Archive for great white rising album

METAL ODYSSEY’S HEAVY METAL HONORABLE MENTIONS OF 2009!

Posted in 1970's hard rock bands, 1970's classic rock music, 1970's heavy metal bands, 1980's heavy metal bands, 1990's heavy metal bands, Album Review, best of album lists, best of hard rock albums list, best of heavy metal albums, classic rock albums, classic rock music, cool album covers, current hard rock albums, current hard rock bands, current heavy metal albums, current heavy metal bands, extreme metal music albums, extreme music, hard rock albums 2009, hard rock bands 2009, hard rock music 2009, heavy metal album covers, heavy metal albums, heavy metal albums 2009, heavy metal bands, heavy metal bands 2009, heavy metal history, heavy metal music 2009, metal odyssey, Music, old school hard rock, old school heavy metal, rock music with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 31, 2009 by Metal Odyssey

Here are ten albums that did not make it to my Looking Back On 2009/Awards List, Top Ten Hard Rock Albums List or my Top 25 Heavy Metal Albums List. These are albums that I did buy, enjoyed, still listen to and reviewed on Metal Odyssey during 2009. They all deserve some Metal attention as well. There is no specific order of importance here, these are albums that I really want to celebrate – for their overall integrity in musicianship and songs. From the Progressive/Extreme Metal of Daath to the Hard Rock meets Heavy Metal of the ultra legendary Thin Lizzy, these 2009 albums blanket a few genres. It just wouldn’t feel right to me, not revisiting these albums one more time, in an end of year list. I put the header link below each album, so you can read the original review I posted during 2009. Enjoy or scream at this list… Happy Metal New Year too!

CHARM CITY DEVILS – LET’S ROCK AND ROLL

Charm City Devils “Let’s Rock-N-Roll” – A Charming Hard Rock Album

GREAT WHITE – RISING

Great White “Rising” rises to the top with A+ Hard Rock

CHILDREN OF BODOM – SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET

Children Of Bodom – “Skeletons In The Closet” Album Of Cover Songs Is Metal Thrashing Good

U.D.O. – DOMINATOR

U.D.O. – “DOMINATOR” Unleashes Potent Heavy Metal

ANVIL – THIS IS THIRTEEN

ANVIL – “THIS IS THIRTEEN” – THIS IS OLD SCHOOL, REAL HEAVY METAL

LAZARUS A.D. – THE ONSLAUGHT

LAZARUS A.D. “The Onslaught” – a real intense Thrash Metal invasion

RONNY MUNROE – THE FIRE WITHIN

Ronny Munroe “The Fire Within” – Metal Church vocalist roars on solo debut

SAXON – INTO THE LABYRINTH

Saxon continues to Rock with Old School Heavy Metal

DAATH – THE CONCEALERS

DAATH – “The Concealers” is a full blown Metal onslaught!

THIN LIZZY – STILL DANGEROUS

LIVE AT THE TOWER THEATRE PHILADELPHIA 1977

Thin Lizzy “Still Dangerous” reminds me Metal never ages.

Well, this will be the fourth and final list, in the Best Of 2009 Series of posts I’ve done this past week. All of my Metal accolades are out in the open for all to read and dissect. I thank any and everyone for taking the time to stop by Metal Odyssey for a visit(s) in 2009! I anticipate a tremendously Metal 2010! Let the new Hard Rock and Heavy Metal releases come! If you like, you can check out the other Metal Odyssey – Best Of 2009 posts, (there are 3 other posts), just click on the header links below:

METAL ODYSSEY’S TOP TEN HARD ROCK ALBUMS OF 2009

METAL ODYSSEY’S TOP 25 HEAVY METAL ALBUMS OF 2009

METAL ODYSSEY LOOKS BACK ON HEAVY METAL 2009… AND SOME AWARDS!

Be sure to check out the following Hard Rock and/or Heavy Metal blogs for their respective Best Of 2009 Lists as well! There were many more cool albums released in 2009 than I was able to get my hands on! These other great blogs cover a ton of ground with Hard Rock and an array of Heavy Metal genres… it is all good fun to see so many albums that I have missed and where my favorites rank with other bloggers lists.

