Rapid Fire: Motorhead, David Bowie, Tom Petty

We're back! We might be back a week late BUT WE'RE BACK and we're celebrating with a Rapid Fire post all about DEEAAAATTHH!!! Yes, the first post of 2018 is looking at three albums by famous Rock/Metal musicians who sadly passed away in 2015, 2016 and 2017 respectively. I should probably open up with a less sombre blog post but fuck it, everything's going to shit anyway.
The first album I'll be briefly discussing is the most recent, coming out four months before the death of legendary Metal bassist and vocalist Lemmy Kilmister. However, before I start that, I should mention that whilst writing this blog post, original guitarist Fast Eddie Clarke passed away too. He may not have been involved with this album but he did record the classic riffs and solos for Motorhead's classic albums such as Overkill, Iron Fist and Ace Of Spades.
R.I.P. Fast Eddie Clarke.


1. Bad Magic - Motorhead

I'd been meaning to check out Motorhead's final album ever since the news of Lemmy's passing broke but, without meaning to sound disrespectful, part of the reason I'd been avoiding it was I'd already listened to a Motorhead album. In fact, before listening to Bad Magic, I'd listened to three separate records and a covers album. If there's one thing I can tell you from each of these albums all released in different decades, it's that Motorhead never changed what wasn't broken and the few times they did tinker with things slightly always reset back to its original condition like a JD and tobacco stained memory foam mattress. Bad Magic does absolutely nothing to mix up the formula, making it as much a Motorhead album as anything else in their back catalogue.
Album opener "Victory Or Die" pulls no punches and does a good job of pointing out what's on the tin so you can expect to get exactly what the rest of the album says, if you'll pardon the muddled metaphor. However, there's something missing from Bad Magic that prevents it from being a top notch Motorhead album; a truly great guitarist. Don't get me wrong, Phil Campbell is top notch at playing the thing, I'm just not convinced he's got the musical talent to keep creating excellent riffs for an extended period of time. When you're literally recycling the exact same riff from "Smiling Like A Killer" for "Electricity"or recording generic, interchangeable solos for each track, it's going to let the album down.
Fortunately, Lemmy's bass still rolls out hard and heavy and even though his vocals were beginning to sound noticeably more like those of later years Johnny Cash than early years Lemmy Motherfucking Kilmister due to his health problems at the time, they hadn't completely gone to shit like many Hard Rock outfits that have gone on just a bit too long (looking at you, Deep Purple). Plus, it means we get songs like "Till The End" where we have the pleasure of actually listening to Lemmy sing as well as a banging cover of "Sympathy For The Devil", a highlight of this and their recent covers album. As far as swan songs go, Bad Magic is arguably not the guns blazing celebration of pure Rock & Roll that you may have expected from Motorhead but it's far from a tepid whimper too.

1. Victory Or Die

2. Thunder & Lightning

3. Fire Storm Hotel

4. Shoot Out All Of Your Lights

5. The Devil

6. Electricity

7. Evil Eye

8. Teach Them How To Bleed

9. Till The End

10. Tell Me Who To Kill

11. Choking On Your Screams

12. When The Sky Comes Looking For You

13. Sympathy For The Devil

ALBUM RATING - 5/10

Next up is the oldest album of the three and almost certainly the most influential too from Glam Rock fashion icon David Bowie.


2. The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars - David Bowie

Much like the previous album, this is a record I'd been convincing myself to listen to for years before this blog post...and that's pretty much where the similarities end. The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Overly Pretentious Album Title is the story of a bisexual Jesus-like Rock star who learns of the Earth's impending doom from aliens but becomes one with them on stage because of the spiritual journey he's undertaken throughout the album. Oh, and this Rock star is represented by David Bowie because he was humble like that. Everybody loves this album but to me, it's a competent collection of things I personally hate about Rock that prevent me from getting the most out of it.

For starters, album opener "Five Years" is more of a symphonic grandiose overture than a Glam Rock track to set the tone for what is ultimately a Glam Rock album. It reeks of self-importance without keeping me engaged enough to ignore that facet of Bowie's musical persona. Allmusic called it one of the greatest album openers ever recorded, meaning they've clearly never listened to any Megadeth or they'd realise how fucking wrong they are. Secondly, Bowie's writing style is painfully present in many of these songs and it just doesn't fly with me. For those unaware, Bowie used the cut-up technique where he'd take sentences (or just words), jumble them up and rearrange them into poetic sounding lyrics. When you listen to tracks like "Moonage Daydream" and "Ziggy Stardust", they'll either sound like genius ahead of its time or sporadically assembled nonsense and, unfortunately, it's the latter category for me.

