The Grandmaster – Black Sun (Frontiers Music Srl) [Matt Bladen]
If an album features a member of Edguy, I’ll probably enjoy it. So I did very much enjoy the debut album from The Grandmaster, the new project of Jens Ludwig the guitarist and co-founder and co-creative force (along with Tobias Sammet) of Edguy. Here he goes back to his Teutonic metal roots, blending Accept, Helloween and Gama Ray for some gritty, German heavy metal.
Rounding out the band is Brett Jones (keys) and Mirko De Maio (drums) the heavy use of synths on Something More edging into industrial metal, which may sound like it may be disconcerting but brings more varied song writing on this sophomore album, again eyeing up playing the tracks in front of an audience so variation is key to a show’s journey. The latter part of the album, brings a satisfying modern sound, driven by the synths, setting it out as an album that looks back to the past and forward to the future at the same time. Black Sun is some veteran melodic metal that continues the rise of The Grandmaster. 8/10
Jim Peterik & World Stage - Roots & Shoots Vol. 1 (Frontiers Music Srl) [Matt Bladen]
Jim Peterik is a name forever engrained in the 80's rock scene, he wrote both Eye Of The Tiger for Survivor and Hold On Loosely For .38 Special, amongst many other radio friendly hits. He currently splits his time between Pride Of Lions with Toby Hitchcock and his solo project World Stage. All of the World Stage albums have a concept behind them he's released an album with some veteran singers at the helm, doing songs that you may not associate them with. He's done an album celebrating female rock vocalists including Chez Kane and others.
If an album features a member of Edguy, I’ll probably enjoy it. So I did very much enjoy the debut album from The Grandmaster, the new project of Jens Ludwig the guitarist and co-founder and co-creative force (along with Tobias Sammet) of Edguy. Here he goes back to his Teutonic metal roots, blending Accept, Helloween and Gama Ray for some gritty, German heavy metal.
Black Sun follows up 2021’s Skywards with yet more top tier melodic power metal. This time featuring the vocals of Peer Johansson, his brawny sneer reminds me of Jorn and Udo so works well with the mid paced stutters such as Learn To Forgive and the galloping numbers such as Heaven’s Calling, he has a great metal voice for this type of music, also bringing some Herbie Langhans and Henning Basse to the record. He’s a great counterpoint to the slick and experienced riffs and solos of Ludwig, the two of them writing the record along with Alessandro Del Vecchio who plays bass/keys and of course produces, the change coming from Ludwig wanting to take The Grandmaster on the road.
Jim Peterik & World Stage - Roots & Shoots Vol. 1 (Frontiers Music Srl) [Matt Bladen]
Jim Peterik is a name forever engrained in the 80's rock scene, he wrote both Eye Of The Tiger for Survivor and Hold On Loosely For .38 Special, amongst many other radio friendly hits. He currently splits his time between Pride Of Lions with Toby Hitchcock and his solo project World Stage. All of the World Stage albums have a concept behind them he's released an album with some veteran singers at the helm, doing songs that you may not associate them with. He's done an album celebrating female rock vocalists including Chez Kane and others.
On Roots & Shoots he's gone one better by collaborating with some more veteran singers from the 80's (Roots) and some up and coming talent (Shoots). Opening with the country rock drinking song Dangerous Combination, Peterik and REO Speedwagon's Kevin Cronin shares the vocals here, though I fell perhaps Don Barnes on .38 Special may have been a better fit as he appears on the dreamy AOR of Last Dream Home. In terms of names you'll know Mend Fences is a bluesy prog rocker with Kelly Keagy of Night Ranger and Friends Forever gets some wild shirtless lyrics from the gospel tones of Grand Funk Railroad's Mark Farner, though the song is quite slow.