Heavy Metal Addiction – http://heavymetaladdiction.com/

All Metal Resource – http://allmetalresource.com/

Bring Back Glam – http://bringbackglam.squarespace.com/

Hair Metal Mansion – http://hairbangersradio.ning.com/

Hard Rock Hideout – http://hardrockhideout.com/

Heavy Metal Time Machine – http://metalmark.blogspot.com/

Imagine Echoes – http://www.imagineechoes.com/

Layla’s Classic Rock – http://laylasclassicrock.blogspot.com/

Metal Excess – http://metalexcess.com/

The Metal Minute – http://rayvanhornjr.blogspot.com/

Rock Of Ages – http://rockofages.wordpress.com/

The Ripple Effect – http://www.ripplemusic.blogspot.com/

Leave a comment »

Great White “Rising” rises to the top with A+ Hard Rock

Posted in 1980's hard rock, 1980's heavy metal music, 1980's metal music, 1990's heavy metal music, Album Review, cool album covers, current hard rock albums, current hard rock songs, current heavy metal albums, current heavy metal music, essential hard rock albums, Great White, great white 2009, Hair Metal, hair metal music, Hard Rock, hard rock album review, hard rock albums 2009, hard rock guitarists, hard rock songs, Heavy Metal, heavy metal album covers, heavy metal album review, heavy metal albums, heavy metal albums 2009, heavy metal guitarists, heavy metal music, heavy metal music 2009, Heavy Metal Reviews, heavy metal this decade, heavy metal vocalists, independent record labels, Metal, Music, Rock, rock music, Vocals with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 8, 2009 by Metal Odyssey

Great White “Rising” for me, is a retrospective listen, and it is not Heavy Metal. This is some inspiring, well written and high quality – Hard Rock. I can even go as far to say that “Rising” can be defined as a Rock album. You are not going to hear the 1980’s flamboyant, grandiose, guitar riff – infused Heavy Metal tunes here. No insanely – Metal driven solos either, some tastefully crafted solo’s do appear however, (“Danger Zone”), so do not despair. What I do hear on “Rising”, is a band that has clearly found themselves creating music straight from the heart. I am not trying to sound sappy here, sappy is not allowed on Metal Odyssey. What I am trying to convey is that Great White has proven to us Metalheads years ago, that they can play heavy and light up an Arena or two. I am convinced, after listening to “Rising”, that Great White is just as enthusiastic and talented as ever. Great White are real musicians… they do not need to carbon copy their past albums onto a 2009 release. “Rising” has some really addicting Old School Hard Rock flavor throughout.

Jack Russell on lead and background vocals has close to no resemblance of the Hair Metal heyday of his 1980’s voice. Forget the comparisons anymore to the legendary Robert Plant! (It started to get very old, even though Great White is what I consider the greatest Led Zeppelin cover band in the world). It is refreshing to hear Jack Russell not sound like a 1980’s retread. His vocals are absolutely superb on this album. “Danger Zone” and “Down On The Level” are two of the more hardest rockers on “Rising”, giving way to some of Jack Russell’s vocal past. “My Sanctuary” exemplifies what the Hard Rock ballads sound like on this album… free flowing with plenty of catchy grooves. “Situation” and “Shine” are songs that are similar, being heavy enough that they are very far removed from being mellow meltdowns. “All Or Nothin” is laden with enough grooves, hooks and foot stomping moments to make this my favorite track. “Loveless” is a real retrospective visit to late ’70’s early ’80’s Hard Rock sound- only it is a really good visit at that. Great White in my Metal opinion, has found the perfect balance of melody and harmonious vocals with just enough heavy guitar and rhythm section to make “Rising” a legitimate Hard Rock keeper.

I cannot possibly compare Great White of the ’80’s to Great White of 2009. I dig the music from both Great White eras. I find it cool when a band, especially one that is renowned for Heavy Metal, digs a little deeper into their musical souls and delivers a knock out of an album, filled with tunes you were not really expecting. Great White “Rising” should appeal to a very vast audience of genres… Hard Rock, Rock and Heavy/Hair Metal fans should find what they like on this album, I know I have. With all of my mentioning of retrospective on this review of “Rising”, I am steadfast against the labeling of music as being dated. Just because music brings back memories of other decades or sounds like music from the past, does not make it uncool. Look at how many CD’s and albums that the immortal Elvis and legendary Beatles sell on a weekly basis… if dated music does exist, then I guess dated music is in. Great White of 2009 is happening for me. I have spoken my Metal point.

“Rising” was released on April 21, 2009, on Shrapnel Records. And now, a Metal Odyssey roll call of the members of Great White, as they appear on “Rising”: Jack Russell – lead and background vocals, Mark Kendall – guitar and background vocals, Audie Desbrow – drums, Michael Lardie – guitar, keyboards, mandolin, sitar, harmonica, percussion and background vocals, Scott Snyder – bass and background vocals.

fullsize-1

1 Comment »

%d bloggers like this: