Hard Rock - old and new

[KevShmev]

Speaking of Blue Oyster Cult, I tried to get into them, but to no avail. I really got hooked on "Dominance and submission", though. God it's a groovy song. 

 

BOC is not a band that is gonna knock your over with great songs all over the place right away.  Their consistency in writing really good song is what got me.  In fact, I would say they have very few 10/10 songs, but they have tons of 8s and quite a few 9s as well.  Plus, they often channel that dark and erie vibe which is very infectious. 

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

they have very few 10/10 songs

Burnin' for You is unquestionably one of them.

[Lowdz]

Michael Lee Firkins

I remember when he FIRST came on the scene on Shrapnel.  I'd read how just crazy good the guy was, but I never got around to listening to any of his stuff.

I can't remember if you'd said wether or not you've heard any of Paul Gilbert's solo stuff?  If not (either of the two of you), it's a pretty cool departure from his Racer-X/Mr. Big/"More chops than a butcher shop" kinda thing.  He DOES have a couple solo albums that are all instrumental, but most of his solo albums have some pretty decent poppy songwriting, albeit with a MONSTER guitarist on the solos.  Also, he's not a bad singer, either.    Very good stuff.

Definitely check out the Michael Lee Firkins from his self titled. Tasty stuff.

I've got most of PG's stuff. Flying Dog is the best for me but he's pretty consistent. Not a huge Racer X fan tbh, prefer mr Big.


Not the biggest BOC fan but I haven't heard much by them. I love The Marshall Plan- Cultosaurus is about all I've heard by them other than Godzilla and DFTR.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Racer X's cover of Godzilla is excellent.

[r0cken]

I have one Michael Lee Firkins CD collecting dust on my shelf. "Cactus Cruz". I remember liking it for five minutes, but then totally forgot about it.
Used to listen to some Gary Moore a few years back, it wasn't bad, but also didn't leave a lasting impression.

This is turning into a "Guitarists" topic... Which I actually meant to open at one time. To stir things back a little... There's a great guitarist (yeah) that used to do a little shred, than moved to blues and funk, and finally settled on hard rock. Richie Kotzen. He's got a great voice too. One of my long time favorites. Very prolific, keeps releasing solid records every few years.
He can shred or blues.
He can funk, he can fusion.
And he can hard rock.

[Lowdz]

I have one Michael Lee Firkins CD collecting dust on my shelf. "Cactus Cruz". I remember liking it for five minutes, but then totally forgot about it.
Used to listen to some Gary Moore a few years back, it wasn't bad, but also didn't leave a lasting impression.

This is turning into a "Guitarists" topic... Which I actually meant to open at one time. To stir things back a little... There's a great guitarist (yeah) that used to do a little shred, than moved to blues and funk, and finally settled on hard rock. Richie Kotzen. He's got a great voice too. One of my long time favorites. Very prolific, keeps releasing solid records every few years.
He can shred or blues.
He can funk, he can fusion.
And he can hard rock.

The album and live dvd he did with Poison were excellent. Not been impressed with his solo stuff though haven't listened to much of his vocal stuff. I'm just not very funky. His widdly widdly shred stuff lacked melody for me.

[Lowdz]

Just noticed your "recently played" thing- that Dynasty album is a classic. Still album of the year for me. Up there with Danger Danger's Revolve, Crazy Lixx's New Religion and Treat's Coup de Gras as modern hard rock classics.

[r0cken]

Oh yeah, that Dynazty album really caught me unprepared. I'm generally trying to stay away from all the new-generation hair bands, especially the Swedish sleaze ones. But this one really grabbed me! Really solid, hard rock release.
I'm surprised we agree on something!   

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Just noticed your "recently played" thing- that Dynasty album is a classic. Still album of the year for me. Up there with Danger Danger's Revolve, Crazy Lixx's New Religion and Treat's Coup de Gras as modern hard rock classics.

BAHAHA.  At first my brain went to Kiss - Dynasty. 

