It was 18 years since we got some new music from The Rolling Stones – A Bigger Bang (2005). Their new album is only their fifth, sixth if you count the blues covers album Blue & Lonesome (2016), since then and while the Stones almost never releases a weak record – Under Cover (1983) and Dirty Work (1986) are both pretty close to that – the last album that could be considered a classic was 1981’s Tattoo You. As a huge fan of the band for over 40 years, I always look forward to a new release but the circumstances around this release are a bit different. Firstly, one can wonder how much drive and passion for new music a bunch of soon to be 80-year olds can have. Secondly, a most importantly, this is the first album without drummer Charlie Watts who passed away in 2021. Charlie was a huge part of the band’s sound and is to me irreplaceable. The news that he had recorded parts to at least some of the songs felt like at least a small relief. So I wasn’t really sure what to expect of a new Stones release in 2023.
Tag Archives: music
U.D.O. – Touchdown
Here’s a guy who has devoted his life to music. Metal music. Udo Dirkschneider refuses to rest on his laurels and go nostalgia on us, no he needs to create and stay relevant and for a guy in his 70’s – he’s 72 – it’s quite impressive to keep writing, recording and releasing new albums with tours to follow everyone of them. This is Udo’s 20th album as a solo artist and you can add ten studio albums with Accept to that. In my book, Udo has never released a full-on bad album but his career has still been a bit up and down quality wise. The last time U.D.O. released a killer record was Steelfactory back in 2018 with the three albums that came after being more uneven affairs. That said, with his old Accept band-mate Peter Baltes now in the band there are expectations on his new effort.
Greta Van Fleet – Starcatcher
The first time I heard of Greta Van Fleet was when a friend played me a YouTube clip of four teenagers playing in front of their friends at school in something that looked like a lecture hall or something. GVF was on fire but their friends – who had probably never even heard of Led Zeppelin – looked like they had been taken to another planet or something. I thought they were cool as f**k and I also knew that we were going to get more of these guys in the near future. We did. Two E.P’s in 2017 and a debut album in 2018 and Greta Van Fleet was the talk of the town. Of course, accusations of Led Zeppelin plagiarism occurred and even though that was highly exaggerated there was a resemblance both musically and in singer Joshua Kiszka’s Robert Plant like voice. But GVF was also good at what they did. Damn good even and now after two highly acclaimed records a third is out on the market – with a whole lot of expectations in tow.
Metallica – 72 Seasons
Ever since the 90’s and Metallica’s self-titled black album discussions has gone on about when the band lost their mojo. It’s a matter of taste of course but one can’t help wondering how relevant new music from the band is among fans. Whenever Metallica releases new music it’s a roller-coaster of opinions. They might be the biggest Heavy Metal band in the world but unlike Iron Maiden-fans who go bananas whenever the band releases a new record and everything they do is nothing short of amazing Metallica’s fans seems way more critical. The band do have a few hick-ups in their discography but ever since Death Magnetic (2008) the band has tried their best to go back to their thrashier roots. Personally, I haven’t really been a fan of much of the band’s work since Load (1996), an underrated album in my book but their last release, Hardwired… To Self Destruct (2016) was to me a come-back that felt focused and firey with a whole bunch of damn good songs. It was no Ride The Lightning (1984) but easily the best the band had released in ages.
Winger – Seven
I’ve been a fan of Winger since their self-titled debut back in 1988. Ok, so the record had its ups and downs and was actually uneven at times but the good songs were so damn good and also, I thought it was really cool that it was band made of two of members of Alice Cooper’s band in singer/bassist Kip Winger and keyboardist/rhythm guitarist Paul Taylor. The fact that the two other musicians guitarist Reb Beach and ex Dixie Dregs drummer Rob Morgenstein were amazingly skilled didn’t hurt either. The follow-up, 1990’s In The Heart Of The Young left most of the uneven songs at bay but even though both records were major successes it was with 1993’s Pull that Winger came out as the beast they showed promise to be on the first albums. A masterpiece.
CD & Festival reviews 