VIDEO BLOG: Rock The Nation

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REVIEW: Dokken – Back For the Attack (1987)

bfta

DOKKEN – Back For the Attack (1987)

Dokken have never surpassed Back For The Attack, although they certainly have tried hard. This album is the pinnacle of Dokken. (No laughing!) No ballads! “Heaven Sent” is as close as we get. 13 songs, one being a George Lynch instrumental (pure smoke!), this album is packed full of great tunes and performances.  Think about that — 13 songs, in 1987.  That was overachieving, big time.  Overkill!

One could argue that you only need one Dokken album proper, and I would argue that it’s Back For The Attack.  Never had the band been so heavy or focused. Turns out they were falling apart at the seams, but at the time they were “Burning Like A Flame” up the charts indeed.

It’s a heavy regal hard rock sound, with oodles of smokin’ Furious George guitar as only he can play it.  Not to be outdone are Jeff Pilson on bass and backing vocals (the vocals being a critical component of early Dokken) and “Wild” Mick Brown destroying his kit, cymbal by cymbal!

Highlights:
The heavy angry groove of “Kiss Of Death”, Don at his screaming (!) best
“Burning Like A Flame”, the melodic but not-wimpy single
“Mr. Scary”, George’s ferocious solo piece
and of course the hit single “Dream Warriors” which everybody knows.

Even the cover art is the classiest thing this band has done, and totally representative of the music inside.

5/5 stars! ( I only wish the track “Back For the Attack” was included! Get it on the “Dream Warriors” single instead.)

Side One

  1. “Kiss of Death”
  2. “Prisoner”
  3. “Night by Night”
  4. “Standing in the Shadows”
  5. “Heaven Sent”
  6. “Mr. Scary”

Side Two

  1. “So Many Tears”
  2. “Burning Like a Flame”
  3. “Lost Behind the Wall”
  4. “Stop Fighting Love”
  5. “Cry of the Gypsy”
  6. “Sleepless Night”
  7. “Dream Warriors”

REVIEW: Bruce Dickinson – The Chemical Wedding (1998 Japanese Import, single)

Part 27 of my series of Iron Maiden reviews!

BRUCE DICKINSON – The Chemical Wedding (1998)

Disclaimer:  I know nothing of the writings of William Blake.  Curious because of this album, I decided to take a crack at them.  I did not get far!

Suffice to say The Chemical Wedding is a swirling Blake-inspired non-concept album, a distinct up-ratchet from the excellent Accident of Birth.  Upon hearing The Chemical Wedding, I said, “Well that’s it — Bruce has buried Iron Maiden, and his own back catalogue too!”

Seriously heavy, much heavier than anything Bruce has done before or since, The Chemical Wedding is an absolute triumph.  The lineup remains the same:  Bruce and Roy Z with Adrian Smith, Eddie Casillas, and David Ingraham.  With a little bit ‘o narration from Bruce’s hero Arthur Brown (The Crazy World of Arthur Brown).  The lyrics range from alchemy to the legend that Christ once went to England during his missing years, it’s a spellbinding listen, as long as you don’t hurt your neck from all the headbanging you’re going to do.

I had one customer who was a Christian.  He asked me what was good in new metal, so I put The Chemical Wedding on for him.  He ripped the headphones from his ears — couldn’t stand the lyrics!  He told me they were “too demonic”, particularly the lead single “The Killing Floor”:

Satan has left his killing floor

Satan – hellfires burn no more

Although there is also a line about “Panzer divisions burning in the mud” so to me this is another commentary on the evil present in the world.

Going through the album track by track would get monotonous.  So choose from the adjectives below:  “fast”, “powerful”, “scorching”, “heavy”, “grinding”, “wailing”, “throbbing”, “headache-inducing” for the various songs.

There are numerous highlights, but my two favourites are:

“The Tower” – this one has a unstoppable pulse thanks to Eddie Casillas, and is one of the more melodic songs on the album while retaining its heaviness.

“Book of Thel” – with velocity comes the album epic, this one picks up where “Darkside of Aquarius” left off from the last album.  I don’t know what a book of Thel is, but judging by the heavy evilness coming from my speakers, maybe I don’t wanna know!

Not to be outdone are the scorching opening “King in Crimson” (does not seem to be about a Stephen King character!) and the melodic Maiden-esque Japanese bonus track “Return of the King”.

