Van Halen to Release First Live Album with David Lee Roth

After many days of rumors swirling around the internet, it has finally been confirmed by the band itself that Van Halen will finally be releasing its very first live album with original singer David Lee Roth.

Being considered by the band their "definitive live album", the upcoming live release will be titled Tokyo Dome Live in Concert and will feature recordings of Van Halen's July 21st, 2013 performance at the Tokyo Dome in Japan during the tour supporting their 2012 studio effort A Different Kind of Truth.

The album will feature 25 songs, including ones from A Different Kind of Truth. The Van Halen News Desk says “there are absolutely no touch-ups on the lead vocals, unlike most live albums. They considered using different songs from different shows, but thought it would be better to simply release one stellar performance.”

In addition to this upcoming live album, Van Halen will also be taking the same route Led Zeppelin has been taking over the past year by rereleasing all of their old catalog with Roth but remastered from the original analog tapes the tracks were recorded on. The band will be starting with Van Halen and 1984 and will be releasing them at the same time as Tokyo Dome Live in Concert. Later on this spring Diver Down, Women and Children First, Van Halen II, as well as Fair Warning will be rereleased as well.

I can see this live album being a double edged sword. On the one hand I think it is great for Van Halen to put out something that shows what they can do in their later career live. Plus, it will be cool to hear some of the newer songs in a live performance. On the other hand, the band isn't as youthful, energetic, and hungry as they once were. They have all aged and no amount of effort will cover that up. There is no doubt that they can still put on one hell of a show, but odds are it won't sound anywhere near as upbeat, adventurous, and fresh as they did 35 years ago. Roth's voice while still fairly intact still shows age. Plus, the lack of former bassist and backing vocalist Michael Anthony will be a serious setback as well. If I were in their position I would look into finding some old soundboard recordings from their original heyday and see if they can be properly mixed and mastered into a live album as well.

Track List for Tokyo Dome Live in Concert:

1. Unchained
2. Runnin’ With the Devil
3. She’s the Woman
4. I’m the One
5. Tattoo
6. Everybody Wants Some!!
7. Somebody Get Me a Doctor
8. China Town
9. Hear About It Later
10. (Oh) Pretty Woman
11. Me & You (Drum Solo)
12. You Really Got Me
13. Dance the Night Away
14. I’ll Wait
15. Cradle Will Rock
16. Hot for Teacher
17. Women in Love
18. Romeo Delight
19. Mean Street
20. Beautiful Girls
21. Ice Cream Man
22. Panama
23. Eruption
24. Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love
25. Jump

Throwback Thursday: Blue Blood, by X-Japan

 
As hard as this may be for some of you to believe, English speaking/singing bands are not the only ones who can rock your socks off. It's true. One such example of this is a heavy metal band from Japan that began in 1982 called X-Japan. Unlike many other contemporary music groups from Japan, much of X-Japan's music is far less poppy and more amps up to 11 speedy heavy metal; though later on in their career they did start including a lot more ballads in their set list. However, this doesn't change the fact that they are skilled enough to rock with the British and American bands that the majority of the English speaking world listens to.

In 1989 X-Japan found breakthrough success with their second album Blue Blood. The tunes on this album while very much traditional speed/thrash metal riff based also have a great deal of guitar melody in them; particularly when both guitarists (hide and Pata) harmonize with one another. At times however it almost seems as though they are trying to mimic or at least just pay tribute to Van Halen, which honestly wouldn't surprise me considering how influential they have been in both rock and metal over the past 3+ decades. To top it off, they have a pretty top notch singer, Toshi. Though the average American listener probably won't have any idea what he is saying, his voice is still enough to give you goosebumps at times.

One of the best tracks on the album is the first track that has vocals, the title track Blue Blood. It wastes absolutely no time getting to the meat and potatoes of the album's content by kicking in with some of the fastest rhythm guitar picking I've ever heard all while Yoshiki is absolutely pounding away at the drums and Taiji is thundering away on the bass to keep pace. However, the vocal melodies in the tune are really what make it memorable for me. Whatever Toshi is singing about, he is putting his all into it. To top things off however, hide and Pata do some of the most fantastic solo work I have EVER heard. The way they work together as a lead guitar duo would put many American and British bands to shame.

