Category Cd Reviews

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To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the formation of 10cc, Universal are releasing ”Tenology”, a five disc box set which includes four CDs (two discs of singles, one of selected album tracks, and a further one of B-sides and rarities) and a DVD (featuring all the promo videos and TV performances on Top Of The Pops, BBC In Concert, See You Sunday, Six Fifty Five Special and Pebble Mill). The packaging is impressive looking too.

It’s a very impressive package all round really – Two discs give you all the band’s hits, then the other two CDs give you rarities and tracks that were on albums but didnt get released as singles but which are certainly worth listening to. Add in the DVD and you’ve got a great package for any 10CC fan...

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Ok lets start by making one thing clear – despite the title this isn’t really a Nightwish album. It’s a film soundtrack to the film that Nightwish have made to tie in with their last studio album, Imaginaerum. As such this album is almost completely instrumental.

Still interested? Good, because it’s an album that Nightwsh fans are going to want to listen to. Some of my Nightwish loving friends have long described Nightwish keyboard player and writer Tuomas Holopainen as a genius, and I think this album really shows the true scale of his talent. Without conventional songs with a singer then all the debate about who is the best Nightwish vocalist and the relative merits of the various singers Nightwish have had are all forgotten and we’re left with the music to focus on.

The tracks on T...

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A legend of German heavy metal, Udo Dirkschneider came to fame as the singer in Accept, but since leaving them he has forged a solid career with his own band, U.D.O. with whom he has released thirteen studio albums and two live albums (and ”Live in Sofia” makes three).

The album was recorded in Sofia and has a great setlist consisting primarily of his U.D.O. material including several songs from his latest album (Rev-Raptor). Of course no U.D.O. live show would be complete without at least one Accept track, and we get some of them including ”Metal Heart” and ”Balls to the wall”.

The sound on the album is great – nice and clear with a great mix so you get plenty of power from the guitars, the drums are solid and most importantly the vocals are nice and prominent in the mix.

There is howeve...

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Following the Deluxe edition of Abba’s ”The Visitors”, the band’s 1975 album ”Abba” is being given the Deluxe edition tratment. The album features classic hits such as ‘Mamma Mia’, ‘SOS’ and ‘I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do’.

The first disc in the package is a remastered version of the original album plus three bonus tracks – Crazy world, Medley: Pick A Bale Of Cotton – On Top Of Old Smokey – Midnight Special, and a Spanish version of Mamma Mia. The three bonus tracks have been available before – the first two were on at least two of the re-issued versions, and the Spanish version of Mamma Mia was on the COmplete studio recordings box set.

The second disc is a DVD, featuring 60 minutes of previously unreleased television performances, including the complete 1976 television speci...

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”Old School” is a collection that spans the ten years of the Alice Cooper Group and includes a whole host of goodies spread over four discs. This Special Edition is a condensed version of the original sold-out Old School: 1964–1974 super deluxe box set released in 2011. The set contains 4 discs containing demos, pre-production and rehearsal recordings of classic Alice Cooper tracks, radio spots, interview anecdotes, plus a full live show captured on the 1971 Killer tour – Live in St Louis – and a 60-page yearbook charting the career of Alice Cooper complete with many rare photos.

While it may be a condensed version of the collection released last year, it’s still an impressive collection, and at just under £25 it’s extremely good value.

It’s great to hear some of the real classic ...

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American rock band 3 Doors Down are known for their non-stop touring, playing hundreds of shows every year. In between touring commitments they’ve released 5 studio albums since 2000 and are now releasing their greatest hits album. It contains 9 songs from their five studio albums plus three brand new songs.

If you’ve never listened to 3 doors down before then a good comparison is Nickelback – they do similar radio friendly rock music, so if you’re a Nickelback fan then I’d definitely recommend checking out 3 Doors Down, and this album is certainly a good starting point.

Greatest hits albums are a great way for someone who’s heard a couple of songs by a band to get an album with the best tracks as a way of a proper introduction to the band – it’s certainly a lot safer than buying one of ...

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Rainbow are one of the legendary names of Rock and featured some amazing members including Ritchie Blackmore, Ronnie James Dio, Cozy Powell, Roger Glover, Don Airey, Graham Bonnet, Joe Lynn Turner and more.

”On stage” was the bands third album and was recorded live over several dates and then spliced together to form the album. When I say it was spliced together, I don’t mean they took different tracks from different shows – they even took parts of a song from several shows and spliced them together seamlessly to get the best bits from each show. The album was released as a double album with the running order being very different to the live shows as they needed to change it to fit the limited vinyl capacity as best they could...

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Rainbow are releasing a Deluxe edition of ”Long Live Rock ’n’ Roll”. It was the band’s third studio album and was released in 1978. It was Rainbow’s last album to feature Ronnie James Dio on vocals. Rainbow are one of the legendary names of Rock and featured some amazing members including Ritchie Blackmore, Ronnie James Dio, Cozy Powell, Roger Glover, Don Airey, Graham Bonnet, Joe Lynn Turner and more.

The original album is so well known that I won’t dwell on it, but this deluxe edition has far more to offer than just the basic album. While the original album had a running time of just over 41 minutes, the deluxe edition has that plus an hour and ten minutes of bonus tracks.
So what are the bonus tracks? Well we get rough mixes of seven of the songs from the album, a song recorded at a...

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Cyclone Empire/Sound Pollution

Back in 1990 Gerrit P. Mutz, vocals, and Oliver Schramm, drums, started DAWN OF WINTER. The first demo, Path of the Worm” appeared in 1991, and in 1992 they added Joachim Schmalzried, bass, and Jörg M Knittel, guitars. A five track was recorded, as Oliver suddenly left the band, only to be replaced by Dennis Schediwy. Gigs with the likes of MIRROR OF DECEPTION and PSYCHTIC WALTZ followed, as well as an LP, “Doomcult Performance”. Their first real long-player appeared in 1998, In the Valley of Tears”, and, in 2001, the MLP “Slow Is the Suffering”. Massacre Records singed the band and the result, The Peaceful Dead” soon appeared...

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Escape Music/Sound Pollution

IMPERA rings no bells, but the name has a lot to it. The musicians in the band/project are J.K. Impera, drums (BRUCE KULIC, GRAHAM BONNET), Tommy Denander, guitars (TOTO, PAUL STANLEY, ALICE COOPER, etc), Matti Alfonzetti, vocals (JAGGED EDGE, ROAD TO RUIN etc), and Mats Vassfjord, bass (VINNIE VINCENT, JOHN CORABI etc). Loads of routine and musicianship, and also loads of classic hard rock with bits of AOR according to the info.

Opener “Turn My Heart to Stone” is effective without being the very best song on offer. Melody and routine makes things go along smoothly. I personally prefer the more forceful “Kiss of Death”, which would have been an even better opening – but so far so good...