Iron Maiden- The Book of Souls album review

 

Iron Maiden

The Book of Souls

Rating: **** (4.25-4.30)

It was in April 1980 when British heavy metal band Iron Maiden unleashed their self-titled debut album. 35 years and several line-ups later, Iron Maiden are still together performing before their rabid fan base. In this year of 2015, Maiden have released their sixteenth album. The album, The Book of Souls, is their first since 2010’s The Final Frontier. Personally, I found The Final Frontier difficult to listen to: the album’s mixing was distracting, there was some filler and the album’s runtime of 76 minutes didn’t help either. When I first heard that Maiden were releasing their first two-disc studio album- with a runtime of 92 minutes, I was skeptical. However, I listened to the album on Spotify the day it was released and I have to admit I was impressed: The Book of Souls is a damn good album. While it is a long album, all of the album’s eleven tracks are worth listening to.

            The album’s opener, “If Eternity Should Fail,” begins with the sounds of synthesizers before the band gets down to business and up the irons. In this song, frontman Bruce Dickinson sings of humanity’s downfall in this heavy track. Dickinson’s voice may sound hoarse at first but throughout the album, Dickinson gives a solid performance. Even as he approaches his 60s, the man knows how to take care of voice.

After the opening track, it’s a whole musical journey with Maiden. With two discs, The Book of Souls is an album full of Maiden goodness. In some cases, casual music listeners may think that Iron Maiden are one of those bands that play songs that all sound the same. This isn’t the case with The Book of Souls, as it’s an album that has Maiden interpreting their sounds in many different ways. Also with a title like The Book of Souls, one could approach the album as an actual book of souls: the eleven songs could be thought of as chapters in a book, each with something different to offer.

For a few songs, it seems that Maiden are showing their influences. The Deep Purple-esque rocker “Speed of Light” and the progressive metal sounding title track are examples of this. The former is the lead single for the album while the latter features Yes-like acoustics at the beginning and the end of the song (similar to “Roundabout”). Head banging tunes come out of heavy duty “When the River Runs Deep” and the hard-hitting “Death or Glory.” While the band might be recognized as a heavy metal band, Iron Maiden can even pull off heart-felt ballads. “Tears of a Clown” is an example of this. According to Bruce Dickinson in an interview, the song was interestingly inspired by the suicide of comedian Robin Williams last year. The song is well written, with strong lyrics that wonder why someone so funny would succumb to depression.   

For a double album, there are quite a number of epics that go over ten minutes. Of them, “The Red and the Black” might be my personal favorite: it begins with a flamenco-like guitar solo before it becomes heavy. The songs has this “Rimes of the Ancient Mariner” feel and the “whoa” vocal chants are a nice touch. The album even ends with an epic- the 18-minute “Empire of the Clouds. With poetic lyrics and an orchestra playing in the background, it closes out the album perfectly. 

The Book of Souls is a great album from Iron Maiden. Ever since CDs kicked off, artists have been able to make albums that go over 50 minutes. Some are able to do this well while others could’ve cut a few songs off the final product. Even today, some artists will continue to release albums that have a runtime of an hour or more. Iron Maiden felt the material they were working on was so strong; they had to release it all on one album. Maiden really pulled this off, although it isn’t too surprising: all six members in Maiden are excellent musicians. For a band that’s been together for almost four decades, Iron Maiden still have it. Need proof? Just listen to The Book of Souls. 

Hollywood Vampires album review

 

Hollywood Vampires

Hollywood Vampires

Rating: *** 1/2

In the 1970s, there was a group of rock stars that would hang out every once in a while, trying to out-drink each other. They called themselves the Hollywood Vampires. The drinking club consisted of rock legends such as Keith Moon, Ringo Starr, Harry Nilsson and John Lennon The president of the group was shock rocker Alice Cooper. Nearly four decades later, Cooper is one of the few surviving members of the group. Now in 2015, Cooper and many of his musician friends such as Joe Perry, Dave Grohl, Paul McCartney, Brian Johnson, Slash, Joe Walsh and even actor Johnny Depp have teamed up to make a star-studded tribute album to the fallen Vampires, as well as other rock legends Cooper was friends with. The album, Hollywood Vampires, is a neat salute to his friends. While many of the songs on here are a little too faithful to the originals, Cooper and company have put a lot of work into this project.

            The album opens with a narration by the late Christopher Lee, which leads into an original song “Raise the Dead.” It’s a great rocking tune with pretty good lyrics. Alice’s vocals are pretty solid too. From there on until the end, the album is a classic rock musical journey. Now let’s face it: cover albums are not very original. Given how Alice is known for making great conceptual albums, the idea to cover his fallen friends’ songs is pretty damn clever. Cover tunes can be done in two different ways: you can play the song faithfully or you can give your own take on the song (ex. Joe Cocker’s “With a Little Help From My Friends” or even X’s “Soul Kitchen”). For Hollywood Vampires, most of the songs follow along the lines of the former. Still, some of the covers here are worth listening to. “My Generation” follows the original but has this punk rock feel throughout while “Break On Through” has a cool twin lead guitar lick added to it.  However, the covers of John Lennon’s “Cold Turkey” and Jimi Hendrix’s “Manic Depression” don’t offer anything new.

