Album Reviews
Opined with audacious authority

MOTLEY CRUE Saints Of Los Angeles

The Sixx of Saints
Say what you want about Nikki Sixx, he's on a roll, consistently writing and producing some of the best music of his over the top life. Starting with his painfully personal and autobiographical solo project, "SIXX A.M. The Heroin Diaries," through writing and producing for numerous up and comers like Drowning Pool, Sixx has been reborn once again as a relevant figure in modern music. Take a listen to his work on the Cr��e's latest, Saints of Los Angeles. This is a strong band record, supported also by Sixx's bandmates and songwriting pals from Sixx A.M., DJ Ashba and James Michael. Whether the content of this record is supposed to be the official/unofficial soundtrack to the M��tley Cr��e film, "The Dirt," based on the successful book of the same name, or not, it stands alone as a great Crue record, somewhat reminiscent of the Dr. Feelgood era, yet as grimy as a month old pair of leather pants just the same. Nevermind past projects like New Tattoo or Generation Swine, Saints of Los Angeles is true Crue.

METALLICA Death Magnetic

The Return Of Metallica
Metallica fans rejoice. There is not a bad song on this record, which is a big statement considering the last Metallica studio album was a grave disappointment. Commercial success came to Metallica in the form of the "black" album which featured numerous hit singles. It seemed as theough the band focused their attempts on recapturing the success of that record. In doing so they alienated old fans and created a series of subpar records, which finally came to a head with the release of St Anger. Again, rejoice. Death Magnetic takes the band back to it's glory days of Ride The Lightning and Master Of Puppets. Thank you Rick Rubin. Those who have been longing for the drum triggers and rapid fire guitar riffs are in for a treat. This record is loaded with them. Track one, This Was Just Your Life, sets the tone for the record and everything thereafter falls in line, like The End Of The Line and Broken Beat & Scarred. The Day That Never Comes changes tempo briefly, but returns with ass whooping metal. Cyanide turns out to be one of my personal favorites on the disc. They packaging is pretty cool too.

NIGHT RANGER Hole In The Sun

Band With A Past, Record With A Hole
Night Ranger has created some great music in the past, but this CD stinks! OK, look at the cover. Take a good look at it. It says nothing. It does nothing. It lacks artistic expression and style. So does the content of the CD. I like the sound of a good fart better than this CD. Avoid it.

JEFF SCOTT SOTO Beautiful Mess

Definitely A Mess, Beautiful Or Otherwise
My familiarity with Jeff Scott Soto's catalog is admittedly spotty at best. Of course there was the incredible Yngwie Malmsteen period. Like most fans, that was probably my first exposure to Jeff's work. I've heard his vocals with other groups too, such as Eyes and Humanimal. But the one project that really hooked me was Neal Schon's Soul Sirkus, where Jeff filled some pretty big shoes when Sammy Hagar bailed early to re-join Van Halen in 04. The resulting Soul Sirkus album with Schon, Soto and Marco Mendoza was a showcase for Soto. That album got me to listen to some of the JSS solo catalog. I was stoked to hear what Journey might have become with JSS behind the mic until they pulled the plug on that arrangement in lieu of the Perry sound-alike from Guam or wherever he's from. Beautiful Mess is Soto's first studio project since his Journey departure. Jeff's tastes have always leaned a little to the funk/rock side of things, not that there's anything wrong with that, Lenny Kravitz has carved a perfect niche doing just that and doing it quite well. But parts of this album make me feel like I just picked up a Mariah Carey disc. WTF? I dig the first track, 21st Century, despite it's repetitiveness. Track 11, Wherever U Wanna Go and track 12, Kick It are pretty decent. Track 6 is called Mountain and it has a thick Lenny Karavitz influence. Track 7 Our Song, is pretty good, at least it rocks, although nothing spectacular there. I'm about 50/50 on this record and if it represents where Jeff was creatively when he was working with Journey, then I see why didn't work out.

