Everyone knows “Eye of the Tiger.”  Whether you were blasting it from your boom box or listening on your walkman in 1982, or you first heard it in Rocky in 1985,  you know this song.  It’s been parodied, ridiculed and now playable in the video game Rock Band.  What do you think about this classic track.  Which side of the fence are you?  Classic Rock or Classic Cheese?  Please vote and leave your comments below.  Classic rock simply means that it’s a classic rock song.  Classic cheese means this is some of the nastiest Limburger out there.

Survivor-Eye of the Tiger!

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KISS - Sonic Boom

KISS Records

It’s been 11 years since KISS entered the studio.  Since then, the band has been declaring that no one wanted a new album.  Singer/guitarist Paul Stanley seemed to believe that the fans would tolerate a new song played live, but ultimately they would say “that’s great.  Now play Love Gun.”  So it seemed odd that after years of apathy, KISS announced that they were going into the studio to record again.  Whatever the reason for the change of heart, the band surprisingly delivered a disc that lives up to their past.

Devoid of outside songwriters, the band locked themselves into a studio and banged out 11 tracks that combine elements of past albums; Rock and Roll Over, Love Gun, Creatures of the Night and Revenge.  The album kicks off with “Modern Day Deliliah”, which sounds like an outtake from 1992′s Revenge disc.  The song is perfectly ok.  Not great, but a good opener.  The album really picks up with bassist/singer Gene Simmons’ tracks.  “Yes I Know (Nobody’s Perfect)” sounds like it could have been taken directly from 1976′s Rock And Roll Over sessions.  This is what KISS sounds like.  This is the classic that fan’s have been waiting for.  “I’m an Animal” could have easily come from 1982′s Creatures of the Night.  “Russian Roulette” and “Hot & Cold” are both solid tracks from the blood spitting demon.

Stanley shines on “Never Enough,” which sounds strikingly similar to Poison’s “Nothin’ But a Good Time.”  Of course that song was ripped off of KISS’ “Deuce,” so it all works out.  Would that be musical incest?  Hmm…something to think  about.  The disc ends with arguably Stanley’s strongest contribution, “Say Yeah.”

Of course, this being KISS, there’s a few tracks on here that would have better been served being left off.  They’re what I like to call, the “Plan 9″ songs:  ie, so bad they’re awesome.  “Danger Us” is as ridiculous as it sounds.  New catman Eric Singer’s vocal debut is a weak attempt that Stanley and Simmons wrote but obviously didn’t want to claim as their own.  They knew it was weak so they passed the buck.  To be fair, Singer’s voice sounds great.  Lead guitarist Tommy Thayer’s track “When Lightining Strikes” is a little better but still doesn’t stand up to the other tracks.  Speaking of Thayer, he makes a huge impact on this album.  He basically copies and pastes parts of original guitarist Ace Frehley’s signature licks and inserts them into the new songs.  While it’s fun to play “name that tune” with the solos, this is part of the reason that Sonic Boom sounds so much like KISS.  Thayer has it down and seems to be the spark that lit the fire under Stanley and Simmons.

In addition, Sonic Boom comes packaged with a bonus disc of classic KISS songs rerecorded with the current line up and a 6 song DVD of a recent live show from South America.  At $12, it’s worth it to venture into Walmart (where it’s exclusively available) to pick it up.

Sonic Boom is the album that fans have been waiting on since 1977.  This is classic KISS in every sense of the word.  They take the best parts of each era of their career and roll it up into one nice mix.  For a band that’s been doing this for 35 years, it’s certainly satisfying and a must own addition to any self respecting general in the KISS Army’s collection.  Surprisingly, it’s also the highest charting album of the band’s career, debuting at #2 on the Billboard charts.  How many bands 35 years in can say that?

Ace Frehley at the House of Blues

5/16/2008

It’s been 13 years since former KISS lead guitarist Ace Frehley went out on a solo tour. What a difference time makes, and more importantly, what a difference sobriety makes. Since his last solo tour in 1995, Frehley once again donned the spaceman make up and enjoyed the incredible success of a worldwide reunion tour with his former band before egos and old demons came back. He parted ways again following KISS’ 2000 farewell tour. Despite efforts from KISS leaders Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley to get Frehley back in the band, the spaceman stuck true to the word “farewell” and has laid low until this year.

Without much fanfare, Frehley and his band of ringers simply walked out on stage and blasted through an hour and a half set that saw him hit each corner of his long career. He kicked things off with “Rip It Out,” the first track from his 1978 solo album and never looked back. The real treat to Frehley’s set was seeing him perform rare gems like “Strange Ways” and the autobiographical “Hard Times.” He dedicated “Breakout” to the late Eric Carr and thanked Paul Stanley for writing a song as great as “Love Gun.”

