[StoneDeaf]

Of recent albums I bought, thought I'd post some suggestions for ya...

LIVING LOUD:
Don Airey, Bob Daisley & Lee Kerslake (who used to work with/for Ozzy when he went solo) with Steve Morse & Jimmy Barnes cooked up cool album, half of which is contains of classic Ozzy tunes. Jimmy Barnes' rough voice fits them nicely, and their original tracks aren't that weak either.

EUROPE: START FROM THE DARK
Classic Europe line-up releasing new album, being bit heavier than before. Still some cheesy tunes (as expected I guess), but overall very cool, rocking album. For me, heaviness was a suprise. Their sound has improved a lot since their last album, I really like them heavy guitars.

SONATA ARCTICA: RECKONING NIGHT
Finnish "power metal". After 1st listening it sounded kinda boring, after all bands falling into this genre are quiet similar, and Sonata is not offering anything new to the genre.....but, hearing few more times, this proves to be in fact very good album, with no weak tunes. I suppose it is a good thing if an album takes more then one hearing to open up. Dunno if it's me but production sounds bit weak, I'd expect more dynamic sound for music like this...anyway, I'd rate this as their strongest album so far.

GREEN DAY: AMERICAN IDIOT
Damn good rock album, with no fillers. Wouldn't call this punk, it's more like mainstream rock. That doesn't lessen the album any way tho, quite the opposite. This has more rought edges than likely any album making the charts today. Also, this sounds really good. Strong production gives G.D a kick. If ur into punk-influenced rock, this must be record of the year for you.

HYBRID CHILDREN: GHOST TOWN CARNIVAL
Another punk-influenced rock album, this one coming from Finland. Gotta admit, after Green Day this is like from another planet....after few listenings this proved to be a nice one too. There are couple of weaker tunes, but in general I like the way they combine rought edges with catchy choruses. Plus cover version of Misfits' "we are 138" sure rocks.

STATUS QUO: XS ALL AREAS
Double cd compilation, covering their whole career so far. Picked this up because I had no Quo cd's, only had their older stuff a vinyl. I guess everyone knows them, well everyone should!!!..Quo was and still is one of the best "having-a-good-time-rock-n-roll" bands.

MENIKETTI: MENIKETTI
MENIKETTI: ON THE BLUE SIDE

Two solo albums by Dave Meniketti, frontman of Y&T. *Blue" being bluesy, guitear oriented rock, and overall damn good album. IMO, way better than any Gary Moore bluesy efforts. Check it out guys. "Meniketti" being more of an "regular" hard rock album. I have always liked Dave's voice, and his song writing, so this album delivers the goods for me. Nothing flashy, just plain hard rock.

[Iceman]

Originally Posted by StoneDeaf

EUROPE: START FROM THE DARK
Classic Europe line-up releasing new album, being bit heavier than before. Still some cheesy tunes (as expected I guess), but overall very cool, rocking album. For me, heaviness was a suprise. Their sound has improved a lot since their last album, I really like them heavy guitars.

I think it's a bit too heavy for Europe. Most of the songs sound the same and the songs lack any real melodies Europe's known for. There are about 4 good songs, the rest are in the category of "OK". Tonight I'll hear how they sound live.

Ice

[Javier]

Cool!!
I've been wanting to check out Sonata Artica's release but haven't got around to it.I'll check it out.

just to add a few more to this post I recently bought the new album by The used and It's really really good.Solid from begining to end, It's not really punk and It's not really emo to me wich is what The Used are commonly being referred as but it Rocks.

I also got the new Senses Fails Album also.It's the same kind of style but a bit more poppy and more emo like screams. If anybody is into punk influenced rock with a few screams thrown in I recommend this one.

I also bought Shadows Fall-the war whithin, I'm sure most of you aren't into this kind of rock but man o man the guitars are so f*cking hot in this record.

[Late]

Originally Posted by StoneDeaf

Of recent albums I bought, thought I'd post some suggestions for ya...

SONATA ARCTICA: RECKONING NIGHT
Finnish "power metal". After 1st listening it sounded kinda boring, after all bands falling into this genre are quiet similar, and Sonata is not offering anything new to the genre.....but, hearing few more times, this proves to be in fact very good album, with no weak tunes. I suppose it is a good thing if an album takes more then one hearing to open up. Dunno if it's me but production sounds bit weak, I'd expect more dynamic sound for music like this...anyway, I'd rate this as their strongest album so far.

.

YES!!! For me the best album of the year. It didn´t let me down, I can recommend it.

