(Finished March 31st, 2018) British Rock Royalty (A Rockin' Tribute Band)

Hello,

When you think of British Rock Royalty, who do you think of? For me I think of Pink Floyd, the mighty Led Zeppelin and if I think a bit more I think of The Who and Queen. And if I think a bit more I think of the Rolling Stones, but they don't fit into this blog.

What would you do if you could go see a great live band that covered the classic songs of The Who, Queen, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd? Well if you're a fan of those bands, like I am, and can go see them for a reasonable price you say yes and buy tickets.

British Rock Royalty is coming to concert on July 7th, 2018. They'll be playing in the great outdoor theatre, the Ed Kenley Ampitheatre. I'll be going, see you there. No one is saying these are as good as the originals. But it also seems like there isn't the long drawn out solos that come with the original bands. From what I can tell these are songs as recorded played live by British Rock Royalty. Now here are some of British Rock Royalty's best covers. The videos are in no particular order.

The songs by the biggest bands in British Rock….Pink Floyd, The Who, Queen and Led Zeppelin are all performed live, faithfully accurate in this 2 hour production. It’s like four concerts in one! From Comfortably Numb to Kashmir, Bohemian Rhapsody to Pinball Wizard, you’ll hear the biggest anthems and a few surprises too. A killer rock band fronted by vocalist and producer Brody Dolyniuk presents the songs as you would want to hear them….bold and in your face, yet faithful to the original recordings. Backed by state of the art video, lighting and lasers, this show promises something truly unique and unforgettable. This is a must-see show for classic rock fans.

"British Rock Royalty" promo:

I know the sound isn't as good as it can be on these videos, but the sound is so much better live. The last band I saw live was They Might Be Giants and they sound great live. However the sound from their live videos was pretty mediocre.

"Run Like Hell":

"Another Brick In The Wall" (Part 2):

"Love Reign O'er Me":

"Who Are You":

"Time":



"Bohemian Rhapsody":



"Comfortably Numb":



Their only Zeppelin cover that's available for now. "Good Times, Bad Times":



"Won't Get Fooled Again":



"Tie Your Mother Down":

themusicaddict

(Finished March 29th, 2018) themusicaddict's Review of L.A. Kelley's "Second Chance City"

Hello,

Thanks to NetGalley, L.A. Kelley and Wild Rose Press for free access to "Second Chance City". In my return this is my honest review. 

"Second Chance City" is a novel that's both a spoof of and homage to comic books. The story is set in Coldwater Bay, the two main characters are Nate Hammond and Elisabeth (Libby) Parrish. Libby's boss is in town to do an event. Small town cop, Nate Hammond, and his former child friend, Libby Parrish join together to track down the evil comic book villain Scribe. That wasn't their intention but their unintended adventure starts when Nate and Libby realize that Libby's boss is missing and they search for him. They go to the book store where Libby's boss, comic book author Payton Debolt, did a signing that same day. While there they get sucked into a different dimension and go to a mirror city of Coldwater Bay, called Second Chance City. 

The two cities have a lot in common including pretty much the same cast of characters. Although basically the same characters, the characters aren't the same. First of all Second Chance City is set in a comic book world. There are superheroes and super villians, even on entering this dimension Libby (Mighty Light) and Nate (Good Citizen) have superhero powers. We follow the two heroes through their adventures as they head to a predictable finale. Theirs is a classic romantic storyline of will they or won't they when clearly we can see they'll be getting together. That's was so predictable and telegraphed that I hoped something was going to happen to change what seemed so inevitable. Did it? Well I guess you'll have to read the book to find out.

Bad things about this novel is that it's simplistic, predictable and the end works out way too perfectly. In a world of superheroes and super villains, not so many people should make it out alive as do in this novel. 

Good things it's decent quality, has some funny moments, has a heart and it makes fun of some comic book tropes. It's also not very long and I read through it quickly. There wasn't a long drawn out story line, it was perfectly compact. It doesn't over explain things, but you're also not left in the dark.

