5 comments about Rock Star.

1. Great songs from a great time in music history. For all fans of this group, it's a must-have c.d. to own.



2. The movie was a very fun ride. . . .when you can't watch, you can atleast welcome the goosebumps that come with WE ALL DIE YOUNG. We've all been there ~ front row, center stage ~ knew the words, felt the pull and could've jumped right up on stage and carried on with the show. If you feel it in your genes/jeans. . . . . . .STAND UP and shout!



3. I have been searching for this soundtrack for months and I finally found it! First off to have Zakk Wylde plying on a few tracks it has to be amazing and it is! All of the Steel Dragon tunes rock and it makes me wish they would all tour together! There are some other classic tunes. My favorite part of the movie was the ending and the song "Colorful" by the Verve Pipe. Not my favorite band of all time but they truly shine on this early 90's alternative sounding tune. It's the same version from the movie that I was looking for! Enjoy!



4. Awesome! I wish this got some radio play. Steel Dragon brings you back to the days of fast guitar and ball grabbing high notes!! It makes me want to grow my hair long again!! We listen to it so much my kids are hooked. If you love early 80's metal, you will love this album!! It rocks hard!!



5. I bought this CD from Amazon because in Brazil it not exist. It is an Amazing movie with an Surreal sound track. A band created with one of the greatest musicians and guittar player in the world Zakk Wilde.

5 comments about Scorpions: Live at Wacken Open Air 2006.

1. As mentioned by other reviewers, this DVD is just horrible to watch because of the absurd amount that the cameras cut away to another scene every few seconds. If you want to watch a guitar solo or anything else for that matter to absorb any details, forget it! The editor(s) didn't do the Scorpions justice. The music is good, but since this is a DVD and not a CD, I'm giving two stars for the spazoid video technique.



2. A great band always give you excellent music. A good review of their best hits, including their previous players. I just hate the camera moving. You can't see nothing. Every take last half second. When they are doing solos the camera is taking everything but the player. In spite of this, good video.



3. I bought this DVD through Amazon Canada almost one year ago because it was not yet released to the USA. Although there are no special features on this DVD the show itself was remarkable. The setlist was chosen by a vote of fans on the Scorpions website. I've been a Scorps fan since about 1982 and have seen them live 10 times since 1987. They are one of the best live rock bands in the world and they still play shows all around the globe throughout the year.
   
   One of the great parts of this show was the addition of some songs I've never seen live and the collobaration with three former Scorps band members from long ago to play on stage. The audio quality is good, I can turn it up loud and enjoy the vibrating of the entire house. Although not top notch audio quality the previous live performance DVDs I've purchased by the Scorpions have all been less than adequate in that regard.
   
   The show was shot at the Wacken Open Air Festival, a long-running four day heavy metal festival in northern Germany, about two hours from the Scorpions original hometown of Hannover. The Scorpions entertained the crowd of 60,000 people as the headliner of the opening night of the festival. Most European rock crowds that I've seen on video lack the enthusiasm of their United States brethren but this crowd was good, of course they were heavy metal fans just looking for a reason to mosh. :)
   
   Excellent concert performance, very good video and audio quality. A Scorpions fan must have for the collection and a GREAT way to introduce young people to the musical performance these guys offer nightly around the world! Long Live Scorpions!



4. Very clear vocals,that may need to be turned down a bit when you are crankin' it,& the bass too,but excellent sound for live.The director incharge of the visual content needs to learn that more cameras & shots,does not make it a better show,as we don't get much coverage of the special performers in the gig.A must for all scorpion rockers.



5. I don't understand why the editors needed to cut the best songs from the show. I also don't understand why the felt the need to change the camera angle EVERY FIVE SECONDS. This makes for a decent cd, watching the video is hazardous to your brain. AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL.

5 comments about Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell.

1. This is one of the best epic rock albums ever... right up next to his other great performances. Amazing music, drive, emotion, and imagery unparalleled by just about any other artist out there. Absolutely amazing!
   
   Side note: Read his epic autobiography too... I'm a sci-fi and fantasy fan, but reading his story was amazing as I had a rough past too. Nice to see someone else overcome the odds in real life! :-)



2. Simply great, if you're a meat loaf fan, this cd is for you, arrived in perfect cnditions



3. I have been looking for this item retail, but I could never find it. I purchased it through Amazon, and it was BETTER than going through retail.



4. Given that a sequel to the original Bat out of Hell took Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman some 15 years to make, it is amazing just how close to the blueprint part two holds. Not like both parties had not tried and missed before. There was Meat Loaf's BooH follow-up, Dead Ringer, in which our hero had lost his voice and Todd Rundgren's sympathetic production. Then there was what was supposed to be Meat's follow-up until Steinman hijacked it as a solo LP, Bad for Good, where it was made terribly obvious why such a gifted songwriter as Steinman needed the dramatic vocals of Meat.
   
   Very telling is that, 12 years on, Steinman and Meat resurrected 4 of "Bad for Good's" songs for "BooH2." While Meat had some success without Steinman, hearing these re-recorded songs shows just how much they need each other to both achieve optimum performance. That is what they got on "Bat out of Hell II." Meat brings on the drama while Steinman pours on the Broadway. Steinman had already carved out his space as a producer of melodramatic adult contemporary hits (Barbra Streisand, Barry Manilow, Air Supply, Bonnie Tyler, etc), while Meat was still huge in Europe and fondly remembered stateside for "Bat out of Hell" the first. Given that this was the duo's first collaboration in the CD era, it also meant that they could let there excesses run unchecked. That first hit, "I Would Do Anything For Love" clocked in on the album at twelve minutes, and another hit, "Objects in the Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are" hit ten.
   
