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”! 

Reckless Love - Keep It Up All Night

Reckless Love

Reckless Love is a Finnish rock/glam band that where formed in 2001, they released the EP ”Speed Princess” in 2006 and their self-titled, debut album ”Reckless Love” came out 2010 and their second album ”Animal Attraction” came out 2011. Members are Oliver ”Ollie” Twisted the lead singer, Pepe the guitarist, Jalle Verne bass player and Hessu Maxx on the drums. In 2013 they released their third album ”Spirit”. The band will do shows later this year. Check out my favorite Reckless songs ”Edge of our Dreams” from the album ”Spirit” and ”Born To Rock” from the album ”Reckless Love”.  

Reckless Love released their new single ”Keep It Up All Night” September 18th. 

This is a happy and lightweight style of music, something for those that are into some of the modern 80’s rock music, like Crashdïet, Dirty Penny, Crazy Lixx and so on, but it works for more hardcore rock fans too, that wants an ear-freshener after all those heavy riffs and drums.

Check out this new noise! 

Check out this Fresh Noize!

Demon Speed

Demon Speed is a new band from Nottingham, UK and they have just released their first EP “Hooked”, August 28^th.  The band members are AJ who does the vocals and plays guitar, Spider on lead guitar, Berty Burton on bass and Des on the drums. The guys are a mix n’ match from several other bands as current and former members, among current/past bands are Generation Graveyard, Tigertailz and New Generation Superstars. 

Featured songs on the EP “Hooked” are:

“Hooked” 

“Alive”

“Down in the hole”

“See you fall”

Demon Speed is something to check out if you’re into punk rock. Such as the Ramones or the Sex Pistols or the Clash. I think they have an old school punk vibe/sound to their songs, but it’s not quite that tone-deaf on the wrong note type of singing that some punk songs/music has. My favorite song from this EP is “Alive” so check it out, you can listen to it or download it at www.demonspeed.bandcamp.com  or follow them on twitter @demon_speed666.

Demon Speed will also do some shows this fall in the UK, dates and venues are:

 4^th October at Aces High Festival in Nottingham, 

14^th November at Trash in Bradford and 

11^th December at Alley Cats in London. 

For more info head over to their Face Book page www.facebook.com/demonspeedofficial

Check out this Fresh Noize!

5 Star Grave

5 Star Grave is a heavy metal band from Cuneo, Italy. The band was formed in 2005 by Thierry Bertone, the guitarist and Gabriele Lingua the drummer and after a few months’ time the rest of the band members came along, Alessandro Blengino on guitar, Hervè De Zulian on synth, Claudio Ravinale the singer and Andrea Minolfi on the bass and vocals. In 2006 the band released their first EP ”The Zero Hour” named after the band’s name “Ground Zero” at that time. In 2007 they changed the band name to “5 Star Grave” and the year after that, in 2008 they recorded their first full length album “Corpse Breed Syndrome”, the album was like the others self-produced.   

2010 the band honored the punk legends’ the Ramones and released a free version of their classic song “Pet Sematary ”. It’s interesting to hear how 5 Star G, does the Ramones song and puts their musical stamp on it. It’s a nice version!

5 Star Grave recorded their second full length album “Drugstore Hell” in 2011 and in October that year they got signed to “Massacre Records”. The “Drugstore Hell” album got a release date the 25^th of May, 2012 that same year Gabriele Lingua left the band, now Roberto Gaia plays the drums instead. 

I think their music is sounding a bit like Murderdolls angry cousin. It’s dark and angry ”f*** you lyrics” performed with lighter and a melodic type of metal / horror metal with a horror punk style and with a straightforward angry approach to it. Yet it’s still catchy tones and if you’re into metal and the horror genre this is something to check out!

Worth mentioning 5 Star Grave appreciates their fans and have realized the value of them and what difference for a band they can make, here’s a quote from their blog. That you can find yourself at www.5stargrave.blogspot.com

“Your support is extremely important for us, a band ain't worth a flyin' fuck without it’s fans and we'll try to give you free stuff every time we can, in exchange we ain't asking you to buy our records or our merch, but simply to spread our videos and ask for 5SG gigs at your local metal promoter if you have the chance... It ain't that much after all, ain't it?”

For more about 5 Star Grave check out their www.facebook.com/5SGOfficial or their cool website http://www.5stargrave.com or just simply follow them on twitter @5stargrave.  

Michael Monroe - Old King's Road

Check out Michael Monroes new single and video from his album "Blackout States" out October 9th!

Album review

Backyard Babies new album 4 by 4

Backyard Babies is a rock band from Nässjö, Sweden that started in 1987. Members are Johan Blomquist on the bass, Nicke Borg the lead singer, Peder Carlsson on the drums and Dregen plays the guitar. 

