Joe's CDs

The Dio Years - MVI Version

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 15:55:17 -0600

OK, three different releases of The Dio Years is starting to get a bit silly. First we have the standard release, then the "Tour Edition" (second disc with some live tracks), and now a third "MVI Edition". It too has a second disc, but the second disc has some decent content on it. First off, let me say that Disc 1 is the same as the standard release. I'm not going to rehash my review of the original again. As I said for the Tour Edition review, you can just go read my review of the original for that. I'm just going to talk about the new disc here. Here's what Rhino Records says about the release.. MVI is an innovative DVD-based music format that, in addition to offering all the benefits of an audio disc, delivers leading-edge video and interactive extras, plus a one-click capability to save digital music files onto a hard drive. Choice video content on BLACK SABBATH - THE DIO YEARS (MVI) includes footage of live performances of "Neon Nights" and "Die Young" from 1980 and a promo clip for 1992's "TV Crimes." The MVI Disc also features the URTone ringtone application and ringtones for "Heaven And Hell" and "The Mob Rules," plus a photo gallery, buddy icons, wallpapers, weblinks/ROM and a complete booklet PDF. The second disc is pretty good in regards to value added content. I personally don't care about the ringtone stuff, but I can see where others would want it. Inclusion of music videos is cool. Higher quality versions of the audio tracks are a nice bonus if you have a good home theatre system to play 'em on. It's hard to get excited about it despite all that. The reason is this is the third release of the album in a year. I heard from a friend at the record label that this was supposed to be what the original release was, but due to legal issues, it didn't happen then. Shame, as if this was the FIRST Dio Years release and not the third, it might have gotten more noticed.

Greatest Hit (...and 21 other pretty cool songs)

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 01:22:01 -0600

I have to confess. The reason I have this album is because of a friend of mine at the record label. I probably wouldn't have bought it otherwise. Why? Well, Dream Theater is for me (like most people) a one hit wonder. I know "Pull me Under". That's it. When given the option to get this for free, I thought I'd take a shot, and see if there's anything else the grabbed me. So far, I can't say there is, but in all fairness, I haven't listened to it much. I really should give it a proper listen and report back. So hopefully soon, I'll get back to this one.

Phoenix

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 17:43:09 -0600

When I heard this CD was being released, I was quite surprised. First off to see that the original version of Asia was putting out a new album for the first time in 25 years, and secondly that Asia has not officially broken up in all that time. Turns out in the interim, one of the original Asia guys kept going with a bunch of other guys. It's created a quite biazarre scenario where there are actually two Asia bands at the moment. Go read their history on Wikipedia. It's quite the web. When I picked up the Greatest Hits of theirs in 2007, I thought Asia stopped after their third album. Boy was I wrong. So here we are in 2008, and Asia has a new album out. Due to the strength of the original Asia album, and the fact that this was the same guys again, I bought it. I guess I was expecting the first album again. That's not what I got. I got an album that sounds like Asia - there's no doubt about that. I'm writing this just a couple of weeks after release, so I'll need to listen more to get a better appreciation of the album, but so far, the first track is by far the catchiest, that's "Never Again". It's a decent track, but nothing that will set the earth on fire. If you liked Asia in the past, you should check it out. If you haven't checked out Asia in the past, then I'm not sure how this will appeal in 2008, to be honest. I'll have an update later on when I have listened to it more.

Latest Updates

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 21:23:52 -0600

Been awhile since I've messed with this, playing a little catch up.

