Sons of Apollo (feat. Portnoy & Sherinian)

[Volante99]

Funny. I feel that way with about 90% of the “virtuosos” guitarists these days. I don’t have much time for Marty Friedman or Paul Gilbert solo albums but love their playing in bands. Dare I say even some of Steve Vai’s tastiest playing (outside of Passion & Warfare) was with DLR and the short lived band he put together with Devin Townsend. I’d kill to see Vai do just one more project with a proper band where he focuses more on the song and less on the theatrics, but I’m definitely not holding my breath. 

He did some good stuff with Whitesnake I thought on the Slip Of The Tongue album.

Vai is good on that one too but credit where credit is due, 95% of that album (including the guitar parts) was written by Adrian Vandenberg. I do love Vai’s playing on the album, though, and I love that album in general. Glad people seem to finally be coming around to it and Whitesnake did an awesome release for its 30th anniversary. Even Coverdale says he likes it more now than he did in ‘89.

I think Vai was always supposed to do the solos wasn’t he and then ended up playing Vandenberg’s parts as well. That’s always how I understood it, those solos sound like trademark Steve Vai to me. The album is decent but suffered in comparison as it followed their biggest album. Like you, I’m glad it’s getting a bit more recognition. Wings Of The Storm was a personal favourite song and awesome solo.

Yes, sorry I should have clarified, Vai wrote the solos, no question, but that’s allllmost it. Much of the guitar arrangements are fairly close to the early Vandenberg demos. Great playing throughout, though!

[Peter Mc]

I don't honestly remember what the press said. I read Kerrang but I don't remember what they said. Hit Parader and Circus were basically publicity rags anyway.

Whitesnake went form a band, and even though they had a lot of lineup changes, sacking the 1987 band for some sort of all star touring band, and then brining in Vai, I don't know. I just couldn't get behind it. Weren't their shows like 75 mins too?

No idea, like I say I wasn’t a huge fan so no real connection to the band members at the time and wasn’t going to shows back then. I did see Whitesnake on a co-headline tour with Def Leppard a few years ago though and they were terrible. Songs were boring to me and Coverdale seemed to be miming when he wasn’t being drowned out by the backing singers.

[Peter Mc]

Just had a quick blast of the Slip Of The Tongue highlights for the first time in probably 20 years, if not more, and those songs still hold up. Bands like SOA and Winery Dogs would kill for songs of that quality and a vocalist like Coverdale in his pomp.

[TAC]

I'm in the middle of a roulette right now. Maybe after if I remember, I'll check it. I do remember playing a song a few times on my radio show. I don't remember which one. Something upbeat though.

[RodrigoAltaf]

Just had a quick blast of the Slip Of The Tongue highlights for the first time in probably 20 years, if not more, and those songs still hold up. Bands like SOA and Winery Dogs would kill for songs of that quality and a vocalist like Coverdale in his pomp.

Fun fact: did you know that Coverdale hired Derek to replace Don Airey's parts on the Slip of the Tongue reissue that came out this year? It goes to show how well respected he is, and the caliber of player we're discussing here, guys.

[ReaperKK]

Remember when Mike tried to claim that this was not a side project but was a proper full time band and would be the top priority for all 5 of them? Just saw an interview with Thal where he said the album was done in 8 days as that was all the time they could spare. Sounds an awful lot like a side project to me where they cobble something together in a few days when they have time off from other things. If this is how little time and effort they put in, it doesn’t make me want to rush out and buy it.

Assuming this is true this I think is the root of the problem bands MP has been in. If you come in to write some music over an 8 day period chances are you'll come up with some rough drafts of stuff pulling from the bag of tricks that you have.

[ProfessorPeart]

He did say that, but it is not the whole story:


The writing process began at the start of the year, as Portnoy, Sherinian and guitarist Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal got together. “The three of us were at my home studio in Pennsylvania,” explains Portnoy. “And it took about three weeks to get all the music written.

“Because we all have our home studios, it meant everyone could record there as and when they had opportunity,” continues Sherinian. “We all had the luxury of being able to take our time to get all the parts done, which was a huge help in the way the album's come out. I suppose in all, it took about eight months to record everything.”

http://bravewords.com/news/ron-bumblefoot-thal-talks-making-of-new-sons-of-apollo-album-we-only-had-eight-days

[eric42434224]

I watched the video for the new song, and musically it didn't really grab me.  Not saying it was bad, but after listening to Flying colors for the first time (the 3rd album), this dos not feel on the same level.

