Review: Meat Loaf - Hell in a Handbasket

In 1967 Marvin Lee Aday formed his first band, “Meat Loaf Soul” and after 45 years of performing in everything from bands to acting in over 35 movies, over 25 television shows(most recently “Celebrity Apprentice”), and doing over 20 concert tours,  the man who now goes by “Meat Loaf” is releasing his 12^th studio album.

If familiar with the work of Meat Loaf you know that he does everything big, crazy and unexpectedly. Most of all Meat puts his whole heart and soul into everything he does.

It’s hard to do something unexpected when everyone is expecting it, but there were a few surprises on Hell in a Handbasket.

The first song, “All of Me” sets the tone for the album which Meat Loaf says is the first album he has made that really expresses the way he feels personally. It’s the kind of power ballad you would expect from a Meat Loaf album. “The Giving Tree” is a lesson in dynamics for any aspiring musician. Starting with a single tambourine, it swells from almost spoken lyrics to a feverish anthem with church choir like backup vocals. Then everything drops out and you have hand claps and church choir vocals until it ends with a single tambourine.

Pushing into the realm of the unexpected we have, “Live or Die”. On the surface with its acoustic guitar, fiddle and organ it sounds like a country song.  Peel all that away and you actually have a pretty heavy rock song. The acoustic guitar solo in the middle works amazingly well too.

Meat crosses deep into the unexpected with the medley “Blue Sky/Mad Mad World/The Good God Is A Woman And She Don’t Like Ugly,”   which includes rapping by Chuck D. Then he follows that up with another cover, “Calfornia Dreamin’”. No surprise that it’s a duet with Patti Russo. He makes it his own, but I have listened to it half a dozen times and I am still not sure if I like it or not. 

Still unexpected is the song “Party of One”. I would say it crosses into the realm of early punk or psychobilly. It’s a song about the upside of being alone.

Finally the most unexpected oddity on Hell in a Handbasket is “Stand in the Storm”. Where else can you hear Meat singing with Trace Adkins, Mark McGrath and Lil Jon?  Only someone like Meat Loaf could get such a diverse group of musicians together on an album. Let alone one song.

Meat Loaf made the mistake of writing Bat out of Hell at the beginning of his career. How do you possibly ever top your swan song? Hell in a Handbasket isn’t going to stand up to Bat out of Hell, but it is a good album. It is full of emotion, big vocals and great arrangements. Meat Loaf continues to have no qualms with cross contaminating genres. No matter what ingredients he mixes together it all ends up tasting like Meat Loaf. I am sure Guy Fieri would say,  “Mmm, that’s money!”

4/5 Stars

Key Tracks: The Giving Tree, Live or Die, Party of One

Kirk Bullough

Tracks: 1. All Of Me   2. The Giving Tree 3. Live Or Die 4. Blue Sky / Mad Mad World / The Good God Is A Woman And She Don't Like Ugly 5. California Dreamin' 6. Party Of One 7. Another Day 8. 40 Days 9. Our Love And Our Souls 10. Stand In The Storm 11. Blue Sky 12. Fall From Grace

  

Artist:  Meat Loaf
Title:  Hell In A Handbasket
Genre:  Rock
Release Date: March 13, 2012
Label:  Sony Legacy
Website:  http://www.meatloaf.net

Review: The Danny John Trio - Mr. Twister

Yesterday I had never even heard of Daniel John and today he is one of my favorite guitarists ever.  

Danny grew up in Canberra, Australia. He picked up the guitar at age eight and taught himself to play. After gaining an enthusiastic response in Australia he dropped everything and moved to Hollywood where he attended Musicians Institute of Technology. After three years of studying and playing with the best he felt like he was ready. He moved back to Australia and played with the best musicians Australia has to offer. 

His latest venture “The Danny John Trio” is Daniel John (Guitars); James Dennett (Drums); Marcos Gil (Bass).

Their second album, Mr. Twister is ablaze with flashy, raucous, intense musical masterpieces. From the moment I hit play I was in guitar shredder heaven.

I hate it when guitar virtuosos put out albums with a bunch of singing with little guitar solos in-between. Mr. Twister delivers everything I ever wanted to hear on an instrumental guitar album. The shortest song is over 5 minutes long.   

Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t just a bunch of heavy metal shredding for the sake of fitting as many notes into a measure as you can. No, each song on this album is a treasure trove of diverse styles, odd meters and vast dynamics, amazingly clean sweep picking, plus incredible bass and drum solos.

Mr. Twister starts out heavy with “Drift”. A lone distorted rhythm guitar progresses into a full out attack of guitar voodoo. It’s a nine minute song, but it never gets boring. “Would” rivals the group “The Mars Volta” for having the most genres in one song. The title track “Mr. Twister” is a lesson in playing in every meter except 4/4. “Lighthouse” makes a game of changing keys every two beats. 

