Milagro – Santana

Milagro is the seventeenth studio album by Santana, released in 1992. Milagro, which means “miracle” in Spanish, was dedicated to the lives of Miles Davis and Bill Graham, and was Santana’s first album on the Polydor label after twenty-two years with Columbia Records. The album reached 102 in the Billboard  200. This was my second album of Santana that I purchased, the first being Abraxas and I also had a compilation of his best hits.

We start off from a live recording introduction by Billy Graham and it segues into Milagro. Lyrically it just states about working with others and letting music heal everyone and it’s Latin beat will keep you dancing. Beginning with a talk track by Martin Luther King, the gentle guitar works of Carlos before the religious lyrics of Somewhere In Heaven. The slow track suddenly picks up in pace. Saja/Right On is a cover of a Marvin Gay track, done in Santana’s style. Your Touch is probably one of the better tracks with a dance feel and almost spoken word style singing. The guitar solo is a searing blister of shred work. Life Is For Living is a very uptempo fun song about the good things in life, with fun guitar work as well as keyboard soloing by Chester D. Thompson.

Red Prophet is driven more by the keyboards by Chester and it takes a while for Santana’s guitar to show up. Agua Que Va Caer sounds very Afro centric and has this beat that reminds me of the Congo. Make Somebody Happy is a throwback to RnB numbers, a romantic tune. Free All The People (South Africa) is a shoutout to the end of apartheid which was just around the horizon. The singing is done well in this as is the understated guitar soloing. Gypsy/Grajonca is an instrumental ballad dedicated to German-born American impresario and rock concert promoter, with a faster and more rockier bit in the middle. Bill Graham (whose birth name was Wulf Wolodia Grajonca).

We Don’t Have To Wait is a funky number that is surely a get up and dance in concerts. And finally we A Dios which is a goodbye to the album, a quick 1:31 that ends in a jazz burst. The focus of the album is centered on Carlos Santana’s guitar interpretation and Latin rhythms. Milagro may not be Santana’s best album, but its balance of energies and genre versatility make it a record well worth listening to. It is likely not on the average rocker’s radar; however, once you give it a listen, it’s impossible not to dance and eagerly anticipate what comes next.

1987 – Whitesnake

1987 is the seventh studio album by English rock band Whitesnake, released on 23 March 1987, by Geffen Records in the US and by EMI Records in the UK one week after. It was co-written and recorded for over a year in what would be the only collaboration between vocalist David Coverdale and guitarist John Sykes, the final album to feature original bassist Neil Murray and the only album with drummer Aynsley Dunbar. The album, besides its commercial success, is remarkable for the band’s change to a more modern glam metal look and sound, and the first recording to use the band’s new logo which would characterise them in the future.

Crying in the Rain is the first song on the album and is a slightly different version of the original, which was released on the group’s 1982 album Saints & Sinners. The song was inspired by singer David Coverdale’s divorce. From more slower and bluesier it is now much heavier and with a faster sound, influenced by heavy metal. Still of the Night, which was written by David Coverdale & John Sykes was released as the first single from their self-titled 1987 album. It reached #16 in the U.K., #18 on the U.S. Mainstream rock Tracks and #79 on the Billboard Hot 100. It is a popular encore and setlist ender to this day. Bad Boys is the party rocker and also reminds me of Bad Boys Running Wild by Scorpions.

And then we have the big kahuna – Here I Go Again was another song originally written for and released on their 1982 album, Saints & Sinners in October 1982. The song was written by Coverdale and then guitarist Bernie Marsden and written was written while Coverdale’s was at the end of his troubled marriage with his first wife, Julia. It became a classic icon of the 80s and is an evergreen song of the indomitable spirit of the romantic die hard! It reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart as a sleeper hit and remained there for one week, being the band’s only number-one single of that chart in their discography to date. It also peaked at number four on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. The re-recording also peaked at number nine in the UK, number 1 in Canada and top 10 in the Netherlands.

Give Me All Your Love was the fourth single released from the album, and reached number 48 on the US Top 100 charts, number 22 on the Mainstream Rock Charts, number 18 in the UK charts, and 49 in New Zealand. Is This Love is the next big song in 1987, released on 18 May 1987 in the UK as the second single and remains a huge hit. Reaching number nine in the UK Singles Chart, and number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, it has been a true ballad and mainstay of their live set list ever since. Children Of The Night is up next and a rightfully rockier song which goes a little lower tempo during the refrain. Straight for the Heart is a fast paced love song that is right up the band’s style. Don’t Turn Away is a plea to your lover to work things out.

Although the North American version ends here, in Europe the album included Looking for Love and You’re Gonna Break My Heart Again. The album was a critical and commercial success around the world, eventually selling over 8 million copies in the US alone and thus being certified 8× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and has sold more than 25 million copies worldwide. It peaked at number two on the US Billboard 200 for ten non-consecutive weeks.

Retro Active – Def Leppard

Retro Active is a compilation album by the English rock band Def Leppard, released in 1993. The album features touched-up versions of B-sides and previously unreleased recordings from the band’s recording sessions from 1984 to 1993. The album charted at number 9 on the Billboard 200 and No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart. After releasing only five albums over the course of a twelve-year period (4 years in between Pyromania & Hysteria, and then a further 5 years before Adrenalize) Def Leppard used Retro Active to break that habit, provide a treat for diehard fans.