   They marketed it as an event and succeeded by giving a nostalgic audience exactly what they came for. Loud rock with operatic Springsteen overtones? Check. Huge wall of sound ballads? Check and double check, Hokey teenage melodrama? Mega-check, especially the playlet "Love and Death and an American Guitar" from "Bad For Good" (here as the introduction to "Wasted Youth"). As Meat intoned 15 years before on "You Took The Words Out of My Mouth," the wolf appeared with the red roses, and America offered up a collective throat. The album and the single went to number one (something the original never managed) and it bought Meat Loaf a permanent place on the rock scene.
   
   But does it still hold up? The answer is yes. For all the trickery and bombast, "Life is a Lemon and I Want My Money Back" still rages hard. "Wasted Youth" can make you pump a fist a time or two, and "I Would Do Anything for Love" stands as one of Steinman's best mini-operas. That is not to say a few checks on the excess would not have been prudent; "Out of The Frying Pan" is filler, and the stagy instrumental "Back Into Hell" is unnecessary. Nevertheless, "Bat Out Of Hell II" is a worthy successor to its namesake, and for memorable than most of Meat's output between these bookends. Get Bats one and two (and skip three), and you've got the essential Meat Loaf.



5. This album is a masterpiece and one of the most important rock albums ever made along with Bat Our Of Hell 1. This album is the meaning of life. It's all here the bible on audio cd.

5 comments about The Yes Album.

1. There is very little to complain about on Rhino's reissue of The Yes Album; the remastering is done well, and is nice and clear. However, I do have to fault Yes and Eddie Offord for fading out nearly every track on the album. Nothing sounds complete, and the epic nature of the songs demands resolution. A good buy, but get Keys To Ascension as well if you want to hear Starship Trooper as it was meant to be.



2. I had originally written this review on my old site. I updated it and got rid of the errors. I hope you like the review, but more importantly, I hope you enjoy the album as much as I have for many years.
   
   With the advent of Steve Howe on guitar, Yes would begin the tranisition of a semi-psychedellic semi-folk band to a progressive rock band. To be fair to original guitarist Peter Banks, he was a competent rhythm guitarist (his best moment is perhaps "Astral Traveller") but Howe's more versatile playing would force rings around Banks'. This would also be keyboardist Tony Kaye's last album until 90125 (he was a great organist but lacked the technological knowhow that future keyboardists like Rick Wakeman, Patrick Moraz, Geoff Downes and Igor Khoroshev would possess). The opener "Yours Is No Disgrace" opens with a bold introduction, the 1st verse does not appear until nearly 2 minutes into the song. Howe plays different parts on different guitars and bassist Chris Squire plays bass almost like a 6-string guitar (his early influnences of Paul McCartney and John Entwistle would show up here). Also, Jon Anderson would show more growth as a singer. Tony Kaye's contributions on organ also fit in well (he uses a moog synthesizer at the end of the song). Following is Steve Howe's acoustic guitar piece called "Clap." For many years, this song was pressed onto LP and CD as "The Clap," much to the chagrin and resentment of Howe (I can just picture reviews "Get The Clap and many others on The Yes Album!"). Folk and blues are blended quite well here (there also exists a studio version of this song on this CD). On this release, there is also a studio version of "Clap" not on the original LP. Following that is Yes' masterpiece "Starship Trooper," which would feature Yes' signature key and tempo changes and Jon Anderson's semi-vague, sci-fi lyrics featured in the "Life Seeker" segment ("Speak to me of summer, long winters longer than time can remember," "starship trooper, go sailing on by," and "what I don't know, I have never heard" are examples). Chris Squire also proved to be a great harmonist, you can hear him singing along with Anderson on the "Disillusion" segment. Finally, Howe ends with a catchy riff played over and over again on the "Wurm" segment (I don't know if this influenced Lynyrd Skynyrd but their closing jam on "Free Bird" is reminiscent of this). "I've Seen All Good People" became one of Yes' 1st "hits." The opening segment "Your Move" talks about a chess game "Move me onto any black square... don't surround yourself with yourself." There is also mention of several John Lennon/Beatles references "All we are saying is give peace a chance" and "send an instant kharma to me." The 2nd part features a catchy bass line by Squire and the line "I've seen all good people turn their heads each day so satisfied I'm on my way." The song closes with the chorus sung 2 keys lower each time (One disk jockey confessed that once while playing "I've Seen All Good People" on the radio, he turned off the phonograph at the fadeout of that song and the station manager reprimanded him!). "A Venture" sounds like an outtake from earlier albums, it was the only song not featured in live performances. "Perpetual Change" is the last song on the original album. The live version would give Bill Bruford an outlet for a drum solo. Also included on this release are single versions of "Starship Trooper (Life Seeker)" and "Your Move." This album would point the direction where Yes was heading on future albums.