[TAC]

Just noticed your "recently played" thing- that Dynasty album is a classic. Still album of the year for me. Up there with Danger Danger's Revolve, Crazy Lixx's New Religion and Treat's Coup de Gras as modern hard rock classics.

BAHAHA.  At first my brain went to Kiss - Dynasty. 

Naturally, mine too.

[Lowdz]

Dynasty is a great KISS album. Some great songs and Ace was on fire.

And I should have spelled it Dynazty.

[LudwigVan]

Black Country Communion, for new hard rock with a 70s classic rock flair. Shades of Deep Purple, Bad Company, Led Zeppelin, Sabbath, Hendrix etc

[Scorpion]

Black Country Communion, for new hard rock with a 70s classic rock flair. Shades of Deep Purple, Bad Company, Led Zeppelin, Sabbath, Hendrix etc

Sounds cool, which album would you recommend?

[LudwigVan]

They have 3 albums out: Their s/t debut, BCC2 and Afterglow, which just came out in the last month. I'd say you might as well start with 1st. BCC2 is just as good though. Haven't had a chance to listen to the new one yet.

For those who don't already know, the band's got ties to Deep Purple, Zeppelin and DT.

Glenn Hughs, formally from Deep Purple Mk
III, is the bassist/vocalist. Jason Bonham's the drummer and Derek Sherinian's the keyboardist. Guitarist Joe Bonamassa's voice sounds much like Rodgers of Bad Co. 

[rogerdil]

Expanding Man - Head to the Ground is a good hard rock album, would have been more popular if not released in the '90s.

A good instrumental, crunchy shredder guitar album is Michael Fath's Shake.

As for progressive hard-rock (as opposed to rock or metal), France's Nemo comes to mind. 

[Scorpion]

They have 3 albums out: Their s/t debut, BCC2 and Afterglow, which just came out in the last month. I'd say you might as well start with 1st. BCC2 is just as good though. Haven't had a chance to listen to the new one yet.

For those who don't already know, the band's got ties to Deep Purple, Zeppelin and DT.

Glenn Hughs, formally from Deep Purple Mk
III, is the bassist/vocalist. Jason Bonham's the drummer and Derek Sherinian's the keyboardist. Guitarist Joe Bonamassa's voice sounds much like Rodgers of Bad Co.

Great stuff, LudwigVan, thanks for the rec! You seem to recommend quite some awesome stuff to me, first A Pleasant Shade of Grey and now this.

[TAC]

Scorp, LudwigVan has forgotten more about music than most people on this forum know.

[ColdFireYYZ]

Any Robin Trower fans here? Bridge of Sighs is a great blues/hard rock album.

Edited to add: I saw him last year and it was mesmerizing watching him play. The show was only 90 minutes but it was a killer show.

[TAC]

Any Robin Trower fans here? Bridge of Sighs is a great blues/hard rock album.

Never got into Robin Trower..

[DebraKadabra]

Any Robin Trower fans here? Bridge of Sighs is a great blues/hard rock album.

Edited to add: I saw him last year and it was mesmerizing watching him play. The show was only 90 minutes but it was a killer show.

I'm not as familiar with Robin's music as I should be, but what I've heard blew me away.  My Dad was (and probably still is) a big fan of his.

[Pols Voice]

Robin Trower is great. I haven't heard too much of his stuff, though. The late James Dewar was a really good vocalist.

[r0cken]

Black Country Communion, for new hard rock with a 70s classic rock flair.

Listened to their first album when it came out, liked the dense sound and a few songs. But eventually it was a bit too 70s for me. Obviously should appeal to everyone who likes Zep, D. Purple and such.

