Rush - 2112 (1976)

     

     Happy Rush Day everyone! Since the date today is 2/1/12 I decided to review the album by Rush 2112 on Rush Day. Now, the two previous albums I had reviewed I had listened to previously to writing these reviews or at least parts of the albums. As much as this must be hearsay to the community that reads this blog, I have never, in fact, listened to 2112 in its entirety so I have the privilege of listening to the album and then reviewing it for you all. However, the background of Rush is something I do know of because they are one of the godfathers of Prog Rock which, along with Yes and King Crimson, created a place for musicians to experiment and create soundscapes while incorporating story-line lyrics into a 20 minute or more long song. Rush was founded in 1968 by Geddy Lee, John Rutsey and Alex Lifeson. Now I know what your all thinking, what about Neil "The Greatest drummer ever" Peart. Well, ladies and gentlemen, Neil Peart was NOT the original drummer for Rush. He came into the band in 1974 right before their first U.S. Tour and had been a mainstay ever since as the sole lyricist for the band as well as "The Greatest Drummer Of All Time". The album 2112, was released in 1976 and features a seven part suite called 2112 that covers the first 20 minutes of the album, followed by four other tracks of normal lengths (4-5 minutes long). The story-line of the album is as follows (According to Rush as a band):


     "In the year 2062, a galaxy-wide war results in the union of all planets under the rule of the Red Star of the Solar Federation. By 2112, the world is controlled by the "Priests of the Temples of Syrinx," who determine the content of all reading matter, songs, pictures - every facet of life.

     A man discovers an ancient guitar and learns to play his own music. Thinking he has made a wonderful discovery that will be a boon to humanity, he goes to present the guitar to the priests of the Temples, who angrily destroy it and rebuke him for unearthing one of the "silly whims" that caused of the collapse of the previous civilization. He goes into hiding and dreams of a world before the Solar Federation. Upon awakening he becomes distraught and commits suicide. As he dies, another planetary battle begins resulting in the ambiguous ending "Attention all planets of the Solar Federation: We have assumed control." "

     Much of the story is inspired by Ayn Rand, writer of The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, who Neil Peart credits in the albums liner notes. Now, onto the review!


Rush - 2112 (1976)

Genre - Progressive Rock

Similar Artists - Yes, King Crimson

Band Members -

Geddy Lee - Bass Guitars, Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Synthesizer

Alex Lifeson - Acoustic and Electric Guitars
Neil Peart - Drums, Percussion

Songs -

1. 2112
2. A Passage To Bangkok
3. The Twilight Zone
4. Lessons
5. Tears
6. Something For Nothing

Summary-

     This review will probably not be as long as the others before it just because, what can be said about this album that hasn't already been said, the albums is a seminal work of art years ahead of its time. Its definitely required listening for ANYONE who thinks they are a fan of Prog Rock or wants to get into Prog Rock. This album is definitely the place to start and is very accessible.

     The album begins with the song 2112 which begins with an overture of sorts, even though the breakdown of parts is called Overture. it begins to build to the main "song" part of the track with Geddy Lee's fantastically unique vocals over a driving guitar line, this lasts for about 4-5 minutes and then changes where it sounds like Alex is tuning his guitar for the rest of the album, then it goes into a slower "soundscapey" part of the album where Alex Lifeson plays a chord progression over Geddy Lee singing, almost like a ballad part of the track as it builds to the next part of the track, the next part, from 10:14 till 13:56 is a slower rock track that is almost like a continuation of the progression Alex played in the section before it. The next sections until the end of the song begins as a slow balladesque build up until the long outro solo at the end over the "song" section after the Overture. The very end of the song has a spoken word bit, rumored to be done, by Alex and Geddy messing around with a broken tape deck.

