Album Review: "Man In Motion" by Warren Haynes

Another foray into the blues has to be made. Warren Haynes certainly fits that bill, so you're welcome?

His is a name that is bandied about by people who are not me along with his other band, Gov't Mule. Before getting this record though, you would have never heard me mention him before and had you mentioned him to me, I'd probably have dismissed it out of hand, because I was stupid.

Knowing that guitarists tend to enjoy Mr. Haynes's  music, there was some excitement in the offing for me. Though I really do love shredders, it's also very nice to hear some down home emotive leads, and Mr. Haynes has that in spades.

About 30 years ago, this would have been called a rhythm and blues record, but nowadays it's just electric blues. Warren is accompanied by what could be described as a multitude of musicians for this album.

Album Review: "Heaven In This Hell" by Orianthi

Recently, sitting in the seats of the Family Arena in St. Charles, MO this blogger was waiting for Alice Cooper to begin his set on his latest tour stop in my "hometown." (St. Charles is 30 miles west of the City Proper where my family and I live.)

When the lights went down, the sparks and fire abated, and out walked the band onto the stage. There were three guitarists on stage, but one of them stood out to me. A white PRS guitar was being carried by him and he was wearing a long black jacket, a fedora, and long blond locks. Looking a bit closer it was noticed that he was also wearing stiletto healed boots and he had become she. My mind raced quickly and sadly the cell service was only 3G in the seating bowl, so my mind raced faster than my iPhone searching. but my initial reaction had turned out to be correct. Orianthi was standing on the stage with Alice Cooper as she's been a part of his live band for a few years now.

Album Review: "Unstoppable Momentum" by Joe Satriani

It's certainly been a long time since Satch has graced these ears. Everyone has heard "Summer Song" off of The Extremist. Certainly Sony helped out Satriani in that endeavor...

However, it has been far longer since the wider world has heard anything else from this fretboard master and there is absolutely zero hesitation in calling this man a master or any other superlative that can be thought of. This man not only has a strong catalog of his own music, but he was the guitar teacher of other guitar heroes, such as Steve Vai and Kirk Hammett. The world of guitar owes a large debt of gratitude to Mr. Satriani for his contributions, not only to his own music, but to the music of his now famous students as well. It's interesting to note that Vai took lessons from Satch when they were both children, but Hammett took lessons from Joe after the recording of "Kill 'Em All" to improve his technique, and the difference was striking.

Album Review: "Electric Warrior" by T. Rex

Even though part of this journey is to find current bands to listen to, there will always be a tendency to look back into the past. I'm shamed to admit that not only is this band absent from the library but completely unknown to my consciousness.

Upon a close listen to this record, the song "Bang A Gong" stood out to me as something that's made its way around and into my ears, but it's still shocking to me how this band was an unknown to me. This is another gross failure by St. Louis's Classic Rock Radio. KSHE and the U-Man, I'm looking at both of you, and don't even mention KSHE Classics if you play them there.

That got a little angry there didn't it? Let's try to find the plot again shall we? This album just drips 70's rock guitar tone. The guitar sound that defined the 70's, ike a whetted sharpening stone being put to use, has its muddy paws all over the songs.

Album Review: "Black Sea" by XTC

My knowledge of New Wave is pretty sketchy. Even when it was popular in my preadolescence I was into metal. Twisted Sister, Iron Maiden, Kiss, etc. XTC never caught my attention. However, it does appear that this was certainly my loss.

From the word go this album pops off in all directions. Black Sea is a very good title for this record. Whilst sitting with it coming through the headphones it feels like you're the captain of an 1800's sailing vessel as it paws its way over stormy seas and you're hearing what the men are doing down below. It's a truly pleasing experience.

They have been labeled power pop, but this album is pure new wave. It's the perfect marriage of synthesizers and instruments. It would be hard to really nail down what this group is doing in terms of a genre. From dirty rock riffs, to ska choruses, to new wave synth, it really feels like they leave no stone unturned.