[spunkywho]

Originally Posted by StoneDeaf

Of recent albums I bought, thought I'd post some suggestions for ya...

LIVING LOUD:
Don Airey, Bob Daisley & Lee Kerslake (who used to work with/for Ozzy when he went solo) with Steve Morse & Jimmy Barnes cooked up cool album, half of which is contains of classic Ozzy tunes. Jimmy Barnes' rough voice fits them nicely, and their original tracks aren't that weak either.

WHAT??? WHAT???? WHAT??? What is that???

Jimmy Barnes??? When did this come out?

STATUS QUO: XS ALL AREAS
Double cd compilation, covering their whole career so far. Picked this up because I had no Quo cd's, only had their older stuff a vinyl. I guess everyone knows them, well everyone should!!!..Quo was and still is one of the best "having-a-good-time-rock-n-roll" bands.

hehe - my sister used to be a massive status quo fan back in the day --- I'll look for this one.

[BJdavidLS]

I also thought that sonata's new album isn't that good at first listen, but it really grew on me. Not the best of the year, but that's only because I really like Nightwish more, and their album "Once" is my favourite of the year, I really really enjoy this album and all the extra tracks, there's a lot of them. Also on sonata arctica's single, there is a cover of Vanishing Point's "Two Minds One Soul" which really was the only song that I liked since the first listen. Isn't theirs but is very very powerful. Go finland go.

[StoneDeaf]

Originally Posted by spunkywho

WHAT??? WHAT???? WHAT??? What is that???

Jimmy Barnes??? When did this come out?

It's 2004 release, I just bought it couple of days ago, but I think it has been out for a while, since I recall someone talking about couple of weeks ago.

Living Loud - Living Loud - Amazon.com Music

[spunkywho]

cool - thanks.

[Wild_x_Wind]

Originally Posted by StoneDeaf

EUROPE: START FROM THE DARK
Classic Europe line-up releasing new album, being bit heavier than before. Still some cheesy tunes (as expected I guess), but overall very cool, rocking album. For me, heaviness was a suprise. Their sound has improved a lot since their last album, I really like them heavy guitars.

i totally agree. i'm really loving it. i was never a fan of theirs until i heard this album, it's fantastic!!

[StoneDeaf]

Few more....

NIGHTWISH: ONCE
*the album of the year* for me. There is no way of describing this album with few words, it's something u just have to hear for yourself. And hearing means proper stereo system, not crappy comp speakers. Sound on this album is awesome!...Songs have grown a lot since their last album...I mean, Nightwish was never simple or straight forward, but this takes them even further. Strong compositions, strong production. Using strings added depth to their sound. Nightwish *is* everything that symphonic metal is about. Check it out. Oh and just a little note about bonus tracks...americans get 2 bonus tracks, same as japanese. Us europeans were left with "regular" release.

NEGATIVE: SWEET & DECEITFUL
Another band from Finland, sort of glam rock with lotsa pop influence. I expected lots of this, their debut being absolutely brilliant.....somehow this fails to deliver. I am not saying this is a crappy release, not at all. Only fault is that it's too predictable. Nice cover of "My my hey hey". Jovi fans might find the album enjoyable with all the "romantic" cheesiness

HUMAN TEMPLE:
Another Finnish band. Melodic heavy 80s style. At first I thought this was too soft & cheesy, but hearing it more it started to sound really good. For fellow finns the name of the vocalist might ring a bell (Janne Hurme).....

CYBERNAUTS: LIVE
Older album, released 2001. Quite interesting one indeed. Trevor Bolder, Phil Collen, D ick Decent & Joe Elliott doing a live set of classic Bowie tracks.

KILPI: II TASO
Yet more finnish stuff. Heavy metal 80's style, this time in finnish. There was never anything successful like this done in finnish back in 80s, and I do think these guys aer doing it decade too late. Lots of them metal-cliches are there, musically and lyrically. But hell, it's what this kind of stuff is made of!

DIO: MASTER OF THE MOON
Not his best album for sure. In fact, this one offers nothing new. Everyone who knows Dio already know what kind of album this is. Metal, monsters and higher than life emotions, only problem is that he's done it time and time again. Gotta give the man credit tho, how old is he? 60+ or so, and still manages to rock the shite out of many younger souls.

NO DOUBT: BOOM BOX
Now this is a good example on how to put together a box set. Starting with "singles" collection, then another cd of rarities, then the singles dvd with all their video clips to date, and finally Live in the tragic kingdom dvd. Absolutely worth every cent.