Ace Frehley has waited a long time to create and produce a new album, Anomaly is so incredibly worth the wait. I finally bought Anomaly today, (September 23, ’09, yeah, I am a week late from it’s release date), what an album of 12 songs. An unreal good album, a can’t miss for any fan of any Rock genre. I cannot stop listening to this new Ace Frehley album, oh darn. Anomaly for me, is one of those albums that I get contagious about and addicted to… oh darn. Before buying this album, I had not a clue as to what any of the songs sounded like. Man, what an incredible surprise to hear these songs for the first time… this album leans more towards Ace Frehley’s 1978 KISS solo album – not towards the sound of his Frehley’s Comet band from the late 1980’s. The Metal kicker is this… Anomaly rocks harder and heavier than the Ace Frehley 1978 KISS solo album, my ears cannot tell a lie. Where Anomaly gives a nod to 1978 is this: Old School Hard Rock and Heavy Metal. With that being said, Anomaly definitely embodies the grooves and heaviness of today’s Heavy Metal sound, while veering away from any resemblance of late 1980’s commercial heavy sound that was so popular in it’s day.
As I listen to Ace Frehley play guitar throughout Anomaly, all I can say to those who want to listen is this – Ace Frehley is back!! Ace Frehley shall remind the Rock and Roll world with all of it’s genres that yes, he can play guitar very well… and sing too. Ace Frehley’s vocals do not sound like a man who has been out of the recording studio for so many years, instead, it is my Metal opinion that Ace Frehley’s vocals are damn good and cool. Just listening to Anomaly takes me back to the days when quality songs were an important staple to Hard Rock and Heavy Metal bands. A sense of urgency to be real, is what I hear through the entirety of Anomaly, Ace Frehley has fused his very own Hard Rock and Heavy Metal sound with a nod to yesteryear, making Anomaly an album that far extends any relevance factor. From the song writing to the band backing up Ace Frehley here, this is a total album package. Ace Frehley has plenty of cool and damn good solo’s throughout this entire album, one of the many quality points of Anomaly.
I have been a KISS fan since the late ’70’s, I guess once you follow a pack of musicians throughout your entire life you feel lucky that they are still around and making music. Honestly, this Anomaly album is genuine, I wouldn’t just settle for liking an album because of it’s past KISS association. Here are my top choices for songs on Anomaly: Genghis Khan, Space Bear, Fractured Quantum and Fox On The Run. (I could list more, yet I have made my Metal point already). Genghis Khan Rocks out at 6:08, the rhythm section introduces this song in pumped up heavy fashion, just a tremendous song overall. Space Bear and Fractured Quantum are the two instrumentals, two songs that justify Ace Frehley as the brilliant guitar player he is, not to mention songwriter. Fox On The Run is a cover of the 1974 Sweet song, from their Desolation Boulevard album. What a blast of Rock this Ace Frehley version of Fox On The Run is, a fabulous cover version. Alright, here are a couple more standouts for me – It’s A Great Life is a Hard Rock song that takes me straight down Old School memory lane, with straight up lyrics to compliment it. A Little Below The Angels is a self reflective song by Ace Frehley, in my Metal opinion, a very cool song that is straight from the heart. In Metal summary, I give a boisterous yeah! Ace Frehley is back!!
Here are some Ace Frehley notes to enrich your Metal mind:
With the exception of Fox On The Run, Ace Frehley wrote every song on Anomaly, as well as producing the album.
Anton Fig is the drummer on nine out of the twelve songs on Anomaly.
On the back cover of the Anomaly CD jacket sleeve, there reads: … And In Memory Of Eric Carr & Dimebag Darrell. This type of dedication to late friends, shows that Ace Frehley is a class act.
The CD digipak for Anomaly is die-cut with 5 sides, instructions are enclosed to build this packaging into a three dimensional pyramid. The album cover art concept and design is by Ace Frehley.