     Wow, now that I'm done covering the main song, I can get to the rest of the album. Now 2112 isn't JUST the somg 2112 contrary to popular belief. The other 5 tracks on the album may not be anywhere near as epic as 2112, however, are just as good in their own right. The songs "A Passage To Bangkok" sounds like a continuation of the "song" section of 2112 and has a more hard rock sort of sound about it. The guitars and bass are upbeat and fluid and the drums sound like there are 2 different drummers on the track, that's just how great Neil Peart is, these are facts. But anyway, the next two tracks are very similar to each other in that they are slower rock songs, "The Twilight Zone" and "Lessons". Both songs sound sorta similar but with Geddy Lee's unique high vocal style, Neil Peart's insanely technical and talented drumming and Alex Lifeson's everchanging guitar lines, the songs never become stale or hard to listen to, they just flow seamlessly into one another.

     The final song on the album is "Something For Nothing" which sounds similar to "A Passage To Bangkok" but, again, due to the phenomenal musicianship in the band, the tracks never get stale or boring. So, I'm giving this album a 10/10 rating because it just an extraordinary album, this should be required listening for everyone who enjoys Prog or classic rock, it shows people what can be accomplished by incredibly talented musicians. I've listened to other Rush albums, (Test For Echo and Vapor Trails are two of my favourite albums) and honestly say that even thought 2112 was their fourth album, it could stand up with their 16th and 17th albums respectively. So, as a fan of rock music and really just music in general, if you don't own this album, GO BUY IT NOW!

Tesla - Psychotic Supper (1991)

     Ok, so for the second album, I decided to go with something in a different direction than Sunstorm. Tesla, originally wasn't one of my favourite bands or even close really; however, last May I saw them live at M3 in Columbia MD and absolutely loved the show they put on. Tesla was formed in Sacremento, California in 1984 by Jeff Keith, Frank Hannon, Tommy Skeoch, Brian Wheat, and Troy Luccketta. While most people would know Tesla as a glam metal band, seeing as how they got famous around the height of glam metal, the're music, as well as image, is a stark contrast to the glam metal bands of the 80's and early 90's. The're albums generally have an overall Hard Rock sound, however, I've always felt they have of a southern rock quality similar to .38 Special, with much heavier and faster music. The reason I've always felt this way is because of the lyrical content of their songs and the fact that many of their songs have very blusey background similar to Aerosmith.

     As for the album Psychotic Supper, it was the third album released by Tesla in the early 90's and was the next to last album to feature Tommy Skeoch on rhythm guitar before he left due to substance abuse. The album is considered, by the band, to be the best album they have ever released; which I agree with to an extent, but ill get into that later. The album has certain overtones that the band really didn't go into on other albums, such as political and social issues on tracks like "Government Personnel", "Freedom Slaves", and "Don't De-Rock Me".

Tesla - Psychotic Supper (1991)

Genre: Hard Rock/ Southern Rock

Similar Artists: Aerosmith, .38 Special, Whitesnake, Warrant

Members:

Jeff Keith - Lead Vocals

Frank Hannon - Lead and Rhythm Guitars, Piano, Organ, Hammond Organ, Backing Vocals

Tommy Skeoch - Lead and Rhythm Guitars, Backing Vocals

Brian Wheat - Bass, Piano, Backing Vocals

Troy Lucckletta - Drums, Percussion

Songs:

1. Change In The Weather

2. Edison's Medicine

3. Don't De-Rock Me

4. Call It What You Want

5. Song & Emotion

6. Time

7. Government Personnel

8. Freedom Slaves

9. Had Enough

10. What You Give

11. Stir It Up

12. Can't Stop

13. Toke About It

Summary:

     Ok so, time to review this album, all in all, not bad; not sure if I necessarily agree with Tesla opinion that its the best thing they have ever recorded, but that's just me. Its a good album though and definitely one of their stronger albums. The album overall is very heavy; much heavier than the two albums before it, however, it shows that the band is definitely not to be grouped with glam bands of the 80's. The album is primary made up of heavier, faster upbeat tracks, almost 80% of the album. Also, which is different from the two other Tesla albums, they have a more political and social overtone in the lyrics ("Government Personnel","Freedom Slaves", and "Call It What You Want".)

