Black ‘N Blue
Hell Yeah!

Anytime a band puts out an album I try and compare it to a band’s past work, and the best thing to have recently come out by a similar band. Without a shadow of a doubt (at least to me) Ratt’s Infestation is the best hard rock album of the past few years, the best album from a band of this type of hard rock/metal. The album sounds like a classic Ratt album, but is also up to date in sound, making it also sound very fresh. Bands from the 80s are sometimes put in a tough spot. Do they imitate their past glories to keep their core audience happy, or do they try putting out something more up to date in the hopes of capturing some new followers? Ratt was able to do both, could Black ‘N Blue do the same?

Black ‘N Blue’s biggest claim to fame at the moment is that current Kiss guitarist Tommy Thayer originally played in the band. Although they had a song or two that was played on rock radio, and played on some decent tours, they aren’t one of the most popular bands of that era. Perhaps this album demonstrates why? Or perhaps Thayer not being part of the mix has effected how the band writes?

The album is by no means bad, and I’m sure plenty of fans of this type of metal will tell me I don’t know what I’m talking about, but the album really lacks originality, or any sort of real catchiness. There are some solid songs on the album, but they all sound like other bands. For example Target sounds like Kiss, Fools Bleed like Aerosmith and, Hail Hail like AC/DC. Actually C’mon sounds as if it is left over track from the Kiss album Animalize.

Again the album isn’t bad, and I’m sure most fans of 80s hard rock and metal will enjoy it. Getting back to the Ratt album, that album didn’t bring anything new to the table, however it did add a chapter to the band’s history that can be argued about, and compared in a good light to their classic albums. You could definitely tell that was a Ratt album. There is nothing wrong with a band demonstrating their influences, but as far as Hell Yeah! is concerned, maybe one song that I can point to and say, oh yeah, now that’s Black ‘N Blue.

Rating: C+

Def Leppard – Wasted
UFO – Rock Bottom
Iron Maiden – Running Free
Black Sabbath – Hard Road
Rainbow – Stargazer
Judas Priest – Stained Class
Kiss – 100,000 Years
AC/DC – If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It)
Van Halen – I’m The One
Quiet Riot – Look In Any Window
Thin Lizzy – Bad Reputation

During the latest episode of the Mars Attacks Podcast we are lucky enough to welcome fellow New Jersey native, comedian Don Jamieson.

Be forewarned that this interview contains explicit content.

Don is co-host of VH1 Classic’s That Metal Show, and has just put out a live comedy album called Live and Hilarious. During the interview Don discusses what it was like to win an Emmy Award, being star struck or geeked out as he puts it when interacting with guests on That Metal Show, and the difficulties surrounding writing jokes in a PC era (among other things).

The interview can be streamed or downloaded from here:

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During this episode we have the pleasure if interviewing Jean Beuvoir lead singer/guitarist of Crown of Thorns. Jean has worked with some of the biggest artists of all time, Kiss, Ramones, The Plasmatics and Bruce Springsteen just to name a few. During this interview we discuss why he decided to put Crown Of Thorns back together, what it was like to work with all of the aforementioned artists, and what he’s been up to since the release of the last Crown Of Thorns album Faith. We also veer off of the musical path and talk a little bit about race relations, and how they may have or not have affected him as a person and a musician; as well as how things have changed over the years.

Throughout the episode you will hear the following tracks by Crown of Thorns:

Rock Ready
Cold Blooded Bitch
The Healer
Heartbeat

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The latest episode of Mars Attacks Podcast features interviews with Hades guitar tandem Dan Lorenzo, and Scott LaPage. The first half of the episode contains an interview with Scott in which he touches on his new band The Freeze Tag Assassins, his blues playing and the Hades reunion (among other things). During the Dan Lorenzo segment, he discusses not only the Hades show, but being featured in Moshed Potatoes, the soon to be released Hades and Non-Fiction split DVD, the possibility of their being new music from either band, and the current status of The Cursed which features Blitz from Overkill, and Scream Metal the cover band he shares with Alan Tecchio (also of Hades and Non-Fiction) and Mark Strigl, and John Ostronomy of Talking Metal fame.

Dan not being one to mix words has some interesting comments regarding the Big 4, and alludes to the fact that Hades was playing a certain Joe Jackson cover well in advance of another New York Tri-state area band.

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This episode contains the second part of an interview I conducted with former Helloween lead singer Michael Kiske, sorry for the delay. As mentioned during a previous post, he just recently put out an album with Amanda Somerville called Kiske Somerville, and is currently working on an album with the band Unisonic. You’ve read a lot of things our there regarding his thoughts on metal music, well if you’re a fan, you need to listen to both interviews to see what he really things of metal, his fans, his future with Unisonic, and his former band mates, etc.

During the episode you’ll hear tracks off of the album with Amanda Somerville, and a bunch of classic Helloween that features Michael on lead vocals.