The single for “The Killing Floor” had two unique B-sides, “Real World” and “Confeos”, neither of which are as strong as anything on the album.  These songs plus “Return of the King” have been collected on the Bruce Dickinson deluxe editions.

When Accident of Birth came out in 1997, I said, “This is incredible, Bruce is back and better than Maiden are.  How the hell is he doing to top this one?”  Unlike previous solo albums, Bruce didn’t do a complete 180 and change direction.  Instead he simply added more fuel to the fire and created one of the best albums of his entire career, one he should be very proud of.

But again, I had to ask the same question, “How the hell does he top The Chemical Wedding“?  I couldn’t see him turning up the gas any hotter without foraging into thrash metal territory, or losing what melody he still had.  Luckily, fate intervened.

It turns out that Iron Maiden themselves were looking for another new singer.  And Bruce was looking to finish his career off doing arenas, not clubs.  A phone call was made….

5/5 stars

…And it is here that we shall pause again. Stay tuned for more Maiden in the days to come.

The “real” Queensryche — new song samples, new trailer!

Far too early for comment. But I will anyway.

The first song snippet didn’t sound like Queensryche to me (more like Racer X!).  The second and beyond did…keep in mind these must be demos because they’re not hitting the studio until next month.

I’m sure the Tate camp will be pissed off at them saying they are the “masterminds” behind Mindcrime and Empire…that was probably taking it too far.  This is turning into a PR war.

I’m encouraged.  Produced with Jimo Barton again!  You’re not gonna get that much from a few seconds’ worth, but a couple of these songs sound like possible winners, and have the “Queensryche sound”.  (Nobody sounds like Rockenfield!)  It does sound a lot better than pretty much anything from Hear In The Now to present.  But will it be memorable and live up to The Warning or Rage For Order?

We’ll see in 2013.

Discuss.

Part 139: VIDEO BLOG! Billion Dollar Baby (by Bob Greene)

RECORD STORE TALES PART 139:  Billion Dollar Baby

Watch the vid for details on the book and where I got ‘er!

REVIEW: Rockhead – Rockhead (1992)

ROCKHEAD – Rockhead (1992)

  • Bob Rock – guitar
  • Steve Jack – vocals
  • Jamie Kosh – bass
  • Chris Taylor – drums

A lot of Rock-haters (people who hate Metallica’s output from 1991-2003) have no idea that the man is quite the musician himself. Canadians remember the Payola$ and Rock & Hyde, but then there was Rockhead. Bob Rock found a great Canadian punk rock vocalist named Steve Jack, who as it turns out, was also a great screamer. Some of the screams on this album are unreal — check out “Bed Of Roses”, “Heartland”, and “Chelsea Rose” for some awesome vocals.  Face it, Canada has some great screamers (James LaBrie, Gerald McGhee, Sebastian Bach!) but Steve Jack was a contender.

This album was born during the the difficult Motley Crue sessions (not to mention a Bon Jovi album), while Bob was going through a divorce.  This comes out in the song “Warchild”.  In fact it ACTUALLY comes out during that song:   Bob can be heard yelling and throwing stuff around the studio at one point, which he recorded after a painful phone call.

I don’t find there is a weak track on this album, and plenty of Bob’s buddies show up.   Art Bergmann, Billy Duffy, Paul Hyde, Jon Bon Jovi & Richie Sambora all contribute songwriting skills.  Duffy and Sambora also contribute solos.   From the screamy Aerorock of “Bed of Roses” to the metal of “Heartland” to the acoustic Zeppelinesque “Angelfire”, every single track is worth a listen.  It’s a diverse album actually, running the gamut from light to dark and embracing different sides of rock.   Boozy, bluesy, epic, acoustic, you name it.  Its roots are firmly planted in the 1970’s, but if this had come out in 1989, it could have spawned 5 singles.

Sonically if you like Bob Rock, you will like this.  It’s right in the ballpark of that Motley Crue/Keep the Faith sound he had going on during that period.  Big big drums, layers of guitars, a lil’ bit of keyboards here and there, but mostly, lots and lots and lots of guitars.