3. This is the album when "Yes became Yes". I usually don't like those comparisons, but this is one of Yes's best albums, and it was a real commercial breakthrough. It only has 6 tracks (at least on the original version), but they are 6 great tracks. It also has 4 of Yes's signature songs, Yours is No Disgrace, Starship Trooper, Your Move/All Good People, and Perpetual Change. The songwriting is top notch, and the interplay between the musicians (and the beautiful vocals) is really awesome. Many have said this is the quinessential Yes album (no pun intended), but many forget that Rick Wakeman wasn't on this album. Tony Kaye, the original keyboardist, was here and his keyboards blend in perfectly with the band. He isn't as techinically accomplished as Wakeman is/was, but his playing fit the group quite well. Sometimes I think Rick Wakeman, awesome keyboardist he is, didn't like being in a band situation. Keith Emerson, Wakeman's only real rival in the prog rock movement, was able to show off his chops a lot more in ELP than Wakeman ever did in Yes. But then Emerson, Lake, and Palmer was a power trio with Emerson the main focus, not a 5 piece band where the musical "burden" was shared more. I think Kaye doesn't get credit for shaping Yes's music more.
   
   This is one of favorite Yes albums, incredibly complex, tuneful, and wonderful. It's extremely memorable, and the remastering job here is exemplary.



4. Although my favorite Yes record will always be 'Close to the Edge,' 'The Yes Album' is definitely a close favorite. This record demonstrates the group at their finest. Released in 1971, this is the last record keyboardist Tony Kaye would make with the group until 1983. It was also guitarist Steve Howe's first record with the group.
   
   Kaye would be replaced by former Strawbs keyboardist Rick Wakeman. Wakeman would be featured on the reworking of Simon & Garfunkel's 'America,' which would be recorded for a special record called 'The Golden Age Of Atlantic.'
   
   This record, though, does feature some amazing keyboards by Kaye. 'Yours Is No Disgrace' is one of my all-time favorite Yes songs. This is an enjoyable track featuring heavy organ by Kaye.
   
   'The Clap' features great guitar work from Howe. This was recorded live at the Lyceum Theatre in London in 1970. This would become a concert favorite for years to come.
   
   After 'The Clap,' the record rolls right into 'Starship Trooper,' which would become yet another concert classic. Chris Squire's bass is great, Jon Anderson's vocals are amazing, and this is, in my opinion, drummer Bill Bruford's best song behind the kit with the group.
   
   'I've Seen All Good People' is played on classic rock radio stations all the time. And it's easy to see why. This song features great vocals from Anderson, and Kaye plays some mighty fine keyboards on this one.
   
   'A Venture' is a nice deep cut that you never hear on the radio. In fact, you never hear it anywhere. It's a shorty, clocking in at 3:21, but it's an amazing song. It fits perfectly on this record.
   
   'Perpetual Change' closes out the record. This song is 9 minutes of excellent music. The saying 'We saved the best for last' really goes in this case. What a way to close a Yes record!
   
   The bonus tracks are great. You get single versions of 'Your Move' and 'Life Seeker' and the studio version of 'The Clap,' which features a part of 'Mood For A Day.' This is highly recommended for any progressive rock, classic rock or Yes fan. ENJOY!!!



5. Another classic progressive rock album long lost in the attic and basement to boxes, moves and life in general that deserves to be re-visited. "You're Move" was a leap in the late 60's and ealry 70's after the acidity of woodstock. Yes one of the curators of such style formulated their expanding sound with others like "Heart of the Sunrise" and the "Siberian Kahtru" Certainly memories from the Cornell Fieldhouse! Worth another listen after all these years!

5 comments about Asia.

1. Wonderful CD - had the album years ago. Every song is a hit, and if your like me, perfect for singing when you are alone in your car!



2. This is about as close to being an essential album as an artist can get without being rated as such. The line up of songs is near fantastic; it's arena rock at near its best. Best songs on here are "Heat of the Moment" "Sole Survivor", "Without You" & "Cutting It Fine". It's the song "One Step Closer" that keeps this album from being essential.
   
   Asia was a "supergroup" with its members coming from other well established groups: Steve Howe (lead guitarist from Yes), Carl Palmer (drummer from Emerson, Lake & Palmer), John Wetton (vocalist & bassist from King Crimson) & Geoff Downes (keyboardist from the Buggles). With that lineup you just knew you were gonna get prog/art rock out of you-know-what! Surprise! They actually gave us a commercial, streamlined version of that. They still seemed to be pompous in their music.
   
   This is probably the only studio album one needs to own on this group. The following albums fell off dramatically in quality. Liner notes are non-existent. But the album cover is sensational. Yes fans will know who I'm referring to!



3. I remember when this cd was released in the 80's...the supergroup made of some great musicians of prog music....this album got immediate success, everybody liked it. Now listen to this cd again and realize how this was a poor cd. I did and I can say that this album is really poor and I won't listen to it for the rest of my life, this is the kind of pop prog for the mass and has nothing to do with real prog music. Instead, look for what these guys has made in the 70's with their respective bands and you'll see the difference....



4. At the dawn of the 1980s, the ship of progressive rock had all but foundered on the jagged reefs of musical fashion, weighted down with its leaden pretensions and buoyed on toward ruin by a new wave. Things looked bleak for fans of this once-glorious genre. But then, like a phoenix from the ashes, a band arose from the wreck, borne on the wings of a dragon: Asia.
   