Easy Fight Rambling could easily be mistaken for a Van Halen tune if the Japanese vocals didn't give it away. Everything about it SCREAMS Van Halen's late 70's musical style; from the guitar riffs, the solos, vocal melodies, drum rhythm, etc. It is upbeat and melodic while also keeping that extra edge and bite to let you know that this is hard rock/heavy metal and not some wimpy pop tune. In a way it kind of reminds me of Van Halen's I'm the One from their 1978 debut album Van Halen. However, while the style may not be originally theirs I think of it as an absolutely splendid way to pay tribute to a band they clearly have a lot of love for.

If you have enough of an open mind to give something from a non-English singing band a try, I think you will be in for a pleasant surprise with Blue Blood. I personally was pleasantly surprised when I first popped this record on. I was expecting something poppy and happy like most of what I've heard from Japan, but no. I was taken on one hell of a ride. It certainly should have a place on the shelf with all of your other rock and metal albums. It is heavy, melodic, speedy, and shreds with the rest of the big boys of the genre.

Blue Blood, by X-Japan receives 4 out of 5 stars.

Track List:

1. Prologue (World Anthem)
2. Blue Blood
3. Week End
4. Easy Fight Rambling
5. X
6. Endless Rain
7. Kurenai
8. Xclamation
9. Orgasumu
10. Celebration
11. Rose of Pain
12. Unfinished

Buy the album on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Blood-X-Japan/dp/B004JDV922/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1423198070&sr=8-2&keywords=X+Japan+Blue+Blood

Joe Satriani Has New Album in the Works

Guitar wizard extraordinaire Joe Satriani seems to have some new music up his sleeves, as he is currently working on a brand new album at his favorite recording studio Skywalker Sound in California. This will be a follow up to 2013's Unstoppable Momentum.

The new album is happening during an extended lack of activity with Satriani's super group Chickenfoot, which consists of Satch, Sammy Hagar on vocals, Michael Anthony on bass and backing vocals, and Chad Smith on drums. Supposedly the album is going to drop on July 15th of this year. On this album Satch will be joined by Marco Minnemann on drums, Bryan Beller on bass, and Mike Keneally (who has worked with Satch on multiple albums) on keys.

Personally, I'm hoping Satch's new album takes a more focused direction with more memorable melodies and riffs like his album Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards. Unstoppable Momentum didn't really do it for me. However, I do applaud him for going in a slightly more progressive direction with the Unstoppable Momentum album.

Satch also has a new set of UK tour dates lined up; his first in about two years; calling it the Shockwave Tour. They will be happening much later this year.

Shockwave Tour Dates

11/1 – Manchester
11/2 – Birmingham
11/3 – Glasgow
11/4 – Sheffield
11/5 – Cardiff
11/7 – Southend
11/8 – Bristol
11/9 – Portsmouth
11/10 – London

Megadeth to Begin Recording New Album in March

It would seem that the recent departure of long time members Shawn Drover and Chris Broderick has not hindered Megadeth from working on new music. In fact, according to founder and front man Dave Mustaine the band is set to begin recording next month (March) a follow-up to 2013's Super Collider. So far Mustaine has not revealed the names of any of the replacements for the departed members, but has insisted that "fans will be happy" with the choices they have made.

Mustaine is intending this time around to stick to his roots and give the fans the kind of music they want to hear. This means no more radio/commercial friendly Megadeth. Mustaine recently did an interview with Full Metal Jackie where he stated:

“I’m going in the studio March 2 no matter what. It’s set right now. I told the label I’m not making another radio song ever, cause you know that’s what record companies want. It was the bane of Megadeth’s existence. When 1992’s Countdown To Extinction came out, we had so many radio songs — from Countdown to Youthanasia to Cryptic Writings to Risk and down and down and down. It was more radio, radio, radio. I love all those songs, but it’s not what Megadeth fans want to hear. They want to hear The Conjuring, Set The World Afire, stuff like Devil’s Island, Holy Wars and Prisoners and I get it, I wrote those songs. I can do that in my sleep. But when you’re having someone say, ‘This is what you have to do,’ you know, you listen or you don’t.’”

Hopefully Megadeth's new tracks will have the same kind of raw burning passion, fire, and power that the classic ones did. The last album that they did in their main style (2011's TH1RT3EN) seemed kind of bland and flavorless with none of the rage fueled riffs and lyrics that the band has been known for. Many fans including myself have become afraid that Mustaine has become soft, calm, and uninspired in his old age. Maybe with some luck we will be proven wrong.