This album was recorded in 17 hours, but you would never guess. It’s a testament to the amazing talent of these artists. If they were painters this would be their Mona Lisa. If you are looking for a perfect Rock/ Jazz Fusion album, this is it. Look no further.

5/5 Stars

Key Tracks: Drift, Mr. Twister, Lighthouse

Kirk Bullough

Tracks: 1. Drift 2. Would 3. Mr. Twister 4. Whole 5. Predilection 6. Badland 7. Lighthouse

Danny John: Drift Official Music Video Danny John from Danny John on Vimeo.

Artist: Danny John Trio
Title: Mr. Twister
Genre: Progressive Jazz Rock Fusion
Release Date: May 1, 2011
Label: Danny John Trio
Website: http://www.dannyjohntrio.com/

Review: Beggars & Thieves – We are the Broken Hearted

In 1989 Louie Merlino (vocals) called up his buddy Ronnie Mancuso (guitar) and convinced him to move from Los Angeles to New York where he was living at the time. They wrote half of their first album in a week. After about 6 gigs Beggars & Thieves landed a record deal with Atlantic Records. Their first single “Beggars & Thieves” made it to Billboards Top 40. After their A & R man left Atlantic the band was stuck in limbo. They signed on to Epic where they recorded their second album Look What You Create but Epic never released it.

By this time grunge had taken off and record companies weren’t interested in pop-metal anymore. In 1997 Look What You Create was finally released on MTM Music. The band released a third album, The Grey Album in 1999 also with MTM Music.

In 2010 Beggars & Thieves reunited to play at Firefest in Nottingham, England where they received great reviews and were voted biggest surprise of the festival.

Now on the momentum of Firefest, Beggars & Thieves have released their latest album, We Are The Broken Hearted. They have added Erik Gloege on drums and Blake Newman on bass to complete the band.

We Are The Broken Hearted starts strong with “We Come Undone”. It has a great driving bass line, nice harmonies and an array of little guitar sounds that you really need headphones to appreciate in its fullest.

“Oil & Water” is probably my favorite track on the album. It opens with some guitar that reminds me of AC/DC’s “For Those About To Rock” and then fades into a nice ballad with raunchy, distorted guitar sounds, precise bass parts and the steady drum beat with the occasional tasteful drum fill. I love this slow heavy feel. Over the top of this ocean of heavy is a nice acoustic guitar and “Robert Plant” style vocals.

In the middle of “Innocence” is a cool bridge where everything cuts out except the bass and drums, then leads into a jammin’ guitar solo. “Never Gonna See You Again” starts with a hypnotic acoustic guitar playing alongside a lonesome hi-hat. In come the vocals and then some really cool bass and drums kick in. About half way through the guitar solo some really nice piano work kicks in giving the whole song a different feel. The song then cuts back to just guitar and hi-hat, builds into one last chorus with everything and then ends with just guitar and the hi-hat.

Things change up a little when you get to “Beautiful Loser” with its dual slide guitar intro. This song is another great mix between acoustic and electric guitars. The pre-chorus reminds me a little of Slaughter. There are some nice arpeggios in this song and another spot on guitar solo. The vocals remind me of Chris Cornell. “Seven Sounds” is a little heavier with a wall of guitars and an Axel Rose style vocal. There is a great melodic guitar lick in the chorus that I like quite a bit. “Stranded” starts with Mandolin and acoustic guitar, everything kicks in and Merlino’s gruff vocals start to weave a story. “I remember, stranded in the streets of Brooklyn, all alone under the dark red sky, find a bar and go inside, demons must be fed, two shots of mercy fuel the gods their singing in your head”.

“Wash Away” reminds me of “All Night Thing” by Temple of the Dog. It’s a nice soulful slow song, with nice harmonies. “Midnight Blue” starts a lot different with some synthesizer sound effects and then into some slightly distorted guitars that remind me of the Alarm. The guitar solo in this one has the coolest flanger effects and the song ends with a beautiful piano part as all the other instruments fade.

The album finishes up strong with “We are the Brokenhearted”, an anthem that reflects the turmoil the world is going through, encouraging unity instead of despair.

We Are The Broken Hearted is littered with smart, well-crafted songs, with catchy melodies and great rock riffs. Merlino can still belt it out and Mancuso is better than ever.

Mancuso said of this release, “This isn’t just some guy’s trying to have a little fun reliving the past. We are very serious about this. We want to compete with the big boys!”

What they have created is great album. I hope this is the vehicle that finally propels them to the stardom that was stolen from them and is rightfully theirs.

