Hidden Treasure

Autograph

I like to go back a few years in time and dig up a real good ”oldie” and quite often it’s something from the 80’s era… The song ”Turn Up The Radio” is from the album ”Sign In Please” 1984, by the Californian glam-rockers Autograph. The band were formed by the lead singer and guitarist Steve Plunkett, guitarist Steve Lynch, drummer Keni Richards and the keyboard player Steven Isham in 1983. 

I think the song ”Turn Up The Radio” is a mix of Van Halen’s melodic guitars and the nice rhythm that is in Def Leppard songs (like their hit ”Pour Some Sugar”) with a catchy lyric and good vocals on top of it all. The song holds the good parts of the early 80’s that made music of that era good and fun to listen to.

Follow @autographband

Autograph split up in 1989 but reformed/restarted the band in 2011. Starting with guitarist Steve Lynch and bassits Randy Rand meeting up at NAMM (a music convention in Anaheim, California) after mending their relation Steve and Randy decided to start jamming together again. They also reached out to the original singer, Steve Plunkett. Sadly he was tied up with his own business and didn't had time to join them. But he gave them his blessing to restart Autograph again. They contacted Simon Daniels, (the lead singer and guitarist of the band Jailhouse) after have seen videos of him on YouTube and with Marc Wieland on drums the new line-up where completed.

With the current line-up featuring: Simon Daniels, Steve Lynch, Marc Wieland and Randy Rand Autograph are back and last year, 2015, they released three new songs digital and a five song EP. They held a release party for the EP at the Whisky a Go Go. The EP are only available at Autograph's website and at their live shows.

For more info about Autograph and their gigs you can head over to their FaceBook page, twitter or website.  

      Songs on the ”Louder” EP: 

    1. ”You Are Us, We Are You”

    2. ”I Lost My Mind in America”

    3. ”Every Generation” 

    4. ”Watch It Now”

    5. ”Turn Up The Radio” (Live)

Hidden Treasure

Hidden Treasure by Crashdïet

This Hidden Treasure is a tribute to Dave Lepard, the lead singer, guitarist and founder of Crashdïet, who sadly passed away ten years ago today 20th of January. He had a great rock voice and went silent way to early, but we can hear him on the album ”Rest In Sleaze”. A great album that celebrated it’s 10th anniversary last year.

In memory of Dave I choose the song ”Chemical” from the album ”Generation Wild”, 2010, also the first album where we can hear Simon Cruz sing. He was the third singer in Crashdïet and he also sang on Crashdïet’s latest album ”The Savage Playground” 2013, before he left the band in 2015. Simon Cruz replaced Olli Twisted who took over the vocals after Dave, late 2006 - 2008.

This song was released as ”Generation Wild’s” second single and it’s one of my absolute favorite Crashdïet songs. I like the drum intro that actually reminds me of something from Stone Sour, but the song are less metal and more rock. I like the guitar melody that runs through the song, it has a great energy and it’s just one of those songs that you will like and want to hear over and over again. I’d love to hear this song being played live, it would be perfect for that, it’s singalong friendly too so it would be great. This song is in my meaning one of the best songs on the album. I also think this song deserves to be played on the radio. 

Thanks Dave for starting one of Swedens best bands. Hope to hear more from Crashdïet soon. Rest in sleaze, Dave.

You can hear ”Chemical” in this mini-player below and you can also get the song on iTunes. For more info about Crashdïet go to their FaceBookpage, website or follow them on twitter. 

Follow @crashdiet_org

Hidden Treasure

Hidden Treasure

There is a reason to my absence lately, and it’s called bad Wifi connection, I sincerely dislike bad internet connections. 
But now I’m back in the New York Groove… My Hidden Treasure this time, is from the NY rock musician and guitarist, singer songwriter, composer etc. Steve Conte and his solo band named “Steve Conte NYC” where he sings and plays the guitar. The song is “Dark In The Spotlight” taken from “The Steve Conte NYC Album”. He is a very versatile musician and have done nearly countless things, among them, been the lead guitarist in New York Dolls 2005-2010, played with The Crazy Truth, The Contes. He has also made music for series, movies and he plays guitar in The Michael Monroe Band. 
Might be a little shame on me here, but it was thru The Michael Monroe Band that I first found out about him. I’ve seen him perform live with the MM band, and I think the music is good and Steve Conte is also great live with this band. 
“Dark In The Spotlight” is a song that have got an old rock sound, simple but good music with nice lyrics and good rhythm. A perfect break from all this new and advanced music. This is real instruments and real rock.

I like it, so check it out, you wont be disappointed!

Hidden Treasure

Hidden Treasure

This is a new reoccurring, blog post, named ”Hidden Treasure”. Here I will write about a song that I think is good and it doesn't matter if it’s old or new, from a famous band or a not so famous band or artist, if it’s good it will end up here. The idea is to give you a tip about a song that you haven't heard before and maybe it will open your eyes to something different than what you’re listening to right now.  

My first Hidden Treasure is the song ”Nowadays”. My mom played the song the other day and I thought it was good, an up to date rock song with catchy and relatable lyrics and good singing. I was really surprised when I learned that the song is from Richie Sambora’s latest solo-album ”Aftermath Of The Lowdown” 2012. It didn't sound anything like his ”old” solo-albums, ”Undiscovered Soul” 1998 and ”Stranger In This Town”, 1991 that are a bit low-spirited an darker. It didn't sound like ”Bon Jovi” either this is just a good song and I don’t think that so many people have paid that much attention to his solo-albums that actually can have some hidden gems on them. 

Check out ”Nowadays”!