Thin Lizzy - Black Rose: A Rock Legend. 1979 Warner Bros. Part of that large hard rock buy a few months ago. I still a few left, and this is the last Thin Lizzy in the bunch. Pretty standard lightweight hard rock from the Liz. Other than Johnny the Fox, none of their albums that I've heard have raised to the excellent level. I've already kept the iconic Jailbreak and the unusually heavy Thunder and Lightning, which are at the same level as Black Rose for my tastes. According to RYM, Black Rose is considered their second most popular album, and I did recognize a couple of cuts from it. I did enjoy this more than Bad Reputation, but I'm going to let it slide. (Dec)
David Lee Roth - Skyscraper. 1988 Warner Bros. Found a mint copy for cheap - should prove to be a good reseller. But let's hear it first just in case I want to keep it. Hey - not bad at all. Better than what same era Van Halen were up to. And do I hear organ on that first track? Didn't expect that. Roth sounds like Roth and to me that means he's always "hot for teacher". Having Steve Vai on board was a stroke of genius. Vai gets a fat paycheck and Roth earns credibility while still acting out his macho bad boy routine. Good hard rock on the whole, though nothing revelatory. The conclusion? The premise was accurate - reselling it for a profit. (Oct)
*Thin Lizzy - Thunder and Lightning. 1983 Warner Bros. More from that collection I bought awhile back, as I catch up on Thin Lizzy albums (Aug). This title is considerably heavier than anything else I've heard by the band, and it's clear they wanted to be relevant in the heavy metal space. Opener packs a wallop and you can hear traces of Judas Priest and Motorhead (among others) throughout the LP. But Thin Lizzy is a hard rock band at heart, and a melodic one at that, so the majority of the album still falls within that genre. I'm going to need more time with this, as I heard plenty that I enjoyed, from both of their approaches here. This was to be the final Thin Lizzy effort, and it would have been curious to see where they would have gone next. I suspect towards more poppy roads than continuing to amp it up, but we'll never know. Personally I don't remember Thin Lizzy being a player at all in the heavy metal brackets, but I clearly missed this album altogether.
*Thin Lizzy - Jailbreak. 1976 Mercury. By far and away, this is Thin Lizzy's most known album, containing their biggest hit 'The Boys are Back in Town' along with the title track. I find this to be a very good hard rock album, certainly better than the unfocused Bad Reputation, but trailing Johnny the Fox. I probably don't need to keep this, but I think I will anyway given its iconic status. (Aug)
*Rush - Caress of Steel. 1975 Mercury. Collection revisit (Jul). This is a foundational album for me, having first purchased it in 1979 at the ripe old age of 14. 'The Necromancer' is one of those epics that shaped my musical tastes versus satisfying them. Brilliant in every way, I spent my youth looking for similar sounds. 'Bastille Day' makes for a great hard rock opener, and 'The Fountain of Lamneth' was their first attempt at a side longer. A bit awkward in places, it's still a fine piece. They would later nail the long form composition perfectly on Hemispheres. For the first time ever, I even heard some decent progressions on 'I Think I'm Going Bald', one of their worst early era tracks. After all these years, nostalgia pushed this to a +1 as well.
*Rush - Grace Under Pressure. 1984 Mercury. Collection revisit (Jul). I mentioned recently that Signals was the first Rush album for me not to buy real time and that Power Windows was their first for me to outright reject. But what about the one in between those two? I was now three years away from embracing anything new from Rush, but I have to admit that Grace Under Pressure sounded better back then to my ears than its predecessor. Seemed punchier and more melodic. Essentially it was here they had mastered what they had set out to do - release a commercially viable product for the 80s. However by 1984 I wasn't regressing back to the radio albums but was boldly going forward towards the Euro underground. It would be another 20 years before I bought Grace Under Pressure and heard it throughout. Last night I enjoyed a +1 listen and I now hold it at the same level as Moving Pictures. And it's the last excellent album by them, at least of the ones I've heard + what I've read about those I have not.
