Top 5 Albums Of 2015…

I already posted my Top 5 albums of the year at Mikey Ladanos Blog….you can check out his Favs of 2015 right here..just click the link friends!

http://mikeladano.com

Here we gooooooo!

1-Iron Maiden/Book Of Souls-Was there really any doubt! Maiden roared back with what I would say is there best album since Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son(1988). If your wondering where’s the review? Well I’m working on it and kinda funny how Maiden is my all time número uno fanboy act yet  I’ve only reviewed Piece Of Mind and Seventh Son. I got a great idea for this review so give me time peeps! Of note the video posted is the song Tears Of A Clown a tune Adrian Smith and  Steve Harris wrote about Robin Williams(RIP) it’s a great track!

2-Rush/R40- A few weeks back it took me 3 posts to get through this 29 song mega opus! If R40 is indeed the end of Rush as we know they have gone out on top! Thanks for a fine career fella’s!

3-Harem Scarem/Live At The Phoenix- Here’s the shocker of the bunch! This was released just a few weeks back and I tell ya its 20 songs of AOR Hard Rock Genius! When Toronto’s Harem Boys re-recorded  Mood Swings in 2012 I delved back into that album which I may think cracked my Top 5 back in 2012 at Mike’s site! Fast forward to this year these songs are so good performed live! The vocals and musicianship are top notch and there’s songs on the Phoenix like Human Nature and Dagger that I had never heard til now and man oh man they are classics! Review a comin…..

4-Van Halen/Live At The Tokyo Dome(tie)The Circle At Your Service

Now your wondering what is Harem Scarem doing above VH and Hagars live albums. Easy this is a list of surprises and Harem is no doubt that as with VH and The Circle you know there gonna deliver with the classic material! Sam’s The Circle proves without a doubt that all though Hagar is pushing 70 years young he still delivers live vocally as well as having  side kick Michael Anthony along  for the ride doesn’t hurt as well!

VH delivers a warts n all double album and who cares if Dave has some rough patches vocally it’s Ed,Alex and especially Wolf that deliver the soundtrack of my highschool years right into my iPod! Wolfs bassing on this record is bad ass! Check out the opening to Everybody Wants Some! His bass cranked with the Wah Pedal is out of this world!

5- Def Leppard/Def Leppard(tie) Europe/War Of Kings

Ha! Boy did I ever set off a discussion with my review of this Leppard  album. I was blown away  by it as quite honestly I wasn’t expecting much as the last real good Lep record was Slang back in 1996. Lep delivers some throwback sounding material as well as some songs that sound like tribute songs to there idols. The album starts off well but really picks up steam about halfway thru! Great album! But I think Ladano is still  lost at sea on this one! Haha…Toss him a life preserver Joe Elliot and save his ass!

UPDATE- Mr Ladano has entered Def Leppard at Number 6 Fav album of the year!

Europe along with Harem Scarem are the shockers of the year! Europe dabble into UFO and Deep Purplish Perfect Strangers territory and along with solid written material and awesome production from Dave Cobb(Rival Sons) who makes John Norums guitar all fuzzed up sonically as well as mixing the keyboards brilliantly into a win win! Jon at CD Festival And Music Guide got me onboard with his 10/10 review of War Of Kings.

Final Yammer- Yep a couple of Tie’s tossed in as this year it was hard to nail down a top 5! It was cool though as Lep,Harem and Europe surprised me and this is what the list is about! VH and The Circle delivered double live albums which means a ton of tunes and Rush as always ruled with there musical supremacy. I mean for Rush to resurrect Cyngus and Hemispheres ….Wowzers!

Iron Maiden though are  top dogs and viola they delivered a solid full of epic proportions sonic assault masterpiece! Maiden rules!

Out of the seven albums in my Top 5 I have reviewed 5 of them so feel free to check out my Yammering on them!

You gotta do your homework!

As always thanks for reading along……

 

 

 

Van Halen/Live At The Tokyo Dome (Part Two)

 

So Monday’s post I talked about the first half of Halens Live From The Tokyo Dome!

Today i will focus on the other 13 tracks that Dave,Ed,Alex And Wolfman Jacked slammed out ….

BOTTOMS UUUUUUUP!

DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY-gottta love Alex playing that cowbell and before you know it Dave and company are Dancing The Night Away! Man Eddies guitar is just jacked and can you not dig it! He plays with such ease I mean how do you not fuckin airband to this guy! Anyhoo the band takes a breather so Dave can chirp the crowd about wearing his Dance Shoes and that Mr ..well his Japanese friend is present and  it’s Dave being Dave! But guess what this is the portion of the show where Dave totally shows up and sings da songs! Seriously he does!