Updated Asia - Ultimate Collection
Updated Brian Setzer Orchestra - Dig that Crazy Christmas
Added Casting Crowns - The Altar and the Door
Added Queensryche - Take Cover
Added Brian Setzer Orchestra - Wolfgang's Big Night Out
Added Billy Joel - All My Life
Added Billy Joel - Christmas in Fallujah
Added Eagles - Long Road Out of Eden
Updated Black Sabbath - The Dio Years
Added Black Sabbath - The Dio Years MVI Edition
Added The Afters - Never Going Back to OK
Added Empire - Chasing Shadows
Added Asia - Phoenix

Good to be Bad

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 01:00:01 -0600

The first full studio album of Whitesnake material to be released in the US since 1989 shows up in April 2008. There was an album of material released in 1997 called "Restless Heart", but it was never released in the US. There were four new studio tracks on the 2006 live album, "Live in the Shadow of the Blues" too, but Good to be Bad is the first new studio album of material since 19 freakin' 89! That's a long time! I wasn't quite sure what to expect, really. When we last left Whitesnake in the late 80's they had de-evolved from the good hard rock band they were into a poppy ballady kind of hard rock band. It was really polished, and had they put out another album in the vein they were in in 1989, I think it would have been the end of them. I heard the new tracks from the 2006 live album, and they were pretty decent - one (Ready to Rock) was EXTREMELY good, so I was encouraged. One bonus was the lead guitar player in Whitesnake is now Doug Aldrich, who played on Dio's 2002 release, Killing the Dragon. Good, another positive. When this album came out, it was a double CD, and was on sale for $9.99, so I snapped it up based on the things I mentioned above. Checked it out, and I was pleasantly surprised. The new album has a nice crisp feel to it - and I'm sure that's down to Doug Aldrich. It's the same feel that was on the aforementioned Dio album. This isn't one of those albums where there's a ton of "standout tracks". It kind of all blends together. Yeah, there's some of that late 80's ballad crud on here, but when they're not doing that (which is most of the album), it's the best I've heard from them in a long LONG time. Disc 2 is all live tracks, and a music video for the "Ready to Rock" track from the 2006 live album. Track one on Disc 1 is a Deep Purple throwback, as it's a split between Burn & Stormbringer, which were the Coverdale Purple era's best known tracks. So yeah, Good to be Bad surprised me, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

Lightning Strikes Again

Tue, 13 May 2008 23:16:39 -0600

I was a fan of Dokken in the 80's. As someone who was 18 when the big hair metal stuff hit around 1983, yeah, I was a fan of most of the popular bands of the age. I had most of their early stuff, but checked out after about album number 4. Which most other people did too (including the band), as it took eight years for another album after that. The band soldiered on with different people in and out of the group, and produced five more albums between 1995 and 2004. However, most of them I've never even heard of. That may be what led Don Dokken to this new album. Arguably Dokken's most popular album was 1985's "Under Lock & Key". It was their most polished, most popular album, IMO. As the years went on, Dokken got away from that sound. However, after the last studio album in 2004, I read some quotes saying that they wanted to get back to the kind of music they used to play in the 80's. So an attempt was made to make an album like Dokken used to sound. (Or so I've read in the magazines). Anyway, this is that album. Does it succeed in capturing the sound of the 80's? Yeah, somewhat. Will it catapult them back to success? Nope - this kind of music doesn't sell here in the states anymore. Still, if you're a fan of old school Dokken, it's probably worth a look into. It's not going to be the most memorable or greatest album you'll ever buy, but if you were fan of Dokken back in the day, you'll probably find something to like here.