4/5 stars

Key Tracks: Oil & Water, Wash Away, We are the Broken Hearted

Kirk Bullough

Tracks: 1. We Come Undone 2. Oil & Water 3. Innocence 4. Never Gonna See You Again 5. Beautiful Losers 6. Seven Seconds 7. Stranded 8. Wash Away 9. Midnight Blue 10. We Are The Brokenhearted

Artists: Beggars & Theives

Title: We are the Broken Hearted

Genre: Album Oriented Rock

Label: Frontiers Records

Website: http://www.beggarsnthieves.com

Review: The Beatles with Tony Sheridan - The Beatles and Tony Sheridan:First Recordings 50th Anniversary Edition

In 1960 the Beatles were playing in Hamburg, Germany where they met a young singer and guitarist named Tony Sheridan. They hit it off and by their second trip to Germany in 1961 they ended up playing with him quite often with either the Beatles backing Tony, or Tony sitting in with the Beatles.
German producer Bert Kaempfert of Polydor, took in one of their shows and suggested they record together. He signed both acts the same night at his kitchen table. The Beatles at the time were John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Pete Best.
The Beatles recorded 7 songs during this time and were paid in advance for another session that took place in 1962. At this later session they recorded the backup tracks for “Sweet Georgia Brown” and “Swanee River” on which Sheridan was able to record his parts the next day. It seems that the recording of “Swanee River” was never released and is now lost.
Of the songs that the Beatles had recorded in Hamburg, two were Beatles songs, “Ain’t She Sweet” and and the instrumental, “Cry for a Shadow”. Polydor Records expected that Sheridan would be the next big star and so they made the mistake of letting the Beatles get away. They went back to Liverpool, picked up Brian Epstein as manager, replaced Pete Best with Ringo Starr and the rest is history.
There have been other versions of the Tony Sheridan songs recorded and there has been some confusion over which tracks the Beatles did or didn’t play on. The Beatles with Tony Sheridan: First Recordings 50th Anniversary Edition contains all of the tracks that the Beatles played on in those sessions except for the missing “Swanee River”. This album contains the stereo and mono versions of these songs as well as the U.S. Versions which had some guitar and vocal overdubs to make them sound edgier.
Being able to hear what the Beatles sounded like before they found 'their sound' makes this album an important piece of rock and roll history. The Beatles with Tony Sheridan: First Recordings 50th Anniversary Edition is a must for any Beatles fan.

5/5 Stars

Key Tracks: Ain’t She Sweet, Cry For A Shadow

Kirk Bullough

Disc: 1  01. Ain’t She Sweet (U.S. version) – The Beatles  02. My Bonnie - Tony Sheridan And The Beatles  03. The Saints (When the Saints Go Marching In) - Tony Sheridan And The Beatles  04. Cry for a Shadow - The Beatles  05. Why - Tony Sheridan And The Beatles  06. If You Love Me, Baby (Take Out Some Insurance on Me, Baby) (U.S. version) - Tony Sheridan And The Beatles  07. Nobody’s Child (U.S. version) - Tony Sheridan And The Beatles  08. Sweet Georgia Brown (New lyrics) - Tony Sheridan And The Beatles  09. Ain’t She Sweet - The Beatles  10. My Bonnie (English intro) - Tony Sheridan And The Beatles  11. If You Love Me, Baby (Take Out Some Insurance on Me, Baby) - Tony Sheridan And The Beatles  12. Nobody’s Child - Tony Sheridan And The Beatles  13. Sweet Georgia Brown (U.S. version) - Tony Sheridan And The Beatles  14. My Bonnie (German intro) - Tony Sheridan And The Beatles  15. The Saints (Medley version) - Tony Sheridan And The Beatles  16. Cry for a Shadow (Medley version 1) - The Beatles  17. Sweet Georgia Brown - Tony Sheridan And The Beatles  18. My Bonnie (Medley version) - Tony Sheridan And The Beatles  19. Cry for a Shadow (Medley version 2) - The Beatles

Disc: 2  01. Ain’t She Sweet - The Beatles  02. My Bonnie - Tony Sheridan And The Beatles  03. When the Saints Go Marching In - Tony Sheridan And The Beatles  04. Cry for a Shadow - The Beatles  05. Why - Tony Sheridan And The Beatles  06. Sweet Georgia Brown (New lyrics) - Tony Sheridan And The Beatles  07. My Bonnie (English intro) - Tony Sheridan And The Beatles  08. If You Love Me, Baby (Take Out Some Insurance on Me, Baby) - Tony Sheridan And The Beatles  09. Nobody’s Child - Tony Sheridan And The Beatles  10. My Bonnie (German intro) - Tony Sheridan And The Beatles  11. The Saints (Medley version) - Tony Sheridan And The Beatles  12. Cry for a Shadow (Medley version 1) - The Beatles  13. Sweet Georgia Brown - Tony Sheridan And The Beatles  14. My Bonnie (Medley version) - Tony Sheridan And The Beatles  15. Cry for a Shadow (Medley version 2) - The Beatles

Artists: The Beatles with Tony Sheridan

Title: The Beatles with Tony Sheridan: First Recordings 50th Anniversary Edition

Genre: Rock

Label: Polydor Records

Website: http://www.thebeatles.com/