1080. Motörhead / The Wörld Is Ours - Vol 2: Anyplace Crazy As Anywhere Else [Live]. 2012. 4/5

Much like I said in my review for the previous album, the positives and negatives of live album releases are many and varied. There is little doubt that if a band is going to make a habit of making live releases – something Motörhead has become proficient in over the years – then the material must good enough to encourage the fan to part with their hard earned cash to buy them. This relates not just to the quality of the performances themselves, but the material of which they are performing. A boring live performance makes no one happy.

Putting aside the good things for the moment, there are a couple of problems straight up with this release. The fact that it contains their entire performance from Wacken in 2011 is not one of them, but the set list probably is. Apart from a couple of minor changes it is the same set list that they did for the majority of this tour, and therefore almost identical to the set list found on the previous release. This creates a problem for the fan when it comes to buying, because what is here that is any different to what you may already have? What exacerbates this is the material that is brought in to fill out the second CD, because most of it also has been repeated and on this release itself. For goodness sakes, there are THREE separate versions of “Killed By Death” on this album alone, and I love this song, but surely no one needs three versions of it on! It’s nice to hear the band at Sonisphere and at Rock in Rio, but when it is just the same songs we have already heard it could be described as superfluous.

Despite this, the whole package is another very good live album. The band sounds great, though Lemmy’s vocals do at times sound like they have been given a heavy workout. The idea of recording the tour thoroughly, and giving the fans the chance to hear material from six different concerts over the course of that time is noteworthy. You just have to be up for hearing those songs on multiple occasions. And that’s not always an easy thing to do.

Rating: “We are Motörhead, and we play fucking rock and roll!”.  4/5

837. Blind Guardian / Memories of a Time to Come. 2012. 4/5

What do you do when you decide it is time to take a long and well deserved break from touring and writing, in order to keep your fans remembering that you are still out there, but just on a sabbatical? Well, you release a box set containing the majority of your back catalogue firstly, and then you release a double album packed full of some of your greatest hits, with some remixing on some tracks and some remastering on some tracks, and put it out into the public sphere to feast upon.

As always, greatest hits packages are a subjective argument. There will always be songs included and songs that are left out that will be debated by fans as to whether it was warranted. This is no exception. Depending upon whether you rate one era of Blind Guardian over another, this could be seen to be somewhat of a furphy. I think the toughest part of picking out songs for a best of for Blind Guardian is the fact that all of the songs intertwine with the others on their album, making them a part of the fabric of that album, thus meaning to hear them individually sometimes doesn't work because you are expecting to hear them with their other songs around them. In time they work fine in that respect, as is obvious through the songs that make the live set list each tour, but initially that can be a bit more difficult that you would expect.
Certainly this double album is packed full of great songs, with many of my favourites here, such as "Nightfall", "Traveller in Time", "Follow the Blind", "Sacred Worlds", "Valhalla" and "Mirror Mirror". None of the entries can be questioned, and as a soundtrack to the career of Blind Guardian it serves its purpose if being used as an introduction point for the uninitiated.

So let's just say that I enjoy this collection, and it has some terrific songs on it. If I had been in charge of the track list it would have been quite different from this one - I mean really, where the hell is "Welcome to Dying" for a start?!? And the fact that these songs have had a makeover also improves the release.

Rating:  Best-of in competition.  4/5

658. Lita Ford / Living Like a Runaway. 2012. 3.5/5

Lita Ford is back. This time perhaps, for real. When I first got this album I really expected very little, so unsure was I that Lita could really find her mojo and put out an album that would really capture my imagination. True, there's nothing new here in regards to a stock standard form of hard rock. But there is a much more mature approach to the song writing than from her heyday in the mid-to-late 1980's.
Lyrically she is drawing heavily from a number of recent events in her life, in particular her divorce from Jim Gillette and the absence of her two boys they had together. It's a far cry from her previous album, the 15 year comeback album Wicked Wonderland which lyrically seemed to almost be a porn film with the same guy she is now drawing so much anger and aggression from. What a difference a couple of years makes. However, this is like chalk and cheese compared to that bore-fest. The lyrics here are heartfelt and honest, creating a major positive out of what must have been an enormously tough time in her life.