   By its very nature, any supergroup is bound to inspire somewhat outsize expectations. But Asia had outsize expectations even for a supergroup. Assembled from the ranks of Yes (Steve Howe), Emerson Lake & Palmer (Carl Palmer), King Crimson (John Wetton), and the Buggles (Geoff Downes), Asia - or the idea of Asia - must have seemed a band of messianic proportions to fans of prog rock. So with outsize expectations firmly in place, Asia proceeded to confound them utterly.
   
   The big hits "Heat of the Moment" and "Only Time Will Tell" give a good indication of ASIA, both album and band, overall. One can hear traces of King Crimson in Wetton's elephantine bass sound and passionate vocals; there are moments that recall Yes when Howe interweaves his classically-tinged guitar lines with Downes' beefy keyboard textures. But ultimately, this doesn't sound like some alchemical fusion of its members' former bands. Because by focusing their attack into four-minute blasts instead of sprawling LP-length epics, Asia strip prog down to its sinewy core - "arena prog", if you care to put a label to it, sounding as much like Journey as Genesis. (Early Genesis, that is - in the early 80s, Genesis were blazing many of the same trails as Asia were.)
   
   For prog purists, that constituted nothing short of treason. But for listeners who came without preconceptions - i.e. those who sent ASIA soaring to #1 and "Heat of the Moment" and "Only Time Will Tell" to #4 and #17, respectively - it sounded pretty damn awesome. The furious "Time Again", the pulsating "Here Comes the Feeling", the exuberant "One Step Closer"... still sounds pretty damn awesome, really. Asia may not have been able to save progressive rock. But they were able to produce a great album, and that's good enough for me.



5. I'll start off with the negative side of things. Even though it features several notable progressive rock musicians, this album shows little resemblance to that style, so if you're looking for The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway or Dark Side Of The Moon your search is futile. This album has much more in common with Frontiers than the aformentioned records.
   
   That said, if you've ever wondered what it would be like to create a catchy, radio-ready album that still retained the ultraterrestrial atmosphere and flawless musicianship of prog...here is your album, my friend! This record has all the classics: "Heat of the Moment" (which features an excellent prog-style break at 1:43), "Only Time Will Tell", and five others which cracked the Billboard Top 40. As fate would have it, this became one of the archetypal albums of rock in the early '80s.
   
   In short, if you're turned off by the overt fluffiness of bands like Journey and later Electric Light Orchestra, or rediscovering this album after 25 years, then by all means pick this up for the great price of $7.97!

5 comments about Stiff Upper Lip.

1. This album is more laid back than any of their material since the '80's, with somewhat rawer production and without the more obvious "arena anthem" type songwriting we saw on The Razor's Edge. Consequently, the album eases into a solid mid-intensity groove and pretty much sticks with it until the end. Personally, I find it a really nice listen. But others might conclude that the band is playing it safe and that some of the fire is gone. It's a thin line, usually, between laid back and boring.
   
   Once again, the Young brothers write all of the material, including the lyrics. While I always prefer it when Johnson writes his own lyrics, I think the Youngs do a better job on Still Upper Lip than on Ballbreaker or The Razor's Edge. The double entendres are less forced and the subject matter is less weird. It's great to hear Phil Rudd on this record. His drum playing is straight down the middle and no frills, but nobody brings more feel to a straight hard rock four-four beat than Phil Rudd does.
   
   In summary, this should not be one of your first AC/DC albums. However, if you have most of their catalog, I don't think you'll be disappointed. The band has nothing left to prove to anybody. However, with this album they show they still rock.



2. OK, to say that AC/DC has an huge amount of change on their style of music is really going out on a limb. Everyone pretty much knows that AC/DC's style has been taking basic rock and blues beats, and putting them with Brian Johnson's raspy vocals. (of course the band seemed to have a bit more variety with Bon Scott, but I believe that he just fit a bit better with AC/DC then Johnson has)Of course this doesnt mean that AC/DC's material sucks with Brian, nor does it mean I dont enjoy their style of rock music, and even though 2000's "Stiff Upper Lip" is better then "Fly on the Wall" & "Blow up your Video" I was hoping of an album with more of a heavy metal feel to it such as the great "The Razors Edge" which was released as Hair Metal was ruling the airwaves, Yet the band took a diffrent approach and released a pure Heavy Metal album (with no ties of Hair Metal at all) with "The Razors Edge" So we fast foward a few years to 2000, where Nu Metal and Metalcore are ruling the airwaves (in the rock world) and what does AC/DC do? They take things back to basics and pretty much re-live their blues sound that we really havent heard since the days of Bon Scott. Some of this really works. There are some good songs here such as House of Jazz, Hold Me Back, and Safe in NYC, Meltdown, Satellite Blues, COme and Get it, All Screwed, and Give it up. So thats 8 out of 12 tracks that are pretty solid. But even though these songs are good, there arent really outstanding. They also suffer from sounding to much alike (I dont mean the AC/DC sound) but some of it is almost like listening to the exact same song just with different lyrics. So I give the band a break. This is an album released twenty five years since the debut album (which was released in 1975, yet didnt make it to the states til 1981) and of course the band has been together (minus a few members, for longer) and to still put out an album that is listenable, is impressive, yet it still doesnt manage to grab you like the albums of old, but still above average. 3 1/2 stars. ENJOY



3. An attempt by AC/DC to return to bluesier material and to turn away from the arena rock feel of many Brian Johnson era albums, Stiff Upper Lip has a more laid back feel to it than many AC/DC albums from the last 25 years.
   
