COMP SWAP XI - The reviews

Orion Crystal Ice wrote:

You get a million billion points for the Mahavishnu track.

Plus I chose the "Islands" lineup of King Crimson for the version of 21st Century Schizoid Man.

Is that from the 'Live in Jacksonville' release? I mean, 'Islands' era KC playing 'Cirkus' in my city, surreal.


I received my comp from the Ruskie last night and will be checking it out on this weekend.

I finally got around to the second disc from exact33.

Leprous - Bilateral
I'd read some good reviews of this prog-metal band, but I'd steered clear because those reviews tended to mention growled vocals, which I don't like. But this song just has one growl right at the end, so if that's indicative of the amount of growling then I can definitely handle it. I'm definitely keen to hear more from this band after hearing this song.

Distorted Harmony - Breathe
More prog-metal, which I really enjoyed. Most of the prog-metal I've been listening in recent times has been established bands as I haven't found too many newer bands that held my interest. But these two definitely have.

Moon Safari - A Kid Called Panic
Symphonic prog in the Spock's Beard/Flower Kings/Transatlantic vein. Good song.

Dali's Dilemma - Despite The Waves
I have this album but I haven't listened to it for ages. A decent prog-metal song, but this song wasn't one of my favourites from the album.

Onward - The Seven Tides Of Labyrinthine
Progressive/power metal. The band can't be faulted from the point of view of the music, but the lack of a proper chorus hampered the song a bit.

Praying Mantis - Best Years
I was always under the impression this was a NWOBHM band, but they sound more like Magnum-esque hard rock, but that's certainly not a bad thing.

Timeless Miracle - Into The Enchanted Chamber
This is another album which I already have, although it was tough to track down. Excellent folk-tinged power metal.

Echoes - Lullaby
Prog metal from Venezuela. This song was an instrumental (and not a quiet one as might have been expected from the title), so while the band can definitely play their instruments, it's a bit harder to get a good impression without vocals.

Flying Colors - The Storm
Prog super group featuring Neal Morse, Mike Portnoy and Steve Morse. This has been on my list to buy for a while now, and after hearing this song it's jumped up a few places.

Nektar - King Of Twilight
70s prog band who I hadn't heard before. This song has a hard rock edge to it, and I liked it.

Poverty's No Crime - Open Your Eyes
German prog metal band who have been around for a while. It's a fairly standard prog metal song that didn't excite me too much.

Bad Salad - Damned
Prog metal. A lengthier song which didn't really hold any surprises, but was pretty well done.

Suspyre - The Fire Dancer
For the first half of the song it sounded like a typical progressive/power metal song, the likes of which of grown a little bored with. But the jazzy instrumental section was a nice surprise, and made me a lot more interested in the band than I thought I would be.

Gentle Giant - Three Friends
I find Gentle Giant to be a bit hit-and-miss. Some songs work for me and some don't. Unfortunately, this was one that didn't.

Pantommind - To The Days Of Old
The keyboards in this prog metal song reminded me of Lana Lane and it does kind of fall into the same "accessible prog" category. I liked this song.

Black Bonzo - Tell Me The Truth
70s influenced heavy prog. This song didn't do much for me.

Onward - Storm Coming Soon
Second song from this band. I like this a bit better than the first one, but it still doesn't hold my interest to any great extent.

Aspera - Torn Apart
Although I enjoy both prog and power metal, the "progressive power metal" genre just doesn't do it for me. The songs tend to be formulaic and sometimes lacking when it comes to memorable hooks. I would put song in that category.

Threshold - Coda
This is from Threshold's new album, which I got a couple of days before I got the comp. I've enjoyed everything they've done, so it was pretty much a given that I'd like this song.

Toby Hitchcock - Mercury's Down
Melodic hard rock. A good song, but I don't think I'll end up investigating any further.

As with the first disc, there were no songs I completely disliked. There weren't quite as many bands I want to explore further, but that is partly because I already own three of the albums.

The bands I'm interested in checking out further are:

Flying Colors
Leprous
Distorted Harmony
Suspyre
Pantommind


This was my first Comp Swap, and I really enjoyed both in putting mine together (which resulted in me listening to some stuff I haven't heard in a while) and in listening to the ones I received. I'll definitely be up for future rounds.

Orion Crystal Ice wrote:

Is that from the 'Live in Jacksonville' release? I mean, 'Islands' era KC playing 'Cirkus' in my city, surreal.