Be sure to check out Ace Frehley’s official website… it is really cool. http://www.acefrehley.com/
King Diamond, the legendary Metal front man for Mercyful Fate and Horror Metal/Heavy Metal icon. King Diamond and his band have left more than a mark on Heavy Metal history, a chunk of Heavy Metal history is King Diamond. On October 13, 2009, the infamous Metal Blade Records will reissue two King Diamond Classics… The Graveyard and The Spider’s Lullabye. Very cool. Just in time for Halloween… very cool again. Both albums have been re-mastered by King Diamond guitarist Andy LaRocque. The Spider’s Lullabye was originally released in 1995, with The Graveyard originally released in 1996. Bonus live bootleg footage will be available for download, for those who purchase either of these two reissues. The bonus footage for download will be these three King Diamond songs: The Spider’s Lullabye, Trick Or Treat and Up From The Grave. Reissue’s are always great, especially when they include new songs and/or videos – downloading the bonus content for these albums is fine with me, especially when King Diamond is looking at giving the fans the highest quality in sound and video. Man, I better start saving up some spare change or my Christmas want list is going to be very long with all of the new Metal CD’s that are coming out next month! Metal rules. King Diamond is a big reason why. King Diamond is delivering a Happy Halloween to his fans and all fans of Metal on October 13, 2009.
Twisted Sister – Love Is For Suckers was released on August 13, 1987, on Atlantic Records. Back then, as a Metal fan, I was totally engulfed with Thrash and Speed Metal. To make a Metal confession, I never bought this Twisted Sister album, after owning their first four albums. I was not overly impressed with Come Out And Play, (released in 1985), I guess the first three Twisted Sister albums really spoiled me. So, I took in whatever songs MTV or the FM stations were playing from Love Is For Suckers. Seeing the video for Hot Love and hearing it played on FM radio very frequently, back in 1987-1988 was, I thought, the coolest extent of this album. I always liked Hot Love, this song reminds me of some cool times back in 1987-88… and there isn’t anything wrong with that. Hot Love is upbeat and (gasp), commercially catchy in it’s unique Heavy Metal way. A few years ago, I bought Twisted Sister’s Big Hits and Nasty Cuts: The Best of Twisted Sister, it contains several cool live bonus tracks that enticed me… unreal great songs at that. The Metal kicker here, is that there are no songs from Love is for Suckers on this Best of album… I smell controversy. Therefore, my continuation of never hearing more than Hot Love from Love is for Suckers continued… Fast forward to September 18, 2009… Twisted Sister – Love is for Suckers has for all Metal intents and purposes, made a sucker out of me.
Highly recommended to all Metal fans all over the globe! That is just how unreal good Retribution from Shadows Fall is… that I start off by just bluntly recommending this new album. Seriously, Retribution is one solid chunk of Thrash Metal Music for me. On this new release, (released September 15, 2009), Shadows Fall sounds as if they are not holding back the hard and heavy for no one. I am not taking the easy way out by saying all ten songs are damn incredible. The all encompassing barrage of Metal fury, that highlights each turn and corner on Retribution, is like a Metal power rush to my brain that I do not want to end. In my Metal opinion, it very much seems as if Shadows Fall took a long and hard listen to the once in a millennium, Metal masterpiece from Slipknot called All Hope Is Gone… and decided they too wanted to raise their own Metal bar. The All Hope Is Gone influence I hear on Retribution, is deserving of a raucous Metal applause for Shadows Fall, for if this influence is to be true… Shadows Fall surely knows real Metal when they hear it. The unrelenting surge of Metal power both musically and vocally, (both lead and backing/gang vocals), found within Retribution, are the best ways I can describe my All Hope Is Gone comparison. 
My favorite Saxon song ever created is Denim And Leather, found on their 1981 album Denim And Leather. The riff that repeats throughout this entire song is so addicting and memorable for me. I swear that this song could never lose it’s Metal appeal, ever. Each time I listen to Denim And Leather, this song just resonates with Old School Heavy Metal swagger, pride and power. The power is in the Heavy Metal music, the pride is in the lyrics and the swagger is Biff Byford on lead vocals. Denim And Leather is probably one of the very first in a long line of Heavy Metal anthems. (I would not want to take on the task of actually researching which song was the very first Heavy Metal anthem … it does sound like a cool thing to do if I have the spare time in the future though). If I ever make a list of my top 25 favorite Heavy Metal songs of all time, man, Denim And Leather would be right up there. If someone who has never listened to Saxon before, asked me to play them a song from Saxon, Denim And Leather would be choice #1. When this song gets cranked up really loud, it makes for the Metal maximum enjoyable listen.
