a link:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jacks-out-the-Box-EP/dp/B00B1MM1DA

 

 

 



Rainbow – ‘Live in Munich 1977’ album review

 

 

 

 

Rainbow – ‘Live in Munich 1977’ album review

Released on: Eagle. Release date: Available now.

 

 

 

 

 

First off I have to tell you that this Rainbow 'Live in Munich 1977,' is a release that was previously released in different formats, although never on vinyl and has now been reissued in various different formats with re-mastered audio. 

So now it's available in DVD, vinyl, CD and digital download formats for both the video and finally the music that I have to cover here.

No mention of Blu-ray ... Yet!

 

My source had limited availability on the DVD, so I went and picked up a copy for myself – From Amazon … - which includes many bonus features, that I really wanted a copy of for my collection anyway ..., but I'm not covering that review here ... Took me long enough to wrap this beauty up!

 

This release basically features the lineup that released the wonderful album, ‘Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll’ in 1978 with leader Ritchie Blackmore (Guitars), Ronnie James Dio (Lead vocals – RIP Ronnie), Cozy Powell (Drums – RIP Cozy) and the two newest members of the band, who were let go / quit after the recording the album and touring it finished in 1979.
Bob Daisley (Stan Webb’s Chicken Shack, Widowmaker, Ozzy Osbourne, Uriah Heep, Gary Moore and many more!) on bass who after leaving Rainbow was hugely sort after and on keyboards David Stone who could really jam on Hammond!

None of the other three members surely need any introduction at all, as they all have / had great track records, end of story!



Sadly both Ronnie James Dio and Cozy Powell are no longer with us, leaving the world way too early in anyone’s book.
After Rainbow though, they both went from success to success, until both of them sadly passed. Cozy in a car crash in 1998 and Ronnie just three years ago to stomach cancer.

I sincerely miss both these players, as they were both top notch.

RIP guys ...

 

 

 

So this is the CD version of this release, ‘Live in Munich 1977’ that sadly only includes nine tracks and there could’ve been more, but for Mr. Blackmore’s incredible self-indulgencies ... Seriously!

  This became all too obvious in subsequent Rainbow gigs and live releases, which in each case had much more of a set list to them, not necessarily much longer shows, but without doubt more streamlined.

In fact this is really only eight tracks when you take out the ‘Introduction’ from ‘The Wizard of Oz’ with the voice of Judy Garland and it really rocks out with ‘Kill The King’ reflecting the band on absolutely top form with their opening number!

David Stone’s Hammond totally compliments Ritchie’s magnificent guitar work and Ronnie’s wonderful vocals and the driving force of both Cozy Powell and Bob Daisley, it’s just wow!

At the end of ‘Kill The King,’ Ronnie talks to the crowd, ‘Thank you so much, again we say thank you for staying so long, for staying as long as you have, we hope you enjoy the show.’

The story goes that the band were late starting this gig as prior to this Munich gig, Ritchie Blackmore had to be smuggled out of Austria after trouble with Police at a gig there two nights earlier, which caused the band to arrive late for this gig.

 

Have to say, the band sounds great, so maybe Ritchie’s freedom drove him to play the performance of his life perhaps?! LOL!

 

 

‘Mistreated’ from Ritchie’s Deep Purple career is next and for all intents and purposes it’s as strong as ever, if drawn out which is my only criticism here, with Ritchie just going off on his own little jaunt, before the band all come crashing back in with the song’s heavy blues groove.

 

I love Ritchie Blackmore’s guitar work, always have done as any of my old mates would tell you and he was my favourite player for ages until around the mid-80’s when I just felt that really for me, Michael Schenker (UFO, Scorpions) was edging it ...
Still love all of his Purple and Rainbow stuff though!

 

 

‘Sixteen Century Greensleeves’ comes next, almost like a breath of fresh air.

The track that gently lulls the listener into a false sense of security with its gentle intro before kicking down the door with some seriously heavy guitar chords, drums and bass, is a

great number that I hadn’t heard in years and it brought back great memories! Magic!

 

 

The wonderful and epic ‘Catch The Rainbow’ is next, which finally starts after about two minutes of Ritchie’s ‘song introduction ...’
Although it’s such a lengthy excursion, it allows each band member to shine, but it’s really Ritchie Blackmore’s centerpiece if you will with his soloing in the middle – even with David Stone trying to make his Hammond organ get some attention – reaching over seven minutes alone in this seventeen minute monster!

Still love it!