I’LL WAIT- man one of those Gems from the 1984 album and VH meld drums,guitars and a mountain of keys into a grand slam Gemmer! Frigg man somewhere Micheal McDonald is smiling knowing he is the only dude ever to get a uncredited co write on a VH album! Alex Slams some real good beats and doesn’t comform to the keep it simple analogy! Dave steps up and the Ed And Wolf sing some good backing vocals…yeah seriously they do! See the pattern emerging here?

AND THE CRADLE WILL ROCK- man the opening song on my all time fav album (Women And Childern First) sets the course! Love that opening riff with Ed on his guitar it’s so frigging bad ass! The band Rock it forward and Dave leads the parade and too be honest at first the backing vocals sounded different almost off like but over time Ol Cynical Guy(Moi) digs it! Of course Roth pleases us by telling us “have you seen Jrs grades!?” Ed rips Into the solo and Dave cusses out the F Bomb and Ed,Wolf and Alex blast off a few bars of Smoke On The Water! Wowzers man….this cooks not in a Walter White way either!

HOT FOR TEACHER-Alex slams that real cool double bass at the start and the Ol buggers clocking over 100 mphs  behind that kit! I mean how cool is that as a single,back in tha day when  the drummer guy smashes the complete shit out of his drums to lead off a single! Ed steps up and does his hammer ons and we’re off! Wolfies bass is just a runaway rig on a highway and man the kid can play especially when he locks it in tight with dad! Dave of course on this version keeps up whereas I have heard versions where he’s been gassed by the first chorus! This tune just  flat out rocks and we’re all for the  better !

WOMEN IN LOVE- Wowzers this is a great version! Dave keeps his shit together and compliments(????) Ed and Wolf on there backing vocals and I gotta agree! They sound reaaaaal good! Of course Ed takes it to the next level with his guitaring in the solo and the sonics and chops of Wolf and Uncle Al are locked n loaded!

ROMEO DELIGHT-whoah Nelly! This is one of my faves from these guys! Ed sets the bar to super speed and brother Alex obliges while Wolfie plays some Wah pedal at certain junctions and this song Kicks Ass! Ed hammers home the solo! Dave actually doesn’t forget the fuckin words for the most part and man this is Heavy Halen! I can’t believe they steamroll this song at a quick pace but after the solo Dave goes into speaking Japanese once again while you hear some chuckling in the background and before to long HALEN crashes and burns this song down! Love the ending Dave even tosses in a WOW and its In tune! Ha…..seriously this is Halen when the Blow and Jack are pumping at full throttle! (Back in 1980 that is……)

MEAN STREET- Ed does that crazy good opening solo and than Theres the riff and brother Alex and the Wolfman join in the circus and Dave you know what he sings this tune real good! He dials in the chorus and keeps the song moving with jibber jabber banter slash vocal delivery like only he can do! Dig the middle part right before the solo! I kinda wished Dave would done the OL “There’s Babeeee” line right before Eds solo along with the “turned to from hunterd into Hunter” spiel but Dave probably doesn’t remember much from 1981 so be it…but he’s doing fine……

BEAUTIFUL GIRLS- well truth be told Dave kinda comes unglued vocally a little during the verses and during the chorus Ed And Wolf do the heavy lifting vocally. This track is a classic and that’s the great thing about this live album! It’s basically a compilation of mine and many others high school years(1981-1986)! Take a bow Tbone! Except for the Different Kind Of Truth stuff of course! The song just takes off at the end it’s just plain out awsome….’ Aaaah Yeah ….Beautifuuuuuuul Giiiirls!”

ICE CREAM MAN-Dave plays acoustic man and the dude is a decent picker….and the boys ramp this song up as in Ed just blasts the solo into another stratosphere as he does all the time!

PANAMA-see the pre hype Tokyo Dome album release I wrote here in regards to Panama….https://superdekes.wordpress.com/2015/03/10/cool-lil-numbers-van-halenpanama-live-2015/

ERUPTION-9 plus minutes of one of the greats on guitar! Need I say more……

AINT TALKIN BOUT LOVE-the Tour de Force from the debut album and Dave wrote like he’s the King and it’s his strutting number “like I told you before….Ah Before!” Ok boss! Also thanks to Ed this is one of those all great opening riffs it hooks in straight away and not before too long there’s Brother  Alex locked n sync with Ed and they drive this baby home! Love the singalong ending at the end….” Hey Hey Hey,” All time great!