            Still, I can say I honestly like some of the covers here. Being a fan of Badfinger, the cover of “Come and Get It” featuring Alice and Paul McCartney (the song’s original writer) is good fun. While McCartney’s vocals do sound a little worn out, he gives a good performance of the song and it serves as a nice tribute to Pete Ham and Tom Evans (and even drummer Mike Gibbons). Alice’s take on T. Rex’s “Jeepster” is refreshing to hear and almost a different take on the song: the production on here is bigger and it’s played in a slightly different way. AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson shares lead vocals with Alice on “Whole Lotta Love” and “School’s Out/Another Brick in the Wall.” Both tracks are strong, the latter being a piece that Alice has played live in his recent shows. Hearing the two songs mesh together is nice. However, it’s the cover of the Small Faces’ “Itchycoo Park” that I find to be the best of the covers. Why? It’s a completely different take on the song. While the original was a simple acoustic ditty, Alice and company have been able to transform it into a fast-paced modern sounding track. It really is impressive. The album ends with a comedic loungey number “Dead Drunk Friends.” It’s a great song and it’s very Alice: he takes a subject as dark as alcoholism and makes it humorous.”

            Hollywood Vampires is simply a fun album. In all honesty, we really didn’t need to hear these songs re-recorded and could’ve stuck with the originals. Still, you can’t help but applaud Alice and company for putting so much work into an album like this. From now until the end of the year, Alice will be performing shows as the Hollywood Vampires with Joe Perry and Johnny Depp in the band. Could this lead to a tour or even a second album? It seems unlikely, given how long it took for this album to come out. For now, we can enjoy this new album.

Alice Cooper reveals release date for Hollywood Vampires project

Shock rocker Alice Cooper has been been working on a covers album project for a year or two now. It was later revealed through interviews that Cooper would be releasing the album as star-studded tribute to Cooper's deceased friends. Today, all of the details have been revealed for the album.

The album, Hollywood Vampires, will be released on September 11. The album's title comes from the name of a group of people Cooper hung out with and got drunk with. Members of this group included John Lennon, Keith Moon, Ringo Starr, Harry Nilsson, Mickey Dolenz, Bernie Taupin and many others. Today, most of the people who were in the Hollywood Vampires are dead. With this album, Cooper pays tribute to the deceased members, as well as his other friends who have passed away. The album is not being released as an Alice Cooper album: the album features a slew of guest musicians including Paul McCartney, Joe Perry, Joe Walsh, Dave Grohl, Brian Johnson, Perry Farrell, Robby Krieger and even actor Johnny Depp. Narrating the first track on the album is actor Christopher Lee, who passed away earlier this year. Producing the album is Alice's long-time producer, Bob Ezrin.

While not billed as an Alice Cooper solo album, Cooper sings on all of the album's tracks. The tracking list is as follows:

1. The Last Vampire (narration by Christopher Lee)
2. Raise the Dead
3. My Generation (cover of the Who, featuring Johnny Depp)
4. Whole Lotta Love (cover of Led Zeppelin, featuring Brian Johnson on co-lead vocals)
5. I've Got a Line On You (cover of Spirit, featuring Perry Farrell on co-lead vocals)
6. Five to One/Break On Through (cover of the Doors, featuring Robbie Krieger)
7. One/Jump Into The Fire (cover of Harry Nilsson, featuring Perry Farrell on co-lead vocals)
8. Come And Get It (cover of Badfinger, featuring Paul McCartney on co-lead vocals)
9. Jeepster (cover of T. Rex, featuring Joe Perry and Johnny Depp)
10. Cold Turkey (cover of John Lennon, featuring Joe Perry and Johnny Depp)
11. Manic Depression (cover of Jimi Hendrix, featuring Joe Perry and Johnny Depp)
12. Itchycoo Park (cover of Small Faces)
13. School's Out/Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2 (latter cover of Pink Floyd, w/ Brian Johnson)
14. Dead Drunk Friends

For more details on who played on the album, visit Ultimate Classic Rock's article on the album.

Rock Recap: Keith Richards, David Gilmour, Paul McCartney and W.A.S.P.

Several different albums have been announced recently. Some of them have been known of for a while but the dates are now official for all of these. Below are all the detail on the four artists mentioned above. 

Keith Richards

Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards has announced the release of a new solo album. The album, Crosseyed Heart, is Richards' third album and his first since 1992's Main Offender. The album's first single, "Trouble," was released today. The album will be released on September 18. 