Finally, there's the knowledge that some of these songs probably could've been amazing if written for other bands. Most of us probably know that David Bowie wrote the hit song "All The Young Dudes" for Mott The Hoople around the time of this album (the lyrics actually refer to events in this album because a bit of cross promotion never hurt anyone) but many of those may be unaware that he actually recorded versions of the song himself. They all fucking suck. I can imagine songs like "Star" being incredible by similar 70s Glam or Classic Rock artists that weren't trying to intentionally be art but at least some tracks work with the Bowie touch like "Suffragette City".

Ultimately, my opinion of this album may change over time but my initial reaction to The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Fawning Music Critics (besides one of childish mockery) is that it's not bad. It's a tidy collection of meticulously assembled material that you can blast through in a relatively short amount of time and get some joy out of. It hasn't given me any insight on any of the touched upon themes, nor will it be a record that I feel I must own or even revisit in a year's time. I like a few songs on it and would recommend listening to the second half as if it's a plain old 70s Rock album...unless you're the kind of wanker that says "bravo" without sarcasm, then you'll probably adore it and will want to see copies of it in museums and on space probes and carved into cliff edges so the wind will play melodies from it for all eternity. That's probably what you think, you ponce.

1. Five Years

2. Soul Love

3. Moonage Daydream

4. Starman

5. It Ain't Easy

6. Lady Stardust

7. Star

8. Hang On To Yourself

9. Ziggy Stardust

10. Suffragette City

11. Rock 'N' Roll Suicide

ALBUM RATING - 7/10

Finally, we have the middle child released in 1989. Even though this musician had already released plenty of studio albums with The Heartbreakers, this was Tom Petty's first solo record and it's pretty damn great!

3. Full Moon Fever - Tom Petty

Tom Petty might have been guilty of frequently committing one of Rock's worst sins (fading out on a guitar solo) but damn, did he know how to make a great solo record. It's a well built collection of Heartland Rock; nothing aggressive, just a feel-good collection of gentle Rock with a couple of standout rockers. Album opener "Free Fallin'" sets the easy tone perfectly with a slow tempo, pleasant melody and cracking yet simplistic chorus; in other words, the thing iconic Soft Rock songs are made from.
One of the main differences between his solo material and a standard Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers record probably comes down to the production. Even though we had Tom Petty and Mike Campbell involved as usual, Jeff Lynne (ELO, Traveling Wilburys) also did his fair share of producing and songwriting so many tracks contain elements of those bands as well as Tom Petty's signature style ("Love Is A Long Road", "Depending On You", "Zombie Zoo"). However, there are also tracks where Tom lets loose and busts out the proper Rock riffs ("Runnin' Down A Dream", "A Mind With A Heart Of Its Own").
There's something for fans of all types of Classic American Rock here and whilst it's unlikely that every track will land with you on the same level, Full Moon Fever knows what its doing and is easily one of the most cohesive, well crafted Rock albums in existence. Whilst it might not be on my personal favourites list due to the softer nature of most tracks and the lack of complex or technical music work to enjoy, I can appreciate the talent that went into making it and would recommend it to pretty much anyone, even those who aren't really into Rock but don't dislike it.

1. Free Fallin'

2. I Won't Back Down

3. Love Is A Long Road

4. A Face In The Crowd

5. Runnin' Down A Dream

6. Feel A Whole Lot Better

7. Yer So Bad

8. Depending On You

9. The Apartment Song

10. Alright For Now

11. A Mind With A Heart Of It's Own

12. Zombie Zoo

ALBUM RATING - 8/10

There you have it. Three decent albums by three great artists/bands who are no longer with us. What a way to start the year!

Showdown: Under Cover - Motorhead

Despite Motorhead's frontman and eternal badass of Metal Lemmy being deceased, Motorhead are still releasing new studio material...well, half new anyway. Today's blog post is taking a look at the new Motorhead covers album entitled Under Cover (minus an umlaud over the o in typical Motorhead fashion) and whether or not Motorhead's heavier versions of iconic Rock tracks are as good if not better than the originals similar to previous Showdown posts with Whitesnake and Halestorm covers albums.