I really, really, really like In This Moment… especially the vocal talent of Maria Brink. I bought The Dream last September of 2008, man, what an album. Collectively speaking, In This Moment put out one incredibly melodic Heavy Metal album of songs, with The Dream. Sure, In This Moment took on a more mainstream Heavy Metal sound, yet it hooked me line and Metal sinker. On June 30, 2009, In This Moment released The Ultra Violet Edition of The Dream
On July 7th, 1984, Helix released Walkin’ the Razor’s Edge
I am Metal psyched about another great Metal album coming out in this month of September of 2009, Children of Bodom – Skeletons In The Closet
I cannot wait to get my hands on this new album and crank it up extremely loud, on September 23, 2009, I will. I am just very curious as to how the Britney Spears cover of Oooops! I Did It Again… is going to sound like. What about the Kenny Rogers song? Man, that should be a Metal hoot. Knowing the way Children of Bodom play their Metal, I am confident they will rage these songs into Extreme Metal bliss. Still, I cannot believe I am writing about Britney Spears, Kenny Rogers and Children of Bodom in the same post. One thing is for sure here, Children of Bodom can never be accused of not being diversified. The cover songs represent a darn cool list of bands here… Slayer, W.A.S.P., Iron Maiden, Alice Cooper, Scorpions, Ramones – these are legendary bands without question. Thank you, Finland, for the fine Metal export they call Children of Bodom.
KISS. I have the fever… it is the addiction to this enormous American Heavy Metal juggernaut that hooked me back in grammar school… the (gulp), 1970’s that is. Over this past Summer of 2009, (actually it goes back to last Winter too), I have ultra consistently listened to the KISS album “Unmasked”… after each listen I am a better Metalhead for it. Unmasked was released back on May 20, 1980, right before I embarked on my High School years. By now, for anyone who reads my stuff regularly, may be tired of my mentioning that I owned 8 track tapes… still, I need to tell the world that I owned Unmasked on 8 track, thank you all for understanding. The memories that get stirred up inside my Metal mind, each time I listen to Unmasked are good ones… the Summer of 1980… going to the UCONN Basketball Camp, collecting odd and evil looking spiders in my backyard and having no worries in the world other than entering a new teenage chapter in my life.
Megadeth. Just the name alone sounds like true Metal. Thrash Metal. The name Megadeth alone, reaches out and stuns the uninformed as to the fact, that this band is seriously heavy about all things Metal. One of the kings of Thrash Metal. Dave Mustaine… a founding father of Thrash Metal and unreal good guitarist, a Metal legend. (Gee, did I leave out any other important accolades here?). Really, any Metal fan has to agree that Dave Mustaine has the Megadeth Metal machine running full tilt… for quite a long time too. I am Metal giddy that “Endgame” is coming out on September 15th… the month of September looks better already, for me. If you do not count today, (September 2nd), there are just 13 days left until the Megadeth Thrash Metal onslaught of new material becomes heard in it’s entirety. That is less than two weeks away. I am Metal psyched. I was fortunate enough to see back in the late 80’s, a Metal triple bill of Savatage, Megadeth and DIO. The New Haven Coliseum was never the same after that show… that structure no longer exists. What a night of Metal it was… Megadeth blew me away, Dave Mustaine earned a fan for life. Dave Mustaine… Thrash Metal Champion. Megadeth shall return… Endgame.
Gene Simmons, The Demon, bass guitarist for KISS, music producer and actor. (The many hats this legend has worn are numerous, quite the achiever is Gene Simmons, in my Metal opinion). Gene Simmons always seems to stay in the public eye, the limelight follows this Heavy Metal icon everywhere he goes… with “Celebrity Apprentice” and his very own family reality series “The Family Jewels” making his presence seen and known while KISS is idle. A short while back, I started writing about my favorite KISS solo albums, in preferential order, no less. Why am I doing this? First, I am celebrating the four original members of KISS, their solo albums being what I consider to be quite a historical achievement in Heavy Metal and Rock history. The quality across the board is apparent in the music that Gene, Paul, Ace and Peter created with their solo albums… my reminding and/or informing anyone who is interested in these great KISS solo albums makes for a fine Metal deed. For me to list in order, my favorite KISS solo albums, (it is not etched in Metal stone here), deciding the sequence of which album ranks 1 thru 4, is based on which album has given me the biggest Metal listening thrill over the decades.
If I had to choose one of my favorite Rock instrumental songs of all time, there is no doubt “Frankenstein” comes to mind. The Edgar Winter Group released “They Only Come Out At Night” in November of 1972, this is the album you will find this original song on. Written by Edgar Winter, how ahead of it’s time was this song? Realistically, this now Classic Rock masterpiece of an instrumental song was as diversified as it was heavy. The multi talented musicianship of Edgar Winter is standout on “Frankenstein”, with the keyboards creating enough spookiness to validate the song’s title. The saxophone, in my Metal opinion, has always had a macabre sounding affect on me, only adding to the overall eerie coolness that “Frankenstein” erupts. I fell Metal head over heels for this song decades ago… I still slap this song on very frequently, especially around Halloween. Seriously, this song just goes perfect when Autumn arrives… once October hits, I have plenty of scary and heavy songs to bust out and revel in their dark side glory, “Frankenstein” leads the pack. No Halloween season can ever get by me, without listening to this song on a consistent basis. The Edgar Winter Group released a mammoth of a Rock album with “They Only Come Out At Night”, “Frankenstein” just made this release immensely complete, with it’s inclusion.
