Sentinel's Quick Reviews

I have to say, I've never heard anything from Europe before The Final Countdown (and for the longest time, I thought it was their debut) but it appears I've been missing out on them.

Yeah, def check out the first two, 007, I think you'd find something to like.

(and for the longest time, I thought it was their debut)

I did the same thing with Fates Warning. I had no idea "Night On Brocken" existed until I saw it for sale as a re release in the mid 1990's; and always thought "The Spectre Within" was their debut.

I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I've heard nothing but The Final Countdown from Europe. This album sounds decent though. I may have to dig into more of their stuff.

I find some of the songs to be a little Prog-lite (Stormwind, Wings Of Tomorrow) in the vein of what Saga would do. Which isn't a bad thing at all.

Thrasher73 wrote:

I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I've heard nothing but The Final Countdown from Europe. This album sounds decent though. I may have to dig into more of their stuff.

Their first 2 are way more "metal" and much less polished than what would follow. I'd recommend them both. I've even grown fond of The Final Countdown in recent years, despite it's overplay and many singles.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Thrasher73 wrote:

I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I've heard nothing but The Final Countdown from Europe. This album sounds decent though. I may have to dig into more of their stuff.

Their first 2 are way more "metal" and much less polished than what would follow. I'd recommend them both. I've even grown fond of The Final Countdown in recent years, despite it's overplay and many singles.

I like TFC way better than the two albums that came after it. Take Carrie off of it and it's quite an enjoyable listen.

chewie wrote:

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Thrasher73 wrote:

I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I've heard nothing but The Final Countdown from Europe. This album sounds decent though. I may have to dig into more of their stuff.

Their first 2 are way more "metal" and much less polished than what would follow. I'd recommend them both. I've even grown fond of The Final Countdown in recent years, despite it's overplay and many singles.

I like TFC way better than the two albums that came after it. Take Carrie off of it and it's quite an enjoyable listen.

I haven't heard much of anything after Countdown. During their heyday, I dismissed them as too poppy. It's only been in the last 5 years or so that I've given them a proper chance.

The last few albums (War of Kings, Secret Society. Last Look at Eden) have all been great, imho. Much more mature songwriting and melodies; but still retaining the hook and choruses that made the band popular. My only problem with TFC is that it's so "paint by the numbers" and glossy. I hate to slag on one of my favorite bands, but songs like "Danger on the Track" and "Ninja" and to a lesser extent, "Cherokee" sound like something an 6th grader would write in a book report. And don't even get me started on "Carrie"

Been on a bit of a Dio kick today, so here we go:



Great live offering, well, two great live offerings here and RJD is at the top of his game. Awesome track selection ( a little Sabbath, some Rainbow, and a generous dose of solo material) and I love the crowd "banter" between Ronnie and the fine folks that came to the Castle those two days. Those of you who have been on here for years with me probably know I freakin' love live albums and that interplay between band and audience is a big reason why. Another reason is song selection. I love live Dio especially for the fact that he has a big body of work and you never know when a medley breaks out and the song goes in a different direction. Or becomes another song entirely.




We all know this one so I am not going to do a review or start gushing about how great an album it is. I will say this, though, and it's in no way a comparison of the two albums; but Europe's "The Final Countdown" is an example where the title track is clearly the best and most well known song on the album, while "Holy Diver" has a very well known title track that I feel is bested by songs like "Invisible" and "Straight Through the Heart." And totally annihilated by my fave cut on the album, "Don't Talk to Strangers." All just my humble opine of course.
Disc 2 of the deluxe edition includes the B sides from the singles off "HD" and a few stellar live cuts from the King Biscuit Flower Hour from 1983. Also, the alternate version of "Evil Eyes" is pretty cool as it definitely sounds different than the studio version.
One of the all-time greatest heavy metal discs, ever. By anyone! Of course I am a bit of a Dio fanboy.

I love both of these albums! Both Donington sets are great (the 1987 set also appears on the Deluxe Edition of Dream Evil) and Holy Diver is the gold standard for traditional heavy metal.

I'm a total sucker for Dio's lyrics with this line from "Gypsy" being my favorite:

When I heard the voice said you got a choice:
The hammer or the nail

I was lucky enough to see Dio twice - once in a tiny club and once with Motorhead and Iron Maiden. I was completely blown away both times and hearing him sing "Stargazer" is one of my favorite moments from all the concerts I've ever been to.

I think I'll go listen to some Dio now!

I love Holy Diver, a true heavy metal classic. There's nothing I can say about it that hasn't been said.

I don't do live albums so I've never heard Live At Donington. Looks like it has a nice set though.

Witchfinder wrote:

I love both of these albums!  Both Donington sets are great (the 1987 set also appears on the Deluxe Edition of Dream Evil) and Holy Diver is the gold standard for traditional heavy metal.  

I'm a total sucker for Dio's lyrics with this line from "Gypsy" being my favorite:

When I heard the voice said you got a choice:
The hammer or the nail

I was lucky enough to see Dio twice - once in a tiny club and once with Motorhead and Iron Maiden.  I was completely blown away both times and hearing him sing "Stargazer" is one of my favorite moments from all the concerts I've ever been to.

