Punk Rock Christmas 2 by Various Artists

Put away the pumpkins, kids – it’s time to hang the fishnet stockings, trim the plastic, spittle-flecked tree and celebrate another Punk Rock Christmas with Volume Two! Following on the heels of the massively successful Punk Rock Christmas (released in 2015) comes another collection of holiday favorites performed by an even larger gathering of punk rock all-stars including Tsunami Bomb, The Rumjacks, The Members, The Vibrators, Reagan Youth, Down By Law, Naked Aggression, Johnny Thunders and more and is available on both CD in a stocking-sized digipak and on a beautiful red vinyl released November 1, 2019 on Cleopatra Records.  This twenty-six track album features originals and classics with such tunes as Santa Claus Is Coming To Town by Tsunami Bomb, John Lennon’s classic Happy Christmas (War Is Over) by The Members, Santa Had To Go Into Rehab by The Vibrators, Who Put The Gum In Santa’s Whiskers by The Ship Thieves, Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas by Walter Etc. and so much more.  This album was well compiled, written, performed and recorded plus is available from Amazon, Cleopatra Records, Bandcamp, and many other music outlets.

I’m In Love With You and No Trace Of You by Danielle Morgan

London-based singer/songwriter Danielle Morgan is making a big impact in the UK and internationally with the tracks I’m In Love With You and No Trace Of You released on the RL Recordings (Detroit).  She has a voice that works great with Rock, Blues and Pop.  Listening to these two songs you can definitely tell she is going places and it won’t be long till you see her on Billboards Top 40 charts.  I was quite moved by her performance and how these songs were written and recorded, plus I am looking forward to hearing more from this artist.  I am also looking forward to hearing about her earlier work.  You can learn more about this artist, her music and tour schedule by going to her official website https://www.daniellemorganmusic.com

 

Heavenly Bodies: Expanded Collection by Bill Buford’s Earthworks

Bill Bruford was the drummer with Yes and King Crimson before he moved to jazz with his band Earthworks. Heavenly Bodies – The Expanded Collection which takes 23 tracks from the ‘Earthworks Complete’ Deluxe box set to present a tidy overview of the band’s 20-year history in a double CD released November 15, 2019, on the Summerfold UK Records label.  Back in August, I reviewed Bill Bruford’s ‘Earthworks Complete’ 20 CD / 4 DVD Deluxe Box Set Containing Earthworks’ Entire Catalogue Spanning 20 Years and was impressed with this compilation.  For those that cannot afford the higher price tag and wants to buy his works piecemeal, this is the way to go.  Heavenly Bodies, originally a Mark I collection released in 1997 on the Venture imprint, has been expanded to a two-CD set, collecting music from Earthworks’ various Mark II lineups from ’97 on with such tracks as My Heart Declares A Holiday, Dancing On Frith Street, A Part And Yet Apart, Blues For Little Joe, and much more.  This album was well written, recorded and performed and is available from Amazon, Cherry Red Records, Discogs and other outlets where CDs and digital downloads are sold.

Captivity by Forth

Today I received another great package from Finland.  In this package, there were two CDs and t-shirts from the band Forth.  Captivity is the sophomore album by Forth, a band that provides hard rock with a grunge flavor, built on fat harmonies and fancy melodies.  This great band consists of Brian Forth on vocals, rhythm guitar and keyboards, Tim Norrgrann on lead guitar and backing vocals, Mikael Soderback on bass and backing vocals and Eric Von Hertzen on drums.  This twelve track album released January 3, 2019, on the Secret Entertainment Records label brought the band back to their grunge-inspired roots and It was recorded with a rougher, more bluesy edge with great guitar riffs with such tracks as Master And Slave, Black Angel, Higher Ground, Can’t Bring Me Down, Bad Moon Rising and much more.  One track that really impressed me is they took an Elvis Presley classic Can’t Help Falling In Love and made it their own starting with just a vocal and an acoustic guitar and then went heavy with it with an uptempo beat and a great lead and rhythm guitar work and superb vocals.  This is an album I enjoyed from start to finish and hope they release on vinyl someday.  This album is available on CD and digital download from Amazon, Discogs, Itunes, and other music outlets.  To learn more about this great band, go to their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Forth.Official.  In closing, I want to thank my new friend Brian Forth for giving me the opportunity to review this band.

Full Steam Ahead: 20th Anniversary Edition by The Hootenanny Freaks

It is not very often that I receive music in the mail from a foreign country but this is an exception.   Today I want to review the two-song vinyl LP named Full Steam Ahead 20^th Anniversary Edition by The Hootenanny Freaks, a heavy rock band from Finland released March 26, 2019. The lineup for this amazing album is Marko Kuurne on drums, Pepe Tamminen on vocals, Esko Kemell on guitar, Aapo Häyrinen on guitar and keyboards, and Marko Leino on bass.  This vinyl EP contains the songs Full Stream Ahead and Storm Is Rising.  I enjoyed this vinyl album with great guitar work, amazing vocals, driving drum beats.  This is an album I can listen to over and over again with its great songwriting and performance as well as how it was recorded.  To learn more about this awesome band, their music, and maybe find a copy of the Vinyl EP and more go to their official website http://www.hootenannyfreaks.com

The Roots Of Great White 1978-1982 by Dante Fox

The Roots Of Great White 1978-1982 is the October 25, 2019 compilation of songs by the band Dante Fox that later became the great rock band, Great White.   This band started by Jack Russell on vocals and Mark Kendall on guitar is joined by Don Costa on bass and Tommy Richards on drums.  This 17 track album are demos recorded by Dante Fox and later some songs ended up on Great White’s first album, a self-titled album released in 1984.  In Love and Money ended up on that album.  On this album there are many great tracks such as Last Time, Front Row Girl, Stay Away, On The Run and so much more.  It was very interesting to hear the songs the made this group go from Dante Fox to Great White after seeing Kendall stick his head out of a car window while driving by the Troubador and some kid in the crowd said: “there goes Great White”. Kendall got the nickname due to his naturally white-blonde hair, white Fender Telecaster guitar, white jumpsuit, and white Capezio shoes.  I was quite impressed with how these demos were written, performed and recorded.  This is a great album and I highly recommend this album for your rock library.  You can pick up a copy of this album on Vinyl, CD and digital download from Amazon, Bandcamp, Discogs, and many other music outlets.

Bootleg by Downchild

Bootleg is the 1971 debut album from the Canadian blues group the Downchild Blues Band later shortened to Downchild consisting of Don Walsh on guitar, Rick “The Hock” Walsh on vocals, Jim Milne on bass, Cash Watt on drums, Dave Woodward on tenor saxophone and Ron Jacobs on tenor and baritone saxophones.  This ten-track album features such songs as Rock It, That’s All Right, Messin’ With The Kid, Change My Way Of Livin’, Next Time You See Me and much more.  I was impressed with the amazing vocals and guitar riffs as well as great songwriting, plus this debut album was well performed and recorded.  Bootleg was reissued on CD on September 11, 2007, without any extra tracks and can also be streamed and purchased at the band’s official website https://www.downchild.com where you can learn more about this amazing band and their music plus Amazon, Discogs and many other outlets.

Be Bop Deluxe: Modern Music, 4CD/1DVD Deluxe Boxset Edition by Be Bop Deluxe

Modern Music is the remastered five-disc deluxe expanded box set limited edition of the 1976 recording by Be-Bop Deluxe an English progressive rock band who achieved critical acclaim and moderate commercial success during the mid to late 1970s, to be released December 12, 2019, on the Esoteric Records label. This is the fourth release by this band comprising of Bill Nelson on vocals, guitars, and keyboards, Charles Tumahai on bass and vocals, Andy Clark on keyboards and Simon Fox on drums.  The Modern Music Box Set comprises of four CDs and a DVD features an additional 55 bonus tracks drawn from a stunning new 5. 1 surround sound and stereo mixes from the original multi-track tapes along with BBC in Concert versions of such tracks as Maid In Heaven, the title track Modern Music, Shine, Forbidden Lovers, Orphans Of Babylon, Lost In The Neon World, Make The Music Magic and so much more.  This compilation was well written, performed, mixed, and recorded.  This is a great addition to your music library and can be purchased from Amazon, Cherry Red Records, and many other music outlets.

Breaking Shadows by Sariyah Idan

Breaking Shadows is the October 8, 2019, and her first full-length album by Sariyah Idan, an American songwriter, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist whose soul and jazz-influenced expressions have come to fruition in this release on the Urban Jewess Productions label.  This seventeen track album is a mixture of hip hop, jazz, soul and pop with amazing vocals and harmonies on such tracks as Shine, Darkness, Truth To Power, Claim Your Gods, Vibe, Passion and much more.  Listening to this album, I want to hear more from this artist as I was quite moved by her songwriting, her performance on this album as I enjoyed this from start to finish and how it was recorded and produced.  This amazing album is available from Amazon, Itunes, Bandcamp and many other outlets where digital downloads are sold.  You can learn more about this great artist by going to her official website https://www.sariyahidan.com

Black Devine by Sonic Temple

Black Devine is their third studio album and my fourth review for Sonic Temple, a two-piece melodic progressive metal and alternative grunge band formed in 2010 in Llanelli, South Wales, U.K. & comprises the line up of Andrew Richards on lead, rhythm and bass guitars, and Allan Green on vocals with all drums arranged by Sonic Temple.  This great album released October 19, 2014, of all original material, showcases the songwriting talents of Green and Richards which such tracks as Survive, The Truth, Another Day, Forgiven and much more.  I was quite impressed by their songwriting talents, their amazing performance with amazing vocals and guitar work and the way it was recorded and produced.  This album is available as a digital download as well as their other work from their Bandcamp page https://sonictemple.bandcamp.com