No, it's from "Live At Summit Studios, Denver 1972", excellent performance and top-notch sound quality.

Black Sabbath - The Wizard (from the album Black Sabbath, 1970)
Not being a huge Sabbath fan I was anxious to check this track out. It’s ok, definitely better than the 3 songs that are overplayed on the radio, and it is pretty cool to hear Ozzy playing the harmonica. This track has all the earmarks of hard to listen to at the onset but will grow on me over time. I will be spinning this one again.

Budgie - Guts (from the album Budgie, 1971)
This song is stinkin HEAVY and I love the sound of the bass, but with all that going for it, I just can’t seem to get into this track
Deep Purple - Hard Lovin' Man (from the album In Rock, 1970)
Ah, Purple. Simply put, I love this band. I only have a couple of greatest hits packages, but after hearing this track, I really want to get this album.

Atomic Rooster - Death Walks Behind You (from the album Death Walks Behind You, 1970)
Another heavy rocker, with well written lyrics that twist, like quality prog-rock should. I like the dirgy sound of the organ and the way that the band pulls it all together. After hearing this track I am wondering why they were not more popular than they were.

Lucifer's Friend - Ride The Sky (from the album Lucifer's Friend, 1971)
From the opening guitar chords of this track and the weird horns, I knew that I heard it before. But where? On Avantasia’s Lost In Space e.p. of course. Except that Avantasia slaughter the track and added all sorts of techno-trash to the song. I love this song. I was a bit put off by the band name, but the music is solid. I will be checking out more of these guys for sure

Jethro Tull - Sweet Dream (b-side, first US release on Living In The Past, 1972)
Tull is another one of those bands that, try as I might, I simply cannot get into. They are very talented musicians, and stellar song writers, but it just does not grab me. It’s not bad so I will re-visit again.

Uriah Heep - Gypsy (from the album Uriah Heep, 1970)
Another case of “heard-of but never-heard.” Interesting. I like it.

Mahavishnu Orchestra - The Noonward Race (from the album Inner Mounting Flame, 1971)
This track was AWESOME!! I love that jazzy shuffle that the drummer is doing in the background while everyone else is playing and at the same time keeping a good solid rhythm. I need more of these guys for sure.

Blue Oyster Cult - Cities On Flame With Rock 'N' Roll (from the album B.O.C., 1972)
If I have to hear “Don’t Fear the Reaper” again, I will shoot somebody, probably the DJ that played it. I was expecting more of the same stuff but this track simply rocks. I really dig it quite a bit.

Captain Beyond - Raging River Of Fear (from the album Captain Beyond, 1971)
This song ROCKS!! I am checking this band out more to be sure.

King Crimson - 21st Century Schizoid Man (from the album Summit Studios, 1972)
Oh, so THAT’S King Crimson. I like this track quite a bit. I can definitely hear how they have influenced bands like Dream Theater, and Mastodon.

Nektar - Crying In The Dark/King Of Twilight (from the album A Tab In The Ocean, 1972).
The opening bass line of “King of Twilight” has to be Steve Harris’ major influence. Beyond that, this is a great classic rock band. The vocal harmonies, the drummer, the guitar tone, and all the while that under-appreciated Hammond B-3 adding heaviness to the guitar tone and walking that fine line between bass guitar and lead guitar. These guys are fantastic!!

Gentle Giant - Alucard (from the album Gentle Giant, 1970)
These guys sound like the missing link between Deep Purple and Queen. I have no idea where they fall in the rock evolution but who cares, really. Not me. I dig this song quite a bit. The lyrics are a bit bizarre, but this is prog-rock and that’s part of the whole package. The first couple of spins thru this track I found myself wanting to hit the skip button, but when I was able to strap on the headphones and just listen, I found a tone of things going on. I really like this track quite a bit.

S.D. put together a fantastic compilation that flows well and holds a theme, yet still has plenty of variety. The bands that require, ne’, demand a purchase are Nektar, Gentle Giant, Captain Beyond, Atomic Rooster, Deep Purple, and BOC.

DallasBlack wrote:

Kmorg, that Showdown song you liked is from the album Temptation Come My Way and it was my #1 album that year. That album is such a great and memorable CD. Anything else by them will be like that first song and IMO not worth it.

For Paradise Lost, Draconian Times is essential. That and any of the more recent albums.

Both of those tracks are from the newest album "Tragic Idol". Solid Doomy offering by a band that is quickly becoming a fave of mine for sure.