   But despite a return to roots formula, the album is a bit of a mixed bag. There are a lot of solid songs here, but very few that are remarkable, as the band is less than inventive with their riffs and lyrics, and it's not until "Safe in New York City" that anything interesting happens on the guitar.
   
   The duo of "Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll" and "Satellite Blues," which start the second half of the album, is one of the stronger portions, with interesting guitar, good lyrics and vocals, and...well, it just feels more like AC/DC than does much of the rest of the album.
   
   The second half is considerably stronger than the first, with generally more entertaining songs, and I can appreciate what Angus and the boys were trying to do here. But there's just too much repetition, either of a less than amazing riff or of a lyric line, to be a top notch AC/DC album.



4. Good hard rock for your ears. Great big band with good themes: Satellite Blues, Stiff Upper Lip and Give It Up are the most remarkable.



5. Ok, so it's a little more mellow than your Highway to Hell or your Powerage, but this album just rocks. There are only two songs I don't like and they both come close to the end. Safe in New York City is their best song since Thunderstruck. Stiff Upper Lip improves on Ballbreaker. It has a similar sound. AC/DC sounds a bit different now, but I love it just as much as their old stuff.

5 comments about A Day At The Races.

1. Looking back at the 1970s, sometimes many forget how big the band Queen was. Even as Queen moved into the 1980s, while their popularity did slightly decline in the United States, it continued to be very high in Europe. Their performance at Live Aid is widely considered one of the greatest of all-time and their subsequent "Magic" tour is considered one of the all-time greatest concert tours. If it weren't for Freddie Mercury's death in 1992, we might still be talking about Queen being as big a band as the Beatles. When Queen released their 1973 self-titled debut album, it showed all of the signs of greatness to come. This album would show how the band embraced a "theatrical" feel to their music as well as embrace a sound that would evolve into what would become Heavy Metal. The next three albums, "Queen II", "Sheer Heart Attack" , and "A Night at the Opera" continued down the road of the theatrical sound. It was that third album, "Sheer Heart Attack" that would not just become a commercial breakthrough album for Queen, but also become an album that would showcase Mercury's abilities as a Hall of Fame vocalist. "A Night at the Opera" would begin to expand the band's musical horizons (most notably, the legendary track "Bohemian Rhapsody" as well as some ragtime tunes. The fifth album "A Day at the Races", while not as strong as the third and fourth albums will continue to show the band expanding its musical horizon.
   
   Queen is an example of the sum of the parts actually being greater than the whole. However, if you take each of the four members of Queen, they easily stand on their own as a top musician in their profession. Freddie Mercury is easily known to be the emotional and flamboyant lead vocalist of Queen who indeed has a legendary voice. Brian May is the legendary lead guitarist and probably the second most popular member of the band. Roger Taylor and John Deacon go extremely underrated. Listen to Taylor's thundering drumming in the studio or live and one can easily understand why he was asked to participate in an All Star Drum Jam (The S.O.S. All-Stars) at the Live Earth concert. As for John Deacon, he might be one of music's all-time underrated bass players. Many of his bass lines have proven to be the foundation for Queen's musical sound. In addition to being top musicians, all four members play integral roles in the songwriting.
   
   Like its predecessor, Queen takes a title from a Marx Brothers movie. Here is a track by track synopsis of the original ten tracks:
   
   "Tie Your Mother Down": This is a legendary Queen track. The highlight of this is some incredible guitar work by Brian May. While this song sounds better live, the studio recording is still outstanding. Roger Taylor's crashing drums blend in perfectly. I like the theatrical-like beginning as it sets the tone for the album.
   
   "You Take My Breath Away": The song opens with a cappella-like vocals all done by Mercury. This is a slower song done on the piano. Not my favorite song, but it does show some thinking out of the box by the band.
   
   "Long Away": May never disappoints when he is on vocals and once again this track highlights he could have easily been a full-time lead vocalist. This song doesn't have a theatrical feel, but more of a classic Rock feel to it.
   
   "The Millionaire Waltz": This song opens with a "Vaudeville/Ragtime" feel similar to some of the tracks heard on "A Night at the Opera". Nice job by Queen combining the theatrical-like harmonies with the Ragtime feel. The song has a segue into a Hard Rock part and then back to the ragtime part. Eventually both parts (ragtime and Rock) will nearly blend by the end. Overall this is an innovative track.
   
   "You and I": This was John Deacon's contribution. The piano playing almost has an Elton John feel to it. Theatrical-like harmonies are also prevalent throughout this track. Terrific guitar bridge by May takes place midway through the track.
   
   "Somebody to Love": This is the other well-known track on this album. This is classical Rock-Opera sounding Queen. The song is highlighted by outstanding Mercury vocals, terrific background harmonies by May and Taylor, and a hall of fame guitar bridge by May 2+ minutes into the track.
   
   "White Man": Sometimes I don't give Queen enough credit for their lyrics - and this track shows Queen at their best. On this track Queen talks about the suffering of the Native Americans at the hands of the Europeans. Queen integrates their theatrical sound on this track that adds more realism to the track.
   
   "Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy": This is another "Vaudeville/Ragtime" track. Deacon's bass work is underrated on this track as it helps contribute to the tempo.
   