JOHN MELLENCAMP Life, Death, Love and Freedom

Tired, Old, Redundant and Nauseating
Somebody dropped a copy of John Mellencamp's latest CD on my desk the other day and said, "Have you heard the new Mellencamp?" Well the answer was no, and frankly I don't see why I am somehow obliged to listen to anything John Mellencamp does, just because we were both born in the same state. Do you think people in Oregon go to work and say, "Hey, have you heard the new Mellencamp?" I'm sure it's an Indiana thing, just like corn and auto racing. You'd think Hoosiers have nothing better to offer the world. Well, on second thought, Michael Jackson is from Indiana, so maybe we don't have anything better. Anyway. Mellencamp's last album was titled, Freedom's Road. This album is titled Life, Death, Love and Freedom. Yeah, freedom, we get the message, John. I'm just really tired of the cause-oriented John Mellencamp music. He doesn't have anything new to say about it. It's the same tired causes with the same tired messages. Maybe a lot of people feel the way I do and maybe that's why he hasn't had a monster record on his hands for years. We all suffer something sometimes. Songs about suffering don't usually make anybody's plight less burdonsome. Mellencamp's music was more fun when it was about riding Harleys, cigarettes and getting a little nookie behind the barn.

RICK SPRINGFIELD Venus In Overdrive

To Be Fair, It's A Good Record
Why is it so uncool in America to say that Rick Springfield produced a good record? Is it because he has the ladies man, heart-throb image? Is it because he had hit pop/rock songs like Jessie's Girl? There are a couple of truths about Rick Springfield you should know. One he's a perfectionist in the studio and he knows what he's doing in there. Two, Springfield has a dark side and it's evident in many of his songs. That makes for good song writing. Venus In Overdrive starts off with a track that sounds like classic Rick Springfield, meaning that it's a good pop/rock song and you'll recognize his song writing and voice with ease. The track is called What's Victoria's Secret and it's got a good hook to it. After that, the songs are much more modern and sound much less like Rick Springfield. In fact, if you didn't know it was Rick Springfield, you'd never guess.Among them, Oblivious and Warning Shots are excellent songs. The title track isn't bad either. Unfortunately, the song quality starts going south about midway through the disc. The two bonus tracks at the end don't help to elivate the final judgement of the record either. For bonus tracks, Springfield offers a cover of The Who's classic, My Generation. There is absolutely no reason or contect for this on the CD. He also provides an acoustic version of Jessie's Girl, almost as if to say, yeah, I'm THAT guy. Overall, it's a good record, not a great record. If you plan to download it, get the first half and call it a day.

JOE SATRIANI Professor Satchafunkilus And The Musterion Of Rock

Satchafunkaliscious
A lot of critics have panned this record already and for the life of me, I don't know why. I must be on about my 27th listen since buying it two nights ago. Not everybody likes what Satch does, but for those who do, I think you'll find this record right up there. The title suggests a funkier sound than what's really here. For example the closing track 10, Andalusia, is a monster guitar jam for seasoned veterans. Asik Vaysel is another track with a big sound and just the slightest tip of the hat to Jimmy Page. Within this record, Satriani also experiments with a DJ scratch effect, which he blends into his own style very cleverly. Straight up, if you don't like Joe Satriani, you probably won't like this either, but if you do like Satriani, the good Professor offers up classic Satch and manages to break a little new ground too.

JACKSON BROWNE Time The Conqueror

Tired, Old, Redundant and Nauseating (part II)
Jackson Browne. Liberal Californian, Nuclear Energy Fighting, Peace Promoting, ol' Jackson Browne. Did I mention he was a wife beater too? You won't recognize his photo on the cover unless you're looking for someone who looks more like Kris Kristofferson than Jackson Browne. "Time The Conqueror" suggests a certain acceptance, such that time heals all wounds. Perhaps that explains the gentle aquiescence offered among the tracks herein. The songs of "Time The Conqueror" sound like Jackson Browne, but many of them lack any real spark of life. This is not the first overall melancholy record from Browne. "Late For The Sky" for example, was exceptional in it's melancholia, because it had deep rooted emotional strengths." Time The Conqueror" lacks that kind of depth. It isn't a bad listen if you like Jackson Browne, but it will probably not rank among his classic works either.