I know some of my criticism can come off as being harsh, but honestly I enjoyed this book. It's not a complex novel that will challenge your intelligience. But it also won't bore you. You'll like the characters, the story, the humor and the twists and turns. Yes, I said it was predictable, but there are also some satisfying twists and turns. 

Would I recommend that you read this book? Why yes I would!! But I suggest you read it knowing that it has weaknesses. But those weaknesses won't prevent you from enjoying it.  Don't over think it and just read for the enjoyment of reading a fun novel.

themusicaddict

(Finished March 28th, 2018) The Best Videos of the 80s and 90s: Madonna

Hello,

Madonna had a lot of great videos in the 80s and 90s, which makes sense as they were two of the artists who used MTV the most effectively. Thus Madonna gets her own blog. Madonna had some of the most amazing videos of all-time and besides this is a great excuse to listen to all those great Madonna songs again. If you hadn't already guessed, she's very high on my Top 106 Greatest 80's Era Artists of All-Time. By the way I will get back to and finish that countdown very soon.

"Express Yourself":

"Like A Prayer":

"Papa Don't Preach":

"Vogue":

"Live To Tell":

"Material Girl":

"Like A Virgin":

I've always been partial to this video: "The Power Of Goodbye":

"You'll See":

"Vision Quest" is one of the great 80's movies. "Crazy For You":

"True Blue":

"Cherish":

"Oh Father":

"La Isla Bonita":

"This Used To Be My Playground":

"Frozen":

"Take A Bow":

themusicaddict

(Finished March 27th, 2018) Some of The Best Videos of The 1980s: The More Obscure Bands

Hello,

a-ha "Take On Me":

Twisted Sister "We're Not Gonna Take It":

Men Without Hats "The Safety Dance":

Thomas Dolby "She Blinded Me With Science":

Nena "99 Luftballoons":

This is an amazing song, but I'm posting this video for that hair. A Flock of Seagulls "I Ran (So Far Away)":

Quarterflash "Harden My Heart":

Young MC "Bust A Move":

Georgia Satelites "Keep Your Hands To Yourself":

Murray Head "One Night In Bangkok":

Tracy Ullman "They Don't Know":

Peter Schilling "Major Tom":

Falco "Rock Me Amadeus":

Til' Tuesday "Voices Carry":

Missing Persons "Words":

Not the actual original video, but I love this song. Thus an extended version. Paul Hardcastle's "19":

themusicaddict

(Finished March 26th, 2018) Oddities of the First Day(s) of MTV. Part 2

Howdy,

Unfortunately as I'm just a lone blogger in the wilderness and don't have a fact checker, I can't guarantee the following is 100% accurate. I did the best I could. Many of these songs I hadn't heard before tonight, I can't guarantee their quality.

Songs played 4 times:

Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks "Stop Draggin My Heart Around":

The Pretenders "Message of Love":

Iron Maiden's "Wraithchild":

Remember the great band The Shoes, here's a reminder of all their great songs. Okay, okay this is another band I had never heard of until today. They had four songs played that first day and all were different songs. 

"Too Late":

"Tomorrow Night":

Okay two songs of this weak allegedly power pop is enough. I saw one commenter say that I can't believe this band wasn't as big as The Cars. What? The main difference is The Cars had several great songs. The Shoes songs, not so great. "Cruel You" and "In My Arms" were the other two songs played that day.