What I did LOVE about the video was Ritchie Sambora with his wide brimed hat on guitar, Derek Zoolander doing Blue Steel on keyboards, and the singer with the Soul Glo activator.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

And still no War Pigs video...

 

For what it's worth, my band did War Pigs on Saturday...

[Peter Mc]

Just had a quick blast of the Slip Of The Tongue highlights for the first time in probably 20 years, if not more, and those songs still hold up. Bands like SOA and Winery Dogs would kill for songs of that quality and a vocalist like Coverdale in his pomp.

Fun fact: did you know that Coverdale hired Derek to replace Don Airey's parts on the Slip of the Tongue reissue that came out this year? It goes to show how well respected he is, and the caliber of player we're discussing here, guys.

Yeah, keyboards are not particularly a lead instrument in Whitesnake, certainly not this album, but I would agree that DS is an awesome player. Love his guitar like sound and does some cool solos. All the members of SOA are good players, it’s just that they aren’t great songwriters. Even as a fan of Soto, he’s never been a great songwriter and obviously he can’t sing at the level he could in his days with Yngwie and Axel Rudi Pell. It’s just a pity they couldn’t get a top level singer songwriter to harness their undoubted abilities into interesting songs.

[Peter Mc]

I watched the video for the new song, and musically it didn't really grab me.  Not saying it was bad, but after listening to Flying colors for the first time (the 3rd album), this dos not feel on the same level.

What I did LOVE about the video was Ritchie Sambora with his wide brimed hat on guitar, Derek Zoolander doing Blue Steel on keyboards, and the singer with the Soul Glo activator.

If only it was The Sambora. In his prime he would’ve taken this project to a completely different level as a brilliant player and singer and songwriter.

[bosk1]

I don't think of it this way, but essentially I'm buying Neal Morse records with Mike on them, not the other way around.

Exactly the same for me as well.  Except that I DO think of it that way.  I bought my first Neal Morse and Transatlantic albums because Mike was on them.  Then I realized how good both bands were, and I buy them now on their own merit.  And Neal is the driving force.  If either band replaced the drummer, it would likely still be an automatic buy. 

[bill1971]

I follow Jordan Rudess on Twitter and I found out he follows Derek on Twitter. I didn't know why I found that interesting. So now I see Derek's because of Jordan and Derek posted saying "Guess that tune?" He played the very beginning of their new song and I was tempted to respond "New Millennium?" but decided I didn't want to be a jerk.

[Stadler]

I don't think of it this way, but essentially I'm buying Neal Morse records with Mike on them, not the other way around.

Exactly the same for me as well.  Except that I DO think of it that way.  I bought my first Neal Morse and Transatlantic albums because Mike was on them.  Then I realized how good both bands were, and I buy them now on their own merit.  And Neal is the driving force.  If either band replaced the drummer, it would likely still be an automatic buy.

Haha, well I do now, too!


As for Coverdale, just want to note:  the "Starkers In Tokyo" is required listening.  HIs voice can get lost in all the gleen and shine of the recent Whitesnake records, and I have no doubt he cannot deliver that live night after night on his own any more, but the "Starkers" material is just him and Adrian in a studio in Tokyo with a mike and an acoustic guitar, and MAN, is his voice just so smooth and warm and...  I need a moment.

[geeeemo]

Boskie!!      I didn't know I was meeting another Rock Star on Nov 1!! 

[Samsara]

I'm oversimplifying and doing some guesswork here, but this is my take:  His natural and most comfortable range is high baritone.  He can hit some VERY high notes, but cannot sustain singing in that higher register for extended periods.  In his younger days, he could get away with it by pushing and straining, and singing in falsetto.  But as he has aged, that ability has left him due to just age, wear and tear from improper singing technique, and wear and tear from living a...er..."rock and roll lifestyle" (if you know what I mean).  So, he has lost some range and stamina, for probably a variety of reasons.