5 Songs to Get You Through the Week #11

5 Songs to Get You Through the Week is a feature I run on Young Ears, Fresh Perspective on Sundays/early hours of Monday morning where I pick out 5 tunes that I think are notable and tell you a bit about them. The point is to give you some rocking music to help you deal with your weekday blues. You can either listen to one each day, listen to them all at once, or any other combination that you feel. As long as you can get through the week without the man getting you down, that's all I care about. Without further ado, here are the 5 tracks I've picked out for this week:

1. All Over the Road, by Rival Sons

A song whose title seems quite appropriate given the current weather situation, don't you think?  The lyrical content is quite different from anything weather related, though. For those who don't know, Rival Sons is a blues flavored hard rock band from Long Bach, CA that got started back in 2008. This is a fun old school style rock song with modern nuances. The guitar tone is fat, big, and loud and is backed by drums and bass that punch through your speakers and leave them wondering who did this to them and why. It is mildly reminiscent of Led Zeppelin, but has a more aggressive rhythm to it.

2. UFO, by Mythra

Mythra was a highly regarded band from the New Age of British Heavy Metal movement of the late 1970's and early 1980's. However, they only put out one EP (and later a full LP was released by the record company in 1998) before contractual/business reasons forced them to split. The tune UFO is one of the best that they put out. The beginning sounds a bit like Deep Purple's Space Truckin', but it doesn't take long for it to become its own song. The rhythm has a gallop to it, but then again many metal songs in that day did. The chorus has a memorable vocal hook to it, and that is what makes it particularly memorable. It's a shame that Mythra did not carry on, but this song at the very least is worth checking out if you're into old metal.

3. Time, by Pink Floyd

This classic about the passage of time and the way life seems to slip out from underneath us when we are not looking is one of Pink Floyd's finest works. Not surprising, considering it's from Dark Side of the Moon. The intro will startle any unsuspecting listener with its burst of a multitude of alarm clocks going off simultaneously. The rest of the song is a bit more melodic and less nerve racking. As with many of Pink Floyd's songs, though the melodies are quite powerful it's the lyrical content that makes this song the masterpiece that it is known to be.

4. S.A.T.O., by Ozzy Osbourne

S.A.T.O. as far as I'm concerned is one of Ozzy Osbourne's most under rated songs of all time. It comes from his second solo album Diary of a Madman. Every last vocal melody is catchy and will ingrain itself into your brain. At the same time, the band is playing their butts off and putting everything they have into the creation and performance of this magical song. Guitar wizard Randy Rhoads outdid himself immensely in his guitar work and song writing. This upbeat rocker almost makes you feel like you are actually going on a journey across the ocean.

5. Jumpin' Jack Flash, by The Rolling Stones

Who with any taste in music hasn't danced around to this cheery toned rock n' roll ruckus by The Rolling Stones at least once in their lives? For as much flack as they have gotten over the years for various reasons, they put out some of the absolute BEST rock n' roll mankind has ever heard. That being said, with the mid-winter blues getting us all down we could use a good tune to get us up on our feet and forget about all of the troubles we all have in our lives right now. At the very least it will keep your mind off the snow for a few minutes.

4 Bands That Completely Changed Their Sound

Many a time in rock n' roll history a band will start off with a certain kind of sound, but then either over the course of time or with the arrival/departure of certain members, or a myriad of other reasons they will change their sound completely and then become commercially successful. Often time this pisses off long time fans of these bands who knew them first (we often refer to these people as hipsters) and loved them the way they were before they "sold out" and became a money making music act. Below are a few bands who have done this including examples of their early work.

1. The Black Keys

Before The Black Keys were making hit songs like Gold on the Ceiling, Lonely Boy, Little Black Submarines, Gotta Get Away, etc. they were a lo-fi gritty, soulful, thick edged blues band. In fact, they had this sound for their first 4 or 5 albums before they started transitioning on records like Attack & Release and Brothers into the modern pop rock they are known for. While understandably Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney need to evolve as musicians, this move alienated a great deal of their long time fans who followed them for the first 7 years of their career.

2. Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac is another example of a blues band that turned into pop rock. Before well known members Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham joined the band in 1975 they had been known for their straight up approach to blues, but with elements of hard rock and prog rock layering in later on in the early line-ups of the band. Founding frontman Peter Green was the primary songwriter and was a bluesman to the core, though as previously stated he did explore a lot musically later on as it was the late 1960's/early 1970's. However, in the mid-70's the band was about to split up after going through multiple replacements for Green when he quit in the early 70's. The band then hired Nicks and Buckingham and went the more pop direction they are known for today.

3. Def Leppard

Believe it or not, Def Leppard wasn't always a highly polished catchy hook delivering machine. There was a time where they played straight up heavy metal and could keep up with the best of the big boys in the early 1980's. Their first two albums On Through the Night and High n' Dry proved that they knew how to rock and had legitimate skills. As time went on however, they started favoring a more commercial style that would help them sell records. That's when the big hair, ear pleasing vocal harmonies, MTV videos, and earworm melodies began finding their way into the mix. Unfortunately, these albums have gone mostly forgotten and you have to go digging for them to know of their existence and find yourself a copy.

4. Avenged Sevenfold

When this highly regarded metal quintet began in the late 1990's, they were a metalcore band through and through. M. Shadows only rarely did much of the way of melodic singing in those days. Their first album Sounding the Seventh Trumpet is the prime example of this. However, by the time they got to their second album Waking the Fallen, they were already beginning to transition to the more commercial/radio friendly style they do today. The album was half metalcore screaming and half tradition metal singing. To be honest, that was actually their best sound in my opinion. Unfortunately, the band has stated recently that they have no desire to do any more music in that style.

Throwback Thursday: Buckcherry, by Buckcherry

In the mid-90's just as grunge was dying out there was a hard rock band playing the clubs in Hollywood with a heavily tattooed singer and guitarist who had a sound that was bluesy crunchy style that had not been heard in at least a couple of decades by that point. This band was none other than Buckcherry, though at the time their name was Sparrow (until they got a cease and desist letter form an already existing record label with the same name). After years of hard work and a vast amount of strong support from their local scene, the band finally got signed with DreamWorks Records and then released their self-titled debut album Buckcherry and met with a noticeable amount of commercial success.

The influence from classic rock bands like AC/DC is quite present in Buckcherry, but none of the songs sound like a direct rip-off of anything. From start to finish the album is quite a rocking adrenaline rush, though from time to time it lets you breathe with a few slower songs. For lack of better wording, the style is "cock rock" but at the same time there are some real subjects talked about with honest feelings conveyed to the listener. This is probably what helps separate Buckcherry from many of the other bands of its kind.

Lit Up opens the album with the crunchiest, tastiest, and catchiest riff by Keith Nelson you could possibly think of. When the rest of the band kicks in everything just goes balls to the wall. It isn't a fast song; about upper mid-tempo. Josh Todd's Americanized Bon Scott style vocals match the band for intensity in a way that makes the two entities compliment one another beautifully. This is one of those songs that can get a crowd up on its feet and just jump when played in a live setting. There is nothing else that you could possibly do.

Check Your Head slows things down for a moment, but it does so in a good way. Todd sings about being happy with what you have in life and to appreciate those you have in life because you never know what they are going through and what may happen to them if you're not careful. The music itself is still pretty bluesy and rocking, but at the same time a bit more laid back and played mostly with straight chords. The guitar solo is what really makes this song, though. It is melodic, memorable, and almost a song in itself.

If you only know Buckcherry for songs like Crazy Bitch, then you're seriously missing out on one hell of a rock n' roll song catalog. Buckcherry does not have a single bad song on it and will have you singing along within the first couple of listens. It's cock rock with an actual purpose to it. It is by far my favorite album of theirs even to this day. It really will remind you what rock n' roll is all about if you feel like you have become removed and forgotten about it.

Buckcherry, by Buckcherry Receives 5 out of 5 stars.

Track List:

1. Lit Up
2. Crushed
3. Dead Again
4. Check Your Head
5. Dirty Mind
6. For the Movies
7. Lawless and Lulu
8. Related
9. Borderline
10. Get Back
11. Baby
12. Drink the Water

Buy the album on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Buckcherry/dp/B00000IGQU/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1422596096&sr=8-4&keywords=Buckcherry