Extremely obscure songs played the first day:

The Who's "Don't Let Go The Coat":

Robin Lane and the Chartbusters "I Don't Want To Know":

I actually like this song. "When Things Go Wrong":

Michael Johnson "Bluer Than Blue":

Rupert Hine "Surface Tension":

I love this song title, so this has got to be a great song? Right? If Tom Johnston's name sounds familiar, he was one of the founders of The Doobie Brothers. "Savannah Nights":

The Selector "Celebrate The Bullet":



"Take me to the beach with a thousand pretty girls in reach". Blotto "I Wanna Be A Lifeguard":

Fischer Z "So Long":



With Split Enz having 7 videos played for 5 different songs I should probably include at least one of their songs? Sure. "I Got You":

A great song, but it doesn't fit MTV at all. Juice Newton's amazing "Angel of the Morning":



Let's close with a Lee Ritenour twofer, the 20th song played was "Mr. Briefcase":

 "Is It You" was played 44th, 108th, and 148th. I never heard of the first song, but I do love "Is It You":

themusicaddict

(Finished March 26th, 2018) Oddities of the First Day(s) of MTV. Part 1

Howdy,

I'm making a lot of guesses and assumptions about the below videos and whether they were the actual videos shown. I did my best, all mistakes are mine.

The first few minutes of MTV, the VeeJays and the first video shown, The Buggles "Video Killed The Radio Star", which seems to be a very appropriate video. Also we see some of the biggest artists at the time hyping up MTV. 

Seemingly everyone knows what the first video shown on MTV was, but what were the next few? The second video is Pat Benatar "You Better Run" (which was also the 143rd video played):

I had never heard of this song until today. The third video was Rod Stewart's "She Won't Dance With Me":

The fourth video played was The Who's "You Better You Bet":

I had never heard of this band until today, although I had heard of this song. I love the Tesla version. The fifth video is Ph.D.'s "Little Suzi's On The Up":

Artist with most total appearances: Rod Stewart (16)

Artist with most videos: Rod Stewart (11):

First video to be repeated at #4 and #54 The Who's "You Better You Bet":

Most played videos, each were played 5 times.

The Who's "You Better You Bet":

According to zendaddie621 on YouTube, this is the first video played on MTV by a Canadian recording artist. April Wine's "Just Between You And Me":

Phil Collins "In The Air Tonight":

If you didn't know any better you would think the biggest bands in the world based on the videos played on the first day(s) of MTV. That would be Rod Stewart, REO Speedwagon, Cliff Richard, April Wine, Split Enz and The Pretenders.

Robert Palmer had 5 videos played that first day, "Looking For Clues" (played 3 times):

"Johnny and Mary" (played twice):

Wow, both of those songs are terrible!! That makes me wonder wasn't there a video prepared for "Bad Case of Lovin You"? Like most people Palmer didn't know how to take advantage of MTV at first, but he quickly figured it out. Both as a solo act and then with The Power Station.

"Addicted To Love":

"Simply Irresistible":

The Power Station "Some Like It Hot":

(Thanks to Wikipedia for all information about these videos.)

themusicaddict

(Finished March 25th, 2018) Greatest 80's CDs: The Human League's "Dare!"

Hello,

The Human League is a synth pop band that had it's biggest success in the early 80s. "Dare!" was the third CD released, it was a different sound than their first two CDs. That was following a change in the band's personnel.

They were one of the first bands who took advantage of MTV, which started on August 1st, 1981. The Human League's "Dare" was released just 2.5 months later on October 16th, 1981. Many of the first songs that were played on MTV were by English bands as they had videos ready to be played. One of the first videos that attracted attention was "Don't You Want Me". That song is also one of the biggest hits from this CD and from the entire Human League catalog.

"Dare" peaked at # 3 in the United States and went to # 1 in the UK. "Dare!" has sold over 3 million copies in its 37 years of release.

The band during the time of "Dare!" was:

• Ian Burden – synthesizer
• Jo Callis – synthesizer
• Joanne Catherall – vocals
• Philip Oakey – vocals and synthesizer
• Susan Ann Sulley – vocals
• Philip Adrian Wright – synthesizer and slides

1) "The Things That Dreams Are Made Of":

2) "Open Your Heart":

3) "The Sound of the Crowd":

4) "Darkness":

5) "Do or Die":

After a pretty solid first half of the CD, these next two songs are fairly forgettable. 6) "Get Carter":

7) "I Am The Law":

