"Thunderbolt" - Saxon (listen here)
From the album Thunderbolt (02/02/18)
The title track off a new Saxon album and it's about as Saxon-y as it comes. This is both good and bad, as it means Saxon are still kicking ass in their old age although compared to standout modern tracks like "Hammer Of The Gods", this sounds a little too similar to some of their recent stuff to impress me. Sure, it's got heavy riffs, fast solos and a powerful chorus, ticking all the Heavy Metal boxes without fail, but if you've heard material off Sacrifice and Battering Ram, you've heard it already. I might check the new album out as I still love Saxon but I may also need to hear something a bit more unique than this to convince me that they're more than the next Motorhead.
"Caught In The Middle" - The Temperance Movement (listen here)
From the album A Deeper Cut (16/02/18)
I can't remember too much about the last album by The Temperance Movement other than it had some solid tracks and a rip off of "The Last In Line" - Dio but this sounds like the band have adapted their sound slightly to sound more like Queens Of The Stone Age or some other Josh Homme side project, at least in the guitar department. It's a punchy little Rock track that doesn't go on too long and has a catchy if not slightly uninspired chorus. I doubt I'll listen to their new album unless I'm struggling for a blog post next February and want something to review but that's based more on their last album than this track. It's OK; nothing more, nothing less.
"Freedom Is Mine" - Wolfmother (listen here)
From the album ???? (??/??/??)
Once again, Wolfm...well, Andrew Stockdale has decided to be a bit different by spontaneously releasing a single that sounds exactly like Wolfmother. So innovative of him. Credit where due, this doesn't sound identical to Victorious or even material off their debut. It sounds muckier, less pristine and overproduced than their previous work which is a polite way of saying it sounds a bit shit. The main reason for this is that Andrew Stockdale recorded and produced it himself away from record labels and professionals, the sort of people who might push the band to do something other than the same song with different lyrics. Same as Saxon, if you like the band's sound, you'll like the song. However, hopefully future singles (as Andrew has hinted that he'll be releasing periodic singles rather than a complete album) will sound less like they were recorded through the wall of the studio.
"All That Once Shined" - Black Label Society (listen here)
From the album Grimmest Hits (19/01/18)
What a shit album cover. Anyway, this track sounds like Zakk Wylde wants to go one step further into his campaign to become Ozzy Osbourne by writing the best original lineup Black Sabbath track since "Never Say Die". Unlike the majority of tracks on the terrible 13 album from a few years ago, the faster section of this song actually has some life to it and adds energy to the track before bringing it back to the sludgey riff and droning vocals. With it being a Zakk Sabbath track, there's a furious shredfest of a solo that sounds as hollow and forgettable as all his others, but other than that it's not bad. However, speaking as someone who isn't the biggest Doom Metal fan, this track isn't exactly to my tastes although I can appreciate that this is probably awesome to fans of the genre and band.
"Alone" - Toto (listen here)
From the album 40 Trips Around The Sun (09/02/18)
Unlike previous singles in this post, "Alone" is one of the new songs written specifically for a greatest hits compilation being released next year. Having listened to some Toto recently, they're definitely one of those bands with a strong start, weak middle and great end as their modern material pisses all over most of their 80s ballads (unpopular opinion time: I genuinely prefer "Orphan" to "Africa", although I like both tracks a lot). Whilst this song still sounds like something that could've been rerecorded after an initial release in the 80s, as the band weren't strangers to semi-progressive song structures in their Classic Rock tracks, it's good to hear that the band still have life in them despite being around for four decades. I mean, that's more than you could say for The Rolling Stones when they'd been around for three decades!
COMING SOON! A post looking at great vocalists in Rock/Metal and maybe a Rapid Fire post...with a twist!
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