stand or fall

this record actually deceived me, since i was expecting more ... it is not a bad record but i prefer the old ones.
i mean, i find it nothing special, that is what attracts me most from this kind of music, the melody, the haunting rythm, and of course, the feelin'.
maybe i should give it another oportunity, but after 3 or 4 listenings, i was sad to find nothing special ... no feelin'

5/10 just average, not what i was expecting from.

no way out

this one really should show a more mature side of the band, i have heard also that more melodic, but i do not agree.
it is a good record, but does not match the debut album
it is heavy rock from the ealier 80s.

truth be told is i still need a closer listening to this one.

7/10 for nwobhm fans only

end of the world

this is the first record from gaskin. it belongs to the nwobhm, though i would classify it not as metal but as heavy rock. however i believe it deserves this place in the nwobhm.
the best songs are sweet dream maker, the end of the world, despiser, victim of the city and handful of dreams. special mention to handful of reasons too.
this is a great collectible, and i've seen it in ebay even for 60$. the version i have is a double record metal collection series 2x1. though i miss the lyrics, the reedition is not bad


8/10 for nwobhm fans mainly

a cry for the new world

this is a strange record for mantis. is not a bad one, just a bit strange. it was the first without a mantis in the cover. :-)
anyway it has its shining moments: letting go, a cry for the new world and journeyman rank amongst the best songs composed by the band, mainly by the troy brothers.
i like tino's and chris' voices, and loving tony's then i find colin's a bit strange. don't misunderstand me, it is not a bad voice, but at least a bit curious
mantis seem to have a compromise with earth, so songs flow in this way. you may not find many love songs in mantis 'repertoir' but, as i said once, as long as the songs are good, that's enough
it was voted in japan as 4th metal record of the year.
8/10 nice to have

love at first sting

an almost perfect melodic record. i did not like still loving you the first time i heard it because all the people seemed to like it. now i do. but this is not only the record of still loving you but a bunch of more good damn songs: bad boys running wild, rock you like a hurricane, i'm leaving you, coming home, big city nights, and the criminally underrated crossfire ... so this record rules!
it is melodic and very accessible, and i guess most metal fans, when a record is accessible, think, no! i do not like it! well, let's freedom do its own. the real thing is that klaus and rudolf compose great and the scorpions as a band performs really well ... so ... :-)
seen them in the unbreakable tour and it was great, just missed coming home

10/10 brilliant

turbo

this was the first judas priest record that i heard. at first i thought they were too much metallic for me but i found this record very accessible. this is not bad. songs were melodic and maybe more hard rock than heavy metal that is why priest fans may complain about it. it is a big step from defenders, my favourite, but i think this is a very good hard melodic work. songs as turbo lover, locked in, reckless, hot for love and the power ballad out in the cold.
i may be blamed :-( because of this but i do not care, i believe it is a great record, and priest were breve for entering in quicksand territory. of course this were not going to please everybody but a great band has to take risks ;-)
the remastered version offers few things, since i expected more. the record is nicely decorated, the lyrics are in but i would have expected some history about the making of the record ... the story of the twin turbos or comments about each song... in this address more information about this could be found: http://members.firstinter.net/markster/TURBO.html

9/10 brilliant

heavy metal thunder

this is a really nice way to do a greatest hits. a slightly different re-recording, with actual sound. it sounds really great, more powerful and more aggressive. crusader, 747, princess of the night, dallas 1PM, ... all great songs enhanced with power and fury. i only miss the broken heroes power ballad which i personally find outstanding... but! there is a nice 2cd with some live tracks, in which broken heroes is included... shame that live sound -official bootleg?- is not as great as alive or strangers in the night. the booklet is a bit short, but better than more that i have seen.
balance is very positive, and maybe not apply to everybody but people who try to find something special in the records nowadays, since you spend some money you deserve to get a nice record...

9/10 great to have

Alive!