   "Drowse": Like May, Roger Taylor could also be a full-time lead vocalist. Taylor has a knack for hitting the higher octaves than Mercury. He also brings a heavy metal-like voice to his vocals. This song is another winner by Taylor.
   
   "Teo Torriate (Let's Us Cling Together)": Possibly one of the most underrated Queen tracks out there. This starts out with as a slow, somber piano ballad. It then has a segue into a sound that easily could be a theatrical finale. Perhaps the most innovative part of the song are two verses sung in Japanese. This is a perfect way to end the album.
   This album did require a few listens by me in order to get into it. While I did put this a notch below "A Night at the Opera", I still thought this was a very good and innovative album. This is an album that core Queen fans will easily like, but after a few listens, the casual fan will appreciate this. Highly recommended.



2. Although it stands in the shadow of "A night at the opera" this offering by Queen is every bit as good and better in some ways. There is not a weak song on this entire CD. Everything is meticulously recorded, thought out & performed. You almost get the feeling that this could have been a concept album. The eight tracks by Freddie & Brian are flawless and dripping with inspiration. They were certainly firing on all cylinders here.
   1. "Tie you mother down" rocks with sheer brilliance
   2. "You take my breath away" is absolutely beautiful and haunting
   3. "Long away" easily could have been a single
   4. "Millionaire waltz" is campy and powerful
   5. "You and I" proved John Deacon was no fluke as a songwriter
   6. "Somebody to love" is the true jewel here. The best song about longing ever written
   7. "White man" rocks with dark overtones and profound lyrics
   8. "Good old fashion lover boy" is catchy, bouncy & delightful
   9. "Drowse" is hypnotic and subtle
   10. "Teo toriate" is alluring and mysterious
   
   The bonus tracks are pretty much worthless remixes.
   Queen reached its creative and artistic peak with this album. The album shines like a crown jewel.



3. Not much worse - or different - from the last one.
   
   At this point in their career, after releasing a mega-smash-super-hit album, quite a few artists become afraid of being typecast, for lack of a better word, so they veer off into a different direction with their music (sometimes it's only a slight adjustment, sometimes it's a radical overhaul). Well, Freddie Mercury isn't about to change for anyone, and rather than shying away from making a copy of 1975's "A Night at the Opera," Freddie and the boys embrace their new-found success. For heaven's sake, even the cover art is almost identical between this and ANATO, 'cept the font's a little different and it's black instead of white. Look for yourself.
   
   Despite the striking similarities on the oustide, this is both a similar...and sometimes completely different beast than its predecessor. You can see parallels between the two albums, but that's not how I'm going to go about reviewing this, except in a few minor spots. So here we go. This baby kicks off with Brian May's slightly perverted rocker "Tie Your Mother Down." It's a very cool song, and the only other thing I'm ging to say about it is, I can only wonder exactly what inspired Bri to write those lyrics (I find myself wondering the same thing when listening to Fat Bottomed Girls too). Hmm. Next, Freddie makes his first songwriting appearance here, the gorgeous "You Take My Breath Away," with the beautiful harmonies (sung entirely by the overdubbed Freddie Mercury Choir!). Lyrically, it's a bit stalker-ish ("I will find you anywhere you go, I'll be right behind you right until the ends of the Earth")...only in one verse, and it predates Sting's "Every Breath You Take" by a full seven years! Good job, Freddie. Brian checks in again with the slightly poppier "Long Away" - nice, but pedestrian. Then we get the closest thing this album has to a Bohemian Rhapsody (and it's not that close, actually)..."The Millionaire Waltz," with one of Brian's most famous guitar lines, Freddie's German accent, and one of the best examples of John Deacon's bass prowess in the entire Queen catalog. Speaking of Johnny, his contribution's up next, the typical Deacon power-pop "You and I." "You're My Best Friend" it is not - heck, it's even a bit dark in one spot - but it's still John Deacon, and he'll always write some nice little pop tune to make you smile.
   
   "Somebody to Love" is next, the one song on here almost everyone knows (and if you're expecting the Jefferson Airplane rocker in any way, you'll be sorely disappointed). It's my favorite Queen song, so I won't really go into that. "White Man" is Brian's, a song about the repression of the American Indians (Brian is drawing from some strange inspirations on this album), my least favorite song on here, it's nothing special. "Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy" is the other hit on here, albeit in the UK, and it's a typical Freddie show tune type thing. "Drowse" is Roger Taylor's entry, a mix of strange distorted guitars and Roger's gravelly vocals. No idea what it's about. Some people hate it, I like it. "Teo Torriatte" is the grandiose closer, complete with children's choir and Queen singing in - yes - Japanese! (for their massive fan base over there, of course.) Elegant and sweeping, it's probably the most epic thing on this album, one of the better Brian songs around.
   
   That turned out a lot longer than I expected. Well, couple pedestrian songs on here, a couple good ones. I can't give this anymore than four stars, but if you like Queen, there's a lot of typical Queen here, so you'll probably enjoy it. I do....recommended.



4. After the VERY successful Night at the Opera album, Queen certainly had their work cut out for them if they wanted to repeat, or come close to repeating, the brilliance of the previous album. In comes Day at the Races. It's not as good as Night at the Opera, but it has more than its fair share of excellent songs. In fact, most of it is nearly classic material. It's about what you'd expect from a rock band attempting to release another quality album. It works, and they succeeded.
   