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This week on Fusion Sonica, Mars Attacks and The Incoherent Ramblings of Victor M. Ruiz we will count down what you the listeners have voted as the top albums of the year. Fusion Sonica will focus on Spanish language artists, Mars Attacks on hard rock and metal (and anything else that closely resembles it, eg. punk, hardcore, etc.) and The Incoherent Ramblings of Victor M. Ruiz will focus on everything else (indie, pop, hip-hop, etc.).

Keeping that in mind, here are the albums that were most voted in the live albums/greatest hits category:

1 Opeth – En El Royal Albert Hall
2 Varoius – Big 4
3 Dio – Live At Donnington 83 & 87
4 Megadeth – Rust In Peace…Live!
5 Lamb Of God – Hourglass
6 Down – Diary Of A Mad Band
7 Amorphis – Forging The Land Of The Thousand Lakes
8 Neurosis – Live At Roadburn 2007
09 Triumph – Greatest Hits Remixed
10 Heaven & Hell – Neon Knights
11 Bon Jovi – Greatest Hits
12 Shinedown – iTunes Sessions
13 Immortal – The Seventh Date Of Blashyrkh
14 Various – Whome The Moon A Nightsong Sings
15 Shadows Fall – Madness In Manila
16 Anneke Van Giersberger & Agua De Annique – Live In Europe
17 Papa Roach – Time For Annihilation
18 Faith No More – Midlife Crisis: The Very Best Of Faith No More
19 AC/DC – Iron Man 2
20 King’s X – Live In London

To check out Spanish artists numbers 39 through 28 go here

To check out numbers 120 through 69 of the indie/pop/hip hop, etc. albums go here

This episode contains the first part of an interview I conducted with former Helloween lead singer Michael Kiske. He just recently put out an album with Amanda Somerville called Kiske Somerville, and I was lucky enough to interview him regarding the album, his past with Helloween, and his current band Unisonic. This is a must listen to interview if you are a fan of Helloween as he discusses how and why he was fired from the band, why he thinks the band was never able to recapture what they did on the original two Keeper of the Seven Keys albums, and why Ingo

We also touch on a plethora of other topics, just take a look at the tags to get a rough idea of what we discussed. Part 2 should be up next week.

During the episode you’ll hear tracks off of the album with Amanda Somerville, some of his solo work (including a track that features Iron Maiden’s Adrian Smith and ex Helloween guitarist Kai Hansen), a Helloween track that was retooled for a solo acoustic album, and of course some classic Helloween that features Michael on lead vocals.

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During this episode we have two very special interviews, one with the legendary Chuck Billy of Testament and Dublin Death Patrol and another with Liam Cormier of the Canadian band Cancer Bats. Items discussed during the Chuck Billy segment include the Rust In Peace Tour, the recording of new albums by Testament and Dublin Death Patrol as well as the expanded rerelease of DDP’s debut album. He also dispels any rumors regarding Alex Skolnik’s original parting with the band, discusses how cancer has changed his life, and gives his opinion on the term “The Big Four”. During the segment with Liam we discuss the recording process of Bears, Mayors, Scraps & Bones, the multitude of sub-genres associated to the band, and covering various acts among other things.

During this episode you’ll hear the following songs:

Cancer Bats – Doomed To Fail, Dead Wrong and Savatage
Testament – F.E.A.R., Hail Mary, and Eyes Sewn Shut

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Episode 14 of Mars Attacks Podcast contains two interviews. One with Airbourne rhythm guitarist David Roads, and another with Age Of Evil frontman Jeremy Goldberg.

Dave discusses the band’s success, the pressure (or lack thereof) when recording No Guts No Glory the follow up to their highly successful album Runnin’ Wild. He also discusses his gear, and whether or not he has every thought of joining lead singer/guitarist Joel O’Keeffe up in the rafters during a show.

Jeremy discusses Age of Evil’s EP Get Dead, their previous work with Marty Friedman and their desire to work with various hard rock and metal legends including Rob Halford. Jeremy also comments on what it was like touring with Jon Oliva’s Pain, and what their dream tour would be.

Topics covered during this episode are:

David Roads, Joel O’Keeffe, Marshall, Gibson Guitars, Lemmy, Download Festival, WWE, No Guts No Glory, Runnin’ Wild, Airbourne, Bob Marlette, Johnny K, Seymour Duncan, Status Quo, Ampeg Amps, Slash, Aerosmith, NASCAR, Guitar Hero, Rock Band, Motorhead, AC/DC, Age of Evil, Get Dead, Motley Crue, Bruce Springsteen, Van Halen, Guns N Roses, Chad Kroeger, Jon Oliva, Jon Oliva’s Pain, Savatage, Gravedigger, Rebellion, Skid Row, Judas Priest, Girlschool, Marty Friedman, Megadeth, Cacophony, Jason Becker, Rob Halford, Nuno Bettencourt, Extreme, Trans Siberian Orchestra, Iron Maiden, W.A.S.P., Marshall JCM 800, JCM 900, Gibson Les Paul, Jackson Custom Shop Guitars, Jackson Custom Shop Bass, DW Drums, Seymour Duncan Pickup, Sacred Reich, Dave Ellefson, F5, Flotsam & Jetsam, Soulfly, NAMM.

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