It's these singers that are the hook but what will keep you around is the new talent on display, Jim's son Colin taking the mic on the rootsy Before Anyone Knows We're Gone, very modern day JBJ. Singer songwriter Paul Childers is a real talent, while Ashton Brooke Gill brings gravitas to As I Am which sounds a lot like Aerosmith's Dream On, though I prefer Leslie Hunt on Suddenly. Peterik brings a lot of singers who are more towards the R&B, Americana, roots style of music, but they all fit this kind of melodic rock wrought with emotion. This is just the first part according to the title so, it looks like we'll be in for another instalment of this intriguing concept. 6/10
Various Artists - Pushin’ Too Hard – American Garage Punk 1964-1967 (Strawberry Records) [Rich Piva]
My education into where punk rock came from started with the first Nuggets boxset. Some of the stuff on there was the way that I, as a young music listener, learned how the early garage rock of the 60s slowly morphed into what when know of as punk in the 70s and onward. The reissue by Cherry Red Records, Pushin’ Too Hard – American Garage Punk 1964-1967, is an extension of Nuggets in some sense, sharing some overlap with those original compilations, and providing a look into the garage scene in the 60s that was so fertile and planted the punk rock seeds early on.
There are some well known tracks on here that you would know by just having a oldies station on at some point, like Wooly Bully, the original version of I Want Candy by The Strangeloves, and Bobby Fuller’s I Fought The Law. Having multiple tracks by The Seeds, who should be considered one of the godfathers of punk, is a necessity on here, including the track that is their most famous and gave this comp its name (the unedited version) and a demo version of Out Of The Question. Very cool. You get early Captain Beefheart and Love, and no comp of this era would be complete without some Electric Prunes who, along with The Seeds are essential in understanding how punk came to be.
My education into where punk rock came from started with the first Nuggets boxset. Some of the stuff on there was the way that I, as a young music listener, learned how the early garage rock of the 60s slowly morphed into what when know of as punk in the 70s and onward. The reissue by Cherry Red Records, Pushin’ Too Hard – American Garage Punk 1964-1967, is an extension of Nuggets in some sense, sharing some overlap with those original compilations, and providing a look into the garage scene in the 60s that was so fertile and planted the punk rock seeds early on.
There are some well known tracks on here that you would know by just having a oldies station on at some point, like Wooly Bully, the original version of I Want Candy by The Strangeloves, and Bobby Fuller’s I Fought The Law. Having multiple tracks by The Seeds, who should be considered one of the godfathers of punk, is a necessity on here, including the track that is their most famous and gave this comp its name (the unedited version) and a demo version of Out Of The Question. Very cool. You get early Captain Beefheart and Love, and no comp of this era would be complete without some Electric Prunes who, along with The Seeds are essential in understanding how punk came to be.
Bands like The Squires and The Beau Brummels, who were early bands of guys who would go on to be huge rock stars (look it up), are a fascinating listen given what we know about the future of some of their members. Two of my favourite bands from that era, Paul Revere and the Raiders and 13th Floor Elevators, are represented here as well, and both, especially the Elevators, should have representation in any respectable record collection in some form. There are 94 tracks on Pushin’ Too Hard, so it is very comprehensive, but it can also be a lot, given how similar some of the band’s sound, but taken in doses of twenty or so you would be hard pressed to find a bad track on here.
If you like to understand the history of music and to know origin stories of genres, a compilation such as Pushin’ Too Hard is perfect for you. Yes, there are 94 tracks, but most are essential in understanding how we go to some of the big movements in music over the years. There is so much goodness on here, give it a go and I promise you will find lots to love. Thank you Cherry Red/Strawberry for this great reissue. 8/10
There are some excellent tracks on here, my favourite being the entry from The Sisters Of Mercy, with their amazing 12” version of Lucretia My Reflection which is more goth than industrial but fits perfectly in the dark clubs where the kids were dancing to this stuff. Nitzer Ebb’s track from which the comp is named is a must have on any industrial mix, even if I prefer their track Join In The Chant. The Lead Into Gold track, Idiot, is another standout as is Lurid Sensation from Front Line Assembly. I discovered some new bands on the comp too. Who knew there was a UK industrial dance band called Screaming Trees? I really dig their entry as well as Cuts N’ Bruises by Son Of Sam & Good Shepherds.