Since the covers on this album weren't deliberately recorded with the intention of making a covers album, I won't be giving individual verdicts influenced by whether these are the best songs by the respective bands Motorhead could've covered. They're covers that the band performed at some point in their career and each track has been assembled into a single compilation aside from one new track recorded before Lemmy's passing.
Right then, let's look at Motorhead's new album for what may be the last time, although I hope they release a compilation of their previously unreleased 2008 rerecordings at some point.

EDIT: Forgot to add this Spotify playlist containing each track (original and cover). Feel free to listen to them as you read my write-ups!



ROUND ONE: Breaking The Law
Judas Priest - Arguably the band's most famous song due partly to their music video, this song kicks things off with an instantly recognisable riff and a heavy driving bassline. It's a great little tune that's been improved over the years by speeding up the tempo and adding a sweet solo but as far as the original studio recording goes, this will always be one of Judas Priest's staples. It's just a shame Rob Halford always phones it in when playing it live by getting the audience to sing most, if not all, of it.
Motorhead - The tempo sounds a little bit faster and the guitar much heavier but goddamn, Lemmy's voice is fucking perfect for this track. Rob Halford may have the falsetto nailed down but the gravelly vocals this song requires is where Lemmy excels. It's a pretty faithful cover with no added frills until the little guitar melodies in the outro.
VERDICT - Definitely a strong track to open the covers album on and definitely a win for Motorhead. Whilst the Judas Priest original will always be THE version of this song, Motorhead did a damn fine job of recreating and (in my opinion) surpassing it.

ROUND TWO: God Save The Queen
Sex Pistols - I can't fucking stand these chancers. They slagged off bands like The Who and Queen and ended up releasing one album full of mediocre Punk anthems. However, of all the tracks I've heard of theirs, this is probably one of the better tracks. Solid guitar riffs and it even has a solo. It might be a dogshit solo but that's still impressive for Punk. The only thing that lets it down aside from the non-vocals is the "NOOOOO FU-TURE" section that sounds like a particularly uninspired football chant.
Motorhead - I'm not sure why Lemmy tried to do Punk vocals here as his deep guttural singing could've partially saved this track. Once again, it's a relatively faithful cover that sounds more like a tribute to this band than Motorhead's attempt to make the song their own, although I can fully understand why Lemmy gave up even pretending to sing with passion during the "NOOOO FU-TURE" part.
VERDICT - For all the shit I've said about this song and the Sex Pistols, I'm giving the win to the Sex Pistols because their original version sounds like a better Punk track than the Motorhead cover does a Punk or Metal one. Lemmy's voice didn't make the song enjoyable and the rest of the band sounded like they didn't really give much of a shit. It was too coordinated and paint-by-numbers to truly encapsulate the Punk spirit so I'm not sure why they even bothered.

ROUND THREE: Heroes
David Bowie - I love this song, it's easily my favourite Bowie track. It's hard to pinpoint exactly what I love about it as everything just comes together into an immaculate single entity but if I had to analyse the track, I think the subdued guitar is one of the strongest aspects. It's still there playing great riffs and haunting melodies but it's quite far back in the mix compared to Bowie's vocals which take centre stage. The combination of his vocal-line and the guitar creates a multi-layered tune that I never get tired of hearing from start to finish.
Motorhead - Recorded in 2015 during the Bad Magic sessions, this is the only cover that hasn't been previously released...unless you count the band releasing it as a single to promote this album. I wish I could say that they did it justice but honestly, I think it's shit. The drums are a little too fast for me and Lemmy's vocals don't really get interesting until about halfway through when his backing vocals come in; however, both of these would be forgivable if not for the guitar. It sounds like a fucking air-raid siren and the solo sounds too active for a song like this. It should be soft and subdued instead of obvious, resulting in a bland piece of music overall.
VERDICT - David Bowie was probably always going to win this one but I'm disappointed in Motorhead's attempt at it. They proved they weren't just about being loud and heavy with "Whorehouse Blues" in 2004 (not to mention the Bluesy rerecording of "Ace Of Spades" in 2010) but it's a shame they couldn't turn the volume down from 11 here.

ROUND FOUR: Starstruck
Rainbow - Not one of Rainbow's best unless you're into your Blues Rock but it's a solid song. Dio's vocals are vintage Dio and Blackmore's guitar carries the entire track with catchy riffs throughout although the solo isn't particularly memorable for a song with him onboard. If I didn't know this was one of their big songs, I'd assume it was a filler track.
Motorhead - So technically, this isn't a true Motorhead cover. This is Motorhead playing the music whilst Biff Byford from Saxon sings the vocals (although Lemmy wails along in the chorus). It sounds more like a Saxon cover than Motorhead due to the cleaner guitar and more restrained bass but overall, I dig it. If anything, I kinda wish Lemmy had less involvement as the chorus is the weakest part.
VERDICT - Yeah, I'm giving this to Motorhead ft. Biff Byford. The Rainbow original sounds a bit flat compared to this cover, although I'm not really sure why this track made the cut. If cover songs with guest musicians were eligible, they should've included Lemmy's cover of "The Trooper". THAT's a fucking great cover.

ROUND FIVE: Cat Scratch Fever
Ted Nugent - Uncle Ted might be a thundering bellend but when he was in the studio, he knew how to lay down a fucking sweet riff for a pure Rock song. Unfortunately, this is not one of those times and instead, we get this tired pile of shite. If music could sound bored, it would sound like the riff for "Cat Scratch Fever". Even the solo's generic, although Ted was never great at iconic solos. Just badass riffs...which this song doesn't have.
Motorhead - The riff's a bit better with more weight to it and Lemmy's growling vocals compliment the music much better than Ted's. The solo's also beefed up a bit too, making it more enjoyable to listen to as the minor bursts of shredding prevent you from falling asleep where you usually would in the original. I actually found myself nodding my head and tapping my foot towards the end, even though it's still the same song.
VERDICT - Motorhead got a little bit more creative with their recording of the song, even borrowing the outro from "Iron Fist" to make this cover sound more like one of their singles. Motorhead's cover is superior in every way so Motorhead get the win. It's a shame this is one of Ted Nugent's better known tracks although I can't say I'll lose much sleep over anything unfortunate happening to that tool.

ROUND SIX: Jumpin' Jack Flash
The Rolling Stones - Probably my favourite Rolling Stones song (Motorhead sure knew how to pick 'em, huh). I've always felt like post 1960s Rolling Stones are the ideal entry level Rock band for someone who has no idea what good Rock music sounds like but their 60s material can be pretty great, particularly if they've built the song around a great riff like this. Jagger's vocals are at their best and the song doesn't go on too long. In fact, to say it doesn't have a solo or anything fancy to pad it out, it's quite a tight package of Rock.
Motorhead - This sounds like a version of the song used in a film like Wayne's World when they wanted a more modern version of a famous track that wasn't expensive to license. Lemmy's vocals work pretty well and the heavier instruments make it sound a little rougher edged, a quality that The Rolling Stones should've kept throughout their career. However, the best part of this track is the actual outro rather than fading out. It would've been cool to hear the original with a proper ending.
VERDICT - Both tracks have their strengths but I'm giving the win to The Rolling Stones simply because I prefer the sound of their guitar tone to Motorhead's, although I do like their cover.

ROUND SEVEN: Sympathy For The Devil
The Rolling Stones - OK, I guess we've got another Stones track. It's not one I'm a huge fan of but there are several aspects I quite like. For starters, the bass is great and the lyrics stand out as some of the best by The Rolling Stones. I also like the progression of the track and how the mix changes with each verse, although part of me wonders what it'd be like if there was just a bit more guitar. It doesn't have to be an Earth-shattering riff but maybe some rhythm guitar after the second chorus could've made it that little bit better, especially since the guitar solos kind of suck.
Motorhead - Straight away, we've got the Cozy Powell "Dance With The Devil" drumbeat and once Lemmy starts singing (yes, he actually sings) the song becomes awesome. The bass sounds amazing and gives the song a whole new energy, the guitar solos aren't as sporadic and choppy, the enhanced percussion during the solos packs an excellent wallop and the genre of the song is definitively Rock. I fucking love this cover.
VERDICT - Similar to the last track, both songs are great in their own right but you all know I'm awarding it to Motorhead. I don't even know if I can listen to the original in the same way again now that I know this cover exists, that's how good it is.