The record that broke all standards. A double live record. who was fool enough to do such a thing? Led Zeppelin did it with Physical graffiti, but was it the same? It was not a live record...
Well this thing, just exploded... the record went platinum, 2x, 3x, 4x ... and KISS reached stardom. The material in there is the one from the first 3 records, which by the way were great... I sincerely prefer the songs that make the Alive II, but Alive! is great too.
Deuce, strutter, hotter than hell, c'mon and love me, she, watchin' you, black diamond, cold gin and the great anthem rock and roll all nite.

You show us everything you've got
You keep on dancin' and the room gets hot
You drive us wild, we'll drive you crazy

You say you wanna go for a spin
The party's just begun, we'll let you in
You drive us wild, we'll drive you crazy
You keep on shoutin', you keep on shoutin'

I wanna rock and roll all nite... and party every day

What more can be said about this record. Just listen to it :-D

10/10 classic status

down to earth

i love rainbow classic era. no matter who was singing. ritchie's performances are brilliant and any singer which has been in there has a brilliant voice too. i also own all rainbow LPs, even the final cut, and have some vhs too... so i think i know a bit their works :-)
after dropping dio, ritchie picked up graham bonnet. his style was absolutely different from the voice of metal, but graham got a strong and powerful voice too. the compositions, mainly from roger and ritchie are also brilliant, so the result speaks for itself.
i also believe rainbow belongs to that classic rock/metal elite bands which had become a referent for future bands. i can't stand why my kerrang's guide puts skid row into the 50 all-time bands and rainbow is not there. sacrilege!!
i can name only one song here since all of them are awesome, but of course, the most well-known are all night long, since you been gone and lost in hollywood.
cozy powell made the line up so it was really a supergroup, with a new born singer legend

10/10 indispensable. classic status

alice cooper goes to hell

another of the first records i bought... bought it with love it to death, this one was interesting, not as good as love... , but it has its own moments.
i was immediately hooked by i never cry (played live to this day, and a favourite from my girlfriend) and wake me gently. i found these two ballads different from all the crap the radio is throwing at every moment...
the title track go to hell is also a great one. you gotta dance, i'm the coolest i guess these were some experiments but not bad ones. also i liked didn't we meet.
it is obviously not as good as its predecesor, but i was glad i bought it :-). not indispensable but worth a listening

8/10 nice to have

Welcome to my Nightmare

Welcome to my nightmare I think you're gonna like it
I think you're gonna feel like you belong
A nocturnal vacation unnecessary sedation
you want to feel at home 'cause you belong
Welcome to my nightmare whoa oh oh oh

This is how it begins this masterpiece ...
devil's food, the black widow, some folks and only woman bleed
This is the first part of the show. No words to describe it.
Department of youth opens the second part, and it opened the last diamond tour 2005 I went to. Just awesome. a month before i saw the crÜe, and although they were great, they needed some rest ... but Alice was kickin' from song to song without not time for breathin' :-D that was non-stop high rockin'.
Years ago, and my favorite, Steven, which was played tooo :-) ... it always reminds to me classic horror movies.

I don't want to see you go I don't even want to be there
I will cover up my eyes and pray it goes away
You've only lived a minute of your life
I must be dreaming please stop screaming...

Alice was alive after renewing his band, and created a true classic record.

10/10 classic status

misdemeanor

noone was interested in this record because this one only had phil and paul from the original lights out line up.
but the material is not weak, although you only will find a couple of great songs which i doubt ever made the live set from long ago. even i hold the dvd from that tour and i have to say that it is strange ... i would expect ufo tobe at least mogg and way. schenker or chapman at the guitar, but although tommy m does a great job, the feelin' is not there
however, as i said, this time and wreckless are great songs

7/10 just nice to have

1982-1992

this is a compilation from europe. i believe most metal fans will say this sucks because they had popular hits worldwide, and it is a 'hairy' band in def leppard, bon jovi style...
they simply haven't heard the music. as simple as that.
in the future to come and seven doors hotel are the two first openers, from they first record. not only they rock, but they are awesome. then we come to second record, and stormwind and scream of anger do the job brilliantly, as hard rockers. the ballads open your heart and dreamer are very good also.