Revelation

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 23:35:27 -0600

I've been a Journey fan for quite some time. Not since the ancient days, but I was a fan starting around around the time of Escape. I remember getting on a bus (I was 16 then, no car), and drove to Sears & Roebuck to buy Escape (and Hall & Oates' Private Eyes) on cassette tape. I've bought every Journey album since then. I'm rather familiar with their work. However, the last time an album really did anything for me as a "complete album" would have been Frontiers in 1983 (even though there's been a boatload of studio discs since then). I've liked several of these releases since then, but most have just a song or three that are good, and the rest is ballady filler. Well, no more. In 2008, Journey released a new studio album with their new singer, Arnel Pineda. Arnel is a Filipino based singer, and I was amazed by this new material for two reasons. One the songs are solid. Journey albums haven't been that great over the years. This one is got a pile of good, solid songs. It was quite refreshing. I'd go so far as to say this is their best album since the glory days with Steve Perry. Second was the vocals of Arnel Pineda. His voice is quite amazing. The story goes Neil Schon found him on Youtube. Pineda is quite amazing, as I thought Steve Augieri had the sound of Steve Perry down. Pineda is at times an "eyes closed, it's the same guy" copy of Perry. Not completely, mind you, but it's darned close. At first I dismissed this as "Oh look, they just want another Steve Perry clone behind the mike", but it grew on me a lot. Yes, he sounds like Perry, but that's not all he sounds like. I cannot say how highly I recommend the album of new material. But it doesn't stop there. There is a second disc of songs. It's basically "current Journey" re-recording about a dozen classic Journey hits. It's basically Journey covering itself. This is an eyebrow raiser. It's not like they're bad -they're not. They're quite good. Not entirely sure what the point of this disc is, even though I like listening to it. Journey fans buying Revelation will have these songs already. But wait! If you order now (informercal mode engaged), you get a third disc. A live concert DVD with Pineda recoded late last year. What a bargain! Seriously, this package is quite a deal. It's selling for $11.99 for a three disc package at a time when most bands have single discs and $14 price points. That also leads me to my final point. Revelation is an album that is only for sale in Wal-Mart (or Sam's Club). This seems to be a trend now where Walmart is the only place to buy specific CD's. That's not a problem for me, but if you're one of these Wal-Mart haters, it might stop you, as it's the only place you can buy it. Revelation is what its title says. Quite refreshing, new vocalist, great new album. Can't wait for the next one! :)

Nostradamus

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 00:51:48 -0600

After the last Judas Priest album and tour was over, talk turned to the next album. I remember hearing shortly after the last tour was done that the next album would be a concept album about the famed prophesier, Nostradamus. My immediate thought upon hearing that is "What kind of crap is that?" After the final track of the last album was a 10 minute, mostly unlistenable song about the Loch Ness Monster, I feared for what an entire album would sound like, since I heard something that Loch Ness was a "good intro for what we are thinking of doing with Nostradamus. My thoughts lept to this image:

Still, I'm not the kind of fan who will immediately go "OK, this will be crap" and prejudge it 16 months before it came out. So I kind of forgot about it until about a month before it came out. Started hearing them on things like Eddie Trunk's shows, in advertisments, etc. OK, it's coming out - and it's a double album. I listened to it with an open mind, and the only review I can think of to give it is this image:

Stone of Sisphus (XXXII)

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 12:25:32 -0600

Back in the early 90's I was a big Chicago fan. They had kind of moved past the ballady stuff they had in the mid 80's, and became an interesting band again. However, they were still mostly dominated by the ballad. So after Chicago 21 in 1991, the band issued a statement saying they wanted to move away from that kind of music, they wanted to do something new, something they really "wanted to do". So they started work on what became this album. However, the record label didn't like it. The entire story is fairly convoluted, but the band and the record label didn't see eye to eye, so the band said "F it", and took their record and didn't deliver it, or the label refused to release it (depending on who you talk to) Either way, it never came out. As the years passed, and more albums came out, Sisyphys became something of a legend. The band refused to talk about it, the tracks were never released, and it was widely bootlegged. I had a copy of this for a long time, and realy did enjoy it. It was rather experimental, didn't sound like "usual Chicago". In early Spring of 2008, I was rather shocked to see it on the coming list from Rhino records. This was cool, because the boot I had was "OK", but it's never the same as a cleaned up version, properly released. On top of that, the official release has four demo versions of tracks. I didn't listen closely to see if they were bootleg versions or not. Additionally, there's one track that remains from the bootleg that is not on the final version, so it's not 100% completed, but that's a nitpick, really. The album is great. It still sounds like "Chicago", but not like any traditional Chicago sound. There's a lot more funk and bass in this recording. Several tracks are quite awesome. Thing is, it's probably not for everyone. While I really like the recording, it has that feel of "acquired taste". If you're a Chicago fan though, you probably would like it. Take a shot.