It still wouldn't work if the music wasn't up to the task, but there is no problem there either. With the help of collaborator and player of many instruments Gary Hoey, Lita has drawn from her hard rock roots to put together a great mixture of songs here. She still has a couple of quieter, reflective moments in songs such as "Mother", a song that is obviously directed to her two sons and with some cutting remarks about her ex-husband. Lyrically she hasn't held her feelings back, and it is this approach that really makes the album what it is. There is plenty of anger and emotion in the songs, which are all brought across to the listener through the perfectly presented music and singing style for each song.
Songs like "Branded" and "Hate" kick the album along with passion and attitude, while songs such as "The Mask" and "Relentless" bring more sentiment and darker thoughts through in the lyrics.
"Devil in My Head" and "Asylum" show a side of Lita's music that she hasn't shown before, where she has really dug from the well of her innermost feelings to come up with some terrific pieces.
"Love 2 Hate U" features a duet with Hoey, which is a nice way to complement his efforts on the album in all facets, from writing, playing and producing. There is a great cover of the Nikki Sixx-penned song "Song to Slit Your Wrists By". The bonus tracks are great as well, with the song "Bad Neighbourhood", co-written and starring on guitar Doug Aldrich, as well as a somewhat appropriate cover of the Elton John classic "The Bitch is Back".

While she may have received bigger plaudits and airplay with her pop-metal albums such as Lita and Stiletto - which I still love for what they are, mind you - this is arguably Lita's finest hard rock album, with great hard tracks as well as the slower and soft rock ballads that are part and parcel of the genre. The song writing here is probably the strongest of her career, and the production of the album from start to finish is excellently co-ordinated. Whether or not you have been a fan of hers in the past, this is well worth checking out. After fifteen years away from the music scene, this is the true comeback album she was looking for, and it has been well worth the wait.

652. Angel Witch / As Above, So Below. 2012. 2.5/5

Having finally made the effort to search out and discover what everyone had been talking about in regards to Angel Witch and their early recordings, I decided that my enjoyment of that should allow me to pursue their most recent release, to see what the fullness of time has done in regards to their music.
The first thing I noticed when I first put this album on was that it was certainly more melodic than the only other album I have heard of theirs, which was their eponymous titled debut. After a few listens, I felt that it sounds as though it is trying to be bigger and on a broader scale than it has to be. In the end, it feels as though songwriter, guitarist and vocalist Kevin Heybourne is trying to reinvent the wheel, by making a grandiose statement about the bands music that, realistically, probably doesn't need to be done. Honestly, thirty years on from their excellent debut, and with not a whole lot of recorded material in between, and with so many bands competing for your dollar, maybe they have just tried a little too hard to make something special.

That is not to slam dunk the whole album. Openers "Dead Sea Scrolls" and "Into the Dark" are good songs. The slower, monotonic wailing of "The Horla" seems to drag out forever - dare I say it - like 2012 vintage Queensryche, until it finally kicks into gear towards the end of the song. It misses its mark with me I'm afraid. It suffers, as do most of the songs here, from being just a little long in length without being able to hold your full attention for the time span. This is especially true of "Witching Hour" and "Upon This Cord", you find yourself drifting away from the music when they are playing. "Guillotine" and "Brainwashed" are arguably the best two songs on the album here, closing out the disc in the best way possible.

There is no need to try and defend the album. It sounds great, and is played excellently. Kevin's voice has held up well over the years, though there is little to zero screams here in these songs to extend his range. It almost sounds like it wants to be a rock opera, which is about as far away as I would have expected this album to be. If you can move past the attempts at trying to create an emotive atmosphere, and enjoy the parts where the guitars and drums step up a notch to create that classic metal sound, then you will be able to enjoy this more than those who can't. In the long run, while I can see plenty of promise in this, overall it just doesn't quite reach the best conclusion.

642. Shadows Fall / Fire From the Sky. 2012. 1.5/5

Given that my only other experience with Shadows Fall is their 2002 release The War Within, which tickled my fancy enough at the time, I came into this with an open mind, but hope in my heart. I had initially walked into The War Within by mistake, and had found it to be a better than average release at a time when I had been looking for new material. Despite that, I had never gotten around to listening to anything since then before now.
I laughed when I read a fellow “Rate Your Music” user ask the question “Wait… is this Metallica?”, because on the opening two songs, there are a number of things that are reminiscent of the latter days of the veteran metal giants. To an extent it is uncanny, but there is no surprise that bands out there are using some of their influences in their own music.

At this point, though, I am able to say that this album is, rather harshly, a failure. I'm not sure I am able to pin point exactly where and how this fails to find the mark. The vocals just don't seem to bring across any sense of intensity or emotion. Fast drums and heavy guitar riffs mean nothing if they aren't arranged into exacting tones. Does this band, and this album, want to be thrash or metalcore or turn towards a mainstream metal sound? It seems a little confusing here as to their intent. More than anything else, despite their interesting arrangement of their heavier riffs, they combine it with their clear, song-halting explorations at awkward moments.
Given the length of time since my last visitation with the band, perhaps I was expecting too much. What I received instead was something of a disappointment. It starts off okay with "The Unknown", "Divide and Conquer" and "Weight of the World", which are reasonable songs if a little off-putting. The afore-mentioned similarities to Metallica are only enhanced by the missing power element in the songs. What follows unfortunately does not dismiss these feelings of abandonment, with a couple of critical elements missing from this entire recording.