then we arrive to the final countdown, rock the night, carrie ... which are great songs ... and the only problem is that they are worldwide known... no problem i would say :-)
ready or not, prisoners in paradise, ... i would say i miss the ballad from 4th record tomorrow, but the compilation is good enough. i would have added the king will return, and maybe words of wisdom, but the compilation is good enough
enough said

10/10 brilliant

best of both worlds

this is the 2cd best of marillion. it covers the two-singers period, the first one from fish (first cover) and the second one from steve hogarth (second cover)
the two periods have great songs, and all are here, so the compilation is really great. the booklet includes a brief explanation for every song and the records are nicely decorated.

from first period, obviously, script for a jester's tear, one of the best epic songs i've ever heard... , he knows you know, kayleigh -did you know how many girls were named after this one, being the nickname of fish's girlfriend? that is makin' history!!-, lavender, heart of lothian ... all great songs
from the second period, maybe the best song they ever did: the great escape, no one can, the ballad -maybe we would miss here splintering heart-, hooks in you, made again ...

9/10 brilliant compilation

wild frontier

was he a rocker? yes!!, and he did great!... as a blues-man, i really do not dig in ...
i like every song from this record except one of the ballads ... too bluesy for me... material here is good: over the hills and far away, wild frontier, take a little time, thunder rising, friday on my mind ... great rockers. instrumental masterpiece, the loner's here too. strangers in the darkness and johnny boy are great ballads (though i prefer the rockers) ... and as a bonus are the 12'' version from the 2 first songs i named.
why does he kind-of-'renegade' of the hard rock? well, he has the right if he wants to, but sincerely, gary, i prefer your past compositions. by far. exception to make to the last instrumental i heard: beasts of burden ... intimate & lovely, really great ... but that is another story

9/10 brilliant

sharks

this record was a big disappointment for me. it is the last schenker record and i only found 2 really brilliant songs: serenity and sea of faith. the rest are just average rock songs. i mean, i expected a lot more from ufo. i did not expect any classic, but covenant was a great record.
it is not schenker look-a-like, but somehow i did not get caught with his riffs ... :-( ... shame...
the last song, it is an instrumental which i think it lasts only 1 minute ... and as i said time ago, where was the rest of the song?
i also foun disappointed japanese version had 5 bonus tracks... even being live versions, i would have loved to be here...

6/10 just average, nothing exciting

making contact

this one was the begining of the end. pete & michael had departed ... so how ufo could survive? maybe it should not have been called ufo ... truth is that it sounds as ufo, but the material is not so outstanding ... except by two cuts that i really find awesome. blinded by a lie is a hard rocker, with melody, punch and intensity. the other one, you and me is an awesome heart feelin¡ ballad as soft as try me. unfortunately these two songs have been put in the shelp of 'where are they now?' and somehow forgotten ... :-(
when it's time to rock is a decent cut also. the rest of the material is just average for my taste.
it is true that i expect better things from one of my best beloved bands, but i guess that this record they just filled the gaps because of the circumstances, so maybe this was a great achievement despite of all of it...

great cover art :-) ... i hope one day they could explain the meaning of all of them, we would have some fun :-D

7/10 nice to have

walk on water

1995. michael, phil, pete, paul & andy back again. just when i was being into ufo they reunite. and they come to spain but alas! i got ill and i miss the concert, even i had the ticket bought... :-( (cries)...
walk on water is possibly the most expensive record i bought since it was available only as japanese import. was it worthy? well, at first impression ... no!
i did not like it very much after first listenings... i was more into the strangers in the night stuff... time went by and i did more listenings and began to appreciate it was a good record.
favourites are: dreaming of summer (since the begining) and self made man. but later i added venus and pushed to the limit. of course, versions of lights out and doctor doctor did not count, since they were as good as the original ones. stop by a bullet was a strong song too.

the balance, well maybe i was not prepared since the style changed a bit for me... though they were the five horsemen... it will not remain as a favourite record, but some songs shine with their own light

by the way, where were the ufo art covers??