Despite flubbing a few licks here and there, Frehley’s playing was top notch. He played with a sense of urgency and an intensity that had been lacking during his final tenure in KISS. He nailed all of his signature solos and had the crowd chanting his name during his extended solo following “Shock Me.” While his trademark smoking Les Paul was suspiciously absent from his solo, he made up for it by simply burning up the fretboard. He displayed the chops that made him influential to a generation of future guitar heroes.

Seeing Frehley as the front man is a nice treat. His charisma and sense of humor carried the banter as he told jokes about his grandmother’s farm in North Carolina and 3-D effects of KISS’ Psycho Circus tour. He seemed to be in a fantastic mood while joking around with the crowd and his band mates. The band’s great mood fed the crowd and everyone just had an incredible time.

Following “Rocket Ride,” the band left the stage and the raucous crowd began chanting again until Frehley returned. He kicked off the encores with the first KISS song he ever played, “Deuce.” They even included the swaying “Deuce dance” towards the end of the song. Despite being sober now, the final encore was a blistering version of “Cold Gin” that included the final solo of “Black Diamond.”

While his former bandmates may be playing slowed down versions of their songs with replacement members donning the make up of originals, Frehley is playing like it’s 1975 all over again. The only difference is, his head is clear this time and he’s looking to the future. Simply put, Frehley delivers live.

It was only a matter of time before country music legend Willie Nelson returned to his roots and made a classic country album that actually sounded classic. He’s dabbled in jazz standards, blues and reggae. Now, he’s back with an album that’s every bit as strong as his early days. Paying tribute to Country Music Hall of Fame songwriter Cindy Walker, Nelson has taken her songs and absolutely claimed them. The songs on this disc may not have been written for Nelson, but they certainly sound as if they were.

From the understated humor of “Just Walkin’ Out the Door” and “It’s All Your Fault” to the carefree ramblings of “Sugar Moon” and “Don’t Be Ashamed of Your Age,” it’s obvious that Walker was an inspiration to Nelson’s early writing. Nelson’s conversational singing style is as warm and inviting as ever and perfectly captures the heartbreak and humor prevelent throughout the disc. There’s no studio gloss thrown in just for the sake of using it. Producer Fred Foster knew it was best to just let the musicianship shine through. Johnny Gimble, who had played on many of the original recordings by Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, appears on fiddle and Buddy Emmons rocks the steel guitar.

Without a doubt, You Don’t Know Me: The Songs of Cindy Walker is the best country album of the year. It’s one legend’s tribute to another. This is the perfect disc to just kick back, sip your favorite beverage and just relax to while enjoying some of the best songwriting you’re likely to hear. We may have had to wait for an album as classic as this from Nelson, but this was certainly worth it. You Don’t Know Me is this decade’s Stardust.

“Countryman” exists as a marriage of traditional country and reggae. This didn’t strike me as an unusual or unlikely combination, but the laid back soul of Willie definitely made it seamless. I’ve rarely encountered an album that promoted as much relaxation or peacefulness as this. It only took a comfortable chair and an open imagination for the music to place me on a breezy front porch in Jamaica.

The production of the album is very rhythm heavy as far as bass and percussion. This provided the strong presence of reggae on the tracks along with the undeniable tweaky swishing guitar riffs. Willie’s Texas twang, soft refrain and the ever present steel guitar floating atop the melodies in the background made sure that the country elements were not lost.

The tracks mainly consist of previous classics from Willie’s past, and the album is further strengthened by some choice covers including Jimmy Cliff’s “The Harder They Come,” “Sitting in Limbo,” and “I’m a Worried Man,” which is a duet with Toots Hibbert and written by Johnny and June Carter Cash. “The Harder They Come” is a great song whose sentiment lies in a line that I’m sure appealed to Willie as much as it did Cliff when he wrote it, “I’d rather be a free man in my grave than a puppet or a slave.”

Lines like “Today might be the day that you walk away, but you left a long, long time ago.” (You Left a Long, Long Time Ago”) and “a thousand times I’ve seen you, a thousand times you’ve taken my breath away” (“I Guess I’ve Come to Live Here”) are fine examples of why Willie has truly cemented himself as one of the greatest songwriters in music history, but I can easily maintain that he is a living legend because he’s never been shy about taking the music and the sound to another level. This album lives as a perfect example of the power of Willie’s music to embrace diversity and take on a fresh form that redefines it and him.

-Benjamin Sadler

It takes a special kind of guy to make a living off of other people’s songs. That guy is Weird Al Yankovic. In most cases, the Weird Al version is better than the original, often exploiting the ridiculousness of the source material. Of course, what most people don’t seem to notice is that Al also has original songs. A lof of the time, his originals are homages to certain bands or sounds. On his latest release, Straight Outta Lynwood, the originals are as strong as the parodies.