I think I'll go listen to some Dio now!

WF, that is a great memory. I never got the chance to see him. In the mid 90's he was scheduled to play at the Strand Theatre in Providence (an actual theatre from 1915 that became a fairly popular concert venue) but I got the flu bug that afternoon and had to miss. So, I live vicariously through my many Dio, Rainbow, and Sabbath Live albums, DVD's, and boots. The Strand is now called Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel and I saw Queensryche there back in 2005. Not a bad venue.

The "Day of Dio" continues on into the night:



If you click the link and go to youtube you will be able to play the whole album. Not that any of you don't already own this.

No doubt it was hard to follow up a Metal masterpiece, but I think he did. "Last In Line" is amazing. The title track is easily one of Dio's best and songs like Breathless, Evil Eyes, and Mystery are killer. The epic, Egypt (The Chains Were On), is like part three of Stargazer and a Light in the Black. It shows he could write about more than just Dragons and Rainbows. Dark horse fave here would be "I Speed at Night" which has got to be the fastest Dio song in the catalog.

The second disc of the deluxe edition has the live b side tracks from the "Mystery" and "We Rock" singles and Live stuff from the Netherlands Pinkpop Festival. Another great set list and RJD is of course in fine form. I apologize for not being able to locate the material from the deluxe stuff for the thread; and I am just not computer literate enough to upload and place it here. I have deluxe editions of the first three albums and really wish more bands would do these. It's really cool to have all the rare b sides from the singles and  live tracks where you get to hear songs not in regular rotation anymore.

In 1987, me and a friend rented a few movies from the local video store for a sleepover. One of the movies was, The Wraith, starring Charlie Sheen. I won't go into a detailed review of the movie but I will say as a 13 year old I enjoyed it immensely for the Hard Rock soundtrack and the Dodge Turbo Interceptor (the car in my avatar). I was blown away by Lion's "Never Surrender" during one of the car chase scenes and had to find the band and song. Of course, this is pre internet and I don't find out who sings this until around 1998. I grab the cassette (at a local music store I helped out at) for a dollar (and play the shit out of it until it breaks) as the CD is way to rare and expensive for my wallet. I didn't get this on CD until my wife bought me a copy for Christmas 2014. An original with Japanese lyric sheet. I love that little woman.

Needless to say that this is one of my all time fave albums, by anyone, ever. Every song is great. No sappy ballads here, just American Hard Rock that touches on Heavy Metal. Kal Swann's vocals are outstanding and Doug Aldrich lays down some tasty leads and licks. The rhythm section of Marc Edwards (drums) and Jerry Best (bass) are thunderous. Obvious fave is "Never Surrender" but "In the Name of Love" is killer too. Enjoy!

I used to have that on vinyl.  Just out of curiosity I looked it up on Amazon.  You aren't kidding it's way too pricey.

I've got this one on CD and vinyl. My CD version is also a Japanese import.

I had never heard of Lion in the 80s, but a buddy of mine gave me a VHS comp of music videos in the mid 90s that had "Powerlove" on it and I really liked the song. Thus began my quest to track it down and I finally scored a CD copy. I didn't know that Kal Swann was also the vocalist for the NWOBHM band Tytan. I had always liked the vocals for them so it made sense I would like Lion too. This is solid U.S. metal in the vein of Leatherwolf or Dokken with a great singer. Sure it's cheesy, but it's very well done. I always wanted to shout "Powerlove" at Doug Aldrich when he was in Dio or Whitesnake to see if he would laugh. Sadly, I never got the chance.

" I always wanted to shout "Powerlove" at Doug Aldrich when he was in Dio or Whitesnake to see if he would laugh. Sadly, I never got the chance."

That's awesome! I felt that way last year when the wife and I went to see Foreigner. I had some Dokken and Hurricane stuff with me in case I got to see Pilson or Hansen and I would ask them to sign and talk old days with them.

tohostudios wrote:

I used to have that on vinyl.  Just out of curiosity I looked it up on Amazon.  You aren't kidding it's way too pricey.

I know I am sometimes critical of Rock Candy Records, but I am glad they are out there doing what they do cuz it helps bring the price down on a lot of obscure stuff. It sucks when I discover something old that is new to me and it's long out of print and worth a monthly car payment. Thank goodness for youtube.

The wife surprised me with this one on CD for my 40th birthday. We were getting ready to leave for a few nights in Maine and she put it on the steering column in the car. It was once #4 on the All Time Want List. Now it has been happily crossed off.

On to the album proper. Amazing opener (Come On) and closer (Forgotten Sons) and some killer songs (Stranger in the City, Love Is A Lie, Victim Of Circumstance) in between. Oh, and a terrific Slade cover proving that Quiet Riot didn't cover all the good Slade songs. No doubt it was hard to follow up such a great debut, but I feel as though, Lion did just that. Maybe a tad less heavy and a bit more melodic than the first, but still equally as awesome. Five of the tracks are re recorded versions of what appeared on the Power Love EP:

Stranger In The City
Victim Of Circumstance
Hungry For Love
Love Is A Lie
Forgotten Sons


Fun Fact:"Love is a Lie" also appears on the Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter OST (from 1984).