8/10 nice to have

mechanix

there are good damn songs in this record, but reach the level of lights out or the wild, the willing and the innocent is too much ask for.
let it rain, instant classic. rnr song, nice video too.

Two lovers in a desperate game
She holds him close but their love's in vain
And the married man that you laid
Goes back home to his own charade

we belong to the night, the ballad terri, nice too. back into my life. great again. absolutely precious.



Its another night out on the avenue
Looking for something, something that you knew
And you're wondering where she is
Now there's now there's no more rendezvous

the writer, somethin' else, a cochran cover with its infectious rythm too.
i guess the main theme for the record is broken relationships. the band would begin to have many line up changes ... :-(

the songs are great, the melodies are great and composition is great again, but somehow, outstanding cuts as let it rain or we belong to the night or terri are often underrated. we just tend to remember strangers in the nigth songs ... sadly

9/10 brilliant indeed

the wild, the willing and the innocent

strange title, strange cover ... but just that, strange. another ufo record :-)
this is brilliant, all the songs are surrounded by great melodies and riffs. composition is great and paul chapman demonstrates he can play, he can compose, and he does it in a great way.
chains,chains, long gone, it's killing me, makin' moves, lonely heart, all great songs. why the material of this record is often forgotten for the live set it is a mystery to me since it is first class. the record ends with one of the best ufo songs ever: profession of violence, maybe not to play in a rnr concert, but to enjoy for its beauty, and one of the most memorable solos i can think of ... this song is just awesome and makes the record to reach for its classic status.
8 tracks only ... this is the only deffect.

10/10 classic status

euphoria

i guess this was an attempt to recover after slang experiment. did they succeed? well, i would say partially ...
there are good songs, definetively: opener demolition man is a powerful rock song. and it is great. promises and back in your face are interesting since they manage to keep the new lepp spirit back. goodbye is the ballad. not a bad one, but nothing to do with tonight, love bites or bringin' on the heartache ... just acceptable. then we arrive to what i find the masterpiece paper sun. this song is guaranteed to blow your mind away. it has all i like in a song, power and feelin'. the rest of the record is maybe too experimental to me... but at least, the first side was good enough...

so, a group has to evolve and you can not write pyromania II, this i understand. as long as they are delivering good songs i would love this band, and paper sun is such a damn good song :-D

7/10 nive to have

slang

i remember when i bought this record. i was waiting for the D-day, and being a 2CD collection edition i did not think twice. after the first listenings i remember thinking ... what is this exactly? it is def leppard but does not sound as any of lepp. records... :-( i was a bit deceived, and i recognize this is not what i listen most ... anyway it is def leppard (but casualties of steve clark and pete willis) ...
all i want is everything is the ballad that makes the record. and the angry-badmooder song, deliver me is also powerful. blood runs cold and slang are decent songs.
the style change was definitely not a success...
fortunately the next record recovered the original logo ... again this is another story.
the second cd is an acoustic in singapour with 6 songs. someone to explain me, why the hell it did not include the whole concert ... 8 songs, so just 2 more songs... so you know who's to blame ;-) ...
don't get me wrong, i love def leppard, but this is somehow strange ... however i recognize the band is able to do what they want and i do not feel bretrayed because i liked more their original style :-D

7/10 easily forgettable ...

no place to run

paul chapman's was performing a very difficult replacement. this is the first of post-schenker records. and the result is ... it is not bad, has its owns gems, but it does not arrive to match obsession or lights out. anyway, he does a good job. standout cuts are no place to run, letting go and young blood. so 3 really brilliant songs it is not a bad debut. gone in the night is another great song. take it or leave it is not a bad one. of course everything is dominated by phil's brilliant voice. mystery train is a cover song, the band really like to dig in, as it is played live, but i am not into it, sorry...
its follow up would team the last records mentioned reaching the classic status, but that is another story ;-)