JUMP-so the Tokyo Dome is about to blow its top when the biggest single of the HALEN  catalogue is played. Of course Go ahead and Juuuuuuump! Funny thing is of all the live versions I have heard Halen playing Jump live the keys sound weak! The studio single there at the forefront and as much as I hate bands drowning in the layers of keyboards this is the one song where I think the keys should be cranked live, give it some Oooomph! Sonic gripe aside Dave man he’s cooked vocally on this tune. That’s ok man you delivered Romeo Delight and Meanstreet at about the 3/4 mark of the show and kept your shit vocally together! So for that! I saluuuuuute You! Of course when your live at the show towards the end of Jump Halen is pumping out confetti all over the place so it’s like no ones paying attention to what Dave is jibbering on about anyways!

IN CONCLUSION- of course if you have been a Halen fan for as long as myself and Tbone have  (34 years and counting!) we all want the Oakland Fair Warning Tour 81 show in our hands and pummelled into our ears! For sure, but it’s not happening well maybe some day it will and i can eat Crow!

I love this live album and why not…the production is live, no tweaks as in this day and age of everyone filming shows with there phones Halen would have been called out for fixing up the tracks but I never read anything about that sooooo Live it is!

Right Here Right Now the Sam I Am fronted live Halen from 1993 was aweful! Not the songs or the performances mind you but the production was so sterile I cannot listen to it and the live video to accommodate it was edited with so many shots from 3 different shows it was aweful! Man they hosed me on that debacle ….haha….yet I still subscribe !

Dave for all the hammering he gets on YouTube and from people is pretty good here! I have no qualms even though he shows off his Japanese speaking and I have no idea WTF he’s saying  but its humour to me and good for him as he doesn’t take his shit too seriously at the age of 60! ha! Vocal wise he unravels but kinda keeps it in check somewhat!

Ed plays like he always does and that’s with ferocity and he knows when to lay back and knows when to rip it up! He’s simply the greatest guitar player in my time..NUFF said!

Alex man is always laying down the law with the drums! He drives Ed and Wolf while Dave is driving off somewhere out in space haha..thats Allright though it works….

Wolfie man is the MVP on this album for many a reason! One being the fella can play! Check out Everybody Wants Some and Romeo Delight for points of reference or the dual bass/guitar in Chinatown! That shit is real! Second he can hold his own vocally in the background dept! Plus he has his ear on the ground in regards to the song selection of those first 6 Halen albums! For that Wolfie …thanks a million dude!

So if you want a real Live album check the Tokyo Dome show out……

Van Halen/Live At The Tokyo Dome(Part One)

Now that the dust has settled……

25  Van Halen Songs recorded live(2014) in c’mon folks read the title! What we get here is a pretty good snap shot of Van Halen Mach Roth 2.0!

Now if you think I’m gonna get into a Dave’s voice sucks here blah blah blah or a complaint  that the original bass player(Michael Anthony) is no longer there also and should be blah blah blah. Nope I will tell it like I hear it by that I mean when Dave comes unglued here vocaly I will say it….

I just laugh at people who post all over FaceCrack how bad Roth is in concert. Perhaps,and everyone’s entitled to there opinion but man it’s old news….just move on with life and talk about those two Yokos in Ratt (DeMartini and Blotzer ) that are suing each other over there bands name instead. Now that’s worthwhile Rock News…Hahahaha…

Where’s Kurt Loder and MTV News?

Going to highschool from the years 1981-1986! Van Halen along with Iron Maiden were the two biggie bands in my world. I bought everything recorded between the two,bought everything in print between the two! You get the picture! I was a obsessed music fan and toss in a bunch of other acts…..

This album has been out since the end of March this year and yep we gots a lot of songs to cover here. So without further ado…..

Diamond Dave,Ed,Alex and Wolfie kick  Godzilla’s ass and drop down what I would consider a great,unpolished,warts n all live compilation (for the most part) of my Highschool Years served 30 years later!

UNCHAINED- VH Brothers(Ed &Al) and Associates (Wolfie) power up the intro to Unchained with Ed doing his hammer ons and the tricks of the trade and than there’s the riff of Unchained that we all know and love! Before not to long here’s Dave one bit singing,one part gibbering,one part mush mouthing(as Dave would call it ) and it works! This is live Halen mixed with a sound of the backing vocals live without a net(Ha!). Dig the jam at the end and hey guys I’ve waited 30 years for this live 2 do!

RUNNIN WITH THE DEVIL-ahhhh there’s that siren wail at the beginning and cue Wolfie smashing on his bass the opening bars and Ed an Al fire up the musical high heater and deliver one of the all time greats! Dave knows his deal he’s singing and yapping his way thru and it’s really no different than Dave from 1983s Classic US Festival! Except that one Dave was polluted into next year! Ha! Bada Bing!