[Cyclopssss]

Thin Lizzy
Led Zeppelin
Deep Purple
Rainbow
Judas Priest
Van Halen
Iron Maiden (yes)
KISS
UFO
Motorhead

[r0cken]

Want to recommend a new band that really impressed me. The name is Furyon, a relatively new UK band, and they play a little heavier brand of hard rock with excellent melodies. Lots of influences can be heard from stoner to prog to alternative to traditional heavy metal, and it's all wrapped in this modern, dense and polished sound (some might say it's too modern, but I'm totally into it).
It needs a few listens to settle in, but than it just gets better and better. Probably my album of the year.
Here are two official videos: Disappear Again and Don't Follow.
And the whole album can be heard on bandcamp.

[King Postwhore]

I am Shocked that TAC did not mention the Scorpions.


I'd like to throw my love towards a band that started in the late 80's and is still out there.


King's X

[TAC]

Much of the 90's and 00's Scorps have been forgettable, but from 76-82 the Scorps were Excellent.

[King Postwhore]

I figured you would have posted that all ready.

Speaking of BOC, I found an old ticket from The Revolution By Night tour with Also Nova opening.  On of the few tickets I could read since we has a flood in the basement a few years ago before I got a generator.  Without power the sump pimp does not work and I lost all my tickets.

[Kwyjibo]

Good call on King's X. This band is great but never really had the big breakthrough.

And I'd like to add another hard rockin' band: Tesla!

[r0cken]

Yeah, Tesla rocks. Still active too, had a couple of interesting albums out in the last few years.

Gave up on King's X some time ago. Really tried to get into them, but they're just not my thing I guess.

No one mentioned Whitesnake. My favorite album would be "Saints And Sinners". Also, the 2008 "Good To Be Bad" is surprisingly solid, saw them live supporting that album. Coverdale is one energetic grandpa.

[BlobVanDam]

Yeah, Tesla rocks. Still active too, had a couple of interesting albums out in the last few years.

Gave up on King's X some time ago. Really tried to get into them, but they're just not my thing I guess.

No one mentioned Whitesnake. My favorite album would be "Saints And Sinners". Also, the 2008 "Good To Be Bad" is surprisingly solid, saw them live supporting that album. Coverdale is one energetic grandpa.

Saw them on the same tour. They played here a bit before the album came out, so I'd only heard the official stream a couple of times before I went. They opened with Best Years, which completely bombed, but everyone seemed to dig All For Love, and especially Lay Down Your Love, which the whole crowd was singing by the end of the first chorus. Great tune.

Both of their recent albums are really strong, although 1987 still comes out on top for me. I don't listen to a lot of their stuff before Slide It In, aside from the more well known songs.

[r0cken]

I never understood how lots of people seem to dislike the 80s (well maybe not here), yet 1987 is Whitesnake's most popular album, with the hair and the spandex and the pop-metal feel.

Coverdale's solo stuff is great, love the '77 Northwinds, and '97 Resteless Heart.

[BlobVanDam]

No, most people here hate the '80s (at least, the cool stuff). I love all the '80s stuff though.

And I love Restless Heart. And Coverdale/Page is great too. Coverdale can do no wrong, except for his 2000 solo album. Terrible.

[MoraWintersoul]

Whitesnake was my second-favorite band when I was 14 *memories* Restless Heart kicked some ass, and Coverdale/Page did as well. A lot of my favorite Whitesnake songs are on their late 70's/early 80's albums, but they're terribly inconsistent, 80's win for consistency really.

Both of the newer albums are snazzy, I preferred Good To Be Bad though. Saw them last year with Judas Priest and was thoroughly unimpressed - a really short, greatest-hits type of setlist, kind of like what mediocre local rock bands play at cover gigs, except it wasn't much better hearing Whitesnake doing it either. Okay, I get the "short" part, but they didn't even play Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City. That's, like, a crime against humanity. Luckily Judas Priest was there to rock the house.

[wolfking]

In what way is Slash overrated? 

Every way possible, especially his crappy guitar playing.

[r0cken]

  they didn't even play Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City. That's, like, a crime against humanity.

They played it for us...  They weren't opening for Judas Priest, luckily (for me), and played a full set.