Friday Videos

Loverboy has released a new record with 3 new songs and re-recorded versions of several classics. Check out one of the new tunes, "Heartbreaker", from "Rock N Roll Revival":



The new single from Pride of Lions (featuring Toby Hitchcock and Jim Peterik) is "Delusional", from their forthcoming fourth record, "Immortal":



Next up we have a new modern rocker called "Tremolo", the first song off the debut full-length album "New Symmetry" from Wires In The Walls:



And finally, a cover tune for you. This one comes from an entire album of cover tunes from Santana and various guests called "Guitar Heaven". My favorite track off the record was his version of Def Leppard's "Photograph" featuring Daughtry:

Review: Daughtry and James Durbin

Modern rock
A quick look at two new releases from should-have-been American Idol winners. In short, it is a good day for fans of heavy melodic rock.


Daughtry “Break The Spell”

Back with his third effort, Chris Daughtry is seeking to recover from a lackluster sophomore jinx. “Break The Spell” certainly does just that – the record is a winner from start to finish, jam packed with melodic hard rock tunes. This record is much more like his blockbuster debut, bringing copious melody back into his brand of arena ready rock songs. Daughtry sounds hungry again - his vocals are soaring and passionate in every cut. Nearly every song is a winner, but if I had to choose favorites they would include “Renegade”, “Crawling Back To You”, “Outta My Head”, and “Spaceship”. If you are looking for the big power ballad, “Gone Too Soon” is the one to check out, but don’t overlook the understated beauty in the mid-tempo number, “Rescue Me”. Overall, this collection is markedly less gritty than some of his previous work, but the strong vocal performances and irresistible hooks win the day. Some fans might not appreciate his gravitation towards a more commercial sound, but it suits me just fine.




James Durbin “Memories Of A Beautiful Disaster”

One of the most shocking moments of last season’s American Idol was the premature dismissal of hard rocker James Durbin. Similar to David Cook in style and conviction, Durbin stays true to his heavy hitting roots on his debut. Blasting out first is the take no prisoners cut, “Higher Than Heaven” – despite its pious name, the tune features monstrous riffs that could make the Devil weep. It is a terrific opener, but don’t be mislead into thinking that Durbin doesn’t have the ability to balance his love of hard rock with more commercial melodies. Tracks like “All I Want” and “Love In Ruins” are much more mainstream, but will still sound as potent as “Stand Up” when it comes to belting these out live in the arena. Durbin’s voice is nothing short of amazing – he is incredibly adaptive. We all know his prowess at the mic when supporting an ferocious modern rock tune, but listen to the tenderness that shines through in songs like the touching “May”. “Love Me Bad” is probably my favorite tune, though, and Motley Crue fans should take note that Mick Mars is along for the ride on the track “Outcast”. Is it me or does Durbin actually channel some Vince Neil on this one too?

Odds and Ends

Each week I use this space to post some mini-reviews, cool tracks, random thoughts, neat news, or whatever else I damn well please.

MiniReview


Fallon Cush “Fallon Cush” – Fallon Cush is otherwise known as Steve Smith, a singer/songwriter from Australia. He and his band breeze through the 11 tracks on their eponymous debut, delivering an array of generally mellow and bright acoustic folk rock with 80s overtones. Most of the tracks don’t quite have a sharp enough hook to maintain my attention, but every once in awhile there is a needle in the haystack. For example, the upbeat drums, jamming organ, and fiery guitar solo make “Where You Been” stand out like a sore thumb among the other tracks – and that is a good thing in this case. “Where You Been” is easily my favorite track – I wish there were more songs like it. “The Great Divide” is another winner, boasting shimmering guitar tones, a memorable chorus, and effective backing vocals. “Dog Day Afternoon” and the pleasant “Over Me” are also worth a spin. Recommended if you enjoy Neil Nathan, David Mead, or Grapes of Wrath. Learn more about Fallon Cush here.