The album begins with the excellent “White and Nerdy” which delves into familiar territory for the Weird one. The song is about a nerd set against Chamillionaire’s “Ridin’.” This one is even stronger than the similar “It’s All About the Pentiums” from his Running With Scissors album. It packs in more nerdy references such as mySpace, Wikipiedia, Segway, D&D and William Shatner. The accompanying video (which can be viewed at his Website) is a must see. The R. Kelly parody “Trapped in the Drive-Thru” is Weird Al’s masterpiece. At almost eleven minutes, it proves how overblown and ridiculous the inspiration track was. It details a married couple’s simple task to get dinner. It describes in painful details the most mundane of actions such as getting in the car and starting it. Al also parodies tracks by Usher, Green Day and Taylor Hicks.

The originals on this album are quite strong. “Pancreas” is an homage to the Beach Boys. Even lyrically, this song wouldn’t be out of place on Brian Wilson’s Smile. “I’ll Sue Ya” has Al fronting Rage Against the Machine while mocking America’s love of frivolous lawsuits. He’ll even sue you if he sprains his ankle while robbing your place. The Styx like “Virus Alert” is a tale of those emails that you always get telling you not to open certain email messages. The highlight of the album is the “We Are The World” styled “Don’t Download This Song.” He namechecks Lars Ulrich and Tommy Chong while warning of the dangers of downloading mp3s. You can tell that even though it’s making light of the subject, he still feels strongly about it. He even calls you a “cheap bastard” for preventing him from obtaining another solid gold humvee.

This dual disc release also contains DVD footage of animated videos for each of the Al originals. It also has a 9 minute making of featurette. Watch this and you’ll see exactly how hard it is to create something like this. It’s amazing to see how talented Al and his band are. You normally don’t see that from him because he makes it look so easy.

Straight Outta Lynwood is another solid release in the Al catalog. It contains his greatest parody to date “Trapped in the Drive-Thru” and a slew of other strong songs. The only thing holding it back from being excellent is that he futhers the myth that Joe Dirt isn’t a good movie. However, he does suggest a preemptive strike against Canada so I guess that evens it out.

V on the Radio can best be described as a somewhat experimental rock band. The band exists as a group of New York friends with the main members being Tunde Adebimpe, Kyp Malone, David Andrew Sitek, Jaleel Bunton, and Gerard Smith. I say experimental because the sound is completely unique within the scope of current popular music. I say somewhat because the sound remains very approachable and greatly melodic, in a disconnected sort of way.

Return to Cookie Mountain is their first major label (Interscope) release after garnering critical acclaim with three releases under Touch and Go Records. I’ve spun the album a few times and it is quite simply amazing. No two songs on the record sound the same, but it achieves a cohesiveness and a unity of sound that can only be accomplished with impeccable musicianship and arrangement skills. Much of it is based in electro and loops, but the instrumentation layered in results in a remarkable richness of sound and level of complexity. Not to mention the vocals of Adebimpe and Malone are greatly moving and simultaneously offer nuance and power, grace and pain, subtlety and soul. The songs conjure the likes of David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, and Brian Wilson. “A Method” could have easily been a track on Pet Sounds (aside from the lyrical content) as its multi-track vocals and percussion are The Beach Boys to a tee. The sonic range on the album is incredible and yields a level of musical eccelcticism that has all but vanished in today’s music.

A prime example of this range is particularly evident in the first track, “I Was a Lover.” The song starts off with a kick/snare techno beat followed six seconds later by a soft, picked out guitar lead that is synchronous with an abrupt, completely non harmonious horn effect. Somehow this stuff together with the right timing manages to sound “musical.” Twelve seconds later the vocals kick in, “I was a lover…before this war,” transforming the track into a soul song, but not before a couple of static noise effects are loudly introduced that attempt to take over the song while the horn mutates into what a robotic elephant might sound like. Eventually the pleasant melody returns with the vocals following carrying slightly less soul. As the song progresses different flavors such as piano are introduced and taken away, and eventually the noise that was an intrusion before becomes the melody and ends the song as a completely different beast.

“Let the Devil In” is a percussion driven song that seems to have its roots in tribal African music with markedly raucous, joyful group vocals. “Wolf Like Me” is an electronica punk song with a very atmospheric middle break down that eventually gives way back to punk but not without changing the song. “Dirty Whirl” offers a jazz fusion sound with vocals resembling a hot night club singer in the ’20s. “Blues From Down Here” does New Wave better than New Wave did it in the ’80s.

Finally, “Hours” and “Province” (the latter with David Bowie backed vocals) are two of the best songs I’ve heard in the last 15 years. They are beautifully written and arranged and damn near perfect songs. I know I’ve talked up this album to a very high plane, but I’ve heard a lot of music in my life. Albums and groups like this do not come along often, and with todays music barely indistinguishable from a corporate business, I consider myself extremely lucky to have come across this album and this band.