Backyard Babies harrow and harrow, but dosen’t reach full rockstar status. But they seem to think that they already have. After Dregen’s successful solo career I think he should take more place in Backyard and sing more since he can sing better than what Nicke does on this album, who seems to have been spending far too much time in his own ”Homeland”. He is not present on Backyard Babies latest album.    

In my meaning they shouldn’t have done this album. It’s one of those ideas that could have remained in a dresser somewhere in Sweden.

A roughly retell of what someone said, reviewing this album,” it’s such a great album from Backyard Babies with influences from the greater bands like a ”bluesy Led Zeppelin” and ”Slade” among others with a lot of rock n’ roll attitude”. Correction, you do not hear Slade or Led Zeppelin in a positive way neither as an ”influence” or ”inspiration” on this album. The only thing you hear is all good music that have ever existed from the 70’s to the 21st century being grind down into a mediocre rock album. It’s not good at all. It’s not a nice surprise after a 5 year break as a band and it seems like many people just like the album because the haven't heard from Backyard in a while. So they are glad to hear from them, but what are we hearing?

”13 or Nothing” Was the first single from this album and it’s the song that the Four by Four album opens with and that´s the song that Backyard has toured with the whole summer. It’s a nice rock song with a well appeared cowbell. But I think this song is a bit thin, something is lacking in the lyrics here. They just sing the same thing over and over again, which can be okay if it’s executed properly, here it falls flat. Otherwise it’s a nice song. 

”I’m On My Way To Save Your Rock n’ Roll”  It’s certain riffs in the song that has a clear resemblance from Green Day. This is a song that sort of sounds like a softer and slower modern punk song rather than a rock song. It´s like a good try for a punk song, but it’s to slow. It’s lacking the punk energy. However it’s the most popular song on iTunes. This will probably be the best song on this album. Maybe they should thank Green Day for it…  

”White Light District” This intro sounds like two Hardcore Superstar songs, apart from that it’s sounding a bit like the ”old” Backyard Babies. While listening to this I get hopeful and think it might be something good here, but that wont last for long as it turns out it is a mix off something from the 70’s like Black Sabbath, more Hardcore Superstar, Alice Cooper, Fall Out Boy and Sixx :am. Did I forget anyone? Not much of their own music here and I don’t get how Nicke Borg sings in this song. He forces out the words. He sounds tired and the singing is annoying. 

”Bloody Tears” The only ballad on the album is not to melancholic, after listening to it you’re still in a good mood, nice lyric and the song holds a good paste thru out. Nothing in this song stands out, it’s a ballad with some sad lyrics and some power-music. Nothing new and nothing modern, it sounds like a bad version of an 80’s one hit wonder. We have all heard it before. 

”Piracy” In the same style like the three first songs on the album, but has a slightly obnoxious tone to it or that is the direction I think they want this song to go in. This one is more like the ”old” Backyard Babies, the ”Minus Celsius-era” (one of their old hits) but with more 70’s sounding riffs, it’s not quite there.

”Never Finish Anything” Dregen sings with Nicke in a few places and that sounds good, more of that. So the lyrics seem to be right, they didn't quite finish this song.  

”Mirrors (Shall Be Broken)” Nice intro, but it reminds me about something that I’ve heard before… again. I hear a clear resemblance from Bon Jovi, not Backyard Babies. It’s a bit ”small town redemption spirit” over this song and ”look we made it thru this any way, despite what you did to me”. 

”Wasted Years” Best song on the album according to me. The singing is good for a change, nice lyrics, all the instruments sounds well together and some guitar that takes a fun turn musically. A mood lifting song. 

”Walls” It’s a 7 minutes song and that’s a bit to long for Backyard Babies. It dosen’t even sound like a song. Where does this song go? Where does it end? With an outro that are way to long inspired by a Hitchcock movie (?) or what is going on?  The message was a bit lost in this song for me. This is the last song on the album and I’m sort of glad it’s over. 

The message of ”4 by 4” would be easier to access and easier to relate to if Nicke Borg would sing with more emotions and if we could get a sign that he still has a pulse, right now it sounds like he is vocally flatlining and what happened to the rest of Backyard? The other guys has almost vanished except from when they’re doing live shows. Aren’t they supposed to be a band?

When you listen to music or read a story, you want to be brought somewhere else for a while. On this album it doesn't seem like they mean what they’re singing, it just sounds like Nicke is reading out loud lyrics that doesn't make sense to music that sounds like a mix of several other bands. 

What might be slightly more disturbing than the fact that Backyard Babies ”new” album is an result of them just copying and paste from the music that they have been listening to, is that Nicke Borg recently said in an interview that with this new album Backyard Babies sounds more like Backyard Babies. I disagree. It’s 9 songs after 5 something years, I think they could have done a bit better than that. It makes you wonder if Backyard has lost their songwriting/music making touch/skills but it proves that it’s not hard to be a musician these days when you can copy and paste from whoever and then call it your own instead of doing your own work and be a different and awesome musician. 