Desert Song was an outtake from the songwriting sessions that produced 1987’s Hysteria. Self-produced, it became one of the last songs to be released by Def Leppard bearing the songwriting and guitar-playing of Steve Clark, who died on 8 January 1991. It was a hit on U.S. rock radio, reaching number twelve on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. Fractured Love sounds like it could have been on Pyromania. Up next is a cover of Sweet’s hit song Action. Originally a 1992 recording, it was released as a B-side to Make Love Like a Man. The music video was shot between June and December 1993; in Sheffield, Ottawa, and Joe Elliott’s home in Ireland.

Two Steps Behind is a one of their best ballads and included in the soundtrack to the film Last Action Hero. The gentle acoustic ballad reached number five on the US Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart, numbers 12 and 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100, and number 32 on the UK Singles Chart. Written in 1985, She’s Too Tough first appeared on the Helix album Wild in the Streets in 1987. It is a tough little rocker along the lines of mid-80s party rockers. The ballad Miss You in a Heartbeat, meanwhile, was first written and demoed by guitarist Collen in 1991 and was originally recorded by the Law, a band featuring Paul Rodgers and the Who drummer Kenney Jones, for their self-titled album in 1991.

Def Leppard later recorded their own version in April the following year, which they released as a B-side on the Make Love Like a Man single. Only After Dark which is a fun rollicking romp on the guitar is a cover of Mick Ronson’s single. A song that was written around the making of Hysteria, Ride Into the Sun is a rockier change. A surprise is the acoustic From The Inside which is a hate song and feels like the band wrote or recorded the song around a fireplace. Lyrically it is so different from their usual fun or love songs. Ring Of Fire is co-written along with the famed 6th Lep John Mutt Lange and is hard rock number, which would have been at home in Pyromania. The pleading I Wanna Be Your Hero as originally released on the 1987 singles Animal in the US and Pour Some Sugar on Me in the UK. T.

The albums closers are an electric version of Two Steps Behind and a piano version of Miss You In A Heartbeat, which is a hidden track.

Power Windows – Rush

Power Windows is the eleventh studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released on October 11, 1985 in Canada by Anthem Records and on October 21, 1985 in the United States. After touring in support of their previous album, Grace Under Pressure (1984), the band took a break and reconvened in early 1985 to begin work on a follow-up. The material continued to display the band’s exploration of synthesizer-oriented music, this time with the addition of sampling, electronic drums, a string section, and choir, with power being a running lyrical theme. The album reached No. 2 in Canada, No. 9 in the United Kingdom, and No. 10 in the United States.

The Big Money was released as the first single off the album and it peaked at #45 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #4 on the Mainstream Rock chart, and has been included on several compilation albums. The lyrics, written by drummer Neil Peart, reflect on the power of “big money” and the sheer magnitude of trade in the modern global economy, particularly during the 1980s. The computer graphics  in the music video is similar to the ones for Money For Nothing by Dire Straits. Grand Designs was partly written to criticise mainstream music which the group believed was too superficial. The song also echoes individualistic themes such as non-conformism.

Manhattan Project is a 1985 song by Canadian progressive rock band Rush, named after the WWII project that created the first atomic bomb. Despite not being released as a single, it did reach #10 on the U.S. Mainstream Rock Chart. Neil Peart read “a pile of books” about the Manhattan Project before writing the lyrics so that he had a proper understanding of what the project was really about. The 4th track Marathon, depict how one would feel while running in an actual marathon, but the meaning of the song is meant to use a marathon (an extreme challenge) as a metaphor for life, and say that life is full of obstacles and is all about one taking small steps to achieve their personal goals. The live version released on the A Show of Hands single reached number 6 on the US Mainstream Rock chart in 1989.

Territories is another interesting track – after Peart had written some lyrical ideas he went through them with Lee, who noticed it was telling a story and found them difficult to sing once he and Lifeson had developed music for them. Peart then rewrote them in a more direct way which suited Lee better.  Much like the very popular Subdivisions from Signals, Middletown Dreams explores suburban monotony and the average person’s attempts to temporarily escape it. The battles of the middle class! Emotion Detector started out as a ballad but the lyrics that Lee has fit a more mid-tempo music that Lee & Lifeson had arranged. And finally we have the album closer and second single from the album, Mystic Rhythms. As described by Lee, is “the most synthetic track on the record” with each instrument being fed through “a synthesized something The song was used as the opening song of the NBC news program 1986. The single charted at number 21 on the US Mainstream Rock chart.

The pictures on the front and back covers were painted by Hugh Syme, from reference photos taken by photographer Dimo Safari, and the model is Neill Cunningham from Toronto.

Slide It In – Whitesnake

Slide It In is the sixth studio album by English rock band Whitesnake. Originally released on 30 January 1984 in Europe, by Liberty/EMI, it was remixed for the American market, later issued on 16 April 1984 in North America by Geffen. In Japan, it was issued a “European” Mix release date on 23 March 1984, and an “American” remix on 21 December 1984 by CBS/Sony. Widely regarded as a moderate success, it helped open the American market to the band’s sound and breakthrough throughout the later 1980s. Historically, it was the final Whitesnake recording to use the band’s original “snake” logo. The album peaked at number 9, marking their fourth Top 10 appearance in the UK & In the US, it peaked at number 40 at Billboard 200, eventually going double platinum.