To me, this has been evidence for a long time.  I know Samsara disagrees with me on this, but I will hold up his time in Journey as an example.  He was with them in 2006-2007.  And while I liked him a lot as a vocalist, I absolutely felt that he was the wrong choice for the band back then, at least in terms of being able to perform the old material (I would have been completely open to hearing a new album with him where they could write stuff that more suited his style and range).  I saw them live on that tour when they co-headlined with Def Leppard.  He sounded great on some songs.  And his stage presence was awesome.  But he cheated on a LOT of notes.  And even with Deen taking lead vocals on some songs to give him a break, his voice was noticeably losing power and range as the show wore on, and it was clear to me that, although he could fake it for a few songs, that Steve Perry range wasn't comfortable enough for him to make it through an entire set.

I'm late getting back to this. Sorry. Busy weekend, busy day at the office. Wait, we don't fundamentally disagree on JSS singing classic Steve Perry Journey full time. No, he's a high baritone these days. His range has dropped, and while he could, and did cheat to sing some of those Perry songs in normal tuning, and it was cool to hear, the real HARD stuff was sung by Deen Castronovo (from behind the kit). My point on JSS and Journey, was that they could have embarked on something DIFFERENT by honoring their agreement to bring JSS on full time, and having him and Deen split lead vocals. JSS would get probably 65 percent, with Deen getting 35 percent, and the more difficult ones. Leaving JSS to do stuff from Trial By Fire, the classic stuff he felt good about, and maybe even the pre-Perry records.

My only point when we saw that show (and I disagree that JSS lost power. I have the recording somewhere, and if I wasn't so lazy, I'd prove you wrong), was that Journey sounded really, really good with the two of them (JSS and Deen) singing. It was different, it was a cool vibe, and I would have loved to have heard it from that point forward. That's why I was so stoked when Journey did agree to move forward with JSS, and then so upset when they reneged and kicked him to the curb for Arnel (who I also obviously like). I just wanted them to continue with something different, and instead, they got someone whose voice was closer to Perry's to sing most of the material (Deen also took on a couple songs to help Arnel as well during Deen's tenure in the band).

The funny thing about Journey is, before Deen went off the deep end and was kicked out of the band, he was the singer they've always wanted. HIS voice is the closest to Steve Perry they've ever had. He was just too shy to be a frontman and stand out there in front of everyone. I was lucky enough to catch Deen Castronovo fronting Neal Schon's JOurney Through Time earlier this year. Deen was sick with a bad cold, and still sounded like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgqbLDb5gbY 

And I made a promise, after Journey screwed over JSS, that I'd never go see Journey again, even though I love Eclipse, the last record with Arnel. Just out of a sense of respect to JSS. And I've held true to that.

But clearly, JSS is a baritone, and as you rightly pointed out, it appears his comfort area these days is as a high baritone.

[bosk1]

As relevant to this thread, we agree on the key details.    I'm not sweating the disgreement on the other stuff.  And, to be clear, I want to again reiterate that I'm not knocking him as a singer of diminishing how good he is at all. 

[max_security]

Man Deen was a hell of a drummer back in the day.

https://youtu.be/kY5gdPfRDgk

[bosk1]

Still is, IMO.  And singer too.  It's just his personal life that appears to be out of control (or was--I don't really know if he has gotten himself under control or not).

[Madman Shepherd]

As a pretty big fan of Ozzy's "solo" stuff, Deen is the only drummer Ozzy ever had that came close to holding a candle to Lee Kerslake.

As a bonus, his performance on Geezer Butler's first two solo albums were awesome.  A while back I sent in a question or something on a Q&A he did and asked about his time with those guys and he said it was great and something along the lines of, "Man, I miss playing stuff that heavy!"

[Volante99]

As a pretty big fan of Ozzy's "solo" stuff, Deen is the only drummer Ozzy ever had that came close to holding a candle to Lee Kerslake.

As a bonus, his performance on Geezer Butler's first two solo albums were awesome.  A while back I sent in a question or something on a Q&A he did and asked about his time with those guys and he said it was great and something along the lines of, "Man, I miss playing stuff that heavy!"

Lee is definitely the best BUT Mike Bordin didn’t have much of a chance to prove himself in the studio with Oz, but he was quite a beast live. Tommy Aldridge was no slouch, and I have a soft spot for Randy Castillo. Hell, I’ve liked all his drummers with the exception of his current Tommy Clufetos, who, frankly, sucks badly.

[Madman Shepherd]

I agree about Clufetos. Stiff as hell. Just terrible.

A lot of the other drummers were good, no doubt. They just never did much for me.