SHES THE WOMAN- a song recorded years ago but tuned up and released on the fantastic A Different Kind Of Truth album from 2012! Wolfie plays some straight ahead simple rock bass and Dave sings this one pretty much from start to finish! Ed and Wolfie do a pretty cool guitar/bass mashup half way thru….

I’M THE ONE- Ed rips out super duper riffs and make no mistake this is one of Em! Dave, Allright I can say it he’s coming a little unglued here vocally but that’s the thing with actual live albums! Dave could have fixed this up but like I said earlier this is warts n all! Surprisingly Wolf and Ed hold the backing vocals quite well! Ed, man had me worried just by that How Many Say I lead vocal he so butchered back on the VH3 Album…..

TATTOO-the studio version of this song kinda spooked me! I’ll tell Ya why. Now like many others back in 2012 we were all anxiously awaiting A Different Kind Of Truths arrival! Hence VH drops Tattoo as the lead off single. My first impression was, well I was like Ok this is where there headed fair enough but man what my real concern was it was the lead off track on the studio album. I was hoping that this wasn’t gonna be the style of the record! Fortunately that wasn’t the case! Having said that this live  version of Tattoo works way better live the Bros and Son of VH drown out the synth and Dave like he always does on the Halen singles he sings it thru! Good Job!

EVERYBODY WANTS SOME-8 minutes 31 seconds of tribal drums,Ed  playing like there’s no tomorrow and Wolfie adding some real cool bass at the beginning and the sonics are heavy! Song just blows out the doors. Of course 3 minutes of this tune in the middle regions of the song has Dave showing off his speaking of the Japanese language! Ha! I have no idea what he’s saying but it sounds like the crowd does! Good for them I suppose! Seriously though Wolfs bass playing on this tune is absolutely sick! He’s a monster on bass man! No doubt! Of course I miss Michael Anthony but what can you do? Mike’s off jammimg some serious Riff  Rolla with Sammy Hagar in the very good band The Circle so as listeners we get the Best Of Both Worlds!(ha!) Whats Ed gonna do fire his own kid from VH ? Ain’t happening folks!

SOMEBODY GET ME A DOCTOR- Halen doesn’t let the Japanese fans end with applause when Everybody Wants Some finishes up so it’s right into Somebody…..love the intro to this tune this is Halen 79 configured straight between the eyes into 2015! Eds guitar is jacked heavy  in this tune and its a show boaters delight! Al pounds the skins like there’s no tomorrow and were all headed to the E.R! Great solo and boom back to the beginnings of the song! Man who does not love this kind of tune! Dave and his lyrics here are hysterical man, he’s just having a grand o time!

CHINA TOWN – another newbie from ADKOT and this is one ass kicker of a track! Ed,Wolf and Al slam this song into submission with its fast pace double timing tune! I tell Ya its one of my favs from the studio album and Ed here is on fire! The solo is sick. Dive Bombs,Hammer Ons and Wolf joins him in doing some dual riffing between bass and guitar! Dave here does his best man but he’s kinda gasping HAHAHHA….fair enough I mean even before Eds solo he doesn’t even bother with singing ‘My Town’ he just lets the boys musically take it over! Smart Call!

HEAR ABOUT IT LATER- Yes friggin please! Into the Gems here as the party’s still a rolling as Ed begins his cool real neat picking and Al and Wolf pick up the pace and were off! Hear About It Later what can you say the song builds up slow than takes off and Dave he sings this one fine. Well at some points he’s about to lose it but thankfully  Ed and Wolf deliver the backing vocals and than there’s one of my fav Ed Solos Ever! He dips he doodles he’s doing his deal! Alex smashes the crap out of his cow bell and the song just displays pure brilliance! Melodic Hard Rock at its finest!

OH PRETTY WOMAN-Yup! Here it comes the big cover tune! Daves in all his glory as he digs the cover tunes,from what I understand the brothers not so much! But Halen barn blasts through the old Roy classic and rockify it to the skies!

ME AND YOU-Wolfies Uncle Al gets his turn and does his drum solo mixed with a salsa kinda of flair backing track! Kinda interesting slant on things from King Alex! I would have just liked oh so liked if he woulda lit his gong on fire just like he does at the end of the classic  live Unchained video from 1981s Fair Warning Tour! Man Oh Man if that would have happened myself and Tbone woulda lost our shit when we seen Halen live back in 2012!

YOU REALLY GOT ME-the song that has been a staple in and out of tours even with Sam comes You Really Got Me! Eds guitar is a buzz saw crackin and a air banders delight! Of Course the middle section Ed and Al jam around and than Dave joins and  rambles and babbles along… Great Stuff…

Well Friends that ends Disc 1 of Live From Tokyo! Tune in Wednesday when I hammer down some thoughts on the 2nd Disc! ….