4/5stars

REVIEW: Hear N’ Aid – Stars (1986)

HEAR N’ AID – Stars (1986 LP, Japanese CD)

It is hard to believe that this monumental album, a piece of rock history, was only issued on CD in Japan! Finding a domestic LP or cassette isn’t hard (I’ve owned it on all three formats including CD) so hunt your record shops.  I know Wendy Dio has a CD/DVD reissue lined up, hopefully including the full album, single edit, and the video and interviews.  If you’re reading this Wendy…

At the time, all funds went to starving people in Africa, hence the name Hear N’ Aid.  The inspiration was something fairly obvious:  No heavy metal people outside of Geddy Lee was involved in the numerous famine relief projects of the time!  (Geddy sang a lead on the excellent “Tears Are Not Enough” (1985) by Northern Lights, but nobody metal could be seen in “Do They Know It’s Christmas” or “We Are the World”.)

“Oh, you knoooow that we’ll be there!”

Showing the world that heavy metal bands and fans aren’t a bunch of assholes, Jimmy Bain and Vivian Campbell of Dio came up with the concept for Hear N’ Aid.

The main track, “Stars”, by Hear N’ Aid is a tour-de-force. Written by Bain, Campbell and Dio, this is essentially an epic extended track with a soft intro and heavy verses, and tons of guests. They assembled virtually every major metal singer who was willing and available to take part. That means you will hear Quiet Riot singers Kevin DuBrow and Paul Shortino (still with Ruff Cutt at the time) singing together for the first and only time in history! Rob Halford, Don Dokken, Eric Bloom, Geoff Tate, Dave Meniketti, and Dio himself all take lead vocal slots too.

When the guitar solo kicks in, prepared to be blown away. With Iron Maiden guitarists Dave Murray and Adrian Smith playing backing harmonies, you will hear the monstrous talents of George Lynch, Yngwie Malmsteen, Vivian Campbell, Craig Goldy, Neal Schon, Buck Dharma, Carloz Cavazo, Brad Gillis and Eddie Ojeda all taking a few bars. No charity track had ever attempted to assemble not just singers, but guitar players, on one track before.

All this is backed by drummers, bassists and keyboard players from Dio and Quiet Riot. There are more backing singers than I can name, but most notably, Derek Smalls and David St. Hubbins from Spinal Tap. Of course.

The rest of the album is filled out by songs donated by bands who couldn’t take part in the song, but still wanted to help the starvation situation in Africa. Therefore you will get a live “Heaven’s On Fire” from Kiss, from their Animalize Live Uncensored home video. This is the only place that the audio track was released on. There is an unreleased live “Distant Early Warning” by Rush, and rare ones by Scorpions and Accept as well.

Tracklist:
1.Hear ‘n Aid – “Stars”
2.Accept – “Up to the Limit” (live)
3.Motörhead – “On the Road” (live)
4.Rush – “Distant Early Warning” (live)
5.Kiss – “Heaven’s on Fire” (live)
6.Jimi Hendrix – “Can You See Me”
7.Dio – “Hungry for Heaven” (live)
8.Y&T – “Go for the Throat”
9.Scorpions – “The Zoo” (live)

5/5 stars

MORE Geoff Tate news: His side of the split?

OK folks, as usual I’ll let Geoff say it all.

On the “original” Queensryche with Todd La Torre:

They started a side project called Rising West, and they quickly found out that it didn’t have any value in the marketplace. They couldn’t sell any shows. They couldn’t get booked for shows. And that’s when they fired me and tried to use the name Queensryche to book shows, so they could all make a living.

So what you’re saying Geoff is that the firing had nothing to do with the spitting and the physical assaults and so on and so forth?  This argument doesn’t even make any sense.  Geoff’s claiming that Queensryche fired him, because their side project couldn’t sell any shows?  I’m sure they don’t need a side project to sell shows to make a living while they’re in Queensryche?  If business was as good as Geoff claims, anyway.

On Glen Drover, guitar player in Tate’s new “second” Queensryche:

I had known of him but never met him, but I’ve seen him play a number of times with Megadeth, and I thought he was a fantastic player; just a real fluid, effortless guitar player. And then talking with him, he’s just a really cool guy, very down-to-earth. He’s a Canadian guy who likes hockey and beer, and I’m all down with that.

Alright.  I’m down with that too.

And lastly, on his solo album:

It just happened pretty quickly, and I worked at a pace that’s pretty normal for me, really. A lot of what you hear on it are first, second or third takes. It was pretty immediate, us sitting in the same room, playing together, feeding off each other, and just kinda making stuff up as we went. So it was a fun, immediate record, without a lot of rehearsing it into the ground. Not a very polished record, not over-produced and slick. It’s pretty raw.