Alright.......time to review Disc 1 of the 3 that DallasBlack sent me. This one is AOR/melodic rock.....and he's hit it out of the park with this comp. A very enjoyable listen all the way through.

Jeff Scott Soto - Damage Control
I'm a big JSS fan, but I haven't checked out his solo stuff which I now realize was stupid on my part. This song is fantastic, crunchy guitar riffs, catchy lyrics, and an excellent vocal performance.

Sure Conviction - Man In The Middle/Remember Me
Good song overall.....the chorus is really nice, vocal harmonies sound good, but the lyrics seem a little awkward on the verses.

First Signal - First Signal
Excellent song, very catchy, found myself singing along after just the first listen. Definitely need to check this band out further.

Action - Heaven Tonight
Another well done, catchy, sing-along kind of song.......good stuff.

Crazy Lixx - Blame It On Love
I like this song.......but not as much as most of the others on this comp, it has a more "glam" sound, which isn't really my thing.

Brother Firetribe - Game They Call Love
A winner! Very nicely done.....this is what melodic rock should sound like. Another one I need to buy ASAP.

Casanova - Hollywood Angels
This one heads down that "glam" road that I'm not so fond of......but it's a decent song anyway.

Khymera - Beautiful Life
Wow, what a great song! A standout vocal performance on this one....one of the top 5 on the comp. I need to own this....

Place Vendome - Streets Of Fire
2 in a row! Another great hard rock song. This one goes on the want list too.

W.E.T - One Love
.......and now The JSS track has some competition. Brilliant song, singing along after the first listen. Can't imagine it being done much better than this, must buy right away.

Sunstorm - Gutters Of Gold
Wanted to like this song.....for some reason it's the only one on the whole comp that I just can't get in to.

Hardline - Falling Free
A good song.......love the guitar sound on this one.

H.E.A.T - We're Gonna Make It To The Top
Yes! Love this song......upbeat, happy, encouraging, catchy. Must buy.

Terry Brock - Face In The Crowd
I definitely like this song......it seems to be a bit more serious than a lot of the other songs on here. Very well-written song.

Denander/Fredrickson - Baptism By Fire
Never heard of these guys before......a little harder edge to this song, which I like!

Human Zoo - Over The Horizon
Another well-done hard rock song........another sing-along chorus.....it's all good.

One Hundred Days - Hearts In Iceland
A bit of an odd song.......can't really figure out where I stand on this one. I keep listening to it, and there's nothing I can put my finger on to say why it doesn't seem to work for me. An interesting way to end the comp.

DB did a great job putting this comp together, I'll be checking out Jeff Scott Soto, First Signal, Brother Firetribe, Khymera, Place Vendome, W.E.T.,and H.E.A.T for sure.

Thanks, DB!

I'll send you some more stuff after this is over with which will include some more Sunstorm, as that song is not indictive of the whole album.

Any Place Vendome album will satisfy as both are great, as well as H.E.A.T. (all of their albums have been flawless).

For Khymera I wouldn't suggest the debut but the other two are highly recommended (that one song is from The Greatest Wonder which I rank as my #1 AOR album of all time).

Brother Firetribe stuff is a little pricey, but Heart Full Of Fire is one of the more reasonably priced ones (which is why it's the only one I have).

One Hundred Days was the wild card on that one as they were not hard rock or metal. They were a Canadian melodic rock band with pop and prog flavoring (more of the former, less of the latter). They are not well known at all, but I love their music for it's simplicity. And as Christian bands go, they're lyrics are uplifting but not preachy.

The other two Comp Swap discs are going to be a mixed bag for sure. Not all of it is my A-1 material, but I found in older swaps that sometimes my B material gets a better reaction. So what I did was just throw a bunch of stuff on the wall to see what sticks.

Quote :

. Not all of it is my A-1 material, but I found in older swaps that sometimes my B material gets a better reaction. So what I did was just throw a bunch of stuff on the wall to see what sticks.

That's what I always do with these comps. I comb through the archives and try to pull out a little bit of everything so my comps are all over the genre map.

The next couple discs are definitely gonna be trickier to review for sure, but there's nothing on any of them that I hate.

good songs there DB!!!

exact33 wrote:

good songs there DB!!!

Well, I have you to thank for Crazy Lixx Brother Firetribe, and Cassanova. If you remember, those are three of the bands on one of your past Comp Swaps (which contained the same Cassanova and Crazy Lixx songs).

DallasBlack wrote:

exact33 wrote:

good songs there DB!!!