   While I enjoy most of it, I do NOT like "Tie Your Mother Down". It sounds like a badly written glam rock song. However, the guitar parts are nice. "You Take My Breath Away" is another unique Freddie Mercury ballad. Only Freddie could write a song like that. Give it a chance and it will grow on you. It's written in a complex way and takes time to adjust.
   
   "Long Away" is just BEAUTIFUL, "The Millionaire Waltz" is a multi-part structured progressive rock piece, "You & I" is pretty good, "Somebody To Love" is the gospel ballad classic, "White Man" is a somewhat average rocker (very similar to the Styx song "Renegade"), "Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy" is incredibly good, "Drowse" features a very unusually depressing and unique guitar riff with a solid vocal melody, "Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)" is a beautiful (though somewhat predictably-written) ballad. Overall, an album that truly deserves 4 stars. The songwriting is still excellent. Queen did NOT turn into an average band.



5. Queen's fifth album A Day at the Races was released in December of 1976.
   This album is the perfect sequel to its predecessor, 1975's Top 5 charting A Night at the Opera!
   The album marked one change and that was the band self-produced for the first time after working with Roy Thomas Baker on their first four efforts and this time pressure was on to deliver an album that was either as good or better than its predecessor. Would the album be good or a bad repeat of Opera, read on and find out (as I did when I bought the cassette in May of 1992 (and would then acquire on CD)).
   Guitarist Brian May's hard rocker "Tie Your Mother Down" kicks off the album. The track features a killer intro (which is repeated at album's end) and is a great rocker which peaked at #51 in the US. Frontman Freddie Mercury's vocal masterpiece "You Take My Breath Away" follows and is a great vocal and piano track. Brian steps out in front on the next track "Long Away" which was a great rocker and was the third single from Races released here in the US (the only Queen song which did not have Freddie on vocal to be released as a single in Freddie's lifetime). Next comes Freddie's "The Millionare Waltz" which featured one of the greatest guitar solos in rock and is part-waltz and part-rocker. The first half ends with the pop-rocker "You and I", written by bass player John Deacon and is a great song.
   The second half of the album kicks off with the first single "Somebody to Love". The track is the Bohemian Rhapsody of this album. Freddie wrote this ballad and has a great gospel-tinged backing vocal and the song peaked at #11 in early 1977 here in the States. Brian's hard rocker "White Man" follows and is a great rocker. Freddie's odd and campy "Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy" follows and is a great song which was a British Top 30 hit. Drummer Roger Taylor's rocker "Drowse" follows and features great slide guitar work from Brian and Roger ripping some great rhythm guitar work and a great vocal from Rog doing both harmonies. This album closes with "Teo Torriate (Let Us Cling Together)" which has the chorus partially sung in Japanese and Brian wrote this after Queen's first successful tour of Japan.
   When released, A Day at the Races peaked at #5 and was the band's second Platinum album in a row and second masterpiece.
   This album is highly recommended!

5 comments about Long Distance Voyager.

1. The Moody Blues' tenth studio album entitled Long Distance Voyager was released in May of 1981.
   The Moody Blues, by 1981, had not put out any studio work since 1978's Platinum selling Octave (which was the last album which featured founding keyboard player Mike Pinder). Then in the spring of 1981 saw the return of The Moody Blues (which now consisted of guitarist/singer/songwriter Justin Hayward, bass player/singer/songwriter John Lodge, flute player/singer/songwriter Ray Thomas, drummer Graeme Edge and new member and one time Yes keyboard player Patrick Moraz (whom Yes fans remember for his stellar work on the band's 1974 album Relayer)). Many people were disappointed with Octave and called it disjointed but Long Distance Voyager saw The Moody Blues return in a MAJOR WAY!
   First, the band jettisoned producer Tony Clarke and replaced him with Pip Williams. Then the band recorded in England for the first time since 1972's Seventh Sojourn at Threshold Studios in Northamptonshire, England in late 1980/early 1981. Finally, the mellotrons were gone and synthesizers (especially the Oberheims (which were the most popular synthesizer at the time)) were now here in its place.
   The album opened with the Top 20 hit and FM rock radio staple "The Voice" which its synthesizer intro showcaed Moraz' synthesizer work and is a great piece with some fiery vocals and guitar from Hayward and was penned by Hayward, is a great song and worthy of hit status. Next is "Talking Out of Turn", a ballad penned and sung by Lodge. A great song. Next was the album's other big hit, the Top 20 charting "Gemini Dream", which was penned and sung by by Lodge and Hayward and proclaiming they were back, and they were. "In My World" is next and was the last song on the first side. The Hayward penned number is almost country-ish in sound but a beautiful track and featured excellent steel guitar work by B.J. Cole.
   "Meanwhile" starts the second half of the album and was penned and sung by Hayward and is a fantastic number about love slipping through the character's fingers. Next is the Graeme Edge penned number "22,000 Days" which is about life and making the most of it and a stellar track. We follow with another Lodge penned number called "Nervous" and is another classic number. The album's last 3 tracks is a mini-suite penned and sung by Ray Thomas. The three tracks in question are "Painted Smile", "Reflective Smile" and "Veteran Cosmic Rocker" compares the music and entertainment world to the circus. This mini-suite of three songs is a great way to close a classic album and should be listened to as one suite (not individually).
   Long Distance Voyager upon its release became The Moody Blues' second, and to date last, US chart-topper hitting #1 in July of 1981 and staying there for three weeks and was the second Moody Blues album to hit the Platinum mark in the US (meaning it sold a million or more in copies) and rightfully so because the album is flawless and saw The Moody Blues come back from a clunker to bring one of the best albums of their career.
   HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!



2. This is such a great album. This album was released in 1991, and it really caught my attention. I had some favorites from the past albums, but this release showed that the Moddies can move with the times. Their sound is still the best around.
   The gems are "The Voice", "Gemini Dream", "In My World, and "Meanwhile", these are topnotch, and the rest of the songs are all really good. I like "Talking out of Turn", and "22,000 Days" and "Painted Smile".
   This album is great.



3. This non-blockbuster Moody Blues album is my single favorite album of the hundreds that I own and of all time. Certainly, many, if not most would not agree with this assessment. So be it. However, everyone has different tastes.
   
   LDV is just completely pleasing and pleasurable to me. That's all that counts.



4. I truly love this album; it tends to move much more towards easy listening than the earlier Moody Blues. The melodies here are well visualized and well crafted. The lead singing also varies on this set in interesting ways: John Lodge sings lead not only on "Talking Out of Turn," but also on Justin Heyward's "Nervous;" and Justin Heyward's lead on "Painted Smile" (a well crafted Ray Thomas song) is convincing in its tone and fullness. The album as a whole is emotionally satisfying, with at least two bonified rock numbers.



5. Having most if their first albums, I got this just to share with a friend and found that it had some nice tunes on it. Mostly recognizable themes, but sufficiently musical enough that I wasn't disappointed with my purchase. The friend liked it too.

5 comments about Humanity Hour 1.

1. All of the songs on this CD are awesome! Absolutely no filler. Don't hesitate to buy this CD. You definitely will not be disappointed.



2. Finally! A group from my youth has the guts to just do their thing and release the music they became famous for. No big changes here. No need to "fit in" with whatever the latest musical fad is. You wont find any "screamo" or "hybrid hip hop" here. Its Scorpions through and through and I listen to this CD almost daily. The entire album is great and one that I can sit through without getting impatient and flipping to a song I want to hear more.
   
   I think 80s metal fans around the world are starving to hear all their favorite bands playing music in the style that made them all the metal gods we saw them as. The Scorps deliver with Humanity Hour 1.
   
   Its all solid classic Scorpions and worth every penny. Keep rockin fellas!



3. Ahhh, another amazing, and yes sublime, work of art from Scorpions. Awesome visceral, driving guitars, lucid rhythm and of course divinely inspired vocals...
   Buy it and a copy for anyone you know needing dark-and-light inspiration. Humanity: Hour 1 delivers timeless hard rock that is nevertheless immediately relevant to today's younguns. Also note the "message" of the album, akin to German-born Eckhart Tolle's spiritual teachings. Tolle, like Scorpions, says, "Humanity: evolve or die!"



4. This CD ROCKS! I've been a Scorpions fan since the 1970's, and believe me, these guys STILL know how to rock! Kick-butt drums, vocals, lyrics, guitars-a perfect blend of everything. If you don't get this CD, you're missing out on some AWESOME music!!



5. I'll Start with Saying that I'm not the Biggest Scorpions Fan out there, But I Bought this CD after reading the Reviews on Amazon and let me tell you it lives up to the 4 Star Rating. The production is excellent and Playing is top notch. There is nothing like "Lovedrive" on here, but it Rocks, it's hard to believe that they are still Capable of putting an Album out like this after all these years.

5 comments about Love at First Sting.

1. I bought this album when it was all the rage and the front cover photograph was the big controversy. It rocked then and it still rocks now. I used to love to put this on and crank it as I was getting ready for a big Saturday night (big hair and lip gloss days) - it always set the right mood. It still does. Now what did I do with my lip gloss?...



2. Last solid hit by the Scorpions in 1984 following three successes with 'Lovedrive', 'Animal Magnetism', and 'Blackout.' This album is just solid German hard rock from the 1980s from one of the best bands in that genre along with Def Leppard. Every song on this album is just a classic hit thanks to brilliant musicianship and the outstanding lead guitar work by Mathias Jabbs: simply one of the most underrated lead guitarists from that period who is just as impressive as Randy Rhoads in his style. Also, don't forget to get out your lighters and raise your hands as Scorpions is pretty much the model hard rock band for your power ballad with the hit 'Still Loving You.' Very well thought out lyrically and musically, again, Mathias Jabbs just delivers an excellent solo. You can't go wrong with this album or any album by Scorpions preceding this album. This album was really their last good album.



3. it`s not heavy scorps like earlier albums,and it`s not total cheese like later albums,it`s right in the middle,



4. Most Scorpions classics are here (though don't miss other jewels of their discography as Blackout, Lovedrive, Taken by Force, etc.). Be sure to buy the non-remastered version as it sounds more dynamic and not over-compressed. It won't dissapoint.



5. The best hard rock album ever !!!
   Scorpions made a classic with this album and until today remains better than before !!!
   I'm a huge fan of Scorpions and today 08/14 I'll show them in a concert here at Sao Paulo, Brazil !!!
   SCORPIONS FOREVER !!!!