Album Review: "Koloss" by Meshuggah

Once again, it's about to get very, very brutal. Meshuggah is a band that has been around for what seems to be a very long time. Honestly, they have never crossed my path other than to have heard their name and that they exist.

Last year they were profiled in Guitar World as they were beginning their tour for their latest album, "Koloss." At this particular show, they had taken delivery of their latest 8 String Guitars from Ibanez and they were rather excited.

As a music fan, guitar music is what this blogger finds to be the most enjoyable. A deftly played riff, a screaming solo, an instrumental lead that makes the listener tear up, and more.  This is my favorite thing in music. So, hearing about their playing 8 string guitars...yes interest was piqued.

Album Review: "Silver Age" by Bob Mould

It's time for me to try something very much out of my comfort zone. For many years, the names Bob Mould and Husker Du have been well known to me. That's not to say that these names ever found their way into my music library. It is far more appropriate to say that they were avoided like the plague.

But here we are and it's 2013 and there are only so many classic rock acts and there are only so many metal bands that are worth a damn and so on and so forth. This blog is part of a continuing mission to document the music I acquire, listen to, etc and it serves as a reminder of the dark days when I switched to MP3s and I heard Kiss, Metallica, and Megadeth 60% of the time. Bob Mould (and Husker Du) is someone that a great many people in this world hear something that I simply do not hear. So it's time to listen to his most recent solo effort and see what's there.

Album Review: "Blues For Jimi" by Gary Moore

There are still a great many artists out there that I am trying hear what the others hear. Gary Moore fits into this list. Seeing his name bandied about on guitar forums and on the head stocks of signature model Les Pauls caught my attention.

Turns out he was a solo artist and a member of Thin Lizzy for a time. These things took me completely unaware. He is also mentioned frequently in interviews I've read in Guitar World. If he sets so many other guitarists, including high level pros, then this is someone who should stop being unknown to me. 

He's also another in the legion of white guitarists who love the blues and obviously he's rather adept at it. The more and more I hear, the more and more I realize that I need to give this man a full listening. "Blues For Jimi" is something that Amazon has recommended to me over and over, so maybe there is something to this. It was recorded in 2007 at a special tribute to Jimi Hendrix, obviously.

Album Review: "Hush Hush" by Kentucky Knife Fight

This band came to me by complete accident. There was a chance meeting and I met one of the members. Until this meeting, this group was completely unknown to me. But here we are with the album and checking it out. It's always nice that music is everywhere and you never really know where you're going to find it.

Admittedly, the St. Louis Music Scene isn't indelibly inked into my brain like it once was. Right now if you asked me to name five local bands, at least 4 of them would no longer be a going concern. Although the heyday of the middle nineties in St. Louis has not left me. Many a night I spent down on Laclede's Landing. Mississippi Nights, Kennedy's, and Bernard's Pub were my hangouts, but we've quickly gotten off track.

So, as it is, the St. Louis Scene is currently something of a mystery to me, but I am trying to wade back into the waters and find more and more new stuff and here we have the latest release by St. Louis's own, Kentucky Knife Fight.

Album Review: "Infestissumam" by Ghost B.C.

We have another metal record today. In the past on this blog, it was mentioned by me that metal is back in a very big way to me and that no one is happier about that. Doom metal, stoner metal, groove metal, etc is something that is very accessible and it might actually become something that's more than just a niche genre.

These bands are far more Black Sabbath than they are Metallica or Slayer. It still seems so strange to me that Black Sabbath, the first heavy metal band, seems to have had far less musical influence on the next generation than Judas Priest and their other contemporaries, but I do go on.

Ghost B.C., or simply Ghost (there was a lawsuit), is a metal band from the far away land of brutality and hockey players, Sweden. To call them a theatrical metal band is an understatement. The names and faces of the members remain unknown. Only the singer has a designation more significant than "a nameless ghoul," as the rest are called. If you believe everything you see, Ghost is on their second singer, Papa Emeritus II, but no one but them knows the truth of the situation.