After that two song momentum buster, the CD closes probably with arguably it's 3 best songs. 8) "Seconds":

9) "Love Action (I Believe In Love)":

10) "Don't You Want Me":

Other Human League hits:

"(Keep Feeling) Fascination":

"Human":

"Mirror Man":

"Heart Like A Wheel":

themusicaddict

(Finished April 1st, 2018) themusicaddict's Top 106 Greatest 80's Era Band #20 Sinead O'Connor Part 4 #20-#11

Hello,

20) "Just Call Me Joe":



19) "Secret Love":



18) "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered":



17) "Why Don't You Do Right":



16) "Jump In The River":



15) "Drink Before The War":

14) "I Wanna Be Loved By You":

13) "I Am Stretched Out On Your Grave":

12) "Feel So Different":

11) "Success Has Made A Failure of Our Home":

themusicaddict

(Finished March 21st, 2018) Songs Rocking My iPod

Hello,

These are the last 16 songs that played on my iPod.  I used to write these blogs on a regular basis, but haven't done one for awhile.

My favorite song from the recent Prophets of Rage CD, "Living On The 110":

I added this song to my iPod when Jarreau passed away. I loved this song back in the 80s and was surprised when it wasn't on my iTunes. Al Jarreau "We're In This Love Together":

A great rock song from a fairly unknown band. Johnossi "Execution Song":

From one of the best CDs of the last several years, "The Black Parade". Every song on this CD is great. My Chemical Romance "Dead":

I love anything Madonna and I loved "Evita" when I saw it several years ago. Then with Madonna in "Evita" that was an awesome combination. I still love Madonna and "Evita" to this day. "Evita" is one of my favorite Broadway soundtracks.

Antonio Banderas  & Madonna "Peron's Latest Flame":

Ra Ra Riot "Foreign Lovers":

Weezer "Buddy Holly":

The songs from the soundtrack aren't as good as the Meat Loaf originals, but some of them are still pretty solid. "Bat Out of Hell" (Original Soundtrack):

The Temptations "Ball of Confusion (That's What The World Is Today)":

This is from "The Visitor", I put all the songs on my iPod so I could get more familiar with them quicker. Young is one of my favorite artists, although the quality of his songs range from pure crap to pure genius. Neil Young "When Good Got Bad (Lock 'em Up)":



From their recent live CD. Collective Soul "Shine" (Live):



Blur "Song 2":

I got suckered in by the 10th anniversary of this CD, thus I bought it. Then I added it to my iTunes and then my iPod and now you're listening to it. Sixx:AM "Rise of The Melancholy Empire":



The best version of this song I've ever heard. Greta Van Fleet "A Change Is Gonna Come":

The Cars "Hello Again":

Some outright classic New Wave here. New Order "Round and Round":

themusicaddict

(Finished August 10th, 2018) August & September 1991: Two of The Best Months of Rock Music Ever? Part 3

Hello,

All 4 of these CDs were released over a two day period, this two months time was so fertile for great music.

Red Hot Chili Pepper's "Blood Sugar Sex Magick" was released on September 24th, 1991.

"Blood Sugar Sex Magick":

"Funky Monks":

"The Power of Equality":

"Suck My Kiss":

"Give It Away":

"Under The Bridge":

The Thompson Twins "Queer"  was released on September 24th, 1991.

"My Funky Valentine":

"Flower Girl":

"Shake It Down":

"Wind It Up":

"The Saint":

themusicaddict

(Finished March 19th, 2018) Stone Temple Pilots 1992's "Core" and 2018's "Stone Temple Pilots"

Hello,

Stone Temple Pilots "Core" had it's 25th anniversary in 2017. "Core" was Stone Temple Pilot's debut album. Many people didn't like "Core" because many thought it was a rip off of the grunge movement which was quickly coming to it's end. I never understood that thought, I just thought it was a great rock record that kicked butt.

