NLTM Aug '13 Update

ultmetal wrote:

I have their CD. I played it a couple times and it came off as fairly generic sounding. I remember them being a big deal back in the day as the first Russian band, or something like that. The band's gimmick was their geographical origins but their sound is very Bon Jovi-ish. Not surprising since Bruce Fairbairn, Richie Sambora and Bon Jovi produced the album and, I am sure, had a hand in the songwriting or at least in the songs compositions. I have a really weird bias against Bon Jovi. Growing up in NJ I hated the dude and his chick rock that was being labeled as heavy metal. It was so not metal and was so generic sounding to me as well. In all, to me I remember Gorky Park as being very cookie cutter and bland. I'll pull it out and give it a few more spins. Perhaps I just have to get beyond the Bon Jovi connection.

To be fair, I'd say their sound is more like a cross between Crazy World era Scorps and hair era Lepps (Moscow Calling (the song) sounds like something recorded between Pyro and Hys). No keyboard overkill like BJ - and I see you either like or don't mind bands such as Night Ranger, Bad English, Giuffria, Danger Danger, House of Lords, Giant or Autograph - all bands whose sound was pretty close to '80s BJ. I do understand you have a dislike for BJ that goes beyond their music - which is too bad, because the first two albums are killer hard AOR - certainly not metal, but something I could understand being labeled as metal back when it came out. I do like New Jersey and Slippery too, but I understand why a hard rock fan would dislike those.

Back to GP, well, they might be generic, but so were most hair bands anyway - I don't see much difference between them, and say, Slaughter, Warrant or Firehouse. And besides, you wrote a positive review for Trixter, and GP are certainly better than them.

BearOnUnicycle wrote:

Soviet glam - never heard, not sure if I really want to. Must be god-awful.

If you think Lepps, Firehouse, Slaughter, Warrant or the Scorps of that era are god-awful, then they are. If not, they're a pretty decent band.

ultmetal wrote:

I have their CD. I played it a couple times and it came off as fairly generic sounding. I remember them being a big deal back in the day as the first Russian band, or something like that. The band's gimmick was their geographical origins but their sound is very Bon Jovi-ish. Not surprising since Bruce Fairbairn, Richie Sambora and Bon Jovi produced the album and, I am sure, had a hand in the songwriting or at least in the songs compositions. I have a really weird bias against Bon Jovi. Growing up in NJ I hated the dude and his chick rock that was being labeled as heavy metal. It was so not metal and was so generic sounding to me as well. In all, to me I remember Gorky Park as being very cookie cutter and bland. I'll pull it out and give it a few more spins. Perhaps I just have to get beyond the Bon Jovi connection.

You should check out the bands Aria or Black Coffee instead!

Aria:



Black Coffee:

Eh, no need for the "instead" part.

TheGreatDuck wrote:

BearOnUnicycle wrote:

Soviet glam - never heard, not sure if I really want to. Must be god-awful.

If you think Lepps, Firehouse, Slaughter, Warrant or the Scorps of that era are god-awful, then they are. If not, they're a pretty decent band.

These bands might be not, but their Soviet counterparts are Tbh I've never heard anyone besides GP, but knowing the overall sound of 80's metal here, I'm sure if there were any glam in its true sense, 90% of bands were unlistenable. Gorky Park were definitely an improvement.

chewie wrote:

You should check out the bands Aria or Black Coffee instead!

And First Aid and Master and Aspid (sounds like Vektor they say, from 1992)

Now playing...GORKY PARK.

Bang is a hooky anthem...dah, dah, da-da-da-dah!

"Try to Find Me" is ehhhhhhh, cheesy 80's ballad. Might have been more tolerable at the end of the album, but should not have been track #2. It breaks up the momentum the band built with the big anthem that opens the album.

"Hit Me With the News" would have been a better follow-up to "Bang".

"Sometimes At Night" is one of my favorite GP songs.

Vexer6 wrote:

"Sometimes At Night" is one of my favorite GP songs.

I don't know why but that ballad reminds me of 80's Bad Company.

Hey Ult - next time you're fixin' stuff on NLTM you might want to address this... I was just skippin' randomly thru your site and found this in the review of Great White's Back to the Rhythm:

"The tragic nightclub fire that stole the life of guitarist Ty Longley and many fans in Rhode Island, NY will forever haunt this band."

...Rhode Island is not part of New York. It's a whole 'nother state.