Well, I have you to thank for Crazy Lixx Brother Firetribe, and Cassanova. If you remember, those are three of the bands on one of your past Comp Swaps (which contained the same Cassanova and Crazy Lixx songs).

i totally forgot that. cool!

DallasBlack wrote:

One Hundred Days was the wild card on that one as they were not hard rock or metal. They were a Canadian melodic rock band with pop and prog flavoring (more of the former, less of the latter). They are not well known at all, but I love their music for it's simplicity. And as Christian bands go, they're lyrics are uplifting but not preachy.

Were they the band who at one point were known as The Awakening? I have the album Into Thy Hands, which is a pretty good slice of 80s prog, and features a cover of Yes's Onward.

Citanul wrote:

DallasBlack wrote:

One Hundred Days was the wild card on that one as they were not hard rock or metal. They were a Canadian melodic rock band with pop and prog flavoring (more of the former, less of the latter). They are not well known at all, but I love their music for it's simplicity. And as Christian bands go, they're lyrics are uplifting but not preachy.

Were they the band who at one point were known as The Awakening? I have the album Into Thy Hands, which is a pretty good slice of 80s prog, and features a cover of Yes's Onward.

You are most correct! The prog was almost taken out when they became One Hundred Days, but some bit of that remained (even showing up some of the songs). I'd post some samples, but last time I checked, you couldn't find anything on youtube. Sad, as I'm sure there are SOME HoM members that would actaully like them.

Quote :

Black Sabbath - The Wizard (from the album Black Sabbath, 1970)
Not being a huge Sabbath fan I was anxious to check this track out. It’s ok, definitely better than the 3 songs that are overplayed on the radio, and it is pretty cool to hear Ozzy playing the harmonica. This track has all the earmarks of hard to listen to at the onset but will grow on me over time. I will be spinning this one again.

My All time favorite Sabbath songs are Planet Caravan and Paranoid

bassman wrote:

W.E.T - One Love
.......and now The JSS track has some competition. Brilliant song, singing along after the first listen. Can't imagine it being done much better than this, must buy right away.

Sunstorm - Gutters Of Gold
Wanted to like this song.....for some reason it's the only one on the whole comp that I just can't get in to.

Hardline - Falling Free
A good song.......love the guitar sound on this one.

Terry Brock - Face In The Crowd
I definitely like this song......it seems to be a bit more serious than a lot of the other songs on here. Very well-written song.

That was a great comp, judging by the tracklist...a few I haven't heard of, so I will need to look into. Just a couple comments about the ones above.

W.E.T. are awesome. Melodic rock supergroup for sure.

Sunstorm- The song on this comp is actually my favorite song by them, but I would still really suggest checking out more by them, even though you weren't feeling this one. It's hard for me to imagine someone digging on bands like First Signal and W.E.T., but not being able to find something to like on a Sunstorm album. Joe Lynn Turner is the man.

Hardline- I don't have the album this song is taken from, but their first album, Double Eclipse, is a melodic rock staple. It is excellent from top to bottom. Their newest record is supposed to be great too. Good band all around. Neil Schon, so obviously, right?

Terry Brock- I'd also recommend checking out more stuff by him. I find most of his stuff be just really fun melodic rock, if not a little but too much sometimes. Still fun, though.

Terry Brock also sang on the last Giant album, which is another great MHR/AOR gem.

jettafiend wrote:

S.D. put together a fantastic compilation that flows well and holds a theme, yet still has plenty of variety. The bands that require, ne’, demand a purchase are Nektar, Gentle Giant, Captain Beyond, Atomic Rooster, Deep Purple, and BOC.

He might just as well have sent you a disc with my DNA code on it, and I bet a couple of other folks here could say the same thing. It's nice to see this old stuff kept alive, because even though it can get stale in some quarters it was just so inventive for it's time that it's hard to properly appreciate and put in perspective now. It was an explosion of music that would have been impossible to imagine less than a decade beforehand.

SAHB Healer wrote:

jettafiend wrote:

S.D. put together a fantastic compilation that flows well and holds a theme, yet still has plenty of variety. The bands that require, ne’, demand a purchase are Nektar, Gentle Giant, Captain Beyond, Atomic Rooster, Deep Purple, and BOC.

He might just as well have sent you a disc with my DNA code on it, and I bet a couple of other folks here could say the same thing. It's nice to see this old stuff kept alive, because even though it can get stale in some quarters it was just so inventive for it's time that it's hard to properly appreciate and put in perspective now. It was an explosion of music that would have been impossible to imagine less than a decade beforehand.

