Reverend Joe's Official Rock and Roll Thread

A bit of a change in focus (as if this thread ever had focus):

Black Mountain: a sort of modernized psychedelic-progressive band in the tradition of Pink Floyd, Hawkwind and ELP; in fact, they very strongly remind me of the classic 70's Pink Floyd, minus the awesome guitar solos and plus some great synth work. Generally very good songs, ranging from rumbling and heavy ("Stormy High") to lighter fare ("Stay Free") and downright far out ("Wucan.") My only complaint is with the female singer -- she sucks. Sucks. But other than that, a solid group with at least one solid album, In The Future.

THE BROUGHT LOW HAS 3 NEW SONGS UP! THIS IS THE 2ND GREATEST DAY OF MY LIFE!

(Be warned, if you're interested, they are live cuts, so the sound quality won't be as good as their regular studio work. But it's still THE BROUGHT ******* LOW!)

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Originally Posted by Reverend Joe

Black Mountain
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My only complaint is with the female singer -- she sucks. Sucks. But other than that, a solid group with at least one solid album, In The Future.

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Sounds a bit like Zep with synth. Their songs could be longer. I agree on the female singer, I'm almost tempted to load the songs into Audacity and see if I can reduce the levels.

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Originally Posted by Psychonaut

Sounds a bit like Zep with synth. Their songs could be longer.

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Longer? Really? I find them to be fairly succinct as they are. To each his own, though.

"Zeppelin with Synths" is an interesting comparison, though. Hadn't thought of that.

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Originally Posted by Reverend Joe

Longer? Really? I find them to be fairly succinct as they are. To each his own, though.

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I sort of mean, I enjoy the longer songs more, the shorter ones, 4-5 minutes didn't really appeal as much. Lacked a little dynamically.

Back to basics.

Blood of the Sun: probably the heaviest band I've posted yet. Their latest album sounds like a thrash-metal Deep Purple, and from what I can tell it's a little more melodic and organ-based than their previous efforts. Good solid party band, especially if you're bringing over a few bikers.

I'm liking the organ. (No innuendo intended, :laugh4:)

You know you know it when you hear it.

Shame Club: classic rock. Not quite as good as the Brought Low (I swear, their main writer must be a genius,) but definitely the same combination of heavy classic rock and southern rock. A little simplistic at times, and I could use a little more skill at the guitar noodling, but they're a great classic rock band overall. Kinda like a super-heavy Southern rock Aerosmith.

Also, I gotta give my love to "Alicia Circles," a nice Zeppelin-style aucoustic-rock interlude.

Oh, yeah, almost forgot -- the first album is free on their website!

Edit: OK, the first album sounds like it has some Motorhead mixed in. Still cool to me; I lovez the biker rock.

Edit 2: Rhythmic, you don't have to respond to every post if you don't want to; at this point I assume people are reading without responding.

I felt like posting a quick review of Radio Moscow's second album.

Briefly, it's good, psychedelic and heavy, but it doesn't quite have the same distinctiveness of songs that the first had. I like that Parker Griggs has really found the band's sound, and he's a damn good musician (it certainly doesn't hurt that he plays every instrument except the bass, and produced/edited the album all by himself) but at the same time I think it could use a little more variety in its sound. All the songs are great psychedelic-infused 70's style rock songs, but they all sound the same, too; they kinda end up flowing into each other. The second half shakes this off somewhat, but I still feel like the first album had more variety. It's still worth buying as a background album; I am actually enjoying it more now that it's hot out, and I'm watching the sun set while drinking a beer to try to get rid of the sticky heat (unsuccessfully), than when I first bought the album. I would just really like to hear more straight-up rockers and slow blues numbers like I heard on the first album.

Edit: Important notice:

I feel like I alienated some people by discouraging other people, early on, from posting their own music. That was kinda selfish and I apologize. If you want to post your own rock-and-roll here, go ahead.

Cheers for the review, I might hold back on getting it for a while then. (I bought their first album a while back, and I think they set a pretty high standard for a debut album).