ROUND EIGHT: Hellraiser
Ozzy Osbourne - Hats off to Ozzy for creating a badass Metal track without Randy or Jake E. Lee that isn't just a recreation of "Crazy Train". Ozzy's vocals don't sound as ridiculous as they usually do and the vocal effects make the song sound more epic, not to mention the great guitar riffs peppered throughout the track. I'm not entirely sure why they were going for a futuristic sound with all the synth and vocoder/guitar effects when the track's called "Hellraiser" but I can't say I dislike them.
Motorhead - This is the only track on the list where I heard the Motorhead version before the original. I'm aware that Ozzy and Lemmy wrote it together but since Ozzy released it first, I think it's fair to call this a cover (especially if Motorhead consider it one as well). It definitely sounds less polished than the Ozzy version although at least Lemmy's thick bass is awesome; plus, the stripped back sound makes it sound more like a proper Heavy Metal tune.
VERDICT - Tricky. Motorhead's version has a much better guitar solo but on a track where Ozzy really gave it his all in the vocal department, Lemmy's pipes just don't give me the same chills as the original. Ozzy Osbourne takes a well earned win.

ROUND NINE: Rockaway Beach
Ramones - Of all the Punk bands in existence, I probably have the most forgiveness for the Ramones due to them sounding like a Rock band with Punk edges rather than the other way round. I've talked about this song in a previous Showdown post so if you've read that, you'll know that I like the break between chorus and verse although wish the band were talented enough to have extended it with a solo. Still, it's a punchy little Pop-Punk tune.
Motorhead - It's no secret that Lemmy was a huge fan of the Ramones; he even recorded a track with Motorhead entitled "R.A.M.O.N.E.S" as a tribute. As far as this cover's concerned, Motorhead do a bang up job. Lemmy might sound a little bored but his vocal delivery actually works pretty damn well here. Other than that, it's a short song and Motorhead followed each note pretty faithfully.
VERDICT - To me, both songs are as good as each other, even for their genres. I'm giving the win to Ramones for being the ones to create the song and for inspiring Motorhead to write amazing tracks of their own.

ROUND TEN: Shoot 'Em Down
Twisted Sister - Not one of Twisted Sister's better known hits and, as far as 4/4/ Hard Rock tracks go, it's even more basic than your average AC/DC song. Fortunately, it has a fairly decent solo that sounds like fun to play although it's a shame the rest of the track is dull as dishwater. However, I imagine Motorhead took interest in it due to the Punk nature of it; simplistic guitar riff, obscenities in the lyrics, aggressive sound. Probably the best Twisted Sister track for Motorhead to cover.
Motorhead - Congrats Motorhead, you improved pretty much every aspect of this song. The solo might not sound quite as good (although it's still decent) but everything else has been tightened up to a suitable degree. Tempo's a bit quicker, drums are a bit louder, Lemmy's vocals are back to their usual gritty texture and even if it doesn't sound quite like a typical Motorhead song, the band took the source material and amplified it.
VERDICT - Motorhead deserve the win for obvious reasons. They've transformed a mediocre Hard Rock track into a decent Heavy Metal one without needing to completely rewrite.

ROUND ELEVEN: Whiplash
Metallica - A fan favourite from Metallica's debut, presumably thanks to a mix of rose-tinted glasses and comparing it with their more recent attempts at Metal. Sure, it has rapid guitar throughout and the drums maintain their fury from start to finish but other than that, it's a pretty bog standard affair. There are some decent riffs but overall it sounds like a much tamer version of "Hit The Lights", right down to the solo.
Motorhead - Metallica have covered a bunch of Motorhead tracks in their career so it's interesting to hear the tables turned, especially with Lemmy's thick bass taking centre stage. The bassline sounds more like a Motorhead track and even if Lemmy's vocals can't quite keep up with the track's speed, they still sound right for the song. Unfortunately, the guitar riff before the solo has been butchered but thankfully, the rest of the song is pure Metal. Also, I like how they changed the lyrics to reflect "we are Motorhead" instead of "we are Metallica"; definitely a great pick to end the album on.
VERDICT - If this was any other song off Kill 'Em All, Metallica almost certainly would've claimed the victory here. The original song's good but Motorhead took it and made it fucking great, earning them the final win.

FINAL SCORES:
Motorhead - 6
Originals - 5

A great collection of covers with a few duds but overall, it gets the thumbs up from me! I rate Under Cover a 6/10 for being a simple yet earnest collection of Motorhead material that casual listeners may not have heard, although I would've preferred a few different choices. Did you know Motorhead have covered "Tie Your Mother Down" - Queen? It's pretty fucking good. So's their cover of "Blue Suede Shoes" - Elvis Presley and "It's A Long Way To The Top" - AC/DC.
They should've been on the album instead of "Cat Scratch Fever" and "Jumpin' Jack Flash" but there's always the possibility that the band chose these covers because they knew they were Lemmy's favourites and they wanted this to be a collection he'd be proud of. If that is the case, I admire them for releasing this compilation out of love instead of a dwindling bank balance. Since Motorhead have a bunch of other decent covers, I wouldn't object to the band/record label releasing Under Cover 2 in the future even if it was their way of getting money for old rope.

Taster Session #1

After last week's trilogy of video game posts, I decided to go back to album reviews but after checking online to see if there were any albums that caught my eye, I couldn't find any worth reviewing or listening to. What I did discover was a series of upcoming albums from bands I like listening to.
Now I understand this flies in the face of being open minded and I wouldn't recommend avoiding bands just because you've never heard them before (otherwise nobody would have a career) but the simple truth is no new albums or bands have made me think I should listen to their material.
When I hear a single on the radio and like it, I'll give the album a try. If I hear good things about a band, I'm more likely to try them out than if I hear nothing about them. Either way, I was left in a bit of a situation as I didn't want to go back to another opinion post or Tenology. So here's ANOTHER NEW IDEA!

As there are several upcoming albums from bands I'm aware of hitting the shelves in a few months, there are also quite a few singles from these albums online already. I'll be talking about some of those singles in this post and will discuss my experience with the band in the past as well as giving my expectations for the respective album, just in case I end up reviewing them.
Right then, let's get started!

"High Country" - The Sword         (listen here)
From the album High Country (21/8/15)

I should start off by saying that I love The Sword. They're like everything awesome about Black Sabbath mixed with everything awesome about Slayer. Heavy riffs and explosive drums all combined to make a musical score suitable for Ragnarok. Their first album starts off OK with some great standalone tracks and their second album packs a necessarily hefty punch, as any good Metal follow-up album should. The third album was perhaps a bit prematurely experimental but luckily the fourth album returned to apocalyptic riffing.
This song kind of makes me wonder where the 5th album will go. It's heavy, sure, but it also sounds very different to The Sword that sung about "Fire Lances Of The Ancient Hyperzephyrians" or "The Black River". In fact, it sounds a bit like "Believe" - The Bravery spiced up with some reworked riffs from "Gasoline" - Audioslave (this song definitely has a bit of cheeky riff pinching from "Gasoline"). However, I highly doubt this means The Sword have gone uber-commercial and morphed from Heavy Metal to Hard Rock like Megadeth did with Super Collider.
What it probably means is The Sword want to release a well received album and maybe get a bit of radio play with this single. I could be dead wrong as I haven't heard as much buzz about it as, say, Last Of Our Kind - The Darkness when the first singles were being released for that. I'm a little worried that this is the title track as it lacks the same wallop that title tracks are supposed to provide. Either way, it's made me excited to listen to High Country as I really enjoyed the song and I trust The Sword will give Rock and Metal fans an excellent album.


"The Vengeful One" - Disturbed          (listen here)
From the album Immortalized (21/8/15)

I'm familiar with Disturbed and some of their more popular hits ("Down With The Sickness", "Inside The Fire", etc) but I wouldn't call myself a massive fan. I like their sound to a passable degree although unlike some of the other Metal bands I generally favour, Disturbed tend to rely on that sound a little too much. I'm not saying they can only play one song with different lyrics over and over again (like another band we'll be looking at shortly) but whenever a new Disturbed single is released, it always has the same staples of their music.
This track is no different and sounds just like their "best" material so if you were a fan of Disturbed during the Indestructible period and are hoping they haven't lost their way, fear not! If this single is anything to go by, you're probably in for another album of similar material. I tend to be OK with this if the material is good and yeah, in Disturbed's case it often is. I might check this album out as Disturbed have surprised me with a couple of awesome songs ("The Infection" springs straight to mind) but I don't know if I'll review it here.


"Thunder & Lightning" - Motorhead          (listen here)
From the album Bad Magic (28/8/15)

Another band who are overly-reliant on the sound of one song. Motorhead have the same problem as AC/DC, something I refer to as 'The Simpsons Syndrome'. They've been consistently making music for such a long time that it's hard to imagine a world where there isn't a Motorhead release every other year. I think the main reason people still listen to this band is because Lemmy IS the band and you can't dislike Lemmy. He's like a pirate that quantum leapt into the Rock and Metal scene.
Anyway, "Thunder & Lightning" is not a Thin Lizzy cover (although there is a cover of "Sympathy For The Devil" on the upcoming album, which I'm keen to hear). It's a typical Motorhead track with thrashing drums, thunderous bass and gravelly vocals. I've often found that Motorhead are capable of putting together a really cohesive album that works from start to finish. You may not like all the songs but they belong on the album, if that makes sense.
Plus, contrary to popular belief, a Motorhead album isn't just the same track recycled ten times. There are bound to be slower songs on Bad Magic that still hit hard and it'll probably be another decent effort. Unlike AC/DC, Motorhead have yet to show signs of aging or creative rot. Their music is still fast, furious and full of energy and for that reason, I have no problem with them still producing albums.


"Complexity" - Eagles Of Death Metal          (listen here)
From the album Zipper Down (2/10/15)

There are two things I need to lay out in the open before I talk about this song. Firstly, these guys aren't Metal. Their name is based around someone comparing their music to the equivalent of the band The Eagles but of the Death Metal genre. Anyone who hasn't heard their music should kill that expectation immediately. Secondly, they're not Mock Rock like Tenacious D or Steel Panther. They're a Hard Rock side-project from Josh Homme (Queens Of The Stone Age) who have decided to change their name to EODM for some stupid reason.
Whilst I like quite a few of their songs ("Wannabe In L.A.", "Miss Alissa", "Speaking In Tongues"...), I don't really have any fondness towards these guys in the same way I care about The Answer or maybe some older bands. I wouldn't have lost any sleep if these guys never went back into the studio but I'll definitely listen to the album when it comes out. For an album opener heralding the return of this wacky outfit after seven years of absence, "Complexity" is pretty generic. I doubt this band are smart enough to ironically write a bland track called "Complexity" but it sounds like it could easily be a filler track from any of their previous albums.
There's bound to be great material on Zipper Down but I'm in no hurry for October to roll around, nor am I desperate to listen to this song again any time soon. However, if you're a fan of these guys then do check the single out. As I said, it sounds like it could easily blend in with their previous works so I guess that's a good sign for EODM purists.


"Coming For You" - The Offspring          (listen here)
From the album ????????? (??/??/??)

I vaguely remember listening to The Offspring's latest album from 2012 (Days Go By) and the only track that stuck in my mind was some piece of shit called "Bumping In My Trunk" or something dumb. Thing is I didn't actually hate the album, it was just that track that stuck in my mind because of how crap it was. I can remember the album being more mature than Ixnay On The Hombre, which was just pure 90's Pop Punk but done in a great way.
Based on this single, it's almost as if the band were going through musical regression but got stuck halfway. It sounds like Oasis trying to cover Green Day or a bunch of thirtysomething adults trying to recapture their youthful rage and passion from twenty years ago. I could be completely wrong but based on this single, I'm guessing fans of The Offspring's earlier material might not be into this. However, fans of Alternative Rock with a tiny bit of a Punk bite will love it.
Despite my earlier criticisms, it strips away the worst elements of Oasis/Green Day whilst blending the best together. Since this track was released as a single without an album, we'll have to wait for more information to come out before forming any solid conclusions on whether that's the direction this band are heading in but as far as speculation goes, they have me intrigued. That is all.

There are more albums coming out this year that I'm bound to check out but at this current point in time, no singles have been released. Perhaps when Megadeth, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, Black Sabbath, The Smashing Pumpkins and Iron Maiden give us a sample of their material, I'll come back with Taster Session #2. Also, if there's a single, band or album you think I should listen to, feel free to recommend it/them in the comments. I'm always happy to listen to new Rock/Metal music if you think it's good enough!