Give Me More Time was the second single released on 3 January 1984 in Europe and 9 January in Germany. The song was written by David Coverdale and Mel Galley. Musically it reminds me of more of AC/C. The song reached number 29 in the UK and number 27 in Ireland. Standing in the Shadow is a song by the English hard rock band Whitesnake as the 3d single from Slide It In. While it does not have a music video, it was released as a single by Liberty Records with the B-Side American version of “All or Nothing.” The single only charted No. 62 in the UK Singles chart and stayed for three weeks. Slow an’ Easy easily the best song on the record, which was released as a promo single, became a hit on rock radio and reached #17 on Billboards Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.

Love Ain’t No Stranger which is a power ballad is onne of the group’s best known songs, it’s been included in multiple multi-artist compilation albums as well as in various media from Whitesnake’s own labels. Due to its popularity among fans, Whitesnake has performed the song over eight hundred times as of December 2022, making it one of the group’s top five most played pieces. The song charted at number 44 on the UK Singles Chart and 34 on the U.S. Mainstream rock charts. But my favourite song off the record, and which introduced me to the band, is Slow n Easy which was released as a promo single, became a hit on rock radio. Slow an’ Easy has a cool lead guitar licks and reached #17 in Billboard’s Rock Charts.

The intro to Spit It Out reminds me of All Right Now by Free. The more upbeat and fun loving Hungry For Love which is reminiscent of a lot of 70s rock n roll bands is a good song. Guilty of Love was release as a single in 1983, well before the actual album was released Written by vocalist David Coverdale, he described the track as a “very simple and honest love song”. It has frequently been compared to Thin Lizzy for its dual lead guitars. It reached number 31 on the UK Singles Chart and a music video was also shot at the Monsters of Rock show on 20 August 1983. On the Japanese release also had a cover of Need Your Love So Bad a song first recorded by Little Willie John in 1955.

A Farewell To Kings – Rush

A Farewell to Kings is the fifth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released on Anthem Records on August 29, 1977. The album reached No. 11 in Canada and marked a growth in the band’s international fanbase, becoming their first Top 40 album in the US and the UK. After reaching a critical and commercial peak with 2112 and touring the album, Rush decided to record the follow-up outside Toronto for the first time and settled in Rockfield Studios in Wales after their debut European tour.

The title track starts things off with an acoustic interlude by Alex Lifeson before Geddy Lee’s keys is added and then segues into the full band and lyrically is about dealing with hypocrisy, and finding your own way by looking within yourself. And then there is the grand 11:05 minute Xanadu – beginning with a five-minute-long  instrumental  section before transitioning to a narrative written by Neil Peart, which in turn was inspired by the Samuel Taylor Coleridge poem Kubla Khan. In Peart’s lyrics, the narrator describes searching for a place called “Xanadu” that will grant him immortality. After succeeding in this quest, a thousand years pass, and the narrator is left “waiting for the world to end”, describing himself as “a mad immortal man”.

One of my favourite songs of Rush from the first time I heard it back in the late 1990s is Closer To The Heart. It was released in November 1977 as the lead single off the album It was the first Rush song to feature a non-member as a songwriter in Peter Talbot a friend of Neil Peart’s. It was Rush’s first hit single in the United Kingdom, reaching number 36 in the UK Singles Chart in February 1978. It also peaked at number 45 in Canada and number 76 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and has been a live favourite in the US, Canada, the UK & Brazil. Cinderella Man is a song based on one of Lee’s favourite films, the 1936 romantic comedy drama Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, and the themes that it portrays.

The short 2:35 minute Madrigal is up next; a rare love song and ballad. The album closes with “Cygnus X-1 Book I: The Voyage”, a science-fiction song that tells the story of an unnamed explorer who travels to the centre of Cygnus X-1, a real black hole, in a spaceship named the Rocinante, believing there may be something beyond it. Upon approaching the centre the protagonist loses control of the ship and is drawn into it by the pull of gravity, its body destroyed. This song was inspired by an article on black holes that Peart had read. Lee thought the science-fiction genre presented limitless musical ideas which inspired the band to “use all your goofy, weird sounds because that’s what’s happening out in space.” The song has a part II which came out in the next album.

A Farewell to Kings received a generally positive reception from critics. Rush supported the album with their most extensive tour at the time, headlining major venues across North America and Europe for over 140 dates. A 40th anniversary remastered edition with bonus tracks and a 5.1 surround sound mix was released in 2017.

5150 – Van Halen

5150 (pronounced “fifty-one-fifty”) is the seventh studio album by American rock band Van Halen. It was released on March 24, 1986, by Warner Bros. Records and was the first of four albums to be recorded with lead singer Sammy Hagar, who replaced David Lee Roth. The album was named after Eddie Van Halen’s home studio, 5150, in turn named after a California law enforcement term for a mentally disturbed person. I bought the album in the mid 90s – I think by 1994 and listened to it a lot!

The album starts with a banger in Good Enough – actually it starts off with Sammy yelling “Hello Baby!” Second track and it was the group’s first single with Sammy and off the album. With Eddie’s keyboard riff dominating the song until the guitar solo, it went to number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and hit number one on the Cashbox Top 100, the week of May 16. It was a top 10 hit in the United Kingdom, Australia and Germany and a top 20 single in Canada, the Netherlands and Sweden. Get Up is more rockier and probably my least favourite song on the album. Up next is second single and the best song in the album – dare I say it’s their best ever song. Dreams captures so many emotions, especially after the death of Eddie Van Halen. A lot of musicians chose this song to pay their tribute to a guitar legend.