7/10 nice to have

obsession

what a cover! one of the best ever. the components of the band with bubbles in the face but michael... this is really to impact. to astonish. and the music? the music is great!
this is the last record to feature the german axeman. it is not as compact as lights out, but it shines.
the intial rocker, only you can rock me it is a classic timeless. ain't no baby and pack it up and go are not special favourites from me, but they seem to please most of fnas, but then we arrive to looking out for no1, a track i really dig in. hot n'ready and cherry are two songs that make the live set, and they are good. but it is the last song, born to lose, that makes me shiver. it is an incredible song, seem to be lost from everyone, since i never heard that made it into a best of or a live set. the song is awesome, a slow lament with the guitar solo, signature of michael. phil's voice never had been better. a truly solid record

they could have been as big as zeppelin. strangers in the night was the proof. it seems somehow that you can reach for what you want, but then become scared... and michael left... it may be strange for us but achieving all you want might not be as easy... :-S

9/10 brilliant

loose worth songs

porcelaine queen from runaway brides' brides of destruction. this song is just outstanding. it has become an obsession. its infectious rythm caught it since first hearing. it is not a ballad or powerballad but a lament song. anyway, excellent. great. the rest of the songs do not have meaning for me.

catherine from van halen. actually it is not a song from this record but a song that eddie worked on. it seems there was a controversy because a rock star was working on the osb of a porn movie. i still try to understand why, the controversy? anyway the song is sexy, with feelin', strong and with a guitar only eddie is able to touch your feelings for an intimate night.


beasts of burden from gary moore. this one is great. it is time since i did not hear a good new song from this guitar player. strangely it made only the single i have found my love in you, and not the album. the other instrumental thing i love from gary is the loner. never enough appreciated.



hard rock hallelujah from lordi is another song i can not get bored by. i mean, it is great, powerful and strong with a catchy chorus and funny lyrics. many people, included i thought it may be a joke, but after listening to it i changed wisely my opinion. great song!




ain't crying for the moon from kingdom come has a perfect heart breaking emotional ballad first part. only for this it deserves my attention and got me haunted for a while. great song, interesting cover.





reflections from once bitten... twice shy 's shy. this ballad is a personal favourite, and its solo makes it more memorable. they did another version, but as it often happens, the first one remains the best. shy should deserve recogntion at least for this song.





nobody's fool from cinderella's night songs has been to this day the only song i liked from this record. again it is not a ballad but a mid tempo with energy and obsessive rythm. this is an old one, but i song i can get enough of. just this one. fortunately, cinderella has better records :)




no stranger to love from tony iommi 7th star record. great solo, great riffs from tony and majestic voice from glenn hughes. another song i can't get enough of. black sabbath talkin' about love? commercial? who cares, as long as the song rocks!




dreamer from ozzy's down to earth. strange, somehow i relate this record to rainbow's, but had nothing yo do. ozzy is not a singer that i love. few songs are able to impress me. this one is a mellow ballad which i find quite interesting





shot in the dark from ozzy's ultimate sin is the greatest song he has ever done, singing in the right key ... i mean, the version megadeth did of paranoid sounded a million times better. but this song is just hypnothic for me, it has more to be with the rythm than the melody, but anyway, the song is awesome. it was the first song that made me re-think my wrong concept of ozzy. :-)


julia (acoustic version) from axxis. somehow obsessed by this song, a peaceful acoustic very melodic. melancholic piano & acoustic ballad. very nice.






the last note of freedom is a song for david coverdale. the song was written, he went and sang. the song is great, the solos are brilliant, and david's voice just fits like a glove, a very nice discovering from the past thanks to internet.