     The album starts of with three really guitar driven and upbeat tracks; "Change In The Weather", "Edison's Medicine", and "Don't De-Rock Me". All three songs flow seamlessly into one another when I listened to the album but don't have much to do with each other. "Change In The Weather" is also another one of those tracks that has a political overtone, that there needs to be a change in this country. But in any event, are much faster and upbeat than most other Tesla material. Something I found interested is that on "Change In The Weather" and "Edison's Medicine" the band utilizes something used in a lot of Aerosmith songs and that's the Call and Response chorus model, where the lead singer says a line and the backing singers either repeat the line or answer if it was a question. This type of chorus is used in a lot of blues music and southern rock. But anyway, the first three songs really start the album off at a high point and drive the album along. 

     Now, for me, here is where the album really picks up, the next two songs are "Call It What You Want" and "Song & Emotion"; possibly the two best songs on the album. The song "Call It What You Want" is a track in direct to Tipper Gore's labeling of music that SHE deemed to be explicit, mostly Hard Rock, Heavy Metal and Rap music of the 80's and early 90's. The song starts out fairly slow with a build up to the chorus where Jeff Keith basically says, in so many words, that he doesn't care what you call it, its still music to him. And throughout the song reinforces that its just music and it should stay that way. Now the next song, "Song & Emotion", I feel is the highlight of the album and as part of the live show, was mind-blowing. It starts out with this slow guitar intro with story-line vocal over-top and as the vocals keep going it builds to this huge chorus where the whole band comes in and is just really powerful. Along with several guitar solos and a nice long guitar outro, I believe it is the strongest song on the album.

     The next track "Time" sounds like it could have been pulled off of Aerosmith's Toys In The Attic easily, it has a very bluesy guitar line and Jeff Keith's vocals sound very similar to Steven Tyler. The lyrical content of this song follows the same theme as the rest of the album of having a political and social issue overtone. Now, "Government Personnel" is a strange track for the album because it features just Jeff Keith on vocals and Frank Hannon on an acoustic guitar talking badly about the government. Now this kinda move isn't strange for a rock band now (a similar move to what Van Halen did on III) however, this was in 1991 so it was a little bit of a ballsy move, and the song only lasts for about a minute. 

     The next track, "Freedom Slaves" is another one of those political and social songs, however, it is more along the lines of what "Change In The Weather" was, a heavier and faster paced song. After that is "Had Enough" which could have come of either of the first two Mr. Big albums really just based on how the song sounds, it has a very bluesy sound and driving guitar line. The last four tracks on the album aren't really anything to write home about, they are more of the same from the rest of the album, however, they have more of a slower, more ballad-y sound to them. But they are great songs all in all and warrant listening to.

     Pound for pound, song for song, Psychotic Supper by Tesla is a great album and definitely would be in required listening, if just for the first nine tracks on the album. However, I would not consider it to be THE best Tesla album of all time. There are much better albums such as "The Great Radio Controversy" or "Mechanical Resonance". The production quality of the album is amazing though and really shows that the band had definitely gained some backing by their label and were allowed to use the best materials they could get. Now, at my fathers request, apparently my grading system for albums is too...similar to other peoples. He suggested using "Hot Groupies" as a rating system, like 4/5 hot groupies or something like that. But I was thinking I would just stick with my way cause its easy. So for this album, I'm gonna give it a solid 8/10. So if your looking to get into something a little heavier than Aerosmith or getting into Tesla, I would definitely recommend this album, it definitely warrants a listen by anyone into this type of music. 

Sunstorm- Sunstorm 2006

     Ok, so the first album I will be reviewing is the album Sunstorm, by the band of the same name. Now, I know what you all are thinking, that I said most of my music comes from the 70's, 80's and early 90's. While that's very true, this band (Sunstorm) is a super-group that was formed by members of bands from the 80's. Sunstorm was a project formed by members of Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow and Pink Cream 69 (German Power Metal band) in 2005. I decided to start the blog with this album because, personally, the lead vocalist of this band (Joe Lynn Turner) is one of my favourites and figured why not start there. However, albums after this will be chosen at random by my iTunes. So lets get this review started!