Awesome album. I got into these guys after seeing the vid for "Hideaway" from the Street Ready album on Headbanger's Ball back in HS. I immediately went out the next day to track down the cassette and played the heck out of it all through high school. I never knew of the first 2 albums until I got to college in New Hampshire in 1992. I met a girl who had similar musical tastes and she told me of the 2 self titled albums. About a decade later I was finally able to track them down on cassette and then finally, a year or so after that, I bought all the re masters from the band themselves.

Leatherwolf is known mostly for their "triple axe attack" and the smooth, soaring vocals of Mike Olivieri. Production here is not so great but that gives the music a raw feel to it. At times, I hear early NWOBHM, and early Progressive tendencies. I think any fan of American Metal would find something to like here.
Faves: Spiter, The Hook, Kill and Kill Again, Leatherwolf




Another S/T album, this one from 1987. This one is probably my favorite of the 3 from the original line up. It just seems to get heavier as it goes on and the minimal use of keyboards serves to enhance the music (Princess of Love ) instead of weaken or detract from it. This album is more reminiscent of Savatage and Dio, or some Chastain, if you will. Lots of heavy riffs and Gothic subject matter. I even really like the CCR cover.
Faves: Rise or Fall, The Calling, Gypsies and Thieves, Rule the Night



As stated earlier, this is the one that got me hooked and I still play it regularly today. A little more polished and commercial than the first two but still heavy on the memorability and the smooth vocals of Mike Olivieri are still here as well as the 3 axe attack.
Faves: Thunder, Spirits in the Wind, Black Night, Too Much is Never Enough

the sentinel wrote:

Awesome album. I got into these guys after seeing the vid for "Hideaway" from the Street Ready album on Headbanger's Ball back in HS. I immediately went out the next day to track down the cassette and played the heck out of it all through high school. I never knew of the first 2 albums until I got to college in New Hampshire in 1992. I met a girl who had similar musical tastes and she told me of the 2 self titled albums. About a decade later I was finally able to track them down on cassette and then finally, a year or so after that, I bought all the re masters from the band themselves.

Leatherwolf is known mostly for their "triple axe attack" and the smooth, soaring vocals of Mike Olivieri. Production here is not so great but that gives the music a raw feel to it. At times, I hear early NWOBHM, and early Progressive tendencies. I think any fan of American Metal would find something to like here.
Faves: Spiter, The Hook, Kill and Kill Again, Leatherwolf




Another S/T album, this one from 1987. This one is probably my favorite of the 3 from the original line up. It just seems to get heavier as it goes on and the minimal use of keyboards serves to enhance the music (Princess of Love ) instead of weaken or detract from it. This album is more reminiscent of Savatage and Dio, or some Chastain, if you will. Lots of heavy riffs and Gothic subject matter. I even really like the CCR cover.
Faves:  Rise or Fall, The Calling, Gypsies and Thieves, Rule the Night



As stated earlier, this is the one that got me hooked and I still play it regularly today. A little more polished and commercial than the first two but still heavy on the memorability and the smooth vocals of Mike Olivieri are still here as well as the 3 axe attack.
Faves: Thunder, Spirits in the Wind, Black Night, Too Much is Never Enough

Great band and great albums. I love all of them.

Leatherwolf are great! I don't really know which would be my favorite. Street Ready maybe.

I am of the mind that you really can't go wrong with any of them. I have probably played "Street Ready" the most as it's been in my collection the longest, but S/T '87 (or Leatherwolf II) is catching up. The opening duo of "Rise or Fall" and "The Calling" is just killer! I am always on the lookout for more '80's Metal bands like them. I have to check out the NWOBHM band Tytan that WF mentioned.

Not a fan of their debut, but absolutely love II and Steet Ready. Its all about the guitars for me, crazy good, with quality productrion to enhance the sound.

Spinning this one now:



I make no apologies. I like what I like and I like White Lion. Always have. I got this on cassette back in '87 after seeing the video for "Hungry" on MTV. Say what you will about that channel but it turned me on to a lot of bands in the very pre internet days. Back then, as we all know, it was word of mouth and the recommendations of the clerk at the local record shop. And even then, you had to male the decision of whether or not to plunk down what little money you had.
Anyway, I have always valued guitar over everything else. Vocals and lyrical themes are important, but that's a whole 'nother discussion. Being a failed guitarist, I always marveled at those that could really shred a fret board and Vito Bratta is no exception. There is lot's to like here on "Pride" as it is really just a good album. Putting the image and mega popular ballad aside, it's just a good rock and roll album. Much like Europe, these guys were heavier and edgier on the debut (which is my fave WL disc) and legend has it there is actually a first recording of the "Pride" album that is heavier and rawer, but I have never heard it.
Faves on this one: Hungry, Lady of the Valley, All You Need is Rock and Roll, Tell Me