*Quartz - Deleted. 1980 Jet (1977). Bizarre packaging that is nothing more than a folded paper bag and insert. This second press was meant to be sold very cheaply, and even today, the album remains reasonably affordable. For the music, this is my kind of all-over-the-place proggy hard rock. This is the kind of music that was getting onto cassettes in the early 80s. There's a lot of flute, heavy guitars, multiple theme changes, etc... Not an album with the best reputation but that's primarily due to it being tagged as NWOBHM and that Tony Iommi produced the record. It wasn't meant to be a metal album - certainly too early for the NWOBHM movement (Judas Priest's Sin After Sin was miles ahead of the pack). And we tend to forget that Iommi wasn't a metalhead either, especially in the late 70s as Sabbath was experimenting with similar sounds. So from a revisionist historical perspective, it doesn't fit the narrative. And in my world, that usually means it's great. Chalk it up to another make-it-up-as-you-go-along record. The best kind. (Jul)
*Budgie - If I Were Brittania I'd Waive the Rules. 1976 A&M. Believe it or not, after all these years, this is the first time for me to own this album in any form or fashion. It was the only album by them I never took the time to buy. But I had heard it and it didn't convince me to own. By this point in their career, Budgie was attempting relevancy and didn't bring too much of their hard rock sound with them. But there's plenty of good music to be heard. There really wasn't any band like Budgie back in the day - they were quirky, sometimes progressive, oftentimes heavy. (Jul)
*Tin House. 1971 Epic. Florida based power trio that proves the hard rock genre doesn't need to be complicated to produce a classic in the space. Lay down hard on the fuzz pedal and give me some tough love. Similar to the Road album I reported on recently, though less Cream influenced I'd submit. (Jul)
Rush - Exit...Stage Left. 1981 Mercury. 2xLP. Makes for a great compilation and setlist, but the music is exactly the same as the studio versions. I saw them live in Dallas in 1981, and even that potential nostalgia pull doesn't happen here. I didn't buy this album real time, and I didn't need to now either, other than I'll make a profit on it. (Jul)
Thin Lizzy - Bad Reputation. 1977 Mercury. As I've stated before, I'm surprisingly ignorant when it comes to Thin Lizzy, a band that I never pursued real time. I always thought they were lightweight compared to their hard rock peers. When I obtained Johnny the Fox, I realized that maybe I'd made a mistake in my judgement. Well... maybe not. Bad Reputation is exactly the kind of album I was trying to avoid in my youth. There are three great hard rockers here (A2, A3, B2) and the rest is various forms of commercial radio music. In reading reviews, I remain the minority. They have a cult-like following, and there's not much point in disagreeing. (Jul)
Rush - Presto. 1989 Mercury. When I would first hear any Rush album from Power Windows on, I immediately had a dislike for them. And in fact, my recent revisit of Power Windows confirmed my initial findings, but I did think it was better than I originally thought. What about Presto? OMG no. This is just not for me. It's one thing for Rush to have shed all of their hard rock leanings, but the songwriting here is almost non-existent. It's as if The Police decided to release an album of their trademark sound, but without any melodies. No matter how much rationalization I bring to listening to this, I can't reconcile any of it. One wonders if anyone would have paid attention to albums like Presto if it didn't carry the Rush brand? (Jul)
The Michael Schenker Group - MSG. 1981 Chrysalis (Germany). In keeping my promise, I made the effort to hear another MSG beyond the debut which I recently reported on. As I was listening to their sophomore effort, I realized that I knew this album pretty well. But I'm sure I never owned it. At first I thought it might be the album cover as the German edition (this) is different than the US release. But no, I never owned that either. What gives? Ah, now I remember. I used to record whole albums onto cassette from the radio on a "new album feature night". I was tempted to buy this back then, but it just didn't have enough "something" to extract precious dollars from my wallet at the time. In retrospect, MSG sounds like a rewrite of the debut, and there are some fine compositions here. It's a point less than that debut, though nostalgia may be driving my evaluation. (Jul)
*Black Sabbath - Never Say Die! 1978 Warner Bros. From the recent large buy (Jul). Never had this on LP before, just a very nice Japanese CD that I couldn't resist the offer I received a few years back. This one is a grower though. Side 2 is about as progressive as Sabbath ever got. I can see why dedicated fans don't care for it, but from my perspective it might be better than Technical Ecstasy at the very least.
*Rush - Fly By Night. 1977 Mercury (1975). Part of that large buy as noted a few days ago (Jul). As I stated on the debut, the key to enjoying the early Rush albums is to view them through a mid 70s Midwest hard rock lens, versus a full blown prog act. Now songs like 'By-Tor and the Snow Dog' sound incredible in that context. And a major reason why Rush built a cult audience early.