Not having had an intimate relationship with the band's material in the past I am probably not qualified to give an absolute trashing of their latest release. Suffice to say that the result will stop me from actively pursuing any of their other material for the time being, because if it is all similar to this I feel I would be wasting my time.

641. Soulfly / Enslaved. 2012. 3/5

It's been a long time since Max and his first band took the world by storm with their new take on heavy metal, and made people stand up and take notice. When he eventually left that band and formed Soulfly, he put out a debut album that hinted of good thiings to come.
Since that time... well... it hasn't been bad, but it has been like a conveyor belt, each album dishing out much the same product with little change or inspiration. And as I have said on countless occasions, that is not always a bad thing, and for big fans of the band they will no doubt love every moment of this.

For me - well, Soulfly is a band I can listen to and respect their work, but I am not a fanatic. Like so many bands for whom Sepultura and then Soulfly have blazed a path - bands like Lamb of God, Trivium and Arch Enemy - unless the material is outstandingly good, it can get either very similar and pointless or just plain boring.
And this isn't bad, not by a long shot. It jumps off at a cracking pace with the intro "Resistance" leading straight into "World Scum", which is then followed by my two favourote tracks "Intervention" and "Gladiator" which are led by blinding drums and super solo guitar work. "Legions" brings forth more of the same. I seriously am awestruck by some of the rolls by David Kinkade on this song. Just blinding. The rhythm riff through the song is also a pearler.
My main discourse with the back end of the album is that I think the songs get a bit long, and as result lose a bit of the impact the the start of the album delivers.

All in all, this is another solid release from the Soulfly icon, and while it may not break any new barriers it certainly keeps the band and its leader at the forefront of this style of heavy metal.

640. Lacuna Coil / Dark Adrenaline. 2012. 2/5

Well, it's been a long time coming, but I have finally gotten around to checking out a Lacuna Coil album. I could (and maybe should) have checked out an earlier release of theirs to ease my way in, but when the opportunity came along to grab their new album I decided to take it. I had heard fair reports on their music, and was absolutely taken by Cristina Scabbia's guest vocal on Megadeth's "A Tout le Monde (Set Me Free)". Thus the time had arrived.

The album is catchy from the start, in a hard rock alternative kind, certainly not a metal kind of way. there are obvious similarities to draw between Lacuna Coil and Evanescence in their sound. "Trip the Darkness" and "Against You" kickstart the album at the right pace, while "Kill the Light" is another rocking song. I think the main thing these songs are missing is a bit of grunt, a real kick in the guitars, drums and vocals to really bring the maximum out of them. They're good rock songs, but they need a metal injection to increase their work load.
"Give Me Something More" is lacking something more, while "Upsidedown" has too much of Andrea on vocal in his monotonal chords. "End of Time" is the power ballad every band feels obliged to include on every album, while "I Don't Believe in Tomorrow" has the band trying to do a weak impression of a Therapy? inspired song - or so it sounds to my ears. It doesn't come off at all.
"Intoxicated" returns the album to a better standard, and this is supported by "The Army Inside", both a little faster paced with better riff work, and more of Cristina on vocals. The reworked R.E.M. cover "Losing My Religion" doesn't really work for me, but in reality it was a brave song to try and cover. "Fire" follows the improvement of the last few songs on the album, while "My Spirit" tries to be a bit too moody and soulful, and really just drags out the conclusion of the piece.

The one thing I can absolutely discern is that this band is a 70 to 80% better sounding band when Cristina is on vocals rather than when Andrea takes over. The duelling vocals style of the band is not one that I adverse to, but the exacting differences in their vocal approach and pitch is what really irritates me. It's not as if it is really terrible, but it is simply that the songs sound better and more in the correct pitch when Cristina is singing.

This isn't all bad, and does show potential in places. But in the end, it will probably not progress any further in my collection than something that can act as background music while I'm working.

637. Queensrÿche / Halfway Jam 28-7-2012 [Bootleg]. 2012. 4/5

After all of the bickering, after all of the bad blood, after all of the court injunctions over who owned the rights to names and music and so forth... finally, it came back to the music. This bootleg album records the first official performance of Queensrÿche with new singer Todd La Torre, and for that alone it is an historical and significant recording.

The setlist is pretty much confined to all of their album up to 1991's Empire, songs that the band portion of Queensrÿche had claimed that Geoff Tate had no interest in ever revisiting. Whether that is accurate or not, the performance of these classic tracks gives La Torre a perfect opportunity to show off his wares to his new band's fan base. What it proves is that he has a pretty fair set of pipes, and his vocals are not unlike his predecessor, which while it may be limiting in some ways probably doesn't hurt him in this instance.