Sunstorm- Sunstorm (2006)

Genre: AOR (Album Oriented Rock)/ Hard Rock

Similar Artists: Survivor, Journey, Bad English, Tyketto, Hardline, Damn Yankees

Members:

Joe Lynn Turner (Deep Purple/Rainbow)- Lead Vocals

Dennis Ward (Pink Cream 69)- Bass, Backing Vocals, Additional Guitars, Keyboards

Uwe Rietenaur (Pink Cream 69)- Rhythm and Lead Guitars

Chris Schmidt- Drums

Jochen Weyer- Keyboards

Songs:

1. Keep Tonight

2. Fame And Fortune

3. Heart Over Mind

4. This Is My Heart

5. Strength Over Time

6. Another You

7. Fist Full Of Heat

8. Love's Gone Wrong

9. Night Moves

10. Danger Of Love

11. Making Up For Lost Time

12. Arms Of Love

Summary:

     Ok, so, I thought about doing the whole "individually review every song" thing, but realized that it would take to long and eventually I would just start to repeat the same things over and over again. So I decided to just do a summary of the album, which is a little bit easier. As far as how the album sounds, its exactly what you would expect from former members of Deep Purple/ Rainbow and Pink Cream 69. The album has a lot of Hard Rock songs ala Pink Cream 69 and Deep Purple, and also has a few ballads ala Rainbow (when Joe Lynn Turner fronted the band). The album starts off with "Keep Tonight" and "Fame And Fortune" which are more of Hard Rock tracks that (with JLT's vocals) could have easily been on Deep Purple's "Slaves And Masters" (the album JLT sang on). They also have very airy keyboards you can really only hear during the choruses to highlight JLT's vocals. 

     

     Then, "Heart Over Mind" is a nice ballad to transition into the next 3 songs which are basically all ballads or softer rock tracks. "Heart Over Mind" also features a nice piano/bass intro that builds to the vocals and the chorus where the whole band really shines. The next track, "This Is My Heart" is less of a ballad, even though its sandwiched between ballads, could have easily been a heavier Journey track or even Bad English. It follows a similar progression to "Fame And Fortune" and "Keep Tonight". "Strength Over Time" and "Another  You" are both ballads with heavier choruses similar to "Heart Over Mind" with more emotive solos and magnificent keyboard playing. 

     

     The next four songs; "Fist Full Of Heat","Love's Gone Wrong","Night Moves" and Danger Of Love", are much heavier tracks similar to "Keep Tonight". However, "Love's Gone Wrong" has a very interesting intro with the use of a wah-wah pedal that gives it a different sound then the rest of the album, not to mention the different percussion used in the bridge of the song to give it a different feel than the rest of the album. "Night Moves" and "Danger Of Love" are also very different songs from the others on the albums. The songs starts off with a piano/keyboard synth intros and slowly builds to an almost Hard Rock choruses and lull back to the intro and build again. 

     

     The final two songs on the album are probably the weakest songs on the album, not because they are the last songs, but because they are ballads similar to "Heart Over Mind" that never really build to anything.They sound similar to songs that could be found on any Journey album. They are really just a showcase for the keyboards and JLT's vocal ability. Its just not a strong finish to the album that I would have hoped for but are still great songs. 

     Overall, this album get a 9/10 rating, it would have gotten a 10/10 if it had a stronger ending. Even though many of the tracks follow similar progressions to each other, the overall sound of the album rarely ever gets stale or hard to listen to because each song is unique in its songwriting. The production value of the album and the writing is just fantastic. Joe Lynn Turner's vocals on the album just prove that, even 20 years later, he can still hit all the same notes he could on any Rainbow record he did or even the Deep Purple record he did. The guitar playing is phenomenal as well as the keyboard playing and all around musicianship of the band. So, if your looking for a nice AOR/ Hard Rock band to get into or just want to hear some awesome Hard Rock, pick up Sunstorm on iTunes. Its worth the money. 

First Post!

Hello everyone out there,

So, as many of you know, or don't, I have an insane amount of music (most of it spanning between the years of 1970-1995). Also as many of you know, or don't, I love to give voice my opinion about music and what album I like and don't like and why. Since most people either don't care to listen to me rant or just want the summary, I've decided to create this blog for the people who actually care. Now, because I have SOOO much music, what I plan on doing is posting an album review everyday, starting today.

_Sean Murphy_