It reached # 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 as well as #24 on the Cash Box Top 100 and was on the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie & soundtrack. The now nostalgic Summer Nights which is the fun number and live favourite that is up next. Another fun rocker is Best Of Both Worlds which works so well live. One of my favourite semi-ballads of Van Halen, Love Walks In is the third single and the keyboard heavy song was the first song that the band wrote with Hagar. It peaked at number 4 on the US Billboard  Mainstream Rock Songs chart, and reached number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100. The title track and live concert staple was never a major single but it is a fan favourite with it’s awesome guitar riffs. And the album ends with another of my favourites with Inside – that chorus is so cool.

The album hit number 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, surpassing the band’s previous album, 1984, which had peaked at number 2. The artwork features an Art Deco depiction of Atlas kneeling while holding a mirror-polished metallic sphere on his shoulders. The model for the album was ESPN BodyShapings Rick Valente. The Van Halen logo wraps around the sphere.

Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son – Iron Maiden


Back in 1995 I was still new to the world of Iron Maiden. I was turning 19 that year and the previous year I had borrowed a friend’s copy of A Read Dead which was my introduction to the band and I had seen the music video for The Number of the Beast, which had made me curious about the band. So just after my birthday I had bought to IM albums which converted me into a big time fan – one of them was Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son!

From the opening to Moon Child I felt a bone tingling chill go up and down my spine – the album was like experiencing one of the best 70s or 80s horror movies with evil figures walking about, ghosts and goblins and old witches with a cackling laugh, who could tell your fortune using their magic, a young man on a journey that could prove deadly and on the road ahead lies werewolves and other monsters out to get him. Things slow down a bit with Infinite Dreams, an atmospheric beginning before going into that galloping style we all know and love from Maiden. A real joy is Can I Play With Madness, which I can see on the soundtrack of a horror-comedy film. The song is the sixteenth single released by the band and hit number 3 in the UK Singles Chart.

My fav track on this album is The Evil That Men Do which is a mid-tempo rocker and probably one of the best ever. The title track is up next with it’s ominous sounding intro and verses before going more furious into the chorus. Slowing down just a tad is The Prophecy, which is also a great tune. Another awesome song is The Clairvoyant, which is the band’s nineteenth single and the third from the album. It peaked at number six in the British charts. The albums ends with Only The Good Die Young which to me seems like a sister song of The Evil That Men Do – it just feels like the to songs can be played one after the other and we know that they belong. All great or really good songs, this really is one epic album for me.

Signals – Rush

Signals is the ninth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released on September 9, 1982 by Anthem Records. After the release of their previous album, Moving Pictures, the band started to prepare material for a follow-up during soundchecks on their 1981 concert tour and during the mixing of their subsequent live album Exit…Stage LeftSignals demonstrates the group’s continuing use of synthesizers, sequencers, and other electronic instrumentation. It is the last album produced by their longtime associate Terry Brown, who had worked with them since 1974. The album peaked at No. 1 in Canada, No. 3 in the United Kingdom, and No. 10 in the United States. In November 1982, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling one million copies in the United States.

We start off with a fan favourite in Subdivisions, which is odd for an album opener as it isn’t the rock anthem but a mid-tempo number. The song is a commentary on social stratification through the pressure to adopt certain lifestyles. It describes young people dealing with a “cool” culture amidst a comfortable yet oppressively mundane suburban existence in housing subdivisions. Anyone who does not obey social expectations is regarded as an outcast; the lyrics flatly describe a choice of “conform or be cast out”. The song has resonated with a whole of Rush fans, especially the ones who are considered nerds and/or non-cool. Analog Kid is the second single from the album and also the second track. Drummer and lyricist Neil Peart wrote the lyrics for the song at first as a companion piece to “Digital Man“, a song that Rush had started working on in late 1981, and presented it to bassist Geddy Lee.

The next song, Chemistry, lyrically seems to be about how everything is basically chemical reactions – life and everything that we know and see. The next track, The Weapon, is about politics and power and the race to make bigger and deadlier weapons. New world Man was the last and most quickly composed song on the album, stemming from a suggestion by then-Rush producer Terry Brown to even out the lengths of the two sides of the cassette version. It went to #1 (on the RPM national singles chart) in Canada, where it remained for two weeks in October 1982. It gave Rush a hit single due to its “hypnotic synthesizer pop with flashes of guitar rock. Losing It is about watching it all fade away and aging.

Finally Countdown – it’s lyrics are about the first launch of the Space Shuttle Columbia the previous year. The song incorporates audio from voice communications between astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen and ground control, specifically Ascent CAPCOM Daniel C. Brandenstein and with commentary from Hugh Harris, Kennedy Space Center Public Affairs Officer, leading up to the launch through to LOS just after Press to Rota. Rush released three singles from the album: “New World Man“, which became the band’s highest charting single in the United States and a number-one hit in Canada, as well as “Subdivisions” and “Countdown“. The group supported Signals with a concert tour from April 1982 to May 1983. Signals has been reissued several times, including a remaster with a new stereo and 5.1 surround sound mix in 2011.

Pump – Aerosmith

Pump is the tenth studio album by American rock band Aerosmith. It was released on September 12, 1989, by Geffen Records. The album peaked at No. 5 on the US charts, and was certified septuple platinum by the RIAA in 1995. It also has certified sales of seven million copies in the U.S. to date, and is tied with its successor Get a Grip as Aerosmith’s second best-selling studio album in the U.S. (Toys in the Attic leads with nine million). The album was the fourth best-selling album of the year 1990. In the UK, it was the second Aerosmith album to be certified Silver (60,000 units sold) by the British Phonographic Industry, achieving this in September 1989.

Pump was the second of three sequentially recorded Aerosmith albums to feature producer Bruce Fairbairn and engineers Mike Fraser and Ken Lomas at Little Mountain Sound Studios. The song starts out with the energetic Young Lust before going into one of my favourites of the band – F.I.N.E. which should have been the name of the album but whatever. The song title is an acronym for “Fucked Up, Insecure, Neurotic, and Emotional”, as stated in the album’s liner notes.  Its raunchy lyrics focus on youth angst and lasciviousness, and the verses feature the line “I’m ready” after each line, suggesting  sexual arousal, or being “ready” for sex. Tongue-in-cheek lyrics are prevalent, including “she’s got the Cracker Jack, now all I want’s the prize”, “I got the right key baby, but the wrong keyhole”, “I shove my tongue right between your cheeks”, etc.

Going Down/Love In An Elevator is a fun song with typical glee sung by Steven Tyler and co about well, according to Tyler himself  based on an actual experience where he was making out with a woman in an elevator and the doors opened. With a raunchy music video to boot! We move on to the harder Monkey On My Back which I understand is about beating a drug addiction. Great song but then we go on to what I think is the very best song that the band has ever composed. It’s Janie’s Got A Gun which describes a young woman planning her revenge for childhood abuse. Clearly this is a fun and awesome tune and mostly upbeat despite the dark lyrics and implication. It won the band a 1990 Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.

Then we have Dulcimer Stomp which segue’s into the danceable The Other Side, which is about finding a new love and moving on from a toxic relationship. My Girl is an upbeat ditty while Don’t Get Mad/Get Even is more down low blues influenced about taking revenge for getting cheated even. Hoodoo/Voodoo Medicine Man is a similar drum beat heavy – almost hypnotic ending with the drums. And finally we have the power balled What It Takes which was released as the 3rd single. There is even accordion in it and it’s probably one of the top 5 ballads released by the band.

Overall its and excellent album and it received mostly positive reception, and has since been called “a high-water mark of the glam metal era”, that “stands toe to toe against Aerosmith’s undisputed mid-’70s classics.” Pump is first Aerosmith album that I bought back in 1991 when I was 15. I had previously only heard Angel and on hearing samples of Dude Looks Like A Lady and then the music video for Janie’ Got A Gun, I was hooked to the band. I’d call this one my joint favourite Aerosmith album along with 1993’s Get A Grip. I rate this album a 9 outta 10!

Grace Under Pressure – Rush

Grace Under Pressure is the tenth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released April 12, 1984, on Anthem Records. Following the tour for 1982’s Signals, which came to an end in April 1983, Rush got together in August to start work on the followup. After some difficulty finding a suitable producer who could commit, and deciding not to go with their hitherto producer Terry Brown, the album was recorded with Peter Henderson. Largely considered one of the band’s darkest albums, Grace Under Pressure was influenced by the growing tensions in the Cold War in the 1980s. The album’s running theme is “pressure” and how humans act under the influence of it.

World events inspired the lyrics, especially the Cold War, the threat of superpowers and the nuclear annihilation and all of that stuff, and these giant missiles pointed at each other across the ocean. Distant Early Warning was written about the loneliness of someone who worked the DEW Line – a system of radar stations in the far northern Arctic region of Canada set up to detect incoming Soviet bombers during the Cold War, and provide early warning of any sea-and-land invasion. Afterimage was written about Robbie Whelan, a tape operator at Le Studio who was killed in a car accident a year prior to the album’s release and is about the loss of a friend. The album was dedicated to his memory.

Red Sector A is a song by Rush that provides a first-person account of a nameless protagonist living in an unspecified prison camp setting. Neil Peart has stated that the detailed imagery in the song intentionally evokes concentration camps of the Holocaust, although he left the lyrics ambiguous enough that they could deal with any similar prison camp scenario. The song was inspired in part by Geddy Lee’s mother’s accounts of the Holocaust. Geddy’s mother Manya was a survivor of the Nazi concentration camp Bergen-Belsen, while his dad Morris Weinrib, was liberated from the Dachau concentration camp a few weeks after his wife as liberated.

The Enemy Within has this reggae riff and a great bass line that makes it a great song to listen to and chill. Far from the doom and gloom, this upbeat track is rhythmically supreme, especially with Lee’s bass. The Body Electric is both a positive & negative look at the computer age and possible future. No wonder I always associate Rush with Star Trek! Kid Gloves features a staccato guitar riff from Alex Lifeson and is mostly up tempo, is about learning the tough lessons about life, possibly about even school and learning things through trial & error. Similarly Red Lenses, is comparing things that are red and about pressure of war in the horizon while trying to juggle daily lives. Beneath The Wheel is about the dangers of things that can crush you and how you can avoid it but once it can easily crush you and everything can be destroyed.

While staying their rock lane, the band manages to  give war embraces to new age, funk & reggae with enthusiasm. Grace Under Pressure reached number 4 in Canada, number 5 in the UK, and number 10 on the U.S. Billboard 200. It was certified platinum in the U.S. for selling one million copies.

Wing Of Tomorrow – Europe

Wings of Tomorrow is the second studio album by the Swedish rock band Europe. It was released on 24 February 1984, by Hot Records in Sweden, and by Epic Records in the United States. Wings of Tomorrow is the last album to feature drummer Tony Reno, before being replaced by Ian Haughland, who is still the current drummer. This album precedes the world famous The Final Countdown. Compared to their debut, Wings Of Tomorrow was a much more stronger album and has several live performance favourites. The album had 4 singles released – Lyin’ Eyes, Stormwind, Dreamer & Open Your Heart – the latter of which got a new lease on life with a slightly different version in 1988.

In addition to that the title track which is the 6th song is a real banger and should have been one of the singles released. Stormwind is possibly the strongest song on the record with an instantly hummable tune and chorus, and great solo guitar work from John Norum. Scream of Anger is a composing collaboration between Joey Tempest and former member and bassist the late Marcel Jacob. Open Your Heart is the love ballad in the album which gained greater reach and acclaim after being reworked a it and re-released as a single on 1988’s Out Of This World however I prefer this original version.

Another gem is the instrumental Aphasia which showcases Norum’s guitar skills but Dreamer is a lovely ballad that will make you think of sailing on a small boat on the waters as the full moon shines it’s light on you. That was the image I always got when I listened to the song.

1991 Music Nostalgia : For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge By Van Halen

1991 – the year we started to get MTV in India with the introduction of cable tv which until then was something we only heard off & seen in foreign movies & tv shows. MTV used to play Poundcake & Runaround continously and I was hooked. I had listened to some songs of VH till then and knew about them – Jump & Panama were my favs but this album made me into a bonfide fan and it was also the first VH album I bought. Ofcourse I would get their entire catalog till that time soon but I am a Van Hagar guy.

With songs like the aforementioned Runaround & Poundcake leading the pack, we also get Spanked, Top Of The World, the lovely 316, The Dream Is Over and the brilliant Right Now they had the hits comings one after the other. Poundcake was the first song to be released as a single from the album, reaching number one on the US Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart and number 74 on the UK Singles Chart. It is a one of their best rockers. Judgement Day is all harried rhythms and excellent drumming from Alex Van Halen. They slow things down with the suggestive Spanked and the slower pace makes it a memorable song.

One of my favourite VH songs is up next in Runaround with one of Eddie’s awesome riffs leading the way through. The music video has the band play in a warehouse kind of place and features glimpses of the elusive red & white stripes version of Eddie’s Music Man EVH guitar. Pleasure Dome starts off with some deliciously intricate riffage before becoming more hard & heavy. In N Out talks about how we as a society are making money and then spending it or paying bills. Up next is Man On A Mission which is about a man who will not rest until he makes love to the woman he desires. When things go wrong despite the best intentions and the best laid plans, what do you do? You Dream Another Dream which has a nice riff and a popular music video.

Right Now with it’s awesome opening piano piece, that award winning music video and a great song, a song that reflects on living for the moment and not being afraid of making a change. The instrumental “316” is named for the March 16, 1991 birthday of Eddie’s son Wolfgang, who later went on to be Van Halen’s last bass player, although the song predates his birth. Top Of The World released as the second single from the album, and spent four non-consecutive weeks at the top of the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart in the U.S., becoming their eighth number one on this chart. It was the only single off the album to crack the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #27. The main guitar riff from “Top of the World” is actually carried over from the closing guitar background riff from 1984’s “Jump”.

During the long world tour they recorded a live album and concert film at two 1992 F.U.C.K. tour shows in Fresno, California called Live: Right Here, Right Now. Great album for a 15 year old to get into.

Grinning Streak – Barenaked Ladies

I’m gonna be ending my 2013 year by reviewing the latest albums from my two most favourite bands of all time. Let’s take a listen to the Barenaked Ladies’ 2013 release Grinning Streak. Released in June and debuting at #10 on the US Billboard charts, this is their 11th studio album proper and their 2nd since singer/guitarist/songwriter Steven Page left the band back in 2009 (I’m still not over that). It is also the band’s first album on their new record label, Vanguard. The first single, Boomerang was recorded in a separate session produced by Gavin Brown in May 2012, initially for release that summer.

The album starts with Limits a song about taking a breather, taking a look at what has happened so far and knowing your limitations despite doing your best and giving it a sincere go. Boomerang is about coming back to the one who holds your heart and despite everything else and all the travails and tribulations, you come back to the one you love. I’m unsure of what the song Off His Head is all about, although I like the lyrics. I’m guessing it’s about being a parent and being faced with various situations that is out your control and being more affected because it’s not happening to you but to another human being that you love unconditionally. Gonna Walk is a song about being in love and chasing the object of your affection and not quitting until love has been achieved.

Odds Are is one of my favourite songs of BNL and one of my favourites of all time. The song is so catchy and lyrically thought provoking and yet simple enough to understand and the music lifts my spirits – just like a lot of their songs tends to do! Positivity and hope is sprayed throughout this song and the odds are in your favour that you will find the love of your life and things will go good for you and it resonates with me a lot. A little bit antagonistic and a lot about standing your ground and fighting when you are attacked is Keepin’ It Real. I know Ed Robertson (singer/guitarist/lyricist) is an atheist and this verse perfectly fits:

“What’s the point in wishing there was somewhere to go
If when you get there, you can’t let anyone know
When my time comes, I won’t be leaving this Earth
And what I’ve done for people will determine my worth”

Saying you’re sorry is hard and to a loved one making up is hard which is what the song Give It To You is all about. Talk about lyrics that let on that you are an atheist –  how’s this verse from Best Damn Friend:

Talk was cheap
‘Till I started talking to professionals
Not my first leap,
This atheist could have used confessional
Sown, so reap,
Allow me to lead you in devotional
While you weep,
Imagine the man whose more emotional.

Alright, Did I Say That Out Loud is a realization of love. Daydreamin’ is about – what else day dreams? And about wanting to make those day dreams a reality and showing the naysayers that they were wrong. Smile is about not being so serious and not forgetting the innocence of youth. Crawl is comparing the crawl of a baby to learning about life and making a sincere effort about it. We have 3 bonus tracks in this version of the album – Blacking Out, Fog Of Writing & Who Knew that add to the excellently received album both publicly & by critics. I love this album.

The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here – Alice In Chains

It’s been such a long time since I did a musical album review but I just have to get back to it. Ok, let’s start with a release from May of this year. The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here is Seattle giants Alice In Chains’ 5th full length studio album and the second album following the reunion post the length layoff post former singer Layne Staley’s death. It is also the second album to feature Wiliam DuWall on lead vocals & rhythm guitar. The album peaked at #2 on the US billboard charts and did well in most countries.

The album starts off with Hollow with that familiar grungy guitar style of riff and patent AiC harmony vocals with DuWall & Jerry Cantrell singing the lyrics. Pretty Done follows a familiar style although not as hard, and lyrically it’s about people who give up everything else to chase a dream. Once they get it they have to be careful as others are waiting to take it from them and the singer will not be around to be used. Stone is about an antagonistic relationship featuring lyrics like “What makes you want to carve your initials in me? Rained and weathered, erasing, hard to read
Find me distant, outwardly rough, obscene, Cold dry stone”. With some acoustic & electric guitars interchanging, Voices is an instantly hummable and memorable song and is surely a stand out in the album. It’s an introspective look at oneself and that just resonates well with most listeners. “The devil put dinosaurs here / Jesus don’t like a queer / No problem with faith / Just fear,” which appear in the title track, tells us what AiC think about the religious explanations which tend to be mixed with politics in the US. “I am wise and you don’t know, A cloud is my home, Only some get in, Got a ‘maginary friend.”

Lab Monkey is about being used for other’s purposes and gains. Low Ceiling is making fun at a wanna be big shot who’s ego is bigger than anything else he has ever done. It is stated that the song is aimed at particular music critics. I like the guitar solo a lot on this one. Breath On A Window is about the long travels on the road. Scalpel, a track that’s a bit slower, is about broken dreams. Phantom Limb back with double harmonies is about getting the due that you deserve when you have done way too much shit that trouble is imminent. Hung On A Hook is about your reflections showing you a side of you that you’ve tried to hide away from. But sometimes a cracked mirror shows the real you. Saying a goodbye or a farewell is what Choke is about. Pride and wrong decisions have let you to this path and now it’s closing around you.

The cover artwork features the skull of a Triceratops with a second skull image steganographically hidden on a red background. The two skulls, when revealed, combine to form the image of the Devil. The album title refers to a belief held by some religious individuals that to confuse the masses of humanity, Satan himself planted dinosaur bones deep into the Earth to dissuade the faithful. The veteran rock band has given us a solid and memorable album that will still proudly in the same shelf as their best. Here is the video for The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here.

Roots And Wings – Terri Clark

Released on July 26, 2011 via BareTrack Records/Capitol Nashville/EMI Canada Roots And Wings is country superstar Terri Clark’s 8th studio album. The albums starts off with Wrecking Ball a cheerful medium fast number. The song is about the determination of a woman who knows what she wants and will not stop until she gets it. Slowing things down a bit she gives us a country singer’s staple type of song  about breaks up and relationships dying as Breakin’ Up Thing. Lyrically it’s about how the lover is an expert at breaking up and the singer could learn a thing or two from him. There’s some mellow pedal steel and telecaster solos in this one. In The One, is about loneliness and what people say about a single woman. And the woman doesn’t want to settle down for just about anyone but is waiting for the right one.

Norther Girl is Terri Clark celebrating her Canadian-ess and her pride for her native country. Lyrically and musically this is one of her best songs and certainly a highlight of this album. Beautiful And Broken is about love lost and asking the questions to what made it go wrong. Fiddles bring forth the next song, Lonesome’s Last Call – the heartbroken people’s song. A more traditional sounding kind of country song, it’s a really good song to sing along to, in a country western bar.

With the intro reminding me of something the Bee Gees would do, The Good Was Great is another love ballad from Terri that touches the  heart and I can see myself listening to this one in the evening while sipping a cold vodka. The next song surprised me cause it’s got Bluegrass legend Alison Krauss lending backing vocals. Smile is a gentle ballad about being supportive and loving and not letting distance separate people from their loved ones. Lyrically, I think this song is about Terri’s mom who gave her tremendous support when the singer went away from home to make it in the music industry. The Canadian country singer/songwriter gives us a cover in the upbeat We’re Here For A Good Time which is a Trooper song. I’m sure this will be a really good choice for her to close her concerts with during her tours. And finally we get Flowers In The Snow – a lament from someone who has seen too  many heartaches & pain. The album officially ends with 10 songs but the deluxe version has two more songs, live versions of Norther Girl and one of her best songs ever If You Want Fire.

Great album, no weak songs at all. Here’s the video for Norther Girl.

A Dramatic Turn Of Events – Dream Theatre

If you are a serious rock/metal musician, interested in approaching your art with the passion and dedication of the greats, look no further than Dream Theater to find a suitable role model for a band. There are hardly any other quintets who are as proficient on their respective instruments of choice as these guys. A Dramatic Turn Of Event, the eleventh studio album by American progressive metal band Dream Theater, was released worldwide on September 12, 2011 and in the United States on September 13 through Roadrunner Records. It is the band’s first recording to feature drummer Mike Mangini following the departure of founding member Mike Portnoy in September 2010. And their fans flocked to see if the sound would change with the change in personnel.