Have ya'll stumbled upon the youTube acapella versions of oldies? Someone must have got hold of the original tracks and stripped out the voice-only tracks. Very nice, I think.

Here's "I Wish It Would Rain", Temptations LINK. There are several others on the page.

I'm not gonna post for a while, as I need to catch up on my band finding. So, without further ado:

Bad Wizard: a good band, but with several bad records. On the other hand, their first and latest records are amazing. The first, Free and Easy, is a wild, rollicking, heavily riff-based MC5- style rocker; good for protopunk lovers. The others following the first aren't really as good or striaghtforward; but the 2006 release, Sky High, is a major turnaround; for some reason it reminds me of a classic rock Beastie Boys, with a constant badass attitude throughout, but with some great tunes and expert studio work to back it up. (Say what you will about studio-based bands, but it still requires real skill to pull off a slick sound like this and still sound good.) Unfortunately, they have had no recent news as per their upcoming records, so I fear the worst (not a breakup, but rather some sort of limbo.)

I'll probably return in a month or two, depending on what I can find.

Hi Rev and all you rockers…

I thought it was time to pay this thread a visit again and your earlier note is welcome news indeed! Now this thread might very well become the official free rock-exchange-corner/part of the Org – that is just…. “Far out” as they would say back in the good ‘ol days! Peace, free-love and all that other crap. :laugh4:

Let me be the first who offer my big fat approval for your decision to widen the scope for this thread and the new liberal and generous stance for all rock-lovers out there! Great call! Even if you are about to embark on a mission from god searching for new bands, lets see if we can not hold the fort here while you are away!

Anyway, I’ve checked out the Bad wizard-dudes that you put the spotlight on. Here is my opinion on ‘em; its decent enough rock for me but it hardly is the best stuff I ever heard. Meaning, if somebody put ‘em on I would not complain but I would not be the one who put ‘em on – if you get my drift here. The Federale-boys are more my cup of tea – to take a band spotlighted by you earlier.

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Originally Posted by Reverend Joe

Edit: Important notice:

I feel like I alienated some people by discouraging other people, early on, from posting their own music. That was kinda selfish and I apologize. If you want to post your own rock-and-roll here, go ahead.

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If you got any reservations or problems about me and others hijacking this thread from now on with our own rock-suggestions (within that framework of course) for others to check out. Now, is probably the best time for it to be known - before it happens here. I am just making sure here that you have none second thoughts about this, it’s the least I can do for you man. After all, you built this place with your own “sweat and blood” (with the blessings of St.Hendrix of course). If you do give that go ahead - there is no turning back. It might very well be the rocked up version of Pandora’s box…. I'm all for it, but are you sure...? :grin:


- Cheers

I misread the title as 'Reverend Joe's Official Rick and Roll Thread'... but I'll spare you :P

@Axalon: Well, thank you, sir. I appreciate the support. As for the suggestions problem:

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If you got any reservations or problems about me and others hijacking this thread from now on with our own rock-suggestions (within that framework of course) for others to check out. Now, is probably the best time for it to be known - before it happens here. I am just making sure here that you have none second thoughts about this, it’s the least I can do for you man. After all, you built this place with your own “sweat and blood” (with the blessings of St.Hendrix of course). If you do give that go ahead - there is no turning back. It might very well be the rocked up version of Pandora’s box…. I'm all for it, but are you sure...? :grin:

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I'm sure. I'm actually gonna check Clutch out again, as a matter of fact. Tastes change (and widen,) and first impressions are often wrong, and I'm trying to rectify those problems.

I'm back momentarily. I've had trouble finding really good bands... I hope I didn't find them all.

Metallica, eat your heart out: Sasquatch is the loudest band in the world. Okay, maybe not, but they're damn good, and they've got a true Hard Rock soul. Kinda like an ultra-Heavy Sabbath; it's basic stoner rock, but also really good.

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Originally Posted by Reverend Joe

Metallica, eat your heart out:

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in the center of town at dawn, guns draw, 10 paces.