David Gilmour

Former Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour has revealed more details on his upcoming solo album, Rattle That Lock. This will be Gilmour's first solo album since 2006's On an Island. Gilmour plans to tour for the album, although he won't be coming to North America until next year. The title track will be released tomorrow on July 17 while the album itself will be released on September 18. The tracking list is as follows:

1. 5 AM

2. Rattle That Lock

3. Faces of Stone

4. A Boat Lies Waiting

5. Dancing Right In Front of Me

6. In Any Tongue

7. Beauty 

8. The Girl In The Yellow Dress

9. Today

10. And Then...

Paul McCartney

The Paul McCartney Archive Collection will continue on September 18 with the reissues of 1982's Tug of War and 1983's Pipes of Peace. The two album will follow last year's reissues of Venus and Mars and Wings At The Speed of Sound. As with the other releases in the collection, the two albums are expected to have a standard 2 CD version, a vinyl version and a box set version. 

W.A.S.P.

Heavy metal band W.A.S.P. have finally announce the release date for their next studio album, Golgotha. This will be the band's first album since 2009's Babylon. Earlier this week, it was announced that drummer Mike Dupke had parted ways with the band. It is assumed that Dupke played on the new album before leaving.  A new drummer has yet to be announced. The tracking list is as follows:

1. Scream

2. Last Runaway

3. Shotgun

4. Miss You

5. Fallen Under

6. Slaves of the New World Order

7. Eyes of My Maker

8. Hero of the World

9. Golgotha

Golgotha will be released on October 2. 

Phil Rudd sentenced 8 months home detention

Former AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd has been sentenced to eight months of home detention. Rudd, 61, was sentenced on Thursday July 9 at Tauranga District Court after pleading guilty to threatening to kill and drug possession charges. Late last he timyear, Rudd had called an associate and order for his personal assistant to be "taken out." At the time of his arrest, AC/DC were in the middle of preparing for the release of their latest album Rock Or Bust. Back in February of this year, the band announced that former drummer Chris Slade would be replacing Rudd for the album's tour. The band are currently touring now, their first without co-founding member Malcolm Young, who was forced to retire on the account of his dementia. Nephew Stevie Young has taken his place.

I can't say I'm surprised about Phil's sentence. I think it's also safe to say that Rudd will probably not be in AC/DC again.

Chris Squire dead at 67

Christopher Russell Edward Squire

March 4, 1948 - June 28, 2015

Chris Squire, bassist and co-founding member of legendary progressive rock band Yes, passed away last night in Phoenix, Arizona after a short battle with acute erythroid leukemia- a rare form of leukemia. Squire was 67. Squire had announced his diagnosis on May 19 of this year and planned to take a break from performing while he underwent treatment. At the time of his passing, Squire was the only constant member in Yes- playing on all 21 of their studio albums. 

Squire was born in London, England in the suburb of Kingsbury. Even in his youth. Squire already had his future set on music as he sang in one or two boys' choirs. When it came to picking up the bass, Squire cited the Beatles and Paul McCartney as his inspiration. Sometime in the late 1960s, Squire met singer Jon Anderson. The two made a connection in their love for rock music, as well as vocal groups. In 1968, Yes was formed by Anderson and Squire, along with guitarist Peter Banks, drummer Bill Bruford and keyboardist Tony Kaye. Although Banks and Kaye would leave shortly into the beginning of the 1970s, the band went on with Steve Howe and Rick Wakeman. The band were at their peak in the early 1970s with progressive rock classics such as Fragile and Close to the Edge. The band even scored a few hit singles with "Roundabout," "Long Distance Runaround," "I've Seen All Good People" and later in the 1980s- "Owner of a Lonely Heart." Throughout their near five decade career, Squire was the only member in Yes who had never left. Aside from Yes, Squire released one solo album- 1975's Fish Out of Water. 

It's sad to hear of Chris' passing. I can't say I'm too surprised, given how his peers who were diagnosed at his age didn't survive. What frustrates me the most about Chris' passing is that the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame have still NOT inducted Yes. They've been nominated a few times in the last few years but nope: they had to induct the young and healthy members of Green Day and Nirvana first. Chris is just one of several dozen musicians who've been screwed and didn't get to see themselves inducted. However, maybe it doesn't really matter: Chris stayed with his band till the very end. That's something to be proud of. 

Rest in peace, Chris. 

Iron Maiden to release The Book of Souls in September

Heavy metal legends Iron Maiden have announced the release of their next studio album. The album, The Book of Souls, wil be Iron Madien's sixteenth studio album. Not only is it the band's first album since 2010's The Final Frontier but it's also the band's first ever double studio album. Consisting of 11 songs and clocking in at 92 minutes, it's the longest album Maiden have ever made. The album is slated for release on September 4.

It's good to hear that Maiden are releasing a new album. I really wanted to like The Final Frontier but it was difficult. It was okay but it was the production that made it hard to listen to. I've said it many times before: it wasn't because of any "loudness war." This was weird: the music sounded like it kept changing the volume manually. So this makes not want to get Maiden's new album However, there's been nothing else to listen to from this year so I will consider getting it or listen to it streaming.

The tracking list is as follows...

Disc 1
1. If Eternity Should Fail
2. Speed of Light
3. The Great Unknown
4. The Red and the Black
5. When the River Runs Deep
6. The Book Of Souls

Disc 2
7. Death or Glory
8. Shadows of the Valley
9. Tears of a Clown
10. The Man of Sorrows
11. Empire of the Clouds