Surprise of the week
And the new lead singer for INXS is…(click here)

News
Cast is back! The legendary underground indie pop group fronted by singer John Power will return with their fifth album of new material, on the heels of the 15th anniversary of their debut. More info here.

Golden Bloom has released a new music video for "Rhyme the Reason". The song is available on Golden Bloom's latest EP, "March to the Drums".

Golden Bloom "Rhyme The Reason" from Alicia J. Rose on Vimeo.

Hope you got to see R.E.M. live while you had the chance – looks like there will be no reunion tour. Read the story.

At least there will be a new R.E.M. retrospective arriving November 15 called “Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage, 1982 – 2011” which will contain three new songs: "A Month of Saturdays," "We All Go Back To Where We Belong," and "Hallelujah". More info here.

Tony Bennett beats a record held previously by Bob Dylan.

New Aerosmith as early as March 2012? This would be the long-awaited follow up to 2004’s “Honkin’ On Bobo”. Details here.

New Daughtry coming November 21st – “Break The Spell” will be his third album. More here.

Random iPOD song of the week
“It’s A Sin” by the Pet Shop Boys


Reminder: we’re now on Twitter! Follow us for even more updates, news, and reviews!

Review: Richard Marx “Stories To Tell”

80s balladeer Richard Marx is back with a new CD of sorts. On “Stories To Tell”, Marx doesn’t really present us with any new material, but rather acoustical reinterpretations of his earlier works. Some of the tracks are stripped down and/or tweaked versions of well known hits like “Endless Summer Nights”, “Should’ve Known Better”, and “Hazard”. Others are tunes Marx wrote that were made famous by other artists that range from boy bands like N’SYNC to country superstars like Keith Urban and Travis Tritt to modern rockers like Lifehouse and Daughtry. Since Marx dropped out of the spotlight, many people don’t realize he’s still been a very active and successful songwriter for other artists.

Marx still sounds great (a standout vocal is delivered on “One Thing Left”) and the unadorned acoustic guitar removes the 80s sound from his classics, leaving us with a fresh and more timeless sound. In short, his material sounds less dated. The production is immaculate with glistening piano, crisp fingerpicking, and radiant strumming on those acoustic guitars. My favorites on “Stories To Tell” include “Over My Head”, “Angelia”, “Loved”, and “Should’ve Known Better”, but the other tracks produce mixed feelings. His ill-fated venture into R&B territory with “Keep Coming Back” still sounds pretty drab when unplugged. And some of the songs included here were acoustic and slow to begin with, such as “Now and Forever” or “Right Here Waiting”, so there isn’t anything really new or surprising about them.

The seven bonus tracks that follow the eleven unplugged songs are those that were written by Marx and performed by others – a unique opportunity for fans to finally hear their beloved singer perform his own tunes. These songs are not unplugged and typically feature a powerful backing band – the arrangement is so close to the original that it often sounds like Richard Marx covering another artist. Nonetheless, these tracks are interesting to hear. While no Josh Groban, Marx does turn in a rather stunning vocal on “To Where You Are”. And hearing him do “Had Enough” and “On The Inside” builds confidence that Marx could be a viable modern rocker if he wanted to.

Devoted fans of Richard Marx are clearly going to appreciate this CD, but the more casual fan will probably wish he’d present something new. As for me, I think the first eleven tracks will get plenty of spins on those lazy Sunday mornings and I will hold out hope that he’ll comeback with an infectious modern rock sound next time.

iPOD-worthy: 2, 4, 5, 9, 10, 13

Richard Marx on MySpace. Official site.

Listen to “Over My Head”

Review: Lifehouse "Smoke & Mirrors"

Lifehouse is back with a new record, "Smoke & Mirrors", the follow up to the strong "Who We Are". "Smoke & Mirrors", their fifth album, has already earned distinction as being the highest charting Lifehouse record yet, debuting at #6 on the BillBoard charts.