AC/DC Black Ice

Rock 'N Roll Returns Just In Time For The Holidays
With your choice of 4 color schemes on the cover, Wal-Mart is the exclusive retailer of the new AC/DC release called Black Ice. With a total of 15 tracks, there's not a bad song among them. There are plenty of Angus Young riffs to populate the CD, but what this album lacks is any sort of tempo change. Truthfully this could be the group's best release since Back In Black, but after awhile the songs do start to lose their identity to one another. So instead of any other typical release from post-Back In Black AC/DC, where there are a few good songs stuffed into plenty of filler, there is no filler here, just a few records worth of great material!

HONEYMOON SUITE Clifton Hill

The Canucks Roar Back
You might have to search a little to find this disc or download, but it's well worth your time. Unlike AC/DC, Journey and The Eagles, Honeymoon Suite didn't score an exclsuive distribution deal with Wal-Mart. That's too bad because more people deserve to hear their latest release, "Clifton Hill." The fact is, the band doesn't have American distribution; it's available as an import via the European label, Frontiers. Tracks like She Ain't Alright and Tired o' Waitin' are a triumphant return to 80's style arena rock, with guitarist Derry Grehan sounding off his best 1984-era Van Halen-like riffs. Riffola has a bass groove that's as comfortable here as it would be on a George Lynch record. If you're looking for a ballad, it's here too on a track called Restless. Fortunately, the Canucks have roared back with a new record that is a testament to melodic rock.

SAMMY HAGAR Cosmic Universal Fashion

Loud & A Little Too Proud
One thing Sammy Hagar need not do is release another CD. He loves what he's doing and I get that. We all get that. But I can't help feeling that this album is something of a catch-all for a variety of tracks that won't fit with his new supergroup project with Chad Smith, Joe Satriani and Michael Anthony, tentatively called Chickenfoot. What we find on this CD is a mixed bag. On the plus side, we finally get to hear two of the songs that Hagar and Journey guitarist, Neal Schon, penned for their sidetracked project from 2003, PlanetUS. "Peephole" first appeared on Schon's project, Soul SirkUS, featuring vocals by Jeff Scott Soto. Hagar's version of the same song can be heard here. The song from that collaboration is "Psycho Vertigo" and it makes it's debut on this CD. While both songs are dark and heavy, "Peephole" is by far the darkest lyrically, a tale of dysfunction, abuse and confinement. The title track, "Cosmic Universal Fashion" is really most successful as a video, itself a rip off of the Van HAlen video for "Right Now." The only way that I've found the song to be enjoyable on it's own merit is to increase the volume substantially. Another gem on this CD is the Beastie Boys cover, "Fight For Your Right To Party," which was an anthem during live sets on Hagar's Livin' It Up tour in 2006. "Loud" is an interesting track that has subtle hints of Lynyrd Skynyrd and "When The Sun Don't Shine" is a very enjoyable romp which could have easily been right at home on a classic Little Feat record. For my money, the tracks "24365" and "I'm On A Roll" are filler at best. The latter lacking any lyrical sensibility and it's too repetitive. More balogna comes in the form of a live cut, which is a new arrangement of two Van Halen staples, "Dreams" and "Cabo Wabo", aptly called "Dreams/Cabo." Trust me, neither song ever sounded worse than it does right here, right now. In summary, you can see why I referred to this CD as a catch all. Two tracks demonstrate that the Red Rocker is still clinging to the hay day of his Van Halen tenure, which if memory serves, he walked out on twice. Two tracks are from the Soul SirkUS project and one track is a straight up cover. Two of the remaining five tracks are plain crap, although I usually find two or three I can't listen to on any new Sammy Hagar CD. So the hot spots are: Psycho Vertigo, Peephole, Loud, and When The Sun Don't Shine. The cover art is about the worst cover art I've seen all year, certainly Sammy's worst of his entire career. When you buy the CD, you get a stripped down digipack in environmentally friendly graphics...that's it. If you want the booklet, you have to go on-line and print one yourself.