dancing with st. peter

$ign of 4. a nice girl from my job brought it to me from england. and it was not cheap. but of course it was well worth.
this is like a light-ufo, being only phil mogg the ufo component. but as you can see, his voice is so unique that you will think in ufo as soon as you hear it. jeff kollman is teaming forces, he also made it in the last mogg/way record.
the material is nice, and there are some outstanding tracks.
title track, dancing with st. peter is absolutely great. we are talking here all about mid tempos, at least they are the ones which please me most from this record.
after glow and seems to me are the two great songs that join the title track in my favourite tracks, and made into my ipod.
the others, well, not bad: overload, driven, las meadows sanctum divine ... but not as awesome as the first that i have named

8/10 very nice to have

force it

after the phenomenon record, which by the way left us 2 outstanding classics, ufo style begins to show with force.
tracks as let it roll, with a magnificient slow solo in the middle of the song, shoot shoot, the classical mother mary, part of any ufo concert, and out in the street which is another favourite of mine, show that ufo is consolidating a star with its own shining light. this kids is another song that can make the live set. amongst the rest, high flyer is a song that deserves as well recognition. it is a solid record which was preparing the path for the immense 1977 lights out.

ufo still were not massive, they would reach that point with the obsession record, in the tour were strangers in the night was recorded. i always think that ufo was about to make it but schenker departure prevented the band from reaching a status few bands are able to get it. maybe they could have matched led zeppelin, but i guess that this would have been too much... but they had all the ingredients for 'the soup' :-)

great cover art by the way, what could it mean? ;-)

9/10 great to have.

high'n dry

strange cover, but that was the group wanted when signed by hipgnosis. anyway, def leppard's here influenced totally by ac/dc ... maybe it had something to do the previous gig they did as supporters ;-)
the stuff here is awesome. i mean, all the songs are heavy, with great riffs, melodic and you can go rnr... just one ballad, a great power-ballad, and it is great too. a small instrumental switch 625 with is great too. no fillers. 0% fillers. this is really difficult to get matched. this is probably my favourite lepp record.
I guess the group was beginning to get its own musical identity.

The songs are: Let it Go, Another Hit and Run, High 'N' Dry (Saturday Night), Bringin' on the Heartbreak, Switch 625,You Got Me Runnin', Lady Strange, On Through the Night, Mirror, Mirror, No No No and as bonus a remix of Bringin' on the Heartbreak and Me & My Wine.

10/10 timeless classic

no heavy petting

usually classified as second range, this is not a masterpiece ... well, maybe you haven't heard the whole record ... it has weak points, but it is a great record. natural thing and the mid tempo i'm a loser can make any ufo concert, so this is a great beginning.
can you roll her is a great fast track, but with no aggressive style as lights out.
belladona is the delicious slow tempo, but not a ballad, with great guitar chords and a majestic voice. real nice song.
and we have to reach the final record to find a great song which was not composed by pete, michael or phil: martian landscape, which never did the live, maybe because the atmosphere is a bit difficult to make it, but it is a great song anyway.

8/10 indispensable for ufo fans

lights out

this is the best studio effort from my beloved british band. 8 songs only. what a shame!
too hot to handle opens the record. a heavy riff with a catchy chorus.
just another suicide, great song, not played life, but a great one, courtesy of phil.
try me, what a ballad! for showtime dvd it was recorded with violins. it is a nice song, but somehow it was forgotten, but not by me :-D
the title track shows aggresivity and force. it is a powerful song melodic, and it seems you are gettin' out of hell. a true classic. mandatory in every concert. gettin' ready and electric phase are just average, and then we come to a cover song, alone again or, which just fits in ufo style. very catchy too. i would say it is an amusement from the band.
the best way to close an unforgettable record is with another memorable song: love to love. the solo is really incredible. the song is absolutely majestic, awesome. michael is a genius, but i have to admit that the song played by paul chapman in rockpalast 80' is slightly different but absolutely impressive and is able to make the people believe it is from his own. paul's performance is incredible, and the band stays at the same high level.
it is a classic record that ... was made in 77'??? so what?

10/10 brilliant timeless