This is a particularly good audience bootleg of a B+ standard. While the vocals may be a little down in the mix, it still is good enough to appreciate both La Torre's vocals along with the performance of the band itself, and both are excellent. La Torre in particular makes very few key errors, and as a live performance it is excellent.
In the long run, it is great to hear Queensryche as a band can still play. Their most important duty from ll of the turbulence of the last few months will be to prove that they can indeed live up to their end of the bargain, and go back to writing material like what they have played on this bootleg. It has been the fans' biggest bugbear in the last 15 years. Now that the band itself believes they have identified what the problem was, they have to prove they are as good as their word.

The playlist here is as follows:

01 Intro (1:23)
02 Queen Of The Reich (4:18)
03 Speak (4:23)
04 Neue Regel (4:48)
05 Walk In The Shadows (3:39)
06 En Force (5:19)
07 I Don't Believe In Love (4:42)
08 Child Of Fire (5:56)
09 The Whisper (3:54)
10 Warning (4:52)
11 Spreading The Disease (4:28)
12 The Needle Lies (3:29)
13 Prophecy (4:06)
14 Take Hold Of The Flame (4:56)
15 My Empty Room (1:48)
16 Eyes Of A Stranger (6:44)
17 Empire (5:34)
18 Encore Break (2:58)
19 Wrathchild [Iron Maiden cover] (3:09)
20 Jet City Woman (5:51)
21 Roads To Madness (10:35)

Download link can be found here : http://turbobit.net/j72id6nsxsb4.html

635. Fear Factory / The Industrialist. 2012. 3/5

The return of Fear Factory with their eighth release was always going to be an interesting time. With Burton and Dino still reunited, but without any other semblance of band members, how was the writing and recording process going to go, and could it continue the revival of the Fear Factory brand?
I couldn't help but like this from the very start. Dino and Burton haven't strayed far from the tried and true Fear factory handbook, with heavy screaming vocals surrounded by the standard guitar riffs and double kick, double time drums. "The Industrial", "Recharger" and "New Messiah" are all solid tracks.

After two or three songs though, you just feel that the drums are almost mechanical, with a similarity of all of the rolls and fills througout most of the songs. It came as no surprise then to finally discover that the band (Dino and Burton) had actually programmed the drums on the album. Sure it might sound good for the most part, but it is a little disappointing. Perhaps they felt they had to bow to using a machine to get the most out of what they wanted for the album, but does that mean you resort to the same machine when you tour? Do they become basically a karaoke band, with just vocals and guitar standing in front of machinery on stage providing the rhythm section? Some love of the album is therefore lost because not only does it sound mechanised (no pun intended on the name of previous album), it actually is. Maybe they felt it was to much effort to find a drummer to produce what they wanted, but the result is that it now just feels too produced.
Even given this, I think it is a step up from Mechanize again. It most certainly has nothing new involved. Burton and Dino have gone back to grabbing the essence of what made Fear Factory the band they are, and drip fed it into the writing process to produce another solid effort.

"God Eater" is a different tempo from the opening tracks that grows on you after a few listens. "Depraved Mind Murder" and "Virus of Faith" restores the pace and vibrancy of the album, kicking along at a rate of knots. It is only when Burton's clear vocals come in that the songs seem to lose some of their gloss, it just feels as though it softens the output of these songs when that occurs.
"Difference Engine" starts off as true Fear Factory metal gold, hard guitars and vocals growling with intent. Great stuff. "Dissemble" is just as good, punching out the heavy guitar and vocals almost to the completion of the song.

But what is with the eleven minutes of rubbish that closes the album? OK, it's a concept album, and the last two songs, "Religion Is Flawed Because Man Is Flawed" and "Human Augmentation" is telling the closure of the tale. But nothing actually HAPPENS! What on earth is the point of doing that if the songs aren't't actually songs, it is eleven minutes of metallic industrial silence? They have effectively written a song that has been placed on an album that no one will EVER listen to again after their first playing. Good enough idea, but just far too long and unnecessary in the full scheme of an album to deal with again.

So there it is. Nothing new, different, ground breaking or sensational from the band. Fans will find enough here to keep them satisfied, while there is also enough here for the novice Fear factory listener to think it might be worthwhile checking out their back catalogue.

608. Slash featuring Myles Kennedy / Apocalyptic Love. 2012. 2.5/5

I must admit that I was curious as to what this album might hold. After the demise of Velvet Revolver after two albums (one surprisingly good, the other deadbolt average) and a solo album a couple of years ago, this felt as though it was more of a collaborative effort, with vocalist and guitarist Myles Kennedy coming in to provide assistance both with his previously stated talents as well as song writing. It was probably the closest that Slash will come to a band again, so I was hoping for good things.

