Styx – The Mission Review

Reviews ‐ ‐ August 08, 2017
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Styx – The Mission Review

It came as a surprise when Styx announced that they would release an album of new material in 2017.  It had been 14 years since the last album, Cyclorama and the band seemed content to continue entertaining their fans via the tour circuit.  Once the initial shock wore off, more apprehension appeared due to the fact that not only would this be new songs, but the album itself would be a concept album.

Concept albums are a tricky beast.  When done well, like Dream Theater’s Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From A Memory, the marriage of song and story work hand in …

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Don Barnes – Ride The Storm Review

Reviews ‐ ‐ July 07, 2017
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Don Barnes – Ride The Storm Review

Like the Ark of the Covenant, it appeared that Don Barnes’, 1989 solo album Ride The Storm would never see the light of day.  Buried during a buyout of A&M Records, the album was shelved and the then former (now again current) lead singer of .38 Special could do nothing to get the new company to release it.  The album has appeared sporadically over the ensuing years, most recently as a download on a site created by Barnes in the early 2000’s just so people could finally hear it.

How an album finally gets an official physical release almost 30 years after …

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Lonely Robot – The Big Dream Review

Reviews ‐ ‐ May 23, 2017
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Lonely Robot – The Big Dream Review

The brainchild of English musician John Mitchell, Lonely Robot is basically a solo project consisting of a reported three album story arc. Very similar to Tony Carey in the 1980s recording as Planet P Project, Mitchell sings and plays the vast majority of the instruments that make up Lonely Robot. The Big Dream is the second of the albums and continues that story that began on Please Come Home. 

The music is very atmospheric.  This is not your traditional piano/keyboard guitar plucking music.  Each instrument is layered to continue the story, which on this album is centered around the idea of death. The music is expertly …

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Meat Loaf – Braver Than We Are Review

Reviews ‐ ‐ April 24, 2017
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Meat Loaf – Braver Than We Are Review

How else could this end?

Twenty three years after their last, unexpected, triumph, 1993’s Bat Out Of Hell II, Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman join forces for Braver Than We Are.  A lot has changed in those 23 years.  Meat Loaf has continued to record and tour, to varying degrees of success.  Steinman has had number one songs (hello Celine Dion) and more than dipped his toes into his true love of musical theater.  There have been attempts to reconcile (Bat Out of Hell III) as well as lawsuits between the two (again Bat Out Of Hell III). Surprisingly the impetus and hindrance of Braver …

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Boston – Life, Love & Hope Review

Reviews ‐ ‐ April 14, 2017
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Boston – Life, Love & Hope Review

In the liner notes of Boston’s 2013 release Life, Love & Hope (LLH), band leader Tom Scholz says “When I started this album over ten years ago….”.  I’m not sure what he was doing during those ten years but it couldn’t have been just this album. Three of the eleven tracks originally appeared on 2002’s Corporate America, an album that was eight years in the making and did not garner positive reviews from either critics or fans.  Scholz put failure of the album on the record company, Artemis Records, saying that they didn’t promote the record enough.  By including three of …

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Night Ranger – Don’t Let Up Review

Reviews ‐ ‐ April 03, 2017
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Night Ranger – Don’t Let Up Review

You have to admire a band that is continuously releasing new material today.  “Don’t Let Up” is the third release by Night Ranger (NR) since 2011.  Whereas many bands of their generation no longer see the necessity to go through the expense of recording an album of new songs, the veteran Californian rock band scratches that itch every few years and I’m happy they do.

Like many bands, Night Ranger has gone through several phases of their career.  Phase one being the classic NR albums beginning with debut “Dawn Patrol” through 1988’s “Man In Motion”, after which they disbanded (vocalist/bassist Jack Blades went to …

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Roger Hodgson – Hai Hai Review

Reviews ‐ ‐ March 17, 2017
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Roger Hodgson – Hai Hai Review

Released in 1987, “Hai Hai” was former Supertramp singer/multi-instrumentalist Roger Hodgson’s second solo album.  Following 1984’s ‘In The Eye of The Storm”, which yielded the rock radio hit ‘Had A Dream (Sleeping With The Enemy)’. Whereas the first album was a true solo work with Hodgson performing 99% of the instruments himself, “Hai Hai” went back to a more traditional album approach working with well known studio musicians, including members of Toto and guitarist Dan Huff (of Giant fame).

The album dropped in September of 1987 with a thunderous THUMP.  Whereas the previous album sounded like the music he created previously …

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Elton John – The Captain and the Kid Review

Reviews ‐ ‐ February 24, 2017
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Elton John – The Captain and the Kid Review

Released in 2006 ‘The Captain and the Kid’ was the third of Elton John’s “back to basics” albums.  After decades of excess and over the top fluff (movie soundtracks etc), John and his lyrical writing partner Bernie Taupin began a conscious effort starting with 2001’s ‘Songs From the West Coast’ of going back to the sound that they started with.  That album brought John’s piano playing back to the forefront and while it had memorable songs such as the lead single “I Want Love” and ‘Original Sin’, the album, and the singles, didn’t sell that well.  ‘Peachtree Road’ followed in …

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Enchant – In The Blink Of An Eye Review

Reviews ‐ ‐ February 13, 2017
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Enchant – In The Blink Of An Eye Review

Enchant entered the studio in 2001/2002 with a new lineup.  New drummer Sean Flanegan seemed to bring with him a new sense of purpose and drive in the songs.  This made ‘In The Blink Of An Eye’to be the band’s heaviest sounding album to date. Enchant has always been a little tough to categorize, are they Progressive Rock, Prog Metal, or other?  There are times where they can be put in the same genre as Dream Theater but other times you can really hear the influences of bands like Marillion or Spock’s Beard (who Ted Leonard now sings for as well). …

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James Young Group – Raised By Wolves Review

Reviews ‐ ‐ February 06, 2017
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James Young Group – Raised By Wolves Review

Known for playing guitar in Styx for over forty years, James ‘JY’ Young decided to form a group in the mid-ninety’s during Styx’s Mark III disbandment (lineup with Glen Burtnik instead of Tommy Shaw).  JY typically had one or two songs on each Styx album, and those were usually the heaviest of each record. This is a entire album of JY-type songs and more is not necessarily better.

The first thing that hits you when you start playing this album was that JY recruited a few other singers and writers to try and create a real band feel to the album.  The …

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