-Ben Sadler

With his track record, when Tom Petty releases an album, you pretty much know what you’re getting. You know you’ll get a solid rock and roll album with songs that tell good stories. Every once in awhile, Petty will exceed your expectations and release something outstanding. Oddly enough, they all seem to be the Petty solo albums. I wonder how the Heartbreakers feel about this! Like Full Moon Fever and Wildflowers before it, Highway Companion is one of Petty’s strongest albums. Stripped to the barest necessities, the songs speak volumes about the man behind them. While not a concept album, each song deals with a journey, whether internal or external.

“Square One” drops the drums and keeps just a guitar and bass. It’s this simplistic approach that gives the song it’s power. The soft acoustic track deals with exactly what you’d expect: starting over. This time however, there seems to me a little more positivity. That’s a common thread throughout, perseverance. “Down South” talks about going home and creating your own identity. There’s always the opportunity to begin again. The opening “Saving Grace,” is the rockinest song on the disc. It’s Petty taking us into the lives of people we don’t know but easily could. He drops us off in the backyard of America and lets us see the dirty laundry and rose gardens.

To say Petty is a gifted songwriter would be the understatement of the last 30 years. You can see everything he writes and easily visualize yourself in his position. He doesn’t have a position, instead, he chooses to just lay it out there for you to accept it for what it is. On Highway Companion, Petty can see the future and it’s bright. However, he hasn’t forgotten the darkness that proceeded it. This is easily one of the best albums of the year.

Dying to Say This to You is the second effort from Swedish power pop quintet The Sounds. Despite my power pop labeling the album definitely isn’t without eclecticism or originality. I’m not trying to lump this into some sort of ’80s revival column. Nevertheless, the album’s melody and many times the glue holding the songs together tends to be somewhat retro keys. This makes keyboard player Jesper Anderberg’s work on the album extremely crucial, and he does an excellent job sometimes giving the songs a dimension and depth they wouldn’t have sans keys.

The same can be said for guitarist Felix Rodriguez. His licks have the ability to kick the melodies into overdrive, and many times on the album the keys take a backseat to Rodriguez’s driving, frantic ax chops. Despite the mastery of Rodriguez and Anderberg, the rhythm section doesn’t exactly consist of slouches. Fredrik Nilsson on drums and Johan Bengtsson on bass round out the tight and punchy music and offer a nice cohesiveness to the sound.

Maja Ivarsson provides the passionate, rock chick vocals for this well rounded, very capable band. Despite her inherent femininity, her vocals have the power to take the songs to another plateau almost giving them a whole new set of balls.

The Sounds are an excellent, very talented band, and Dying to Say This to You is a moderately entertaining collection of songs. The biggest positive I hear listening to the album is potential. There are two songs (“Tony the Beat” and “Hurt You”) on the album that I consider great because they are two where the band seems to experiment the most. Those two songs don’t end the same way they started. They go somewhere. They gain complexity and change for the better. I hope the band continues to offer more experimentation and stays open to change. I’m not saying they should go totally Radiohead, but “Tony the Beat” and “Hurt You” saved the album from mediocrity. Dying to Say This to You is definitely worth a listen and garners high hopes for their future.

-Benjamin Sadler

You know, it’s incredibly refreshing when a modern band can release an album that actually sounds classic? California based The 88 have managed to do just that with their sophomore release Over and Over. With a combination of Beatles like melodies and glam rock flashes, The 88 have created something that’ll stick with you for days and have you humming along after first listen.

Guitarist/vocalist Keith Slettedahl’s vocals fluctuate from sounding like Tom Petty, Marc Bolan and eerily like Jellyfish’s Andy Sturmer. All the while, it still sounds consistent and fits perfectly within the context of the music. In much the same way as Jellyfish, The 88 really benefit from a spot on production job. The bottom end is nice and punchy and the piano shines in the mix. The guitars alternately jangle and crunch in all the right places. Producer Ethan Allen did a hell of a job here.

The Jellyfish comparisons stem from tracks like “Nobody Cares” and “Jesus is Good,” both of which could have appeared on the album Spilt Milk. “Bowls” contains a chorus and ending soundscape that’s reminiscent of early Pink Floyd while “Head Cut Off” sounds like late Beatles. Pretty much, every song on this album is a standout. That’s something that doesn’t happen very often.

The thing that makes this band so interesting is the fact that they aren’t afraid to experiment. This album contains so many sounds that simply don’t exist on most modern rock albums. For a second album, it sounds as if The 88 has 10 under their belt. Sadly, that’s what is probably going to keep the band from getting huge. In a world where bands like Hawthorne Heights and Fallout Boy are all the rage, where does a band so different fit in?

Simply put, Over and Over is how pop music should sound.