It is hard to believe that their smash debut, "No Name Face", landed in 2000. After ten years, you would expect a band to have perfected their chemistry and know exactly who they are - such is true for Lifehouse. If anything, the band has been steady and consistent, always delivering a batch of succinct, radio-friendly rockers and acoustic driven ballads. Why would a band want to risk screwing around with a formula that has been so good to them? Bearing that in mind, "Smoke & Mirrors" has no new tricks up its sleeve and is yet another CD full of more of the same. Like Collective Soul, the latest Lifehouse albums are largely indistinguishable. There is only one moment of deviation in the 'trying too hard to make you dance' "Here Tomorrow Gone Today", and its miserable failure is strong evidence why Lifehouse should do nothing but what made them famous in the first place.

Producer and AOR star Jude Cole is back on board to lend his expertise on "Smoke & Mirrors" - he also plays, sings, and co-writes extensively on this record, so they should just make him a fifth member of the band. Other guests include Daughtry on "Had Enough", which was co-written by Richard Marx. The infectious first single, "Halfway Gone" is the clear stand out on the record, but other notables include "All In", "Falling In", "By Your Side", and the title track. "Wrecking Ball" marks bassist Bryce Soderberg's first lead vocal with the band - his style and tone is very similar to Jason Wade, so most listeners may not even notice the switch. Lifehouse seemed to struggle in writing a compelling ballad like "You and Me" this time around, but the introspective mid-tempo closer, "In Your Skin", is quite good and ends the record on a high note.

The "deluxe" version features a second disc with 4 extra songs that were probably not deemed strong enough to make the original release. I despise this shameless tactic of milking fans for more of their money while being wasteful in making an entire second CD to hold a paltry 4 tracks that would easily fit on the main release. Even worse is that the only track on the deluxe version worth hearing more than once is "Crash and Burn".

In short, "Smoke & Mirrors" is another solid, by-the-book effort from Lifehouse, a band that is consistent but opening themselves to criticism that too many of their albums all sound alike. The 'deluxe' version is not worth the extra money - curse the record labels that engage in this greedy and wasteful practice!

iPOD-worthy: 1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 11, 12

Lifehouse on MySpace. Official site.

Check out the video for the first single, "Halfway Gone":

Review: Daughtry "Leave This Town"

Chris Daughtry is now feeling the other side of the double-edge sword of having a phenomenally successful debut album. The former American Idol contestant was subject to one of the biggest injustices in the history of the show by being voted off far too early in the competition several years ago. Perhaps a blessing in disguise, he went on to make one of the biggest selling records in recent times, gracing radio with plenty of melodic hard rock goodness. He is his own hard act to follow.

To help with the sophomore effort, Daughtry has enlisted the songwriting talents of Nickelback's Chad Kroeger, Brian Howes, Mitch Allen, and more. The disc begins with the in your face guitars and the soaring, badass vocals we all expect from Daughtry. After this fierce reminder that he is still a force to be reckoned with, he glides right into the more radio-friendly "No Surprise", following this up with three more pop-based rockers, "Everytime You Turn Around" (a personal favorite), "Life After You", and "What I Meant To Say". After this, the songs are OK, rarely leaving the ballad or mid-tempo pace, and not matching the quality we've heard on the debut. The latter half of the CD is very ballad heavy and grows tiresome, not helped by duds like the country-flavored "Tennessee Line".

Another complaint is that the record seems to be on a mission to impress with the guitars and bombastic production rather than the voice. Daughtry has an amazing voice, but it is a shame to hear it take so few chances and to persistently get buried in the excessively loud guitars. Lyrically, we're also on ho-hum ground: unimaginative and straight-forward, but at least not silly.

The record is solid, but Daughtry is just running in place. In short, the title of the first single pretty much sums up the record as a whole: no surprise. I hope he comes back with a vengenace on the third release to give us the record we know he has the potential to deliver.

iPOD-worthy: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8

Daughtry: Official site.