Initial listens have proven unsurprising, though with a dash of disappointment. The songs aren't bad, but they are overall uninspiring. There is a monotreme hard rock groove running through the entire album, without a great deal of variety or thrill. It just feels like it has all been done before, mainly because it has. Slash and Kennedy have gone for a middle-of-the-road stock standard selection of hard rocking tracks and slower soft rock ballad tracks. There is nothing particulary wrong with that, and they do it well. Kennedy's vocal range is very well represented on the tracks here, and he again proves his mettle. However, Slash is the one we wanted to be showcasing his talents, and for the most part it just doesn't show at all. Where are the trademark licks and solos? They are non-existant. Instead, we have a range of songs when the guitar is played very well, but without inspiration.

In many ways, this is like a hard rock version of the Seattle bands such as Alice in Chains, Soundgarden and Nirvana. Strip out the Seattle grunge, and throw in a hard rock guitar instead, and that's what you have here. Hey! Isn't that what they tried in Velvet Revolver? Hmmm.
There is some good enough stuff here, but songs like "Not For Me" and "Bad Rain" and "Far and Away" are just so cliched in their arrangement that it is a little embarrassing. Other songs though, like "Hard & Fast" and "Standing in the Sun", give you hope that there is better around the corner.

I'm sure all of this would stand up better in a live environment. In the long run here though, it just sounds like yesterday's news, and that is the biggest disappointment of all.

607. Joe Satriani / Satchurated: Live in Montreal. 2012. 4.5/5

There's not a whole lot you can say about Joe Satriani that hasn't been said everywhere before. The man is a genius on the guitar, and his sound is as instantly recognisable as soon as you hear it as Eddie Van Halen's is. His songs are as entertaining and enjoyable as those of bands who carry around an extra person in their group to spurt out lyrics in a cacophony of varied tones.

This double disc live opus recorded in Montreal brings together an amazing array of songs from his long and varied career. Supported and surrounded by his talented bandmates, Satch puts on a show worthy of listening to time and time again.
My favourites all come more from his early albums, if for no other reason than I know them all intimately, and far better than I do his more recent efforts. Songs like "Ice 9" and "Flying in a Blue Dream", and "Satch Boogie" are still as good now as they ever were. "Always With Me, Always With You" is also still great. But come on... where is "Surfing With the Alien"? And personal all-time Satriani favourite "Crushing Day"? OK, it was fun to hear "Big Bad Moon" again, but surely those two were worthy of inclusion.

This is a terrific showing of Satch and his band's ability to play live, and for anyone who does not know his worth in the whole scheme of things, is a great way to discover his brilliance.

599. Tenacious D / Rize of the Fenix. 2012. 3/5

It was somewhat of a surprise to learn that the D was going to release another album. Not because I thought they were done, how do you approach a new album after the previous album was the soundtrack to your own movie, which bombed big time at the box office? Well, you make the album (or part of it, anyway) the story of that, and just move onwards!

It is great to hear Jack and Kyle back again, and for the most part the songs are upbeat and humorous. It is probably unfair to try and compare to their earlier efforts. Their self-titled debut album contained the very best of everything they had written and played for a decade. Their second album was also the soundtrack to their movie, and as such the material was well done. On this new album, they had to start from scratch and come up with new material and new ideas. It's not like they could just come together and write a bunch of songs about love or any other subjects. They also had to be amusing and clever, because that is what the D do. And in a lot of ways that is even more difficult to do, because the backlash can be twofold.

Without trying to overanalyse the whole production (which I think I have already done), it is an album that is enjoyable to listen to without the great memorable tracks that their previous two albums have. "Rize of the Fenix" answers the questions of what the D have been doing since 2007. "Deth Starr", "Roadie" and "Throw Down" are all in the classic sense Tenacious D songs. On the other side, songs like "Rock is Dead" and "To Be the Best" remind me of songs off the Team America: World Police soundtrack ("Montage" anyone?), but probably not quite as good. And as clever as a song like "39" is, I really think it is drawn out far too long.

I haven't got the same vibe about this album as I did with the previous two albums. This may well change over time and more spinning of the album. It's clever and funny, but without the memorability of that which came before.

598. Primal Fear / Unbreakable. 2012. 3.5/5

Primal Fear have built themselves up to the kind of band that you want to be - they have the reputation that, once you know they have a new album on the way, you are excited about it, and look forward to hearing it and buying it. As a band you couldn't ask for much more than that. Given the excellent quality of  their previous release, 16.6: (Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, this was one I was looking forward to.

Overall, it is another great Primal Fear album. The songs here are more melodic that those on recent releases, and the keys are more prominent. From the very beginning the album is kick-started and driven by the powerful drumming of Randy Black, who again excels in the precision and speed of his tubs, and the vocals of Ralf Scheepers, who just keeps the intensity of the songs at a premium. These two are the stars on the album for me.
You won't find anything too different on here than you can find on other Primal Fear albums. There is the mix of the faster speed metal type songs as well as the power metal slower ballad style songs. My preference has always been for the faster, heavier songs, such as "And Then There Was Silence" and "Unbreakable (Part 2)", whereas the token balled "Born Again" for me is in the category of song filler - not a bad song, but not one that does anything for me.