This album is nr. 3 on Swedish album charts and it only proves that what Keith Richards recently said about Rap and Heavy Metal in an interview is right ” The fact that these things sells only proves how many tone-deaf it’s in the world” and I totally agree. 

They should rename this album to a tribute album by Backyard Babies instead of calling it their own.

☠☠/ 5

I like Backyard, especially their album ”Making Enemies Is Good”. I was up 06:50 am to buy the ”4 by 4” album the same day it got released, and I’m a huge fan of Dregen’s solo-album, so I got really disappointed when it turned out to be everything but Backyard Babies on this album. This will the first album that I will return to iTunes.

Backyard Babies next time! More of your material/work, Dregen should defiantly sing more and Nicke needs a bucket of ice-cold water thrown over him before he enters the studio. I hope Dregen does another solo album soon. 

Check out this Latest Noize!

Latest Noize from The Van Desh

The latest song from The Van Desh "By the Light" is out now on SoundCloud. Great 70's song with cool riffs and a thick rock-sound. I recommend you to check this out, it's really great! Use this link below.  https://soundcloud.com/thevandeshofficial/by-the-light

Michael Monroe reveals new artwork!

Michael Monroe

Michael Monroe reveals the artwork for his new album ”Blackout States” along with the track listing. The album will be available in stores October 9th, but you can get the new single ”Old King’s Road” September 4th and there will also be a video to the new song. 

The Michael Monroe band will hit the stages in Europe this fall when they're co-headling a tour with the Swedish band Hardcore Superstar. From my point of view, since I have seen both Michael Monroe and Hardcore Superstar live at several occasions and enjoy their music very much, I know this is a heck of a good combination and I can only say "Lucky You" to those who will get a chance to see them live at this tour when both bands has new albums out this year. 

Tracks on the Blackout States album:

1. This Ain't No Love Song

2. Old King's Road

3. Goin' Down With the Ship

4. Keep Your Eye On You

5. The Bastard's Bash

6. Good Old Bad Days

7. R.L.F

8. Blackout States

9. Under the Northern Lights

10. Permanent Youth

11. Dead Hearts On Denmark Street

12. Six Feet In The Ground 

13. Walk Away
14. Break The Noose (Vinyl LP bonus track)

Michael Monroe co-headlining with Hardcore Superstar dates this fall 2015. The tour will start on October 9th and will end October 28th. After this the Michael Monroe band will head back to the UK with Alice Cooper and play two special shows there, all dates below. You don't wanna to miss that!

Friday 09 Oct - Birmingham, UK- The Library
Saturday 10 Oct - Sheffield, UK - Corporation
Sunday 11 Oct - Glasgow, Scotland - Cathouse
Monday 12 Oct - Manchester, UK - Club Academy
Tuesday 13 Oct - Norwich, UK - Waterfront
Thursday 15 Oct - London, UK - Electric Ballroom
Friday 16 Oct - Vaureal, France - Le Forum
Saturday 17 Oct - Rendsburg, Germany - Nordmarkhalle
Sunday 18 Oct - Kortrijk, Belgium - De Kreun
Tuesday 20 Oct - Frankfurt, Germany - Zoom
Wednesday 21 Oct - Munich, Germany - Backstage Halle
Thursday 22 Oct - Ludwigsburg, Germany - Rofa
Friday 23 Oct - Pisa, Italy - Borderline
Saturday 24 Oct - Ravenna, Italy - Rock Planet
Sunday 25 Oct - Milan, Italy - Live Club 
Tuesday 27 Oct - Pratteln, Switzerland - Z7
Wednesday 28 Oct - Dusseldorf, Germany - Zakk
Thursday 29 Oct - Plymouth, Uk - Pavillions with Alice Cooper
Friday 30 Oct - Swindon, UK - Oasis with Alice Cooper

You can find more info at www.michaelmonroe.com or www.hardcoresuperstar.com  

Reminder! The nunneries sealing is still leaking. They need our help to collect money in order to fix it. To support them you can send your gift to their account, number is: (Banktransfer 127- 8753) 
Bankgiro 127- 8753 mark it "Gift" or "Rooftop" along with your name and address and they will pray for you.
Link to the nuns website: http://birgittaskloster.se 
Thank you! Lee Joe

Check out this Fresh Noize!

Close Quarters

 I found out about this band thru my dear mom, who came to me after have seen an interview on the internet with two of the guys from Close Quarters talking about their new album. She thought I would like the music. I did! It was really great. 
So I decided to write about them. Here it is!

Close Quarters is a rock band from Vadstena, Sweden. The members are Taliqua the lead singer, KK on guitar and backing vocals, Martin on bass and backing vocals, Davy plays the drums and Marty on guitar and backing vocals.
They started in 2006 and played several gigs in Sweden and in other countries. After have opened shows for Backyard Babies, (also a band from Sweden more to come about them later) and recording demos, the band got signed in 2010. The year after they released their debut album “We Believe in Rock n’ Roll”.  An album that ended up no. 11^th on Swedish charts. The band went on tour with bands like Europe and Takida (both Swedish rock bands) just to mention a few. The album sat well with both fans and critics. They also released the single ”You Wanna Get Away” in 2011 as an attachment to “Sweden Rock Magazine” and that reached out to around 8000 subscribers.

After two years of silence the band was back and they hit the studio to record a new single named “Let’s Put a Smile on That Face”. That is one of four featured songs on their EP ”Try To Pay Rent With Love” out September 19th 2014.  

In true Rock n’ Roll spirit, the song was recorded in a few hours with the goal to try to capture the raw attitude and energy of the band and the song. I think they succeeded!  The song is good Rock n’ Roll and the video is funny. Go see it now!

Close Quarters released a new single “My Way or the Highway” with a video to it, earlier this year from their new album “Always A lot Never a Little” that just got released August 19^th. Were the title track is written by Nicke Borg, the lead singer in Backyard Babies. Their sound is lighter and fun rock music that is easy to like, whit a slight resemblance of the band Poison to it. Fun opening song "The Boys Are Back", a clear message to the listeners.
Taliqua's voice has a wide range and he sings many different tones. He is not stuck in one vocal-mode. It sometimes sounds like it very easily could be two lead singers. They work a lot with the guitar riffs and it turns out nice.
Imagine this; it's summer, saturday evening, your friends are over and you had a few, everybody is happy and having a good time, that's when you play Close Quarters. It's party-Rock n' Roll and everybody is singing along.
This easygoing music is a nice contrast to all the songs out there in the music world about deep emotions. 
My favorite songs are: "My Way or the Highway", "Broken Wings" and not to forget the classical rock ballad "First and Last Time" that all rock bands that are inspired by the 80's has to have on their album. 

Fun fact: the name ”Close Quarters” comes from when some of the guys lived very close together in quarter and that the cover of the latest album is inspired by the famous nunnery in Vadstena. 

Close Quarters will follow the release of their new album with a tour that will visit several cities in Sweden and you can find more info about that on their website www.qlosequarters.se or on their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/CloseQuarters. 
The latest album ”Always A lot Never A Little” is available on iTunes, use this link below.  

First, Help the nuns! The nunneries sealing is leaking. They need our help to collect money in order to fix it. To support them you can send your gift to their account, number is: (Banktransfer 127- 8753) 
Bankgiro 127- 8753 mark it "Gift" or "Rooftop" along with your name and address and they will pray for you. 
Link to the nuns website: http://birgittaskloster.se
Thank you! Lee Joe

Check out this Fresh Noize!

The Van Desh

If you like to listen to the cool bands of the 70’s like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and so on The Van Desh is a modern version of that kind of music. They play with 70’s vibes, but not to heavy or dark.

They were formed in late 2010, in Norrtälje, Sweden when Tommy Helgesson, lead singer, Lars Lundin the guitar player, Konny Jeansson the drummer and the bassist Mikael Karlsson played together at a birthday party as a surprise. The guys decided to start an actual band and a bit after this Mårten Strandberg joined the band playing the keyboard. The band started with the name “Haze” but changed it to “The Van Desh” rather quickly after the first gig. A better name if you ask me. 

The band had only plans to record one single. But as it turned out they had enough material to record a full length album, so they decided to go with that idea and shortly after this the band had recorded their first album “It Reminds Me” named after the first song that was ever written by the band. 

Mikael Karlsson, the bass player left The Van Desh in 2014. Now Tommy Helgesson, the lead singer plays the bass.  

The Van Desh has played at numerous famous festivals and clubs both in and around Stockholm. 

Songs to check out: “Lost” with a beautiful piano playing in the background, “It Reminds Me” and “Deathbed”. This album doesn’t seem to come from a new band’s debut album. The complete sound of their music makes me think that they have played together for years. They sound very experienced and Tommy has a voice from the good old 70's era. It seems to be very appreciated in todays modern digitalized music world. Music to clear your head with!    

Website: www.thevandesh.com where you can find lyrics to their songs. Buy their music either on cd or as download. The Van Desh like to stay updated with their fans and also got twitter @TheVanDesh, www.facebook.com/thevandesh, Instagram and YouTube. 

Fun merch-fact: If you buy a The Van Desh mug from their website or use the link below, you’ll get a free download of their song “Broken” as an acoustic version. http://www.dizzyjam.com/products/66722/ 

Their album is also available on iTunes.