Saints of Los Angeles

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:42:58 -0600

I've written about Motley Crue a lot. I'm also on record that saying that the Crue's best record is the one they made wihout Vince Neil - the John Corabi record from 1994. I still believe that, but I have to admit, Saints of Los Angeles is up there. It surprised the heck out of me. When Vince returned in the mid 90's, there were two really rather bad studio albums with him, and I really felt Crue was done from a studio standpoint. So it was with some trepidation that I heard they were doing a new studio album for 2008. When it got close, some entertainment website had the full album up for streaming. So I decided to give it a listen. WOW! This is by far the best thing they've done in ages. It's not even funny. Really - that sounds like a joke, but it isn't. Saints of Los Angeles is probably right up there with Shout at the Devil for best album with Vince Neil. I still like the Corabi album better, but Los Angeles is QUITE good. There's no real filler tracks, which is a surprise. This is the point where I usually list a few tracks I like, but there isn't one I want to skip when I listen to it. Major thumbs up! If you're a Motley Crue fan at all, I cannot recommend this highly enough.

Latest Updates

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 23:20:39 -0600

Updated Genesis - Turn it on Again: The Hits
Added Genesis - Genesis
Added Genesis - Invisible Touch
Added Genesis - We Can't Dance
Updated Genesis - Calling All Stations
Added Genesis - Genesis 1983-1998
Updated Genesis - Genesis 1976-1982 (cover art)
Added Whitesnake - Good to be Bad
Added Dream Theatre - Greatest Hit

The Rules of Hell

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:29:16 -0600

Back in 2004, Black Sabbath released "Black Box", the definitive remastering of the original eight studio albums with Ozzy. It was well received, and of course, after release, people's attentions turned to what might come next. There was talk then of a "Black Box II" which would cover the Dio Years. Not much happened then with that because Sabbath was still touring with Oz on the annual Ozzfest into 2005. In 2006, the band was finally inducted into both the UK & US Hall of Fames, and after that, things seemed to settle down, and some folks were thinking that might be "it". Well, as has happened before, Black Sabbath came back again with Ronnie James Dio, and talks began anew about the box set of the Dio era. While nothing was settled, there was some talk that we would get a box. Then word came down in late 2006 that the "Box" had been whittled down to a single disc, that being "The Dio Years", which showed up in 2007. Great though it was, some folks felt it a letdown after (falsely, most likely) expecting a full Dio era box set. We skip ahead to 2008, and word comes down during the spring that there would finally be the box set of the Dio era albums. That's what this is. Some commentary about the newly released box set, "The Rules of Hell", which comprises the four releases from the classic era of Black Sabbath. First off, let me start by quoting my own review of Black Box from four years ago. I said then about Black Box.. "if you're looking to buy this based on the recent trend of other box sets to include rare songs and things like that, you WILL be disappointed. But if you're interested in how the songs SOUND, then my god, this is for you." This holds up again for RoH. Lets get into some detail on that.

The first thing you will notice is the box is significantly smaller than the other two boxes (Black Box & Radio City Deluxe). It's not that much larger than the four jewel cases inside there. Check out the picture reference here for comparison. When you take the shrink wrap off of the thing, there's a paper overlay that covers the outside of the box, but is not attached to it in any way, and appears to be meant to be discarded once you open the set. Opening the box reveals the insides to be four jewel cases inside there. Check out a picture:

The physical CDs themselves contain a nice font style writing similar to the fonts used in the original packaging of the particular albums. Black Box did the same thing four years ago, but these feel a bit more readable than those discs. Black on Black is never the easiest thing to read. What do the discs contain? We have the three studio albums from the Dio era of Black Sabbath. Those being 1980's "Heaven & Hell", 1981's "The Mob Rules", and 1992's "Dehumanizer". The live release from 1982, "Live Evil" is also in this box (in its original two disc configuration). The newer releases (The Dio Years, and the Radio City and Hammersmith releases) are not represented. But that's OK - those are all new releases, less than 24 months old for all of them, so it's probably right that they weren't included.