A lot can happen in the now 26 years that "Core" has been released. The most obvious change is at lead singer. Scott Weiland was their first singer, he sang with them from 1989-2002 and 2002-2013. He died in 2015 from a drug overdose. Then Chester Bennington sang with the band from 2013 to 2015, he tragically died at his own hand in 2017. With that kind of ominous past, I'm not sure why anyone would want to be this band's singer. However Jeff Gutt is the new lead singer of STP, he sounds a lot like Weiland, which I'm sure didn't hurt him. STP is doing the Journey model, if you can't have Steve Perry singing, then get someone that sounds like him.

I'm going to alternate songs from their first CD with their newest CD, which is self-titled. If that confuses you their last two CDs have both been self-titled. First I'll post one of the newer songs, then two songs from "Core", then a new song so on and so on.

"Middle Of Nowhere":

"Piece of Pie":

"Naked Sunday":

"Six Eight":

"Sin":

Were STP going for their own "When The Levee Breaks" here? "Where The River Goes":

The second single from their 2018 self-titled CD. "Roll Me Under":

"Dead and Bloated":

"Creep":

"Never Enough":

"Plush":

"Crackerman":

"Good Shoes":

"Wicked Garden":

"Sex Type Thing":

The first single from STP's latest CD, "Meadow":

And quite likely my favorite Stone Temple Pilots CD, the amazing "Interstate Love Song":

themusicaddict

(Finished March 18th, 2018) Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", Part 2

Hello,

9) "Sweet Painted Lady":



10) "The Ballad of Danny Bailey (1909-1934)":



11) "Dirty Little Girl":



12) "All The Girls Love Alice":

13) "Your Sister Can't Twist (But She Can Rock 'n Roll)":



14) "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting":

15) "Roy Rogers":



16) "Social Disease":



17) "Harmony":

Back in 1973 these small vinyl discs were released called 45's. The lead single was on one side and usually what was a throwaway song was on the other side. The throwaway song was on the B side. These 3 songs were released on the "Yellow Brick Road" 30th Anniversary.

18) "Whenever You're Ready (We'll Go Steady Again)" (B-side of "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting"):



19) "Jack Rabbit" (Another B-side of "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting"):

20) "Screw You (Young Man's Blues)" (B-side of "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"):

themusicaddict

(Finished March 18th, 2018) Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", Part 1

Hello,

On October 5th, 1973 Elton John released one of his most classic CDS, "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road". Elton John's seventh CD sold over 30 million copies and in 2014 a 40th anniversary edition was released. "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" is *17 songs, the most well known songs are "Bennie and the Jets", of course "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", the Marilyn Monroe tribute "Candle In The Wind" and "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting." The CD went #1 in England, America, Canada and Australia. This CD is #91 on Rolling Stone's Top 500 CDs of all-time. Elton John has 6 of those Top 500 CDs. (*Technically there are 17 songs on the CD, but some consider the opening track "Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" as two different tracks.)

This was originally released as a double CD, clocking in at 17 tracks and over 76 minutes of music. As in the above paragraph it contains some of his most classic songs. Jamaica was the place this CD first started being recorded and several songs capture that blissful, island feel. Eventually after difficulties recording in Jamaica, the rest of the recording was moved to France. Finally the overdubs were done at Trident Studios in London.

As always Elton John wrote the songs with his long time song writing partner, Bernie Taupin. They wrote 22 songs for it, using 18 of the songs on the double CD. (Thanks Wikipedia for all biographical details, blamed me for all factual inaccuracies.)

As things were back in the day, there was a lot less time between releases. "Yellow Brick Road" was actually the second CD John released in 1973. It came about 8.5 months after "Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player". Then just 7 months later he released "Caribou". Now it's usually takes 7 or 8 years to get 3 CDs from a musician, unless you're Taylor Swift or Rihanna.

