2022 Hard Rock Journal Vol. 1 - Complete

Aerosmith - Toys in the Attic. 1975 Columbia (LP). I find Aerosmith - even in their classic era - very hit and miss. Their debut is essentially bar rock with one monster track (the ubiquitous 'Dream On'), while Draw the Line is a throwback early 70s blues rocker with a couple of interesting ideas. On the other hand Get Your Wings is a fantastic hard rock album, their best in my estimation. And Rocks is also very good, an album that is generally considered their pinnacle achievement by the overall listening populace. But what of Toys in the Attic, their most commercially successful album? It sits between the two I just listed above and features both of their most known hits 'Walk This Way' and 'Sweet Emotion'. Both of which I enjoy. So therefore this should be an easy keeper. Not so fast. The opening title track packs a nice punch and 'Round and Round' is a solid heavy track. The rest is boogie, blues, and bar rock. I remember hearing this album all the way through in the late 70s and early 80s, and it never moved the needle. 40 years later, it still doesn't. It's good and that's about it. Bye bye. (Dec)

Rainbow - Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. 1975 Polydor (LP). Picked up at the Denver Record show on the cheap (Oct). This is the second time for me to run into this album since 2019. Each listen is a little bit more enjoyable, but mostly it always falls short of my expectations. Perhaps because of my personal experience with the band, I find that I enjoy Down to Earth and subsequent albums more satisfying. The exception to this - like just about every one else - is that I think Rising is their masterpiece. And it's much more aggressive and chance taking than this rather tepid debut. As some clever folks have noted, the band should have been called Ritchie Blackmore's Elf at this stage. It all came together in one short year. Once again I cannot find a reason to hang onto this, despite a few good - though not exceptional - tracks.

Demon - The Unexpected Guest. 1982 Carrere (LP). The only Demon albums I know are the Saga-ish The Plague (very good) and the Pink Floyd-ish follow up (good). Since Demon are considered part of the NWOBHM movement, I just presumed that it came from their early albums. Nope! This, their second album, is muscled up hard rock. Which I do like, but I found this album pretty boring overall. Doesn't have the melodic sensibilities of their next album, and there isn't much proggy invention either. (Sep)

Alcatrazz - No Parole from Rock N' Roll. 1983 Rocshire (LP). I remember Alcatrazz well from my freshmen year of college. They were most famous for having Yngwie Malmsteen as their lead guitarist, and they featured former Rainbow vocalist Graham Bonnet. This is a good hard rock album, as Malmsteen didn't noodle his way through it, and Bonnet is a great singer. I have too much of this kind of thing already, and there's not much nostalgia with Alcatrazz itself, so I'm letting it go. (Jun)

Atlee - Flying A Head. 1970 ABC/Dunhill (LP). More blues rock, and nothing really to distinguish it from the others. (Jun)

C.K. Strong. 1969 Epic (LP). C.K. Strong is the first album to feature future Penthouse Pet model Lynn Carey. It's blues rock all the way, no doubt influenced heavily by Janis Joplin. Except Ms. Carey is a hell of a lot more attractive. She went on to lead Mama Lion for two albums and I believe she still sings at jazz nightclubs to this day. Anyway, I'm not a Joplin fan (musically) and this didn't do that much for me either. (Jun)

Rose Tattoo - Scarred for Life. 1982 Mirage (LP). I had bought the predecessor to this album real time while still in high school. I forget the track now they played on the radio, but I quite liked it, so I plunked down real money for Assault & Battery. It turned out to be very disappointing, and that was the only track I liked on it. Essentially Rose Tattoo are AC/DC clones, trying to capitalize on their fellow Australian's success. I found this sealed at a local store (way cheap), not something you're likely to see at this late date. Rather than break the seal, I listened to the album on YouTube. Yea, same impression. It's AC/DC like hard boogie rock. Not for me, but if you're a fan, Rose Tattoo gives you good value. (Jun)

Billion Dollar Babies - Battle Axe. 1977 Polydor (LP). From that same store they also had a sealed copy of this album (even cheaper). Same thing, rather than break the seal, I checked it out on YouTube. Billion Dollar Babies is made up of former Alice Cooper Band members, hence the moniker. It's pretty much the same kind of hard rock / glam rock that Cooper was peddling at the same time. Pretty average on the whole, but not bad. (Jun)