Bordin was great in Faith No More but he never felt like he fit. His tracks on the rerecordings of Blizzard and Diary were just embarrassing.

[Northern Lion]

So I listened to the new song today on Youtube, and I was plesantly surprised.  I did not like their first album at all.  But this new song I thought was a real step up.  I have listened to it three times so far today which is 2 more listens than I gave any of the songs on their first album.

Things I liked:
The intro keyboard New Millennium/space thing
The main guitar riff (I didn't like any of the riffs from their first album)
The more subdued/darker vocals/melody

To me, they sounded a lot less like a supergroup trying too hard to be relevant, and more like a band just trying to make good music.

[MinistroRaven]

Sons Of Apollo VIP APOLLONIAN EXPERIENCES are now available for the North American shows!!!

https://www.rightrocksportswear.com/sons-of-apollo/2020-sons-of-apollo-vip-platinum

https://www.rightrocksportswear.com/sons-of-apollo

[Madman Shepherd]

So I finally listened to the song with headphones and I gotta say I dig it. Mike overplays the intro but other than that its pretty solid. If it was on the first album it would be in the upper tier of songs.

[Stadler]

I mean, I kind of wish it wasn't Sons Of Apollo (and was Flying Colors or Transatlantic) but that's not a bad package.  The Silver is a LITTLE high (most of Mike's M&G's with Neal are in the $75 to $100 range) but to get to talk to them and hear them play with the Gold is appealing to me.   Again, though, the band. 

[cramx3]

The private show and Q&A is really cool, but I've yet to buy any of these types of packages before and don't plan on starting to.

[Stadler]

I've done it twice now.

I did it once before the Neal Morse Band show, and it was cool, but not life-changing.   Mike knew me from his site (that was a good thing not a bad thing, though couldn't read exactly HOW good).  Neal seemed like someone out of "The Californians" skit on SNL.   

I did it for Jon Anderson, and that was special.  He was exceedingly cordial and polite, and seemed genuinely engaged.  Even commented on the "Going For The One" record I asked him to sign. 

I won't do it again unless it's either a holy grail artist (Blackmore, Phil Collins) or it's something like this where you get to see the band perform in a special setting. 

[cramx3]

I could see myself doing it for a unique situation with my favorite bands for a decent price but I've yet to see something presented like that for my tastes and wallet.  I spend A LOT of money on concerts, adding in the extra thrills isn't worth it for me if it means I can attend another 4 or 5 concerts for that price. 

Also, I got to meet all of SOA at ProgPower so there's that.  And got to meet Bumblefoot over the summer when he performed with Asia.  I can meet JSS again at the next ProgPower.  I will say, it was a pleasure to get to meet MP.  As much as I sometimes am critical on him here, he was exactly what everyone says he is in person, super nice and personable.  I have no desire to meet DS again.  Billy would be interesting to sit and have a coffee and convo with after I've seen him talk about scientology on youtube 

[MinistroRaven]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQaH69XgvQY&feature=youtu.be

What a statement in the mid of the promotion of the album by JSS

[Stadler]

Yeah, what was that all about?  Attendance? Sales? Something else?

[cramx3]

First Band Blues

but I'm sure it has to do with not being a huge success like they seemed to have expected.

I like how he speaks truthfully about things not being fine and dandy, it certainly didn't seem that way from my perspective and it's nice to not see them pretend all was going well here. 

[Fritzinger]

250 bucks for the Platinum package? Who purchases that 

[Madman Shepherd]

First Band Blues

but I'm sure it has to do with not being a huge success like they seemed to have expected.

I like how he speaks truthfully about things not being fine and dandy, it certainly didn't seem that way from my perspective and it's nice to not see them pretend all was going well here.

I love it to. He's a sincere dude. I said above that after giving the song another listen I love it but hearing JSS's honest take on it makes me more excited.

[devieira73]

A bit more information about the album:
https://www.lasercd.com/cd/m-m-x-x-2cd-mediabook-preorder
I liked this:

There's also 'King of Delusion', which clocks in at nine minutes in length.

This opens up with a piano solo, explains Portnoy. And it also has a middle section where Derek and I do a piano & drum duet.

I have actually played more piano on this album than I have ever done before, delights Sherinian. This fitted nicely with what we were aiming for. I am also so pleased that I get to play a lot of Hammond organ this time.