Blue Oyster Cult released “Fire Of Unknown Origin” in 1981, which was perfect timing for me. I already had Kiss, Foreigner, Cheap Trick, Queen, Ozzy Osbourne, AC/DC and Bad Company in my system back then, being wowed by Blue Oyster Cult was my ears next step in branching out into the Heavy Music world. Back in 1981, there was the choice of buying music on 8 track, I bought “Fire Of Unknown Origin” on this medium – thank you very much. (I no longer have this 8 track from yesteryear, the 8 track player is a memory as well). This album is just another example of what melded my Metal and Hard Rock Music tastes at a young age, (I was fifteen years old in 1981). Another stepping stone album, if you will, towards the lifetime of Metal and Hard Rock Music adoration that I behold. In my Metal opinion, this BOC album is an early 1980’s Heavy Metal meets Hard Rock album, that has consistently lured me back for many a listen over the years.
I listened to Joe Satriani “Surfing With The Alien” all day today… in the car, in the house and back in the car once again. (Released in 1987, I own both the vinyl LP and CD). I have those days, where I choose that one CD and listen to it the entire day. Joe Satriani is without question, one of my favorite guitarists that ever lived. Pinning down who my favorite guitarist is of all time is too impossible of a task – there are just way too many guitarists across the entire Rock and Heavy Music spectrum that I revere. It’s not that I do not want to get controversial about naming an all time favorite guitarist, I named what I feel is the greatest Metal album of all time, in a previous post – (Black Sabbath, “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath”). There are just so many unique styles of playing out there, in the world of guitarists, I tend to draw from a cornucopia of these styles and enjoy what I hear from a vast array of players. Joe Satriani really nails it down, with pin point accuracy, on this album. Combining speed and clarity, while slowing things down at all the right moments, makes for a harmonious and melodic guitar instrumental experience, is the best quick summary for Joe Satriani on “Surfing With The Alien”. The daunting question of: Is Joe Satriani a Rock, Hard Rock or Heavy Metal guitarist? – can only be answered by stating Joe Satriani can play it all and play it with greatness. The catalog of albums that Joe Satriani has created over the years proves just that, the proof is in his music.
Manowar plays Heavy Metal, their name screams Heavy Metal and they are Heavy Metal with a hundred exclamation points. “Battle Hymns” (released in 1982), was the first album from this prolific and what I consider historic Heavy Metal band. Why historic? Well, the last time I checked, Manowar held the Guinness Book of World Records title for having the loudest live performance. (I always disliked the word performance, especially when it relates to Heavy Metal). Besides being extremely loud, Manowar presented upon the world of Heavy Metal a gloriously lean, mean and heavy album with “Battle Hymns.” All eight songs on this album are laced with forcefully driven guitar leads, riffs and all things sacred to Heavy Metal. The first two song titles say it all – “Death Tone” and “Metal Daze”. What I like most about this album is that there is absolutely not one second of waste to be heard… from start to finish this is muscular, Old School, 500% – Heavy Metal. Of course, this Metal adulation I have for Manowar and “Battle Hymns” is all my Metal opinion, however, this is an album that needs to be heard by todays younger generation of Heavy Metal fans.
You know those moments or days when you experience a song that just seems to arrive or enter your mind, without being invited? It is subconscious for certain, something triggers a particular song to begin playing in my brain, be it secondary thoughts, reflections, images and/or events that happen in the course of a day’s routine. Today, I had the Savatage cover song of “Day After Day” playing repeat in my head. I honestly do not know why. I have not listened to this song from Savatage for many years, possibly a couple of decades. “Day After Day” is a song from the Savatage album “Fight For The Rock”, (released back in 1986). It is a cool song, without doubt a Hard Rock, borderline Heavy Metal cover version, compared to the original 1971 Rock version from Badfinger. I used to have this original “Fight For The Rock” vinyl, heck, I bought it back when it first came out. Over the years, I sold it for some oddball reason or another.
Metal Odyssey > Heavy Metal Music Blog 
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