This american cult-band is not very productive when it comes to recordings. This is only their 4th since their debut in 1988 and the 2nd in my column as "Alternative/Industrial/New wave. I can't describe their kind of difficult music in another way than "alternative". It's heavy and it's somewhat strange and goes towards industrial music. It reminds me of my before reviewed album "Absolute Dissent" by Killing Joke. There are some okey songs on this album but it's nothing I would listen to if I didn't have to. The songs are also too much alike each other.

Since Jane's Addiction's last album in 2003 Chris Chaney has recorded with Burn Halo, Slash, Taylor Hawkins And The Coattail Riders, Shinedown, Methods Of Mayhem and more.

Dave Sitek is new in the band and is mostly known for his work with the band Tv On The Radio but have also worked with Yeah Yeah Yeah's and Celebration.

1)Underground (7,5) Nice superheavy bassriff, spacy guitars and melodic vocals.

2)End to the lies (7,0)

3)Curiosity kills (7,0)

4)Irrresistable force (Met the immovable object) (7,0)

5)I'll hit you back (7,0)

6)Twisted tales (7,0)

7)Ultimate reason (5,5)

8)Splash a little water on it (7,0)

9)Broken people (5,5)

10)Words right out of my mouth (7,5)

Score: 6,80

Perry Farrell (Peretz Bernstein)-vocals (b.1959)

Dave Navarro-guitars and keyboards (b.1967)

Chris Chaney-bass (b.1970)

Stephen Perkins-drums (b.1967)

David Andrew Sitek-bass, guitars and keyboards (b.1972)

Rest in peace "Red". I'm happy I got to see him live once in Falun, Sweden circa 2003. Just yesterday I was listening to his new album...

Louisiana Red (Born Iverson Minter)
March 23, 1932 - February 25, 2012

Louisiana Red was an Alabama-born blues musician who counted over 50 albums to his credit.  Red began making records in 1949, with his first label being the legendary Chess Records.  What followed was a series of singles and albums, many of which are essential for any respectable blues collection.  A couple of his key albums were The Lowdown Back Porch Blues and Seventh Son, both released in 1963.  During the late '50s, Red performed with the great John Lee Hooker in Detroit.  And in 1983, he was awarded a prestigious WC Handy Award.  Louisiana Red was 79 when he passed away on February 25, 2012.

Stiff Little Fingers was formed in Northern Ireland in 1977 and for a few years played rockcovers before they discovered punk. Their first album was realeased in 1979 and this one from 2003 is their 9th. Their kind of punk is kind of melodic and not very fast but it's certainly features punkelements. It's an okey album but some songs are a little too lightweight. When they're heavy and fast they are at their best in my opinion.

Ian McCallum is from Scotland and lives in the USA. He has on one occasion played with his favourite band Lindisfarne.

Bruce Foxton played with The Jam before joining Stiff Little Fingers. He also had a solocareer in between playing with the two bands.

Steve Grantley has played with The Alarm and has written books about Slade and The Who.

1)Guitar and drum (6,0) Very melodic pop-punk.

2)Strummerville (6,5) About Joe Strummer.

3)Can't get away with that (7,0) Nice melody in this midtempo tune.

4)Still burning (8,0) I love this aggressive rocker with a great supersimple riff and vocals with attitude.

5)Walkin dynamite (7,0)

6)Dead man walking (6,5) Very melodic but I like it.

7)Empty sky (8,0) Yeah! Fast and angry!

8)Be true to yourself (7,0) Slow ska/reggae-rhythm mixed with rock, cool!

9)Best of fools (6,0)

10)I waited (6,5)

11)Achilles heart (5,0) Too melodic and strange ending.

12)Who died and made you Elvis? (6,5)

13)High and low (6,5) Sounds exactly like Offspring.

14)Protect and serve (5,5)

Score: 6,57

Jake Burns-vocals and guitars (b.1958)

Ian McCallum-guitars and vocals (b.1965)

Bruce Foxton-bass and vocals (b.1955)

Steve Grantley-drums and vocals

Photo by David Plastik - Click To Order Quality Prints - Discount code: 10OFF

Mark Reale was a guitarist who is best remembered as the founder of and creative force behind influential hard rock band, Riot.  Born in New York City, Reale began putting the group together in 1975.  Two years later, they released their acclaimed debut album, Rock City.  Before they knew it, they were touring with the likes of KISS, Molly Hatchet, AC/DC, Sammy Hagar, and Rush.  In 1981, they released Fire Down Below which is considered their masterpiece and one of the defining metal albums of the early ’80s.  Reale disbanded Riot in 1984 and started another band, Narita, but reformed it a couple of years later.  Riot continued to perform and record through the fall of 2011 when they released their latest album, Immortal Soul.  Mark Reale, was 56 when he died from complications of Crohn’s Diseased on January 25, 2012.  Former band mate Rhett Forrester was the victim of an unsolved carjacking/murder in 1994, while original lead singer, Guy Speranza died of pancreatic cancer in 2003.

Michael Davis
June 5, 1943 – February 17, 2012

Michael Davis was the bassist for Detroit garage rock legends, the MC5 who were heavy influences on the punk movement to soon follow.  More than just another loud blues-rock band, the MC5 were endeared by fans for their anti-establishment lyrics.  The band’s use of itself as a political voice inspired future generations to do the same.  Bands like the Clash and Rage Against the Machine have cited them as an influence for doing just that.  Following his departure from the group, Davis played in Destroy All Monsters, an underground band that found a strong cult status among punk fans.  In the mid 2000s, Davis and his wife founded The Music Is Revolution Foundation whose mission is to build public awareness that music education can help students improve their overall grades.  Davis was also a talented visual artist who found his work gracing clothing, skateboard decks and much more.  Michael Davis died of liver failure on February 17, 2012.  He was 68.  MC5 band mates, Rob Tyner and Fred “Sonic” Smith passed away in 1991 and 1994 respectively.

See also:

88) 38 Special-Rockin' Into The Night 1979. (Score: 7,67)

On this album 38 Special moved towards more catchy and melodic stadiumrock but still contained some really good southern rockers that sounds great still today.

1)Caught up in you (5,5) Very melodic west coast-AOR. Good guitarsolo at the end.

2)Back door stranger (8,0) Nice main riff, driving rhythm and real "southern" vocals. A good one!

3)Back on the track (8,5) Really good slow and funky rocker. Superb vocals and background vocals in the Lynyrd Skynyrd-tradition. Great guitarplaying!

4)Chain ligtnin' (6,5) A midtemposong that just is a...song.

5)Rough-housin' (7,5) A nice heavy bluesrocker but it just goes on and on.

6)You keep me runnin' away (5,0) Too cheesy refrain, melodic and repetitive. Unfortunately the band moved towards songs like this in the 80's.

7)Breakin' loose (7,0)

8)Take 'em out (8,5) Rock'n'roll! Superb guitarsolos!

9)Firestarter (7,5)

Score: 7,11

Donnie Van Zant-vocals (b.1952)

Don Barnes-vocals and guitars (b.1952)

Jeff Carlisli-guitars

Larry Junstrom-bass and guitars (b.1949)

Jack Grondin-drums

Steve Brookins-drums

A band with a name like this I connect with death or black metal but it's far far from that. This band from Holland plays a kind of 70's psychedelic progressive rock/hardrock that often sounds like the early progressive times of Blue Öyster Cult with a weird twitch and space-like sound. Unfortulately the production and sound is a bit "light". It could have been better with more power and heaviness. Also it's impossible read anything in the CD-booklet due to the way its been written. What's the point?

1)The time of no time (-) Intro.

2)Evermore (6,5)

3)I'll be your ghost (7,5)

4)The yonder beckons (7,0)

5)House of ten thousand voices (6,0) Difficult and complex song.

6)Christ or cocaine (7,5) Very melodic in 70's style rock/hardrock.

7)Queen of my burning heart (7,0)

8)Angel's prayer (7,5) Beautiful more laid back song.

9)Feeding the fire with tears and blood (5,5) Too chaotic.

10)Rake your nails across the firmament (4,0)

11)The anti-kosmik magick (5,5) 11 minutes which just continues as the rest of the album. They could have made something special out of this one instead.

Score: 6,40

See also:

42) Stryper-The Yellow And Black Attack 1986. Score: 5,63

On this album Stryper had stronger songs but the ballads... Oh, they are among the most redicioulus and cheesiest I have ever heard! But when Stryper rocks it's really heavy with good melodies. The album sold 2 million copies.

Tim Gaines did actually not play on the album since he had left the band. The bassparts were played by Brad Cobb. Gaines returned to the band for the tour of the album.

1)Abyss (To hell with the devil) (-) Intro.

2)To hell with the devil (7,5) A good and heavy hardrocker. All of us rockers that grew up in the 80's remember the refrain!

3)Calling on you (6,0) A very melodic, almost cheesy, song about their love to god...

4)Free (7,5) A typical Stryper-song with a simple heavy riff, melodic chorus and their very special recognicible guitarsound.

5)Honestly (4,0) A terrible cheesy ballad but that's just Stryper...

6)The way (7,0) A more uptempo rocker.

7)Sing along song (6,5)

8)Holding on (6,5) Another melodic god-song. Ridicioulus lyrics.

9)Rockin' the world (7,0) A heavy one.

10)All of me (2,0) Oh my "god"... Cheesier than this is hard to make it.

11)More than a man (6,0)

Score: 6,00

Michael Sweet-vocals and guitar (b.1963)

Oz Fox (Richard Alfonso Martinez)-guitars (b.1961)

Tim Gaines-bass and keyboards (b.1962)

Robert Sweet-drums (b.1960)