Which brings us to our next point - the one I quoted from my Black Box review. "Extras". As is the case with most box sets, there's some sort of extras package. The recent Genesis box sets are a treasure trove of extras and whatnot. These things are not here. The four albums are as they were when originally released. The only notable difference here is Dehumanizer. Due to contractual things at the time, Dehumanizer was released worldwide by IRS, but inside the US by Warner/Rhino. The US version of Dehumanizer had a track that wasn't on the general worldwide release, that being the version of "Time Machine" from the movie Wayne's World. But that's it folks. There's no "sixth disc" of unreleased tracks, demos, and all that. If you're familiar with the collector's scene (cough), there are quite a few unreleased and demo tracks from the Dehumanizer sessions that exist (that weren't used elsewhere), so they could have been, but they weren't. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, really. Oh sure, who wouldn't like to see more tunes? The grapevine says that Tony isn't a big fan of that kind of thing, and that's probably why these boxes are the way they are. I did make some inquiries on this subject before the album was released. If you take the "no unreleased demos" as read, there aren't a ton of tracks that could be included anyway (and before anyone else gives me crap about this statement, I'm talking about real extra tracks - meaning STUDIO TRACKS, not B side live tracks, I don't count those as real extra tracks). The only tracks I am aware of were the alternate Mob Rules version from the Heavy Metal soundtrack, as well as an alternate version of Dehumanizer's "Letters From Earth". That track turned up as a "B side" to the CD single for TV Crimes. I know it exists, I bought it myself in 1992. When I checked into these tracks, I was told by someone at the record label that the Heavy Metal version of Mob Rules couldn't be used, since it was on another record label. The annoying part was that the guy didn't even know that version of Letters From Earth existed! It was even on a Warner release - so they have it somewhere in their vaults - that it wasn't even considered was something personally irritating. Additionally, there is no overall "box booklet". There are booklets with each individual album, but no overall booklet - something that was in the Black Box set. There are jewel case insert booklets with each of the four albums. Each of THOSE has a new story about that particular album's story as it were. These new stories comprise about 90% of the booklet space, so there is some good reading material. Anyway, that's enough of the griping. I do admit I tend to be the kind of person who gets worked up over their own little pet minutiae when it is not being served, so I need to let that go. Lets get to the music, which is by far the strongest point of this set. A little history on Sabbath remastering. In 1996, Castle Records released new remasters of all the Black Sabbath albums from 1970-1987. This included two of the three Dio studio albums (and Live Evil). Those masters were from the European master set, not the "Warner Brothers original" (as I've come to understand it). These were needed upgrades at the time, and while better than the original CD releases, probably not what I could call "definitive". Fast forward to 2003, and there was a package named the "Dio Anthology" that covered Ronnie James Dio's career from Elf through to Black Sabbath and the Dio band. There were a handful of Black Sabbath tracks on this compilation, and they were remastered, as everything else was for that package. Sounded good. Fast forward again to the 2007 release "The Dio Years", and Dehumanizer tracks were added to the remastering party. This stuff sounded quite good. Was much cleaner than any release at that time. Then we get 2008's Rules of Hell. This is of course the first time that the entire Dio studio catalog (plus Live Evil) got the full remastering treatment. If you recall, shortly before Black Box came out, there was a two CD greatest hits of the Ozzy era called 'Symptom of the Universe", and both Black Box and Symptom were from the same remastering session. Rules of Hell is different in that the remastering work done for this box set was an even NEWER version than the work done for the tracks released just last year! The recordings in Rules of Hell are QUITE fantastic! Heaven & Hell: Well, this album by far benefits the most from the remastering work done for this set. This is probably due to the fact that it is the oldest album in the catalogue here, being 28 years old at this point (ACK!). I will say that this is by far the cleanest version of the album I've ever heard. It has a freshness that is totally new to me. I know this album very well, it is a metal classic, and even the most ardent "Ozzy only" fan tends to think this is a pretty decent disc. I say that because I think it's the one most people are familiar with. The single biggest thing here is Geezer Butler's bass. It's far more noticeable than it EVER had been before. Oh sure, you knew it was there, but it never stood out. I have a great subwoofer system on my computer at work, and this is where I listen the most. It is REALLY noticeable, and that's without maxing the bass on the woofer, too. :) This is a great mix, and it makes me wonder why this kind of stuff couldn't be done before? By far the highlight of the box set for me. The booklet has an new story, and also has some artwork I have not seen before. It's done by Lynn Curlee, the guy who did the original artwork for the Heaven & Hell album cover (although it wasn't done specifically for Sabbath). I am unclear as to whether this is truly new artwork, or another of Lynn's older pieces. Either way, a nice surprise to see in the booklet. Mob Rules: This album holds a special place for me, because it was the first Black Sabbath album I ever got. As frequent visitors to my site know, I bought this album solely on the cover art. At that time I didn't know about Black Sabbath, and I saw the cover art in Hit Parader magazine, and thought.. "I wonder what their music sounds like if their cover art looks like THAT!" So I ran out and bought it, and was instantly hooked by the opening riff of Turn up the Night. While I could never recapture that feeling, the new RoH remaster of Mob Rules is a definite improvement over the previous CD versions of the album I've owned. This album always (to me) had meaty, somewhat muddled sound. Now this isn't a bad thing - normally muddled means bad, but this had a heavy low end sound that wasn't "crisp", if you know what I mean. This new version keeps that feel I'm having issues describing, yet notches up the clarity. The bass isn't as noticably pronounced as it is in the new version of Heaven & Hell, but it is most definitely an improvement. Of course, I'm somewhat biased about this disc, because of what it means to me and Sabbath in general, it's hard for me to be totally objective about this one.