Rymdstyrelsen - Lunar Mountains. 2020 Kommun 2 (CD). I'm a sucker for bands I can't pronounce or have any clue what they mean (in this case: Ministry of Space). Two notes in and its apparent that Rymdstyrelsen come from the stoner rock school. The production speaks volumes. The volume speaks volumes. It's more space rock oriented than that may imply, but nothing here made me sit up and pay attention. There are scores of albums like this today. If you're a huge fan of the genre, and can't get enough, then Lunar Mountains comes recommended. 15 years ago, that person might have been me. But no more - have to downsize here. (Jul)
Vic Vergat - Down to the Bone. 1981 Capitol. Would you believe this is the same guitarist that was behind Toad? Hard rock and boogie are name of the game here. Straightforward and dull. That cover suggests Vergat was Down to the Last Nickel. (Jun)
Hard as Nails - Cheap as Dirt. 1987 Blackjack. With the front cover of a buxom low cut tank top and the back cover of (way) cutoff shorts, it's safe to say Hard as Nails is making a play for the white trash southern rock sound. Musically that's exactly what this is. Hard to tell if they're mocking the South or paying homage to it. The material is average though. Obscure album. (Jun)
Rush - Power Windows. 1985 Mercury (Germany). Recent thrift shop find (Jun). First pressing that's worth a ton ($5 - jeez). Why are some early CDs worth a lot and others not so much? Supply is the answer. Anyway, if Signals was the first Rush album for me to not acquire real time, then Power Windows was the first album for me to entirely reject. As with Saga's Behaviour, once you get past the shock of the middle 80s slick-as-a-butter-dish production, the music isn't so bad. The problem here is most of the songs sound exactly alike. I couldn't tell you one from the other even after a headphones listen. So yea, I still don't need this.
UFO - Obsession. 1978 Chrysalis. I'm always on the lookout for UFO in bargain bins, and this title popped up in one at the last Denver record show. I keep thinking I'm going to like these hard rock UFO albums more than I actually do. Not a lot of risk taking, and it's only Schenker's guitar soloing that does much for me. I'll keep trying though, as many have stated that Obsession was a let down at the time of release. Personally I wasn't into them real time, and it's beginning to make sense as to why. (May)
Groundhogs - Thank Christ for the Bomb. 1970 Liberty. Found this for a buck at a local record store (May). Even though it's only a VG copy, that's still a heck of a deal. Especially since I never heard it before. This is one of their legendary albums and I was certain I'd love it. After three straight listens, I just can't feel it. Yes, it's very good blues rock but it's falling into that familiar 3.5 range. There are some great moments but it's inconsistent. It seems the Groundhogs weren't sure if they wanted to be blues, hard rock, or psych. More of the latter two would have been for sure a keeper.
Uriah Heep - Wonderwall. 2006 BMG (Japan) (CD) (1974). Collection revisit (Apr). This is a fine example of a very good but nonessential album. It's straight up hard rock with excellent guitar and organ sounds. The problem is the songwriting. There's really nothing memorable here and the instrumentals are more perfunctory than innovative. Keep in mind I didn't keep The Magician's Birthday either, as they were beginning to run out of ideas during this period. As it stands, I own nothing past Sweet Freedom (itself likely to be under scrutiny), except for a live album from 2009 (that we reported on here a couple of years ago). However they have 28 studio albums (including a new one from 2023!) and 29 live ones, so I'll keep my eye out in the thrift bins and continue to listen to anything the band put out.
Ted Nugent - Nugent. 1982 Atlantic. Free from a local shop (Apr). If the Nuge had kept his mouth shut, his albums would likely garner more of a following today. But in the music collecting world, he is persona non grata, for right or wrong. As such his records end up in free boxes, and no one still wants them. Of course the album known as Nugent is hardly on anyone's Ted Nugent wish list to begin with. I'd never heard it, so why not, can't beat the price. At this stage of his life, he was trying to shed his Terrible Ted image, and go all sensitive. The music doesn't reflect that image though. It's mostly straightforward boring - and very dull - hard rock. However, there is one great track and that's the finale known as 'Tailgunner'. This sadly unknown track was wasted here, but recalls the glory days of 'Stranglehold'. So overall it was worth hearing for that.
Krokus - Hardware. 1981 Ariola (Germany). From JL (Apr). As promised / warned, I noted that I acquired the four early 80s Krokus albums from JL. Kept the first one as I suspected I would. Hardware ended up being a little bit better than I recall, but not my much. The German track listing is more interesting I think. The opener is the closer on the US version. I think it makes for a thoughtful and moody opening. They should have left it. A2 ('Easy Rocker') is the album's best track calling on their Scorpions side. Then it's AC/DC hell. And it's really bad AC/DC too. The only other track I think is worthy is 'Winning Man' which seems to be their next try at 'Fire' but not as dynamic. 'She's Got Everything' is the kind of track the Scorps would use as filler, but shines OK here. Overall, I'll go with a rating of Good.
The Illusion - If It's So. 1970 Steed. Acquired from a store from down in Pueblo (Jan). One of the first albums here in the States to go for a pure hard rock sound while leaving any psych traces on the curb. A good representation if a bit tepid. There just not enough meat on the bone for me to keep this, but like many albums, that has more to do with me already owning many great titles in this space. Another anomaly is this is the kind of album that usually sells for big bucks. Small label distributed by Paramount. But supply far outstrips demand here. It's just not dynamic enough to gain any kind of cult following.
* - Keeping for the collection
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