Album Review: "Living The Blues" by Canned Heat

Some time back, I did a review on Hooker'n'Heat by John Lee Hooker and Canned Heat. Since then my love of the blues has really become a thing. In the time between then and now, I have gotten a bit more by John Lee Hooker and now it's time to turn my attention towards the other half of that album, Canned Heat.

The first Canned Heat record that I'm going to look at is their 1968 Double Album, "Living The Blues." In the current day and age where an album can be anywhere from 30 to 80 minutes on a single disc, if even on a disc at all, it can be easy to forget that there was a time when albums were limited to a mere 45 minutes and that when a band released more material than that, the records had to come with two discs. Mostly double album sets have been the purview of live albums, but there are few things cooler in this world than a properly done double record. Thankfully, this one does not disappoint.

Album Review: "Likewise" by SixStringNoise

One of my favorite parts of this blog is that musicians seek me out and ask me to listen to their stuff and tell the world what I think.

In this case, a a Greek band called SixStringNoise. They started as a he, Markos 6SN wrote and recorded a debut in 2010, and now they are a they and have released their debut record: "Likewise." This album intrigued me greatly. In the email I received there was a list of American and Canadian hard rock bands as influences, many of whom I enjoy.  I cannot say I've ever heard any Greek Music aside from the bouzouki players at the annual Greek Festival around Labor day in my home town of St. Louis.

I suppose at this point, rock music has gone global. After all, how much of American music wasn't stolen from English musicians who stole it from American blues players?

Not much!

Album Review: "Wretched and Divine" by the Black Veil Brides

The Black Veil Brides (all men like Twisted Sister) have recently released the first part of a very ambitious project. This concept album will also be birthing a feature length film and a tour in support.

The Black Veil Brides' music has been all but unknown to me, though their name was not. Upon seeing photos of them in a recent Guitar World article, it was hard to even think about taking them seriously. They were dressed like Motley Crue circa 1984 and wore eye makeup like Alice Cooper.

This is not a good look and it's not one to get me interested in what you're doing as, frankly, it's too derivative. What caught my attention was their passion for what they are doing. They have taken a lot of grief for their stage personas, but Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue  has reached out to them (shocker right?) to tell them to keep on keeping on and it appears to be working.

Album Review: Coheed and Cambria "The Afterman: Descension"

This is an album long awaited by me. Seeing a trailer of the Afterman records was enough for Coheed and Cambria to become a part of my musical library.

At the time, it was disappointing that their double concept album would be released in two parts, and honestly, that is still disappointing. Between the releases of the Afterman, I've also picked up another of their records which clocks in at about the same length as their acclaimed, Apollo album.
I still find that Coheed and Cambria are a bit confusing. Very talented, but seemingly repetitive in terms of tone and vocals, it feels that they have finally broken out of their mold a bit with the Afterman set. Frontman, Claudio Sanchez, still tends to sing in his standard, but larger than life, register for much of this disc, but not for all of it. Though for the life of me, can someone explain to me what they are trying to musically?

Album Review: "Drenched In Victorious Blood" by Aetherium Mors

Drenched In Victorious Blood

Brutal mode: Engaged.

Once again it's time to look at an artist submission to Glacially Musical. Checking my email after returning from the hiatus and I have a few bands that would like me to check out their stuff.

First up is Aetherium Mors based out of London. (Gunners fans, am I right?) You have now been warned: The lyrical content of this band is inflammatory. If you are offended by evil lyrics, you will not enjoy this band or this album.

This album was actually released on my 37th Birthday. (I'm not old! I'm 37.) I must apologize to the guys for it taking me so long to get to this review.

They were cool enough to send me the record and now I'm going to check it out for them and for you.