OK, that doesn’t sound bad.  Has anybody heard the record yet?  I’ve read good things, but Christmas is coming.

More:

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/geoff-tate-2012-interview/

More Queensryche:

Mike Ladano: Exclusive EDDIE JACKSON interview, part I

Mike Ladano: Exclusive EDDIE JACKSON interview, part II

Mike Ladano: Exclusive EDDIE JACKSON interview, part III

Mike Ladano: Exclusive EDDIE JACKSON interview, part IV

REVIEW: Iron Maiden – Virtual XI (plus singles, 1998)

Part 26 of my series of Iron Maiden reviews!

IRON MAIDEN – Virtual XI (1998)

For the first time in a long time, there was this vibe of, “new Maiden?  Meh.”

I recall seeing this listed in our distributor’s catalogue and ordering one for myself.  We didn’t even order it in for the store.  Think about that!  The catalog had the title listed as Vartual Xi, which made me wonder what the hell I was buying.

Virtual XI is the 11’th studio album by Iron Maiden.  It is the second with Blaze Bayley on lead vocals and second to be co-produced by Nigel Green.  It is also the second to feature cover art by Melvyn Grant, this time an improvement on his Fear of the Dark work (but only barely).

You’ll notice the Iron Maiden logo was changed — the jagged bits lopped off!  It is this logo that Maiden used almost exclusively going forward.  I prefer the original.

I was living with T-Rev when the album came out, early ’98, and both of us were heavily into the Nintendo 64 classic Goldeneye.  One Saturday night when he was out working his second job at the Waterloo Inn, I stayed home with Virtual XI, Goldeneye, and enough junk food to last the weekend.  I was set.  And my feelings on Virtual XI largely go back to that night and the great fun it was to play the Statue Park level whilst rocking out to “When Two Worlds Collide”.

As highly as I rate the two Blaze albums, I will be the first to admit that he was the wrong singer for this band. His voice lacks the range.   As I argued in my review for The X Factor, I think Blaze’s voice suited the mid-90’s and the darker tones that Maiden were taking.  I remember cranking Best of the Beast in my store, Dickinson wailing away, and two kids laughing.  Context is important!  In the 90’s, tastes had drifted and so had Maiden.  And don’t lie to me — you owned one of these five albums:  Ten, Nevermind, Superunknown, Purple or Dirt.  I know you did!

I personally enjoy the dreadfully-titled Virtual XI. I bet Steve Harris wishes he could take that title back. It is not as strong as the powerfully dark X Factor album. This is Iron Maiden trying to relax a little more, be more comfortable in their new sound, and trying to lighten up a bit after an entire album of dark thoughts and suicidal tendencies. Witness “The Angel And The Gambler” which is as close to a good-time rocker as Iron Maiden get.  Its problem (and the problem with a few songs on the album) is length:  At 10 minutes, it’s not an epic, it’s too repetitive.  I could also do without Steve’s boppy keyboard line.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.  The album kicks off with “Futureal”, a short fast rocker akin to “Man On The Edge” or “Be Quick Or Be Dead”, but with plenty of melody to spare.  Harris wrote this one with Blaze.

Up next is “The Angel And the Gambler” which I guess Steve was hoping would sound like 70’s UFO or something like that.  A classic Davey guitar solo keeps it in Maiden territory.  It had a good video, very Star Wars cantina, funny with dated CG!  The video however doesn’t do much to make Blaze Bayley’s case as a frontman.

Then, back to the darkness that marked the last album. “Lightning Strikes Twice” is a decent song with quiet verses and a powerful chorus.  It takes a while to build unfortunately, since it’s only 5 minutes long.

Side one ended with “The Clansman”, continuing the Maiden tradition of basing songs on movies and historical events!  This was the epic of the album, and one that they performed into the Dance of Death tour.  You’ll be chanting, “Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!” by the end. This one sounds very traditional Iron Maiden, especially the fast parts.

