For Your Listening Pleasure

Here are some CD's I must recommend.

Adriangale - Crunch
Jamie Rowe from Guardian sang for this band. They broke up after this CD, but what a way to go out. Great melodic rock with some interesting arrangements. It's from 2004, but carries itself like it could have been recorded in the late 80's or early 90's. Good guitar work and great rock vocals. It's probably been on the car stereo the most out of everything mentioned here.

INXS - Switch
The first CD with new vocalist JD Fortune who gets 3 songwriting credits here. It has that classic INXS sound throughout. I'm probably more of a fan now than I ever used to be. These guys are moving on and even taking their sound to some diverse areas.

The Darkness - One Way Ticket To Hell...And Back
I haven't heard a better nod to Queen and the diverse, yet classic sound of the 70's ever! These guys know their history and know how to make it sound original. There was a lot of thought put into the songwriting and arranging of this CD. It has some AC/DC crunch, the falsetto vocals, some orchestration, and an all out rock feel. You won't get bored listening to this CD and you will find more in it with repeated listens.

Soul Doctor - Fistful Of Dollars
This is a band I had never heard of before. I went through a stack of CD's I had, but hadn't listened to, and this is a pure gem. The vocals remind you of Axl in some spots and Brian Johnson in others. The guy can sing. The band can play. And they sure write some solid tunes. This brand of rock could fit along side Cry Of Love or any other great band from the 70's. There is some solid guitar on here that would take you back to the days of guitarists playing with feel. Soul it is!

I've had some other CD's on by bands I haven't heard of before. Sven Gali tries real hard to be progressive in the pop metal style, but doesn't really stand out. Cherry Bomb sounds like a garage punk band recording a demo. Cherry Bang sounds like an unexceptional Sunset Strip band from the 80's. Adrenaline Sky is a band I really tried to like because Dan Reed sang for them. They are a combination of Dan Reed Network, who I love, and 90's grunge, which I can barely stand. It's not a good mix since the instruments really don't stand out from each other in that grungy sound, but you can tell that Dan is trying to get the Dan Reed sound through. It just doesn't work very well.

I also listened to Ozzy's Under Cover. My question is simply "Why?". Most of the songs are not very well known and the ones that are just sound like his typical sound in doing them. There isn't anything that stands out and you can tell he is just getting worse as a singer. Ozzy has never been a great singer and the mumbling really is starting to show on some of these cuts. I hope he records one more CD that blows everything he's ever done away and then retires. I'd really like to see Ozzy go out on top as the madman he is, or was, than the sitcom star he's become. Ozzy, my advice is to get Zakk Wylde to help you write some killer tunes and then go enjoy an island somewhere in retirement. No more adult contemporary, stick to the hard edge tunes.