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Originally Posted by Hooahguy

in the center of town at dawn, guns draw, 10 paces.

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:laugh4:

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Originally Posted by Hooahguy

in the center of town at dawn, guns draw, 10 paces.

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If you manage to survive Revs shot you’ll have to deal with me…. Since I am too old fashioned or stupid to understand novelties like guns - your choices are between swords or spears. The way true warriors fought back in the good ‘ol days – when combat were still an art.... :laugh4:

- cheers
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Iv'e got nothing against the boys in Metallica personally, they seem nice enough –
I just don’t like their music, that’s all…. :wink2:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Reverend Joe

Metallica, eat your heart out: Sasquatch is the loudest band in the world. Okay, maybe not, but they're damn good, and they've got a true Hard Rock soul. Kinda like an ultra-Heavy Sabbath; it's basic stoner rock, but also really good.

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Amen, and praise the lord and St.Hendrix! This is da way to go! Probably among my absolute favorites of all the bands spotlighted here! Five stars! The deeds you can do to this music! Simply great hardrock/stoner-rock cross over (best part? No heavy metal! It’s pure!)! :2thumbsup::2thumbsup::2thumbsup:

I’ll try to get back here soon (I usually don’t visit this area that much) with some suggestions of my own… Rock has not died yet, Sasquatch stands as a good proof for it! :beam:


- Cheers
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How the hell can anybody believe that anything like Metallica are even close to excellent stuff
like this?!? It's like saying Madonna does rock better than Led Zeppelin! It's just fupped and silly! :laugh4:

sasquatch is pretty good. but metallica is better. sorry.
but lets not discuss this and upset the Rev.

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Originally Posted by Reverend Joe

(Sorry about the delay.)

Ladies and Gentleman, do you wonder what happened to good rock? Are you constantly searching for quality party rock only to come up short? I have The Answer!

OK, so they aren't the greatest band in the world. Frankly, their guitarist could use some real work with his solos, though I must say these are still much improved from their first album (or what little I have heard.) But for the most part, these guys are ******' awesome hard rock, perfect for late-night frat parties and blasting out of the windows of your '77 Camaro while tearassing down main street, drinking straight out of the keg in the back and trying to pick up chicks by screaming obscenities at them.

It's difficult to say who exactly they are inspired by; they draw from a lot of 70's and 80's hard rock bands and, while they aren't the greatest band of the new wave of Classic Rock, they can still boast a rather distinctive sound. I guess the closest approximation would be GnR, AC/DC and Aerosmith, thought hey also have some aspirations towards Zeppelin and the 70's Arena Rock scene.

Anyway, as soon as you have a chance, crack open a Milwaukee's Beast, crank up the volume and rock out.

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Spent most of the last few days listening to both of The Answer's albums and I must say I much prefered the first album. Maybe you should give it another listen, as you said you heard little of it.

Sasquatch. :2thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by Reverend Joe

My only complaint is with the female singer -- she sucks. Sucks. But other than that, a solid group with at least one solid album, In The Future.

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She's pretty decent on the non-rockish ones. Like Heart of Snow.

Edit: Woops. Double post. Intended to edit the above rather than add a new post...

Hello you rockers!

Since I earlier promised that I would return here with some suggestion of my own, I thought it was time for that…. Now, I don’t want trash Rev's excellent thread here so I feel I must tread responsibly here. I far as I can tell the criteria set up by Rev are as follows (correct me if I’m wrong here Rev)…

1. It must be primarily Rock (somehow)
2. Fairly unknown band/artist…
3. A few links to the some music of the band/artis in question (so people get a chance to check it out and post up what they think of it).