Any album that as 44 tracks will have some you will skip, but Control I’m Here is mostly killer with minimal filler and is essential listening, along with the Wax Trax boxset, for someone who digs this stuff or for a beginner who is looking to get into the more dance friendly side of industrial music from the mid to late 80s. 8/10
If you like to understand the history of music and to know origin stories of genres, a compilation such as Pushin’ Too Hard is perfect for you. Yes, there are 94 tracks, but most are essential in understanding how we go to some of the big movements in music over the years. There is so much goodness on here, give it a go and I promise you will find lots to love. Thank you Cherry Red/Strawberry for this great reissue. 8/10
Various Artists - Control I’m Here - Adventures On The Industrial Dance Floor 1983-1990 (Cherry Red Records) [Rich PIva]
Two things exposed me to what we call Industrial Music today. It the late eighties I was handed a mix tape by one of the cooler people in my Long Island High School. On said tape was all sorts of left of centre stuff including some heavy yet danceable music that my heavy metal mind could not quite compute at the time. What the hell is a Nitzer Ebb? The real question was actually “…and why do I like it so much? “, because some of the stuff on that tape changed the way I listened to and searched out music. This was before Mr. Reznor blew up and Ministry was too scary to consider listening to.
Two things exposed me to what we call Industrial Music today. It the late eighties I was handed a mix tape by one of the cooler people in my Long Island High School. On said tape was all sorts of left of centre stuff including some heavy yet danceable music that my heavy metal mind could not quite compute at the time. What the hell is a Nitzer Ebb? The real question was actually “…and why do I like it so much? “, because some of the stuff on that tape changed the way I listened to and searched out music. This was before Mr. Reznor blew up and Ministry was too scary to consider listening to.
Bands like My Life With The Thrill Kill Cult, Front Line Assembly, Front 242, and Skinny Puppy were this dark, scary, mysterious, and so utterly cool I could not help but to be all in. The second factor was my 10th grade girlfriend who was all about Ministry. The first thing she handed me what In Case You Didn’t Feel Like Showing Up and it was over after that.
Nothing was more intense that I had ever heard, and this required me to track down everything the mad man behind the band ever recorded, so my collection became filled with Al Jourgensen stuff, (Pailhead, 1000 Homo DJs, Revolting Cocks, etc.) which then led to all things Wax Trax! Records, the seminal industrial label out of Chicago led my Uncle Al and included bands like Lead Into Gold, Laibach, Meat Beat Manifesto, and some of the other bands I mentioned previously.
Which is why I jumped at the chance to review Control I’m Here - Adventures On The Industrial Dance Floor 1983-1990, the reissue from Cherry Red Records that covers this fruitful period of heavy, dark, danceable industrial goodness, providing the listener with 44 examples of what made this time so great for this genre.
There are some excellent tracks on here, my favourite being the entry from The Sisters Of Mercy, with their amazing 12” version of Lucretia My Reflection which is more goth than industrial but fits perfectly in the dark clubs where the kids were dancing to this stuff. Nitzer Ebb’s track from which the comp is named is a must have on any industrial mix, even if I prefer their track Join In The Chant. The Lead Into Gold track, Idiot, is another standout as is Lurid Sensation from Front Line Assembly. I discovered some new bands on the comp too. Who knew there was a UK industrial dance band called Screaming Trees? I really dig their entry as well as Cuts N’ Bruises by Son Of Sam & Good Shepherds.
Other tracks from great bands of the era including Front 242, Meat Beat Manifesto, Front Line Assembly, Laibach, Legendary Pink Dots, Alien Sex Fiend, and Controlled Bleeding makes this an extremely comprehensive and essential compilation. Even the masters of the genre, Ministry, make an appearance with My Possession from Twitch, which was a key part of their transition from industrial dance to the heavy industrial that they because famous for.
Any album that as 44 tracks will have some you will skip, but Control I’m Here is mostly killer with minimal filler and is essential listening, along with the Wax Trax boxset, for someone who digs this stuff or for a beginner who is looking to get into the more dance friendly side of industrial music from the mid to late 80s. 8/10