– Rock Formats Music Reviews (7.5.11) By: Michael D. Vogel    © July 5, 2011. Michael D. Vogel.  All Rights Reserved. Published in: Free Gotham  – July 7, 2011 Examiner.com – July 6, 2011  Songs  The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band Song: “Never Lookin’ Back” From the release: How I Go Label: Roadrunner Records/Loud & Proud Records/RRP Members: Kenny Wayne Shepherd – guitar, […]

All posts from 2010 compiled into a monthly virtual magazine: Music reviews: Ian Moore, Robert Plant, Alpha Rev, Godsmack, We Are the Fallen, Rolling Stones, Elton John/Leon Russell, Dwight Twilley, Sweet Psychosis and Plain white T's Features: 311, Sammy Hagar, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Metallica Book Review: Full Metal Jackie

Various Rock Format Music Reviews - Godsmack, Alpha Rev, We Are The Fallen, Robert Plant, Ian Moore and the Lossy Coils

So you call yourself a pure rocker – you know the significance of Megadeth’s “Peace Sells”, well that was easy…what about the song who’s riff was developed because of the guitarist inability to mimic the singer; or the song – a description of a tropical storm, that helped re-launch a legendary band with a new singer? Music has always been about illusion and one’s interpretation of the lyrics. It is there that battle lines are drawn between fans that see a song one way or another, let alone where they rank in the hierarchy of metal-dome. Be careful, metal fans are a precarious bunch – referring to a song incorrectly could result in an extra shot to the dome! But, armed with a copy of Jackie Kajzer’s ‘Full Metal Jackie Certified – The 50 Most Influential Heavy Metal Songs of the 80’s and The True Stories Behind Their Lyrics and The True Stories Behind Their Lyrics in your musical arsenal can only help promote your sonic survival.

Quickly glancing at the dial to confirm his format choice, Dave proclaims, “What’s old is new again!” while fumbling for the volume knob on his car stereo. The cyclical nature of this axiom holds true for so much of our lives, especially the music we listen to. Long before the days when rock radio fragmented, album oriented rock (AOR) was the source for all things with loud screaming guitars and bands like AC/DC and Guns N’ Roses ruled the radio airwaves. The main factor with heritage artists, especially to a younger crowd, is cultural relevance. Some bands have it and others don’t. You can’t go into a mall anywhere in America and not see a black t-shirt with a hard rock band logo on it. Heritage artists such as Guns N’ Roses, AC/DC and Metallica help bolster a station’s gold library by bringing a connection between the old and the new. These records are over 10 years old and in most cases help to attract the higher male demographics, which are so important for the Alternative format.

To say that bay-area rockers the Stone Foxes embrace the DiY philosophy would be an understatement. The Stone Foxes represent the next generation of multi-media musicians. Having grown up in the computer age, they simply know no other way. And with a desire to maintain as much control over their image and representation to the record buying public, modern technology has made this a reality for today’s multi-tasking musicians.

The dream is always the same – a sleek sports car flying down the Pacific Coast Highway, the crashing surfing pounding the beach below. The music is pulsating out of the speakers; the searing guitars, the pounding drums, the thick rhythm of the bass and the unmistakable vocal roar. The songs may be interchangeable but one thing remains a constant – the band, Metallica! And for a quarter century, they have been just that, a constant! As my head begins to rock back and forth and my fingers tighten their grip on the steering wheel, I realize today is no dream. So, it’s off to the legendary Cow Palace in San Francisco for an intimate evening with Metallica and a few hundred of their closest friends and family. And the only thing between Los Angeles and the city by the bay was a lot of asphalt and several hours of rockin’, Metallica-style.

With much due respect and influence to Spinal Tap, here’s a list of some of the hottest new metal bands that might break through to the masses:

SCENE: Phoenix, Arizona, in the early ’90s. David (DLB) Bowers is honing his studio chops, recording local hip-hop acts and listening to rock, dreaming of the day he can mix everything he knows and loves together in a project that will reflect his passions. He meets a kindred spirit in fellow MC Doug (Rid) Moore, and the dynamic vocal duo eventually hooks up with fellow Phoenicians Sean Faulkner on bass, drummer Sean Gardner and guitarists Tracy (Tre) Thorstad and Cristin Davis to form Trik Turner. DLB was kind enough to sit down and speak with Album Network Rock Radio Director Michael D. Vogel (who is also a fan and outspoken supporter of Trik Turner) about his band’s history, their “keep it real” attitude, their self-titled debut and subsequent live experiences.

When it comes to defining the blues, there are several schools of thought, including the slick licks of Chicago, the soulful sounds of the Delta or the salty grooves laid down in Austin. These days, the blues are almost inescapable–it permeates rock (Led Zeppelin), folk (Ani DiFranco), jazz (John Scofield) and jam bands (Widespread Panic), as well as helping to launch all sorts of hyphenated strains. Back in the late ’40s, when Muddy Waters put his first blues band together, he set into motion a sound and style that would soon revolutionize popular music, leading to a tremendous blues movement that forged the way toward the formation of rock & roll. “The blues had a baby,” Waters once sang, “and they called it rock & roll!”