Live Evil: When this album was released on the original Warner set of CD's it was a double CD. Was one of those "fat" double CD cases from years gone by, if you remember those. The kind now that hold like five discs in the same space. Anyway, when Castle did their remastering in 1996, Live Evil was butchered. Was cut down to a single disc, and almost 100% of the crowd banter was gone. Fortunately, this release restores the album to its original configuration of two discs, allowing for everything to be put back. The problem for me is that no amount of remastering can help this one. When it was BRAND NEW in December of 1982, it was pretty cool. The problem is it feels overproduced to me - the band sounds "flat", it has no bite, and no crispness. Heck, Geezer Butler himself referred to this album as "Live in the Studio Evil" on a 2007 TV interview. I've seen Black Sabbath live a ton of times, and I've always wondered where the band's live energy went on this disc. This is not a complaint about the remastering, but the original release itself. I've always felt that Live Evil was an inferior live recording, and while I've checked it out as part of my reviewing duties, I cannot say I will honestly listen to this much. The limited release "Live at Hammersmith" from last year beats the crap out of Live Evil. It wouldn't have happened obviously, but I wish that Hammersmith was included in this package over Live Evil. Having said that, it is nice that its original release format of two discs was included, so in that regard, it is an improvement over the 1996 Castle release by miles. Dehuamanizer: This is the album that benefits least from the remastering. This is probably because the album is the most recent of the studio work in here. I really love this disc, there's some absolutely stellar tracks on here. It's not like the remastering work produced NO difference, it's just the differences are far less noticeable than the other studio albums in here. I'm going to say the least about this one for that reason. If you look at this review on my Black Sabbath site, it's enhanced with pictures. These will show you that the inside of the box is four CD jewel cases, and that's it. Unlike Black Box or the Radio City Deluxe release, there's no real reason to keep the actual box this comes in if you don't want to. Since these are just CD jewel cases, and not some custom molded digipak or something, the exterior "box" in the box set can be discarded, and you can put the jewel cases with all your other jewel cases. I'm not advocating throwing it in the trash, as that doesn't seem right either - it's just odd that the box set is just that - a box. Some box sets have the "box" be part of the packaging, and it all comes together in a nice presentation so to speak. Not here, the box is just "a box". The exterior has some artwork on it, but it's that kind of "black on black" that Black Box featured, so it doesn't really stand out, either. If you're still with me, you might think that I'm dumping on this box a lot, and that I don't like it. That is definitely not the truth. If you get all hung up on extras, packaging and the like, well, then you may not like this set. But if you're like me, and like Black Sabbath for the right reasons, that being the music, then you will absolutely love this set. Heaven & Hell and Mob Rules are seriously improved. Dehumanizer less so, but it does sound better than before, and Live Evil? Well, it's Live Evil. The pricing on this set is quite nice, too. If you're a Black Sabbath fan that knows these albums well, you'll find a lot to like about the remastering. If you don't have these albums, it should be a no brainier - go get them. They're classic pieces of metal, and the remastering does wonders for them. You'll enjoy it. Some other notes. I've been told that this is a North American release (like most recent Rhino stuff). I did inquire as to whether or not it will be released outside of North America, and I cannot get a concrete update on that. It would have been nice if the three studio tracks from the Dio years package could have found their way onto here. They actually are, if you buy the box set from a digital format (such as Amazon's MP3 store, or iTunes or the like), but the physical disc version does not have them. Geezer Butler has said that the title of the box is not for the obvious "Hell" connection, but it's a play on the names of the first two albums with Dio. Granted, Sabbath has never been above playing the "Satan" angle for marketing (look at the box cover art), but I personally find these kinds of album names tiring. Yawn. It's Satan again. Can we move on to something more important than that? That's it for me and my review of "The Rules of Hell". Hope to see you back here again before too long with a review of "Black Box 3: The Everything Else" box set. Oh, you can see my photo gallery of the images used in the review here, which includes a couple of others not used in the review.