Now since I really digg earlier spotlighted Sasquatch, we all know that I do like hardrock/stoner-rock stuff, thus I thought that some diversity were in order here in order to show that I can like more than just that (I do have broader spectra than that guys). So I decided to entrust this delicate and first “mission” to one of my favorite Prog-rock/rock/hardrock cross-over bands; Quatermass…

Now, they are not active anymore and they sadly enough did not manage to put out more than one single album. But I feel it was a **** fine album and they deserve way more attention than they ever got while they were active back in the day. Also they had the rather unusual set up of keyboards, bass and drums, yet I never seem think much of that fact while I listen to them – the sound strike me as full just the same…. Anyway, I give you Quatermass! Enjoy!

http://www.myspace.com/quatermass1970

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAkU...eature=related


Hopefully I have behaved responsively enough here with this suggestion and
let’s hear what you people think of this band. :)

- Cheers

Well, "fairly unknown" is mostly a consequence of the fact that my favorite bands are kinda below the main media radar circuit, so it's not really a necessity; I would replace that with "preferably modern or retro-ish, but with a good sound, and the most important quality being that they are honest and good at what they do."

I'll be back with my opinion on Quatermass, but it sounds cool so far.

Edit: well, my first impression is that I like the ELP format that the band takes. I honestly didn't even notice the absence of a lead guitar until I read the description mentioning that there were only three members. The heavy keyboards more than make up for it; in fact, I would venture to say that they are more successful in this format than ELP, who, despite their incredible musical constructs, were blatantly obvious in their lack of a lead guitar in favor of keyboards. Nice Deep Purple (Made in Japan) overtones as well.

Also, I would note that this is the first non-modern band that has been posted here; I was worried that people would be turned off by that, but seeing as it seems to be okay with at least one parishioner, I wouldn't mind posting others.

Litmus will be releasing their third album on July 20. I can't seem to find any full-length songs available out there (anyone want to help with that?) but judging from the clip on their myspace website and the samples on Amazon they seem to have taken some of the ultra-aggressive NWOBHM-ish edge out of their music; I'm guessing that this is the result of having a good keyboardist to work with again. The album still seems to follow the example set by Planetfall, as it's still definitely firmly entrenched on 80's metal and Hawkwind-style proto-punkish space rock.

Also, Axalon, sorry for posting the metal, but it's still gonna show up in my repetoire from time to time. I promise, no Metallica. ;) Also, I'll be back in a few days with a review on Spiritual Beggars, a band that should be right up your alley, especially the early stuff.

Dude, what the ****ing hell?!

Mr. B, the GENTLEMAN RHYMER?! If I loved rap, I wouldn't know whether to laugh or cry. As it is, I'm just laughing.

In all seriousness...

Spiritual Beggars: nice heavy-duty rock. They have metal tendencies, sure, but their groundings are firmly pre-Metal 70's Sabbath-style rock. I personally prefer their earlier albums, though, which are unfortunately unrepresented here; they have more of a 70's heavy-psych bend than the later, straight-up heavy rockers. Also, I often detest the lyrics; it's not that they are pretentious, or angsty, or even even metalish; they're just unbelievably pissed off, and it can be off-putting after a while. I would personally recommend listening more to the musicianship more than the lyrics, if possible.

Edit: let's hear three cheers for the restored .Org! ~:cheers: ~:cheers: ~:cheers:

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Originally Posted by Reverend Joe

I promise, no Metallica. ;)

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:cry:

WARNING: YOU ARE ALL GOING TO HATE ME FOR THIS.

That being said, I dig Chickenfoot. Yes, I said it, I dig Chickenfoot. An absurd commerical-supergroup. But they're really goddamn fun. Best way I can describe them is a version of Def Leppard that actually worked. They carry the same precision hard rock sound as Leppard, but with all the absurd 80's stylizations stripped out, like the massive synths and the total lack of bass. They also carry the same wannabe-Zeppelin pretensions, but it's still pretty fun music; you just have to accept that these guys really want to be Zeppelin but lack the skill, becuase the result makes for some nice drinking tunes. Best of all, half the songs are built around drunken anthems, as in the song posted (Come on, you gotta admit you wouldn't mind an excuse to scream "OH! YEAH!" whilst hammered.) Take it for what it is, and preferably with plenty of beer.

Disclaimer: Will it rock you the **** out? No. But you will feel like singing along if you are drunk enough.