 

 

As a lead into ‘Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll,’ Ronnie explains ‘We’d like to do a song for you from an LP that you’ve never heard before, because we’ve only just finished recording it … An LP that you should be able to buy, I hope or steal it or whatever you do with it, get it, in January some time. Our new LP which this is the title track from, kind of the message that we’re trying to give to the world .., except for Austria … It’s a song called ‘Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll’ this one!’

 

 

It’s actually kind of cool as clearly since the band had only just wrapped up recording prior to these dates, the new song’s structures were not yet set in stone, so as with ‘Kill The King,’ ‘Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll’ each song actually comes across slightly different from how you may have familiarized yourself with the tune from the 1978 album release.

The intro especially with the drums – Cowbell count in! – and Hammond keyboard playing back and forth a little before finally kicking everyone in together and it’s a seriously heavy Hammond intro and then Ronnie’s vocal sounds completely inspired!

Wonderful stuff!

 

 

 

Disc two kicks off with an almost speed driven version of ‘Man On The Silver Mountain,’ which if you go back and listen to the original 1975 version from ‘Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow,’ it’s like this one leaves that version in the dust!

 It of course get's into it's jam section, where after a little Blackmore break, the band kicks into 'Starstuck' just briefly, still a kick ass jam!

Said jam continues and then gets back into 'Man On The Silver Mountan' before wrapping the track up.  

I must say I’ve always thought the original studio version sounds so slow, I remember our band looking to cover it a few years ago and when we first got together to jam it everyone said to me, ‘Al, that’s way too slow man!’ I said, ‘OK, let’s all listen to the original together then and you’ll see why I’m playing so slow?!' LOL! Funny times!

 

 

‘Still I’m Sad’ next is another monster here, clocking in around twenty five minutes, although it does capture my all-time hero drummer Cozy Powell, performing his solo accompanying Tchaikovsky's '1812 Overture!'

 

It is another with the lengthy intro, not Ritchie so much this time, but David Stone, no complaints though ... Then right around the four minute mark, wham! In comes the band!

 When they reach the mid section, Ritchie throws in little snatches of songs / tunes, first off I hear 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,' then Beethoven's 'Ode To Joy.'

David Stone gets a little time, where he even at times sounds like Keith Emerson to a degree with some serious synth stuff ... Wow!

 

Then it's Cozy's turn ... Prior to the '1812 ...' piece, he shows his own little endeavors, with rapid double bass drum and wonderful fill's the whole thing clocking in just under six minutes ...

Love the DVD of this ... Boy are you missed Cozy .... :(

The cheers when Ronnie yells out, 'Cozy Powell!' Speak for themselves, massive!

 

 

The band departs the stage briefly only to be beckoned back for an encore in 'Do You Close Your Eyes?' Of course not before Ritchie's provided us another three minutes of his guitar flurries ...

The band totally rocks on this and there's a moment or so when Ritchie and David Stone play off each other in great style and then there's Ritchie's own soloing that is just wonderful!
The ending I will say though is seriously drawn out by Ritchie as he gets all crazy and trashes his guitar ...
 

All said and done though, a very solid and suitable finish, good old rocker!
The whole performance is closed by 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow,' with Judy Garland doing her bit in the intro for the band and at the end ....

It's releases like this that kind of in some respects rile the listener up, that Ritchie Blackmore stopped rockin' 'n' rollin' more than a few years back.

I really did enjoy listening to this though and checking out the DVD ...
The bonus footage there for me, is going to take some time for me to get to though unfortunately ..., as more album reviews beckon!

This is certainly a winner in my books however you look at it, even if kind of drawn out in places, there's plenty here in the flow of things that more than make up for Ritchie's 'dabbling's!'

With Rainbow, 'Long Live Rock 'n' Roll' simply couldn't say it loud enough and with these guys, the memories will always remain special and legendary.
Good job Eagle Rock for putting this out!


Rating: 4.5 out of 5


Weblink:

http://www.eagle-rock.com/

Related sites:

http://www.blackmoresnight.com/
http://www.rainbowfanclan.com/ - Fan site, very good!

 

 Purchase links:
Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/RAINBOW-LIVE-MUNICH-1977/dp/B000ZHP99U/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1369715346&sr=1-2&keywords=Rainbow%3A+Live+in+Munich+1977 - CD
http://www.amazon.com/Rainbow-Live-Munich-1977/dp/B000GW8RX4/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1369715346&sr=1-1&keywords=Rainbow%3A+Live+in+Munich+1977 - DVD

iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/live-in-munich-1977/id636133228 - CD