It may sound a little generic in places, but that is a small price to pay for a band that continues to produce such wonderfully adept albums. For me it doesn't quite match the previous album, but it certainly ranks ahead of its predecessors New Religion and Seven Seals.

597. Unisonic / Unisonic. 2012. 3/5

It was pretty difficult not getting excited about the release of this album. Since their short time together in Helloween in the late 1980's (which produced two of the finest metal albums of that or any other era, the magnificent Keeper of the Seven Keys Part 1 and the incomparable Keeper of the Seven Keys Part 2), Michael Kiske and Kai Hansen have moved in opposite musical directions. Hansen formed Gamma Ray, the premium metal band, and produced some of the best albums of the past 25 years. Kiske was involved in one of the worst, Helloween's Chameleon before renouncing his heavy metal spurs and producing some average albums that never ever showed off what an amazing vocalist he is.

Despite Kai Hansen's presence, I did not come into this expecting a heavy metal album, and that is not what this is. The music and songs had to be written in a style that would have pleased the leader - a compromise of styles, if you will. What you get is an assimilation of the band's that all of these members have been in, and an attempt to make that work.
There is plenty to like, and plenty to take stock of. The two major writers are Hansen and bassist Dennis Ward. While the album isn't fractured, it comes across as slightly schitzophrenic.

Hansen's contributions are a standout, and able to be separated from the pack. His are the songs that inject a bit of speed and a bit of grunt in the guitars, as well as the better lead break from both guitarists."Never Too Late" is one example. The similarities to Gamma Ray's "Time to Break Free" from the Land of the Free album, both musically and lyrically (yes, Kiske actually provided lead vocals on the song) are very easy to ascertain. But his contributions have been 'scaled back' from the absolute heavy and speed metal style of Gamma Ray, to fit in with the much more hard rock style that this band is about, no doubt to fit Kiske's preferred style.
On the other hand, Ward's contributions obviously reflect the style of his previous band's, such as Pink Cream 69 and Place Vendome (of which Kiske was also a part). They swing more towards the hard rock ballad style of song, rewuiring Kiske's soaring vocals to be at the forefront of the moody musicianship, much in the way that Whitesnake's "Is This Love?" did a quarter of a century ago. There is nothing wrong with that if you like that kind of stuff, but really, we've heard this before in Ward's afore-mentioned bands.

Compare, for instance, "Renegade" and "My Sanctuary", which are back to back in the middle of this album. "Renegade" is a Ward song, and it has that moodiness about it, and almost floats along with Kiske soaring to that mood. Then comes "My Sanctuary", essentially a Ward song, that Hansen has contributed to the music. It feels like a Ward song, but Hansen has come in and added some grunt, added some metal to it, and the song is all the better for that influence. To me, if this could have been done to the WHOLE album, rather than just the two or three songs that Kai 'helped out' with the music ("Unisonic", "My Sanctuary" and "We Rise") it would have been a better mix throughout. As it stands, the  momentum of the album ebbs and flows between the somewhat faster and heavier tunes, and the slower more circumspect soft rock moments.
Michael Kiske has the writing credit for one song on the album, the closing ballad "No One Ever Sees Me". It is the perfect example of the direction Kiske prefers his music in this incarnation of his life. It is pure syrup both musically and lyrically, and even the solo break from Kai can't redeem it for me. I am sure there are plenty of fans out here who will love this song. To me it may as well be Mariah Carey singing it, because it is a travesty.

I wanted to love this album. I wanted it to be a pinpoint, the album that all other bands would have to better if they wanted to have the best album of 2012. That hasn't  - and couldn't - happen. Despite the calibre of the musicians collected here, their styles were, for the most part, unable to combine to bring about the miraculous. There are good songs here, including "Unisonic", "Souls Alive" "Never Too Late" and "My Sanctuary", but the average tends to hold back the good. Instead, this is an album that is well worth a listen, but at the end of the day will become a shelf-filler.

596. Iron Maiden / En Vivo! 2012. 5/5

The simple review for this is "Here is another Iron Maiden live album. It's Iron Maiden, performing their songs live. It's a no brainer. It's brilliant. 5/5"

The major problem with putting out a live album or live DVD or both after almost every tour is that, for half of that release, you are hearing the same songs over and over again. And I honestly disagree with the band, that you MUST play a certain selection of songs at every gig ever. And so it is here. Once "The Evil That Men Do" has come to its conclusion, you can for all intents and purposes turn off the album, because you have heard the conlusion to an Iron Maiden concert before. It is a shame, and of course the songs themselves are still brilliant, but how many live versions of the same songs do you need to hear?