It's Bad for Ya

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 14:54:24 -0600

George Carlin's final album. Well, of totally new material anyway. George died on June 22, 2008, and this album had been completed at that point. While it wouldn't surprise me to see compilations come out later from his estate, this will be the "final" album of new material. Right before it was released, I had read somewhere that friends/family were saying that this album of material was more palatable to people because it's less "angry". I know I said that aout his last album, but I heard this pre-release. Then I got it, and I have to agree. While there's a bit in the middle where he totally goes off again on religion and God, most of this album is less "old crotchety man" than his recent vintage has been. There's a bit in here where he talks about removing people from your address book who have died. He then goes on to find the humor in how we have to DELETE people now instead of crossing them out. It's quite funny if you're a computer person. I even was able to recite one of the bits from this album to someone else after having listened to it just one time. :) It's George Carlin. It's funny. What else can I say?

Latest Updates

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 23:26:39 -0600

Added Dokken - Lightning Strikes Again
Added Journey - Revelation
Added Hooters - Time Stand Still
Added Judas Priest - Nostradamus

In working on tonight's entries, I thought about a new idea. I'm going to add links to the relevant Wikipedia pages for albums. Most all of them have Wikipedia pages, so going forward they will all have them. I will try and go backwards, but there's a huge pile, I'm not particularly looking forward to editing every single entry in the database. :)

Latest Updates

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 13:14:15 -0600

Added Chicago - Stone of Sisyphus
Updated Chicago - XXX
Added Motley Crue - Saints of Los Angeles
Added Billy Joel - The Stranger (30th Anniversary)
Updated Billy Joel - The Stranger (older version)
Added Black Sabbath - The Rules of Hell
Added George Carlin - It's Bad for Ya

WHOA! I'm totally caught up!