Fat Freddy wrote:

Hey Ult - next time you're fixin' stuff on NLTM you might want to address this... I was just skippin' randomly thru your site and found this in the review of Great White's Back to the Rhythm:

"The tragic nightclub fire that stole the life of guitarist Ty Longley and many fans in Rhode Island, NY will forever haunt this band."

...Rhode Island is not part of New York. It's a whole 'nother state.

Haha! Good catch. Thanks.

I like those youtube clips, BearOnUnicycle!

Found another error. On your review of Messiah's "Final Warning", the song "Keep Searching" is listed twice.

Hey, Scott. Given how much you enjoyed the most recent Soulfly album, I am not sure whether or not you were aware a song off of their next album, Savages (due this fall), has been leaked. Here it is:

Thanks.

I've been spinning "3" recently. It seems to be a mixture of Sepultura and the nu-metal I remember from the first album.

I agree, 3 is very much a mix of mid 90s Sepultura with traces of the nu-metal influences from the first two Soulfly albums. 3 was the album that started the road back for Max towards the sound Sepultura had on Chaos AD. The follow-up is probably the heaviest Soulfly album from Max's 'world music' era. I feel with both 3 and Prophecy, Max concluded the tribal / world music sound he had started on Roots. With those latter albums being the heavier counterparts of the debut self-titled album and Primitive.

Starting with the Dark Ages album , Soulfly's musical direction has changed to a heavier thrash influenced sound. I can't say that any of the recent Soulfly album sound exactly like early 90s Sepultura because they don't but there is a strong influence brought across from those album, and generally from the more aggressive style of thrash of the late 80s / early 90s period. If anything, I find the last four Soulfly albums to be more consistent, more well-rounded than the earlier, Roots-influenced Soulfly albums.

My only observation, and it's not necessarily negative, is that Max is playing it safer than in the past. What I mean is that his songwriting over the last decade has become a tad predictable. For examplle, the pair of albums released by Cavalera Conspiracy don't really bring anything new or different that wasn't written or played on the last four Soulfly albums. I don't find them to be stylistically different, other than perhaps having shorter songs. The upswing however is that Max is still playing thrahsy stuff some 15 years since leaving Sepultura.

Hey Ult,
 
this is on an older review; but I happened to be re-reading your review for Haven's "Age Of Darkness" and found this:
 
"Kevin doesn't sing anything like he did with Haven, dropping completely they high, falsetto vocals and the exaggerated vebratto, instead chosing to sing in a clean, mid-range style. Haven fans may be disappointed, but one it's own this band is actually pretty good."
 
Just thought I'd run that by you.

thanks.

bgsully wrote:

"Kevin doesn't sing anything like he did with Haven, dropping completely they high, falsetto vocals and the exaggerated vebratto, instead chosing to sing in a clean, mid-range style. Haven fans may be disappointed, but one it's own this band is actually pretty good."
 

Should be vibrato.

S.D. wrote:

bgsully wrote:

"Kevin doesn't sing anything like he did with Haven, dropping completely they high, falsetto vocals and the exaggerated vebratto, instead chosing to sing in a clean, mid-range style. Haven fans may be disappointed, but one it's own this band is actually pretty good."
 

Should be vibrator.

Fixed!

   

In the index, the site lists "Keufer, Tom"

ZombieHavoc wrote:

In the index, the site lists "Keufer, Tom"

Yea, he was the lead singer in Crinderella. What of it?

A typo in your Carcass - Swansong review:
"I much preferthis album..."

You forgot to put a space between prefer and this.

By the way, have you heard the new Carcass album yet?

MetalGuy71 wrote:

ZombieHavoc wrote:

In the index, the site lists "Keufer, Tom"

Yea, he was the lead singer in Crinderella. What of it?

I'm pretty sure it should be Keifer.

TheGreatDuck wrote:

MetalGuy71 wrote:

ZombieHavoc wrote:

In the index, the site lists "Keufer, Tom"

Yea, he was the lead singer in Crinderella. What of it?

I'm pretty sure it should be Keifer.

Nooooo, I'm pretty sure it's Tom Keufer of Crinderella-fame. They had a few hits in the 80's. 'Shave Me', 'Not Anyone's Foolish Boyfriend', 'Short, Hot Summer'. They did a few jingles too...

In the Great White section, Let It Rock (1996) should be placed before Cant Get There From Here (1999).