Side two kicked off with a personal favourite, “When Two Worlds Collide”. Here’s Maiden’s take on the whole Deep Impact/Armageddon thing:

Now I can’t believe its true
and I don’t know what to do
For the hundredth time
I check the declination
Now the fear starts to grow
even my computer shows
There are no errors in the calculations

Kinda cheesy, kinda nerdy-cool at the same time.  Have you ever seen the word “declination” in a heavy metal lyric before?   This is the first and only collaboration between Steve, Blaze and Dave Murray.

Another dark and moody one is up next, “The Educated Fool”, another one I like quite a bit due to its delicate guitars.  At this point Maiden were no longer trying to simply assault you aurally, now they were introduced in a smoother sounding guitar sound.  But the song does kick in soon.  There’s a line reflecting some of Steve’s personal inner pain, “I want to see my father beyond.”

This is followed by “Don’t Look To The Eyes Of A Stranger”. These songs are good tunes, but by this time we’ve already had several dark and moody ones with repeated choruses. The repetition was getting a bit much.  Even the previous song, “The Educated Fool” suffers from repetitive chorus syndrome.

Last up is the closer “Como Estais Amigos”, translated as “How are you my friends”.  It was written by Blaze and Janick.  This one has an epic vibe to it as well, with its anthemic chorus of  “No more tears, no more tears. If we live for a hundred years, amigo no more tears.” It is as if Maiden are saying, “We have been through some rough patches but better times are up ahead.” And yes, Maiden really did go through rough times, Steve Harris in particular.

And that is it, a mere 8 songs.  Brevity this time unlike the previous two albums.  No B-sides were recorded, either.  The only B-sides were live.  Let’s have a look at ’em!

 

“The Angel And the Gambler” was released in two parts, one with cover art by Derek Riggs, one from the forthcoming new Maiden video game, Ed Hunter.  They wisely included a single edit on the second one.   The B-sides were live takes of “Blood On the World’s Hands” and “The Aftermath”, which if you recall are two of the songs I ranked poorly on The X Factor.

“Futureal” was the second single, with more Ed Hunter cover art.  Inside, a poster featuring Derek Riggs’ far superior artwork.  The live tracks were were “Man On the Edge” (another one I’m not fond of) and “The Evil That Men Do”, from Seventh Son of a Seventh Son!  This is one of the few official versions available of Blaze doing a Bruce song.  My take?  His “Come on!  Come on!  Come on!” intro fails to inspire me, but the band is playing it fast and great.  Vocally this one is well suited to Blaze’s voice.  He does an excellent job.  (He does screw up the lyrics in the same place that Bruce used to, too!)  It was recorded in 1995, which makes sense.  Everything I’ve heard from that tour sounds great.  Everything I’ve heard from the Virtual XI tour, however…

Well, see for yourself.

I think after this album the vibe was generally one of “Who cares what Maiden do next?”  I still would have loyally bought it.  I had just given up on the idea of Maiden being a huge band that mattered again.  I didn’t expect albums that would impact me the way that Piece of Mind or Powerslave or even The X Factor did.  Maiden seemed to be coasting, at a time that Bruce Dickinson was forging forward with superior solo albums.  In general though, it seemed metal was done, Maiden pretty much with it, and all that was left were unremarkable studio albums and tours.

Oh, how wrong I was.

3.5/5 stars

REVIEW: Bruce Dickinson – Accident of Birth (1997) Man of Sorrows EP (1997)

Part 25 of my series of Iron Maiden reviews!

BRUCE DICKINSON – Accident of Birth (1997)

As mentioned in the last chapter, Bruce Dickinson was eager to get back to metal, and he brought Roy Z with him.   Together they forged a great modern steel beast of an album.  But there was an additional surprise in store:

Bruce had also teamed up with his old Maiden alumnus Adrian Smith!  The classic writing partnership was back, and Adrian was playing those trademark melodies again.

And then, just to stick it in Steve Harris’ nose, Bruce hired on Derek Riggs to do the cover art.  He came up with a mascot:  Edison!  Get it?

The opening track, “Freak”, slams the listener right in the face with a modern metallic riff before the classic Bruce wail forces you to admit this is the kind of music he’s best at.  And while it’s not the same as Maiden, you will be delighted to learn there are guitar harmony parts once again.

You have to give Roy Z credit where it’s due, the guy is great at writing metal riffs.  He’s also a great soloist and a nice contrast to Adrian.  Also not slouches are the badass rhythm section:  Eddie Casillas (bass) and David Ingraham (drums), both back from the Balls To Picasso album.

“Starchildren” is an absolute stunner, a fucking brilliant song that combines programmed samples with traditional metal riffery.  I also love that Bruce has continued on with the sci-fi lyrics, something he’s quite good at.

Although “Taking the Queen” is another great song, it is overshadowed by the epic track “Darkside of Aquarius”.  At almost 7 minutes long, “Darkside” combines multiple parts together with guitar harmonies into one cohesive, stomping whole.  This to me is the jewel on a fine album.  I think this would have made one fine Maiden number (finer than what Maiden were releasing at the time).

Then, “Road To Hell”, a co-write between Bruce and Adrian.  You can tell by the catchy guitar parts and singalong chorus.  It is followed by the anthemic ballad “Man of Sorrows”.  This one was chosen for release as its own EP later.

The single “Accident of Birth” is next, yet another great tune, but also a standout among great tunes. Once again the samples are back, blasting this piece of sheet metal into a pulp.  The guitar melodies ground it in familiar territory as Bruce’s wail assaults the listener.

Why is Ingraham wearing that pilot hat?

“The Magician” comes somewhat awkwardly afterwards, as it is more upbeat than the previous material.  But “Welcome to the Pit” (also co-written by Smith) sinks deep into a sludgey morass.  “Welcome to the Pit” is filler, the first obvious such track on Accident of Birth.

The US edition of the album was elevated by another Smith co-write, the Maiden-esque “The Ghost of Cain” which restores the melody and guitar harmonies to the forefront.  The UK edition skipped this track but made it available on a single (which we’ll get to).  But it is a song like “The Ghost of Cain” that reminds the listener of the kind of magic that Iron Maiden lost when it lost Adrian Smith.

“Omega” and “Arc of Space” form a sci-fi duo.  The sun is about to go all red-giant on Earth’s ass, and most people have left.  But many remain behind.

Now it’s Omega-Zero day
The red star shines its last rays
The sun that gave us life yesterday
Is now the sun that takes our lives away

It’s this kind of lyric that gets my nerd-blood pumping.  Arthur C. Clarke would have been proud.  I’m sure Bruce has read The Songs of Distant Earth.  But even musically it’s a winner.  At first it sounds like a ballad before the band hits the gas and it turns into a blazing rocker with twin guitar harmonies.

And finally “Arc of Space”, an acoustic number (with cello!), and a perfect ending to a fine album.  The choruses soar.  Roy Z’s acoustic solo is perfect.  The album ends as a triumph.

 

There were also singles to be had:  “Accident of Birth” parts 1 and 2.   Part one added “The Ghost of Cain” to the lineup for those who didn’t get it on the UK album.  Both parts contained demo versions, basic stripped down recordings of “Accident of Birth”, “Taking the Queen”, and “Starchildren”.  It sounds like these were most likely recorded using drum machines.  In the case of “Accident of Birth” itself, in a lot of ways I prefer the more mechanical demo!

The Japanese even got their own exclusive EP from the albums called Man of Sorrows.

BRUCE DICKINSON – Man of Sorrows EP (1997)

Man of Sorrows is an awkward 5 song collection, essential only to the obsessed or the lucky ones able to find it at a good price.   It has three versions of the title track:  A radio edit, an orchestral mix, and a Spanish version (on a CD released only in Japan.)  The orchestral version just mixes those instruments in higher.  The Spanish version, “Hombre Triste”, is especially poor since the backing vocals in the chorus are still in English.  You can also hear edits, as if the vocal recording was probably spliced together piecemeal line by line.

The saving grace to the EP (but not worth the $30 price tag to the average collector) are two more demos:  “Darkside of Aquarius” and “Arc of Space”.  Much like the other demos, these are fully fleshed out arrangements.  “Darkside” features that drum machine again, but “Arc of Space” sounds like Bruce and Roy just doing the song live in a room.  The liner notes reveal that Roy Z plays all the instruments on the demo versions.

Incidentally, all these songs plus the “Accident of Birth” single B-sides are now available on the deluxe edition of the album.

Bruce made a hell of a comeback on Accident of Birth, showing up Iron Maiden, and proving that he was built to sing heavy metal music.  The cynical said that Bruce was just cashing in, but the next album would prove to be an even more powerful statement.  Stay tuned.

For Accident of Birth:

4.5/5 stars

For Man of Sorrows:

1.5/5 stars