Anyway, getting over that, this is another terrific entry into Maiden's live collection. All of the new songs from The Final Frontier sound as brilliant live as they did when I saw them in concert in Sydney on this tour - they certainly sound better live. I was never overly taken with "Coming Home" and "El Dorado" when I bought the album, but they are better in this atmosphere. "The Talisman" proves itself again as the best song from that album, and one of their best since the reformation in 1999.
It was good to have some other songs back into the setlist as well, such as "Dance of Death", "The Wicker Man" and "Blood Brothers" which are fantastic. I again wonder at why "Fear of the Dark" remains in the setlist. I am very over that song.

It's simple. An Iron Maiden live album is pretty much a 5/5 album, given the song selection, musicianship and production. And this is no different. It was a great concert to see, and this is translated wonderfully to this album. One wonders why, after all of these live releases in the past 13 years, why there was no live album released from the A Matter of Life and Death tour, especially when on that tour they played that entire album live! Wonders may never cease...

595. Overkill / The Electric Age. 2012. 3/5

Given that as I write this review, the only two Overkill albums I have heard are this one and its predecessor, I guess I don't have the history of the band to help guide my judgement. This could be a positive or a negative in many respects, but it is what I have.

So, given that Overkill are a thrash metal band from the 1980's, you would have to say that this album holds up well, given it is a thrash album in 2012. OK, so it's not any great leap from what thrash metal was back in the early 1980's, though the production is a lot better than it was in those days, and to be honest, even these songs would be faster if they were written and recorded then. But this is a fair album given that.

In an age where the giants of the thrash metal age are still out there putting metal to the masses, albeit in a less angry and not-quite-thrash-anymore-but-heavy-metal kinda way, this album can still find a place amongst the groove metal and progressive metal and metalcore and power metal bands that flourish in greater quantity (though not necessarily quality) than pure thrash metal does.

If you like this style of metal, there is plenty here to like. Solid song structure, good rhythm section, solo's to suit and vocals that hold it all together. I would include "Electric Rattlesnake", "Save Yourself" and "Good Night" as some of my favourite songs from the album.

It's easy to say that there isn't a whole lot new here, and by that I mean that you could easily hear this coming from a thrash album in 1985. In the same way that bands like Exodus and Death Angel are still out there producing good albums in this day and age, Overkill have proven here they can still do the same.

594. Lamb of God / Resolution. 2012. 2.5/5

From the very beginning, there is no doubt that this is a Lamb of God album. And I say this simply because to me it sounds like every other album of theirs that I have heard or own.
Is this a bad thing? Well, it is up to interpretation. Everyone knows an AC/DC album when it is put on, because they are almost the same through out their career. But if you love AC/DC this doesn't diminish your love of the band or the music.
In reality, this is the same with Lamb of God. The production is similar, the guitars and rums and vocals are all in a similar vein to everything they have done. What it comes down to is - what is your opinion of Lamb of God as a band? If you love the band, you will probably be head over heels in love with this album. If you dislike Lamb of God as a band, you will dislike this album much as you have their previous efforts.

I sit on the fence with both this band and this album. I was hoping for more of Wrath when I heard it, and for the most part was disappointed. I came into Resolution with an open mind and hope of something different, something more. What I found was a stock standard LoG album. The start of the album just doesn't grab me, which is a problem for any album. I don't mind the mid-section songs, there is a little bit there that raises the senses slightly, and then it fades out towards the close again.

In summary, fans will probably enjoy this. As Lamb of God are not one of the bands that I have an obsession with, this perhaps drag down my assessment of the album in the same way my love of some bands drags my assessment upwards.

593. Primal Rock Rebellion / Awoken Broken. 2012. 4/5

Being the middle aged father of three working class husband that I have become over recent years, I knew nothing of this collaboration until its full announcement on the Iron Maiden website just before the album was released. I can honestly say that I was pleased to hear of it.
Adrian Smith is a giant in the industry, and his song writing has always been fantastic. Being a part of Iron Maiden, it is possible to see that he can have his creative talent hamstrung by the fact that Steve Harris has a stranglehold on the writing and performance part of the recording process. In the past he has had other creative outlets outside of his time with Maiden, including A.S.a.P and Psycho Motel, as well as his time with fellow Iron Maiden alumni Bruce Dickinson.
Mikee Goodman is formerly of the band SikTH, which I cannot say I have heard any of. However, his credentials were certainly top shelf from what I have read elsewhere.