A commercial success, the album moved 36,000 units in the United States in its debut week, charting at number eight on the Billboard 200. Since July 2011, Dream Theater have been on tour in support of the album. They sound much like the DT we know and love. was produced by John Petrucci and mixed by Andy Wallace. It was written, recorded, mixed, and mastered between January and June 2011 at Cove City Sound Studios in Long Island, New York. First single and opening track On The Backs Of Angels starts things off in, pardon the pun, dramatic fashion. The song was written by the band’s guitarist and producer John Petrucci, keyboardist Jordan Rudess, and bassist John Myung with lyrics by Petrucci. Rudess and Petrucci’s works will make you feel damn good. Build Me Up, Break Me Down is the next single with a riff that will please headbangers and fist bangers. S inger James LaBrie did a three-layer vocal hook, which is insane. John Myung’s bass riff is insane and fits perfectly. The drums are amazing in this track. The chorus is catchy and Petrucci’s amazing solo followed by fucking insane keyboard work by Rudess owns.

The next song is a technical fest – Lost Not Forgotten starts off with a delicate piano intro before Petrucci’s monstrous riffs take over with Mangini following up with some intensive drumming. With many twists and turns all over the song, this is already one of my favourites of theirs – of all time! Amazing guitar solo too. The next  track is more of a ballad with some heartfelt solo guitar work and Jordan’s melodic keyboard riffs. James delivers some of his best vocal performances to date. Bridges In The Sky starts off with some fuzzy noizes and then a throaty bellow (some kind of tribal vocal performance?) before the church style chanting starts and then the band kicks in. A furious guitar solo follows later and the song ends with the same sounds that launches it. Outcry begins with some delightful keys play by Rudess laid on a synthesized drum beats before the rest of the band joins in. The keyboard work is uplifting over here. The drums, bass & guitar lock in for a rhythmic heartbeat style riff-age and James takes over.

Far From Heaven is a gentle piano work and some strings & LaBrie outperforms here, with intense emotion. This is an extremely melodious and personal song. Breaking All Illusions, the longest song on the album which is written by John Myung, after 11 years, he has penned down stuff and boy does he deliver. Everyone is at the top of their form for this track. And we come to the end of the album with Beneath The Surface; which starts with a dripping tap before gentle acoustic riffs and James’s emotional & melodious vocals starts. Jordan’s lovely keyboard solo gives you goosebumps.

I would call this one of the better offerings but not their best yet. Still awesome to hear and with a few listens you should be easily able to include this as a staple of your collection. Here is the video for On The Backs Of Angels.

2 – Black Country Communion

For those of you who do not know what or who Black Country Communion is/are, they are a rock supergroup formed by lead vocalist and bassist Glenn Hughes (former Deep Purple), drummer and percussionist Jason Bonham, keyboardist Derek Sherinian (former Dream Theater), and guitarist and vocalist Joe Bonamassa (solo). With chops like these it’s no wonder they created a lot of excitement when the band was announced. Hughes & Bonammasa had been working for a year in 2009 when producer Kevin Shirley suggested that they contact Jason Bonham to play the drums. Keyboard player Sherinian was also asked to joined, which he did gleefully.

Released on June 14, 2011, their second album, simply titled 2, is the album we are checking out today. Things start out with a bang and Hughes loud & powerful vocals fuel The Outsider. Sherinian’s keyboard work sounds a lot like Jon Lord at his best and Joe’s guitar work excels here. First single Man In The Middle is up next with a down & dirty, heavy blues-rock feeling. I get a bit of an Extreme vibe especially in the vocal delivery here, which may or may not be intentional. I haven’t heard any of Jason Bonham’s but I certainly am digging his drumming here. Bonamassa takes over vocal responsibilities in The Battle For Hadrian’s Wall which starts off acoustic before picking up. This is probably their best track till date, done really well and one of the best songs I have heard in recent years. The almost 8 minute Save Me was partly written by Bonham during his time with Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones when a Led Zeppelin reunion and future album may have been possible. Jason brought the song over to his new band mates and worked on it to form what we now hear. It has that Zeppelin sound & energy to it.

Smokestack Woman brings us more of that harder, fuller, rock and roll groove sound that BCC has come to be associated with. When I saw the title of this track, I was kinda expecting The Cult’s 1989 hit single Fire Woman. Bonamassa gives us a searing blues drenched guitar solo here. Faithless slows things down but not by much, just enough for us to catch our breath. But Hughes delivers a fine vocal performance here. Bonamassa once again picks up the vocals for An Ordinary Son an 8 minute epic. Slowly snaking it’s tempo up during the chorus, this is a fine group effort. I Can See Your Soul brings us back to Hughes’ vocals and the faster & heavier blues-rock. And then we get really down with the blues in Little Secret sung by Hughes but really it’s Joe’s song to showcase just why he is called one of the best guitarists around. Crossfire sees Hughes’s best bass work with some great harmonies and solid performances from all the band members. The final track Cold leaves you with the chills and you are left wanting more.

Transitioning from a super group to a band is not easy but BCC have done it and done it well. They are a rock force to reckon with. And we are the better for it. Enjoy the album and here is the video for Man In the Middle.