The band behind the CD:

Musicians

• Elton John – vocals, piano (1–6, 8–10, 12–17), electric piano (5, 6), organ (3, 7), Farfisa organ (5, 13), mellotron (5, 6, 11), Leslie piano (11), tack piano (uncredited) on "Social Disease"
• Dee Murray – bass
• Davey Johnstone – acoustic, electric, Leslie, slide and steel guitars; banjo
• Nigel Olsson – drums, congas, tambourine

Additional musicians

• Dee Murray, Davey Johnstone, Nigel Olsson – backing vocals (1, 2, 4, 10, 13, 17)
• Del Newman – orchestral arrangement (4, 8–10, 15, 17)
• Leroy Gómez – saxophone solo (16)
• David Hentschel – ARP synthesizer (1, 12)
• Kiki Dee – backing vocals on "All the Girls Love Alice"
• Ray Cooper – tambourine on "All the Girls Love Alice"
• Uncredited – drum machine, maracas, timbales and claves on "Jamaica Jerk-Off", castanetson "Funeral for a Friend", shaker on "I've Seen That Movie Too", shaker and tambourine on "Social Disease", accordion and vibraphone on "Sweet Painted Lady"

NB: it is unclear who provided the uncredited percussion on "Jamaica Jerk-Off", "Funeral for a Friend", "Social Disease" and "I've Seen That Movie Too" or the drum machine on "Jamaica Jerk-Off", but these were overdubs either by Nigel Olsson, Ray Cooper or possibly a studio percussionist.

1) "Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding":



2) "Candle In The Wind":



3) "Bennie and the Jets":



With special guest Billy Joel 4) "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road":



5) "This Song Has No Title":



6) "Gray Seal":

7) "Jamaica Jerk Off":



8) "I've Seen That Movie Too":

themusicaddict

(Finished March 17th, 2018) An Introduction To The Prophets of Rage

Hello,

The foundation of the bands Rage Against The Machine and Audioslave is also the foundation of the new band The Prophets of Rage. Those three foundational people are guitarist Tom Morello, bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk. For Rage Against The Machine the singer is Zack De La Rocha and for Audioslave the singer was Chris Cornell. For The Prophets of Rage the singers/rappers are Chuck D, of Public Enemy fame, and Cypress Hill's B-Real.

For some reason I didn't check out this band when they first came out. I'm not sure why. I loved both Rage and Audioslave- both are two tremendous bands. Finally after reading enough reviews I finally checked out Prophets of Rage and so glad that I did. I love this CD, it's fantastic. The only thing I would change is the overuse of the f bomb.

"Radical Eyes":

"Un--- The World":

"Legalize Me":

"Living On The 110":

"The Counteroffensive":

"Hail To The Chief":

"Take Me Higher":

"Strength In Numbers":

"Fired A Shot":

"Who Owns Who":

"Hands Up":

"Smashit":

"The Party's Over":

"Killing In The Name":

"Shut Em Down":

"No Sleep Until Cleveland":

"Prophets of Rage":

themusicaddict

(Finished July 14th, 2020) August & September 1991: Two of The Best Months of Rock Music Ever? Part 2

Hello,

Starting Part 2 with Guns N' Roses' second and third best CDs, very few CDs will ever be as good as "Appetite For Destruction".

"Use Your Illusion 1":

1) "Live and Let Die":



A lot of terrible versions of this song floating around on the internet, this is one that's a bit better than most. 2) "Double Talkin' Jive":

3) "November Rain":



4) "Don't Damn Me":

5) "Coma":

"Use Your Illusion 2":

6) "Civil War":

It has to be the live version for this video, the sloppier it is the better.
7) "Knockin' On Heaven's Door":

8) "Pretty Tied Up":

9) "Estranged":



10) "Don't Cry":

11) "You Could Be Mine":

Ozzy Osborne released "No More Tours" on September 17, 1991.

12) "No More Tears":

13) "Mama I'm Coming Home":

14) "Road To Nowhere":

Soundgarden released "Badmotorfinger" on September 24th, 1991:

15) "Outshined":

16) "Rusty Cage":

17) "Searching With My Good Eye Closed":

themusicaddict