From the very beginning, this comes across as refreshingly different and pleasingly not cliched in its approach. Those of us who know Maiden can immediately recognise the traditional Adrian Smith style, and yet it is much different from what most would know from that band. The guitars are a grungier heavier style through the meat of all the songs, and yet still melodically so. The solo breaks are typically brilliant Adrian. Through this, the songs are a different style and yet comfortably familiar. Mikee Goodman is no less important in this collaboration. His vocals fit like a glove to the music, and though I have not heard him on anything but this album, I must say that I am impressed with his singing and writing. Smith and Goodman's vocals also combine beautifully in some of the songs (see especially in "Tortured Tone"). Add to this the drumming of another original SikTH member Dan "Loord" Foord, which is terrific, and this is really comes together as a complete package.

Songs like "No Friendly Neighbour", "Bright as a Fire", "Tortured Tone" and "Awoken Broken" are my favourites (so far) on this album, as much as for the variety they showcase. Goodman's vocal ability is perhaps best appraised in "Awoken Broken", when he gives half a dozen different techniques in the one song, which only enhances the song, not detracting from it. There is almost as much variety in Smith's guitaring technique, and not forgetting the bass lines that he also plays on the album.

Apart from showcasing the members obvious skills both in musicianship and writing, this feels like more than a side project. This feels like a fully fledged band, that has the ability to go as far as the members want it to. Maybe - probably - that won't occur. No matter what, this is brilliant debut album, one that transcends many musical genres, and that will grow on you the more you listen to it.

592. Wolfsbane / Wolfsbane Save the World. 2012. 2/5

To be honest, I always thought that this was a strange move. I guess in the current music environment, where so many bands appear to be reforming to do tours that a tour by the band with a 'greatest hits' package was always possible. But after 18 years, a new album? Could there be anything new? Could there be any magic? Was Wolfsbane that good to begin with?
Anyway, the decision was made, and here it is, the 2012 version of Wolfsbane. And to be honest, it still sounds like Wolfsbane, which to me always sounded like a Van Halen cover band without the brilliant guitar solo's (sorry Jase, but it's the truth) and without being able to pull off the sexual innuendo like David Lee Roth (sorry Blaze, but it's the truth).

This is really the case here. The music on this album could have been pulled straight off Down Fall the Good Guys, such is the sound produced. It all has a very 1980's character about it (and yes, I know their albums were recorded in the 1990's), and it really is out of place in 2012. Perhaps if you hadn't followed the career of Blaze Bayley since 1994 it would have more substance to it. But Wolfsbane's lead singer has done much better for himself over those 18 years, performing not only with Iron Maiden for five years, but producing his own heavy thumping albums under his own moniker. To listen to Blaze's Blood & Belief album, and then listen to this, is to wonder how it could be the same person involved in the writing and singing of those songs.

So this is very tongue-in-cheek, and should be taken that way. But with almost no discernible changes in music or lyrics or subject matter, despite the long gap between albums, this really is an album that is stuck in the wrong time of music history. It is dated even though it has only just been recorded and released. It's fun enough to listen to if you are a fan and know the band, but those from the outside may find that this sits uncomfortably. Even for someone who owns all of their albums, this doesn't sit well.

591. Blaze Bayley / The King of Metal. 2012. 3/5

Given Blaze's track record in the early 2000's with his initial releases after leaving Iron Maiden, he has had plenty of credits in the bank with me. The albums Silicon Messiah and Tenth Dimension and Blood & Belief were all super albums that at least matched what Iron Maiden were putting out at the same time. The last two albums have been good without the spectacular nature of the afore-mentioned albums, and so perhaps Blaze has been eating into those credits.
Still, given that he has come out and named this album The King of Metal he has either put himself under enormous pressure to match the title, or he has succeeded.

As much as I would have liked to be able to report that this was indeed a return to the best that Blaze can produce, it isn't in me to do so. That isn't to say that this is a bad album - it just isn't a great album. No doubt that one of the things about not having a stable band line-up is that you can't co-create an album, and have a vision of this album and future albums. When you only have hired hands, they can't always be involved in the creative process. In this case, I think that has affected the content of the album.

I think the songs vary in great degree from the good heavy material that Blaze has become known for ("The King of Metal", "The Black Country" and "The Rainbow Fades to Black"), to the very ordinary slower ballad like material ("One More Step" and the closer "Beginning") to the confused 'not really sure what this song should be like' material ("Fighter").

I admire Blaze for the way he is continuing his career, and doing so in a cost effective way so that he can get to all his fans all over the world. To be honest, I think that to stretch himself in the future he needs to find himself a collaborator, much in the way Bruce Dickinson and Roy Z worked in the late 1990's together. Someone to help filter the good material he is still coming up with, from the filler that just isn't up to standard.
The King of Metal doesn't quite come up to the standard of his previous material, but it is a damn sight better than the stuff that was recorded on the new Wolfsbane album that came out at about the same time. Stick with your own stuff Blaze, and steer clear of that rubbish!