Blogcritics

Music Review: Def Leppard, Night Ranger, Rush, Soul Doctor, Top Gun Cowboy, and Munk

Marty Dodge — Tue, 13 May 2008 21:58:11 EDT

Good stuff from Rush, Night Ranger and Def Leppard.
Yet another week and yet another onslaught of new releases. As we rapidly approach the summer there seems to be an almighty rush to release material from lots of different labels. In a curious twist, I seem to be getting a far wider variety of material than I used to ranging from the bizarre alternative to the horny throated death metal. CD...

Music Review: Casket Salesman, Animal Alpha, Hurricane, To-Mera, & Sixx AM

Marty Dodge — Sat, 3 May 2008 12:00:26 EDT

Hurricane re-releases, Sixx solo, jazz metal, and some indie-tinged rock. What's not to like?
This column always tries to give you a nice slice of what is out there; with a good variety of new and old stuff. This week we try to keep up this task. While all of the bands are hard rock, their approach is quite varied. CD ReviewsAnimal Alpha - You Pay for the Whole Seat...This lot most closely reminds me of another gothy punky heavy rock band...

Music Review: Def Leppard, Diamond Head, NFD, Fish, P.O.D., and Whitesnake

Marty Dodge — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 11:26:52 EDT

Cock rock glory, a bit of New Wave Of British Heavy Metal with some goth and classy folk rock.
I had been warned that an onslaught of new stuff is coming my way and boy was that spot on. Add to that new releases from Whitesnake and Def Leppard and you can colour me one happy reviewer. It wouldn't be a good line-up without some gothy misery as well.CD ReviewsDef Leppard: Songs from the Sparkle LoungeThis is a bit of a preview review as,...

Music Review: Avenging Force, Drive by Argument, Son Lux, Terror, and Michael Bormann

Marty Dodge — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 16:55:33 EDT

A bit of a journey this week; from the goth dancefloor, through the CBGB mosh pit to the classy end of hard rock.
Yet again, I have a very odd selection for you; from the utterly sublime to the screamocore metal. Most of it's quite good, but not all.CD ReviewsAvenging Force: The Avenging ForceA load of Steve Albini self-obsessed bollocks can be found on this disc. Avenging Force evokes a band of metalheads giving it all they got. Iinstead, it's an...

Music Reviews: Asia, Toto, New Found Glory, The Dreamscapes Project & Kingdom of Sorrow

Marty Dodge — Sat, 5 Apr 2008 07:30:47 EDT

Another week and another eclectic collection of rock.
Another week and another eclectic collection of rock from teenage angst to some serious heavy metal with a bit of OTT AOR thrown in between. Keeps it interesting for me, at least, and I always appreciate it. Nothing too dire this week thankfully.Asia: PhoenixOdd the marketing for this one. In Europe we reviewers did not get complete tracks for...

Music Reviews: Fish, Lillian Axe, Powerwolf, and a Metallica DVD

Marty Dodge — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 07:35:21 EDT

Your lot for the week ranges from the mellowness of Fish to thrash's finest through the quality of Lillian Axe.
To my surprise, I have managed to get through the pile of CDs on my desk and get them down to single digits. This week, like most, we have a mix of the ole' and the new. From powermetal to folky British prog recorded in a Scottish church. I will miss having to listen to Lillian Axe as I move on to the next batch of reviews.CD ReviewsFish:...

Marty's Musical Meltdown: The Explicits, Blues Company, The Bangkok Five, Larry Carlton, and Seven Mary Three

Marty Dodge — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 20:17:59 EDT

A few pleasant shocks for me; a couple of releases in genres I am not keen on.
Another eclectic lot of music for the column this week, and unlike last week none of it made me suffer too badly. In all, it's a good selection of stuff for their respective genres.CD ReviewsThe Explicits: The ExplicitsThis is punk the way it's supposed to be... nasty, brutal, and short. This owes far more to Motorhead than it does to the...

Marty's Musical Meltdown: Ancara, Crash Romeo, Fires of Babylon, Incrave, and Radamacher

Marty Dodge — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 08:36:59 EDT

Marty brings you another round-up of some of today's metal and hard rock releases.
Spring may not have sprung yet in most of the Northern Hemisphere, but it certainly has in the music world. Record companies are getting product out in the hopes of getting your cash before the summer. While all of them are off at SWSX this week, I am sifting the through the oodles of stuff they have sent me and having the great pleasure of...

Marty's Musical Meltdown: Bonfire, Powerworld, Tempestt, Pretendo & Sleddogs

Marty Dodge — Tue, 4 Mar 2008 10:42:06 EST

This spring looks to be quite a good one for releases from bands both known and new.
Another week and the pile keeps growing; with releases both new and old. This spring looks to be quite a good one for releases from bands both known and new. From what I am hearing the quality is getting there as well. Well mostly that is; you can't have every release be good or how else do you judge?CD reviewsBonfire: The RauberMany on the...

Marty's Musical Meltdown: Furtherdown, Arch Enemy, Airtime, Jaded Sun & Die So Fluid Live

Marty Dodge — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 22:42:57 EST

More metal from Marty, as he checks out the latest CDs, and takes in a show by Die So Fluid.
Another week of chemo, light this time, under my belt and a lot of good music to behold. A live gig and CD launch made the week all that more pleasant. And I could not have picked a better gig to begin my cancer enforced gig drought. But more of that later; first of all we have a few CDs to get through. CD reviewsFurtherdown: 7 Years Hard LuckThis...