*Van Halen - Fair Warning. 1981 Warner Bros. (LP) I spoke some of my history with Van Halen on the Women and Children First album. Though I never bought that album real time, I did splurge for Fair Warning upon release. And that's because they were playing the heaviest songs on the radio. And those would be 'Mean Street' and 'Unchained', both I would consider at the top of the heap for Van Halen. A nice return to form, recalling their massive debut. At the time, I wasn't so enamored with the rest, looking for more heavy material. In reacquiring this title, I found myself enjoying the whole thing. Most assuredly their second best album. (May)

*Rainbow - Down to Earth. 1979 Polydor (LP). In an earlier post, I had mentioned that I bought this along with Judas Priest's Rocka Rolla. It was real time in Seattle while visiting my aunt and uncle. I enjoyed it at the time, but I was hoping for something heavier and less poppy. Over the years, it didn't survive some of the LP purging, which was necessary. Now I'm just scooping these up out of nostalgia. I actually remembered this album pretty well, though it's been 30 years since I last heard it. Down to Earth features Graham Bonnet, and he does possess quite the voice. Last year I revisited Difficult to Cure with great results, and I'll give the nod to that album over this, since it's less commercial. But for memories alone, I'll probably keep this one for a long while. (Apr)

*Rainbow - Straight Between the Eyes. 1982 Mercury (LP). This is where I got off the Rainbow bus. I had stayed loyal, but as each year progressed in the early 80s, I wanted heavier and heavier music. And there were bands to fill that desire. Rainbow were going the other way. This is probably the most commercial of the four post-Dio albums. I'll keep it anyway. (Apr)

*Rainbow - Bent Out of Shape. 1983 Mercury (LP). Since I stopped at Straight Between the Eyes, I never did hear this final (for all intents and purposes) Rainbow album - until now. It's a nice return to form, showing off a more meaty hard rock muscle than prior - closer to Difficult to Cure in that manner. It would not have been enough for me in 1983, but I now appreciate this style considerably more. (LP)

Nazareth - Hair of the Dog. 1975 A&M (LP). There are two songs that I know from Nazareth, both played to death when I was young. And they both reside on this album. The title track ("son of a bitch...") and 'Love Hurts'. And they are fairly representative of the album present. I never liked either song, so I never pursued Nazareth after all these years, and that proved to be the right move. The dollar bin snagged another victim (except the resell factor...). Hair of the Dog is mostly non innovative hard rock with decent guitar from Manny Charlton combined with the distinctive voice of Don McCafferty. The latter coming awfully close to AC/DC's Bon Scott at times. To my ears, they're terrible. Love might hurt, but that's nothing compared to McCafferty. I was about to label the album as average, but the final 10 minute track 'Don't Judas Me' is really quite good, especially the guitar work, which borders space rock. Still not enough to keep though... (Mar)

*Aerosmith - Get Your Wings. 1984 Columbia (1974) (LP). Bar code reissue in shrink and barely touched. I've come across the debut a couple of times while "looking for inventory", but this is the first time for me to snag Get Your Wings. Commercially speaking, it's also their most obscure album considering the megahits of that debut through Draw the Line. This is the rough and tumble Aerosmith I enjoy, much more so than its predecessor. No nonsense greasy, dirty fingernails hard rock. Tyler's unique scratchy voice hollering over Perry and Whitford's jammin' guitars. I still get a charge out of their cover of 'Train Kept a Rollin', the album's best known cut. Keeping this one for sure. (Mar)

*Lucifer's Friend - I'm Just a Rock 'n' Roll Singer. 1974 Billingsgate (LP). This album has a major image problem. The cover, title, and band moniker are all wrong. And while it's true that the title song does have boogie rock components, it still features an excellent hard rock break. And it's not representative of the album on the whole. Only A2 is similar, and it too features a superb ending. The rest of the album is very good hard rock, and the last two tracks go completely prog, with mellotron and the works. This is only the second album I've heard by Lucifer's Friend (at the time...), and it's far better than Good Time Warrior which I've already panned in these pages. (Mar)

*Blue Oyster Cult - The Revolution By Night. 1983 Columbia (LP). I first heard this album on my winter break from college in 1983. It was relatively new then. It was the same time period that I picked up Savatage's Sirens and Manilla Road's Crystal Logic. A friend swore it was great, but as you can see, I had completely moved away from poppy hard rock such as BOC. I thought it was terrible and maintained a low rating for the next 40 years almost. With this era of the 80s in my lens, now is a good time to repurchase the album from a local store. Well... yea, I can certainly see why I thought nothing of it at the time. It is lightweight and it is poppy. Which doesn't translate to terrible like it once did. I did recognize the opener 'Take it Away', but nothing else, 'Veins' is really nice and one gets to hear Randy Jackson (American Idol of course...) play a mean bass on the lengthy Shooting Shark. Side 2 is mostly solid hard rock as well. Other interesting guests are Larry Fast (Synergy) and Aldo Nova, a star in his own right not long before. Sure, I'll keep it for now. (Mar)