That is for sure!!!!

bassman wrote:

Sunstorm - Gutters Of Gold
Wanted to like this song.....for some reason it's the only one on the whole comp that I just can't get in to.
Thanks, DB!

I think that tune was written by Jim Peterik. I have his version on the first or second Melodicrock comp.

bassman wrote:

Denander/Fredrickson - Baptism By Fire
Never heard of these guys before......a little harder edge to this song, which I like!

Forgot to mention that Fredrickson was a one time vocalist for Toto and Denander is a veteran of the melodic rock/hard rock world. According to Wikipedia, he has appeared on more than 2000 albums!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Denander

A most impressive career!

Impressed with the W.E.T., Praying Mantis, etc choices here, PM is very very very worth getting almost everything by.

Review of the Ruskie's first half:

1. Manimal - Shadows.. Mid-paced Swedish power-ish stuff named after an obscure W.A.S.P. song. Vocals bring to mind one Henning Basse. I feel as though there is a little Lanfear influence in here which is good since I love my Lanfear. I don't know that I enjoy this particular song a huge amount but I'd like to find out if the rest of the album has some gems.

2. Skitzotik - King of the Sky..Hard rocking heavy metal out of the USA on this obscure one. No checklist for how American metal should sound or whatever, it's not dungeons and it's not rednecks, this band has some swing and is good with it. No idea what they were thinking with the band name. Would like to hear some more from this record too.

3. Fifth Angel - Seven Hours... I'm a big fan of Fifth Angel's first record but have only heard a couple of songs from the Byrd-less second. Pilot is in fine form of course. I am not TAKEN with this one but again, I do need to get the second record at some point...

4. Mercury Rising - Minute Man...Heavy metal with a flair or three from 'No Exit' era Fates Warning. I like some of what is going on here for sure but I feel that this band can do better.

5. Ion Vein - Spiral Maze...Definite Fates Warning influence happening here, this time from the 'Perfect Symmetry' era through 'Inside Out'. Some killer bass, always welcome. Would like to check out a few more as this one is a little pedestrian.

6. Labyrinth - Thought of Fear...Canadian heavy metal, some pretty bad mixing here (plus they borrowed the drummer from Crimson Glory - Transcendence), but check out that chorus, and I want those vocals higher because dude is yelling his ass off. Rocking track. Yes, the Italian band is better, but this one had the name first, it's cool.

7. Twilight - Far Beyond The Edge of Sanity...Here's some Danish proggish powerish metal. This is also the kind of band I wish I could get in the studio with and produce the hell out of because some help is needed here. What I hear here is a decent genre exercise, but you need to make me feel something.

8. STS 8 Mission - Always Lying... One of the stranger band names I've seen. But they're German! Must be good. Well, almost. Same issue as Twilight. What about the next song..?

9. STS 8 Mission - Lost Command... Oh yes, a good RIFF to start off with is always good, but why not go back to the high note in there? This one definitely smokes more than the other song. Power metal. I wonder if I'll need to check this out after all?

10. Siam - Interaction... Bizarre song title choice, any other generic descriptive nouns available? Not a bad song though and I guess I won't hold it against them that they're Brits. Some mid-paced heavy metal here.

11. Stormwitch - Ravenlord.... Well, I.. I mean, what do you say, you can't go wrong with anything on the first 3 Stormwitch albums, everyone knows that. Or they should. Yeah, I love this band, awesome choice.

12. Conditioned Response - Deep Inside...Songwriting songwriting songwriting songwriting songwriting. That is what Conditioned Response needed before every other ingredient.

13. Titan Force - Chase Your Dreams... First response...THAT SINGER SOUNDS EXACTLY LIKE...wait, it is Harry Conklin. And now I'm wishing I put the Liege Lord tracks I was going to on the Ruskie's comp (It was going to be 'Cast Out' and 'Master Control'). I just figured he would have known Liege Lord already. Anyway, very good song here, and if you don't know what this sounds like by now, well..

14. Onward - The Seven Tides of Labyrinthine.... Okay, second time I've seen Onward show up in the swaps this time, and that is totally OK, because both Onward albums are excellent excellent excellent and must be acquired. This one is one of my favorites off 'Reawaken'.

PART 2 TO COME.

Orion Crystal Ice wrote:

Impressed with the W.E.T., Praying Mantis, etc choices here, PM is very very very worth getting almost everything by.

absolutely correct!!