*Hex A.D. - Astro Tongue in the Electric Garden. 2020 Fresh Tea (LP). I wasn't sold at first on the 3rd album by this Norwegian band. The first track sounds like Candlemass and 'Astro Tongue' has all the trappings of a typical Stoner album. While those two genres are welcome here, it's not something I'm on the lookout for. I have plenty already and will likely trim some off the collection. Ah, but not so fast. Things get much more interesting on the proggy 'The Day the Sky Exploded', where keyboards and meter and thematic changes add a whole new dimension to their sound. The other two tracks on side one are pre and postludes. Fortunately all of Side 2 maintains the momentum, and there's even some Iron Maiden like riffing. The album sits at the border of hard rock and metal, with more than a nod to progressive rock. The difference maker is keyboardist Mags Johansen who brings a raft full of vintage keys, most notably mellotron and Hammond. The band's image is also mixed - the album cover demonstrating psychedelic prog, whereas the fonts and titles are Stoner all the way. The hype sticker is misleading as well, where it states this album is for fans of: Rush (huh?); Rainbow (que?); Iron Maiden (yes, but only Side 2); Opeth (well maybe, I know little about this band beyond Blackwater Park). In addition to the fine cover, there's a four page insert with band photos, lyrics, and album credits. (Mar)

*Radio Moscow - New Beginnings. 2017 Century Media (LP). San Diego's Radio Moscow is a band I'm familiar with but never heard until now. Strong heavy psych influenced hard rock would be the summary. High energy and great guitar work. There's a lot of this kind of music on the market, but Radio Moscow distinguishes themselves. Borderline Stoner, but avoids most of the genre trappings. Excellent offering. Packaging is quite extraordinary - comes with a full poster, lyric inner, company advert and, most importantly, a factory pressed CD. Very good value overall. (Feb)

*Piel de Pueblo - Rock de las Heridas. 2012 Beat Generation (Spain) (1972) (LP). As I mentioned about seven years ago (seems like yesterday), I had a plan to revisit many of these bluesy hard rock albums from Argentina. This is one of the good ones, with blistering guitar throughout. Nothing subtle about it. Nice reissue as well. (Feb)

*Van Halen - Women and Children First. 198? Warner Bros. (LP) Good ol' Van 'Alen. Ask me what the best hard rock album ever is, and I may very well say it's Van Halen's debut. What a mind blowing release that album was when it was released (and still is). That's a tale for another day. They dropped significantly on VH II, which I purchased and sold. So when the 3rd album came out, I just recorded it off the radio. And that was my copy for a few years, deciding not to buy the album. In reflection, that was the right move. However, I can afford to be more lenient now - and the album is exactly as I remember it. And well I should, since it gets constant airplay. I would argue that Women and Children First is a distinct improvement on II, but a far cry from the debut. Solid muscle hard rock, and the band hadn't lost their way just yet. They were still a "man's band", inching ever closer to winning over the ladies. (Feb)

Blue Oyster Cult - Extraterrestrial Live. 1982 Columbia. 2xLP. The first live album I ever bought was On Your Feet Or On Your Knees, which became a personal favorite when I was 14. To this day, it remains one my top live albums in the collection. By the time ETL came out, I was already tiring of BOC, and this live album seemed perfunctory. I had seen the band live around this time, and modern reviews are generally very positive, so I plucked down near-retail dollars to buy this used copy. Nope, looks like my 17 year old brain knew better. The key to On Your Feet is the improvisational and energy quotient, both missing from ETL. Obviously seeing them live was a different positive experience, but it isn't captured here. It's a run through of all their hits, and every album has at least one representative including even their least successful Mirrors album. The only cover song is Roadhouse Blues, the Doors chestnut that was overdone in those days. I don't think it's a very good song to begin with, and might be my least favorite Doors hit. Oh well, not every nostalgic pull is going to work out. I'll probably get more than I paid for it at the next Record Show (and I did...) (Feb)

* - Keeping for the collection