Stevie Nicks - In Your Dreams

It's been a solid ten years since we last heard a new album from Stevie Nicks and that turns out to be a really good thing because she sounds fantastic. There are moments on this platter that you will swear are from the glory days of '74 & '75. She sounds as if the fountain of youth has worked its magic on some of the unbelievably great performances. The production team of Glen Ballard and Dave Stewart have worked a miracle with this album helping Stevie release her best set of songs since the massively successful Bella Donna. This just proves how great Dave Stewart is/was and that the Eurythmics were much more his than Annie's creatively.

I will admit I really was shocked when I heard "Secret Love" and liked it enough to purchase the single from I-Tunes. So I had high hopes for this record which almost always ruins albums from getting too much hype. That just doesn't happen while listening to In Your Dreams. The song "Wide Sargasso Sea" is one of the albums truly brilliant pieces of work. The rhythm is infectious the instrumentation is out of this world and the swirling vocal she lays over top is haunting and beautiful. I got five songs deep in this record and if it ended right there I would feel I got my money's worth. The complete satisfaction of hearing a legend this far into her career releasing what I will go on record to say is by far the best thing she's ever done as a solo artist is so rare. I've heard some great albums by older artists over the last few years and this one sits right up near the top.

I can continue to gush about all the brilliance to be heard on In Your Dreams but its best you just sit back press play on the CD player and go on this beautiful ride. I promise you won't be disappointed and you might even find that you have a new favorite album. Shockingly great!

Song Highlights: Wide Sargasso Sea, Annabel Lee, For What It's Worth, Ghosts Are Gone, Secret Love & Italian Summer.

Secret Love by stevienicks

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Sixx A.M. - This Is Gonna Hurt

The sophomore release by Nikki Sixx's side project Sixx:A.M. returns this time with a much more cohesive sound that shows some growth from their average debut. The album's first single "Lies Of The Beautiful People" is an excellent modern rocker. The funny thing about this album as it could all be a new Crue record if Vince was singing. Sixx seems to be a little darker here than what you get from the glam rock from his main band.

I am surprised by Ashba's vocals this time around or maybe its just a better production on them because he's much more ear friendly here than anywhere on the previous record. The overall songs are much better as well so that can make a huge difference to the listening experience. This album makes the last Crue record even more disappointing considering how good the writing is on This Is Gonna Hurt. Too often does this album just kick ass that I'm hoping that this becomes Nikki's main project. The verses are solid they blast into excellent chorus and all with keeping the spirit of hard rock and colouring it in with the best of what modern rock has to offer. A very impressive album and one that actually lives up to its first singles awesomeness.

Song Highlights: Deadlihood, Lies Of The Beautiful People, Sure Feels Right*, Help Is On The Way & Smile

SixxA.M. Sample by Splashadian

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10 Songs That Should Be On Everybody's I-Pod

This time around its the mid to late 90's for the list, overall the decade that made guitars cool again in the mainstream but one that included the most garbage of all decades since rock n' roll was created in the 50's. Here we go:

10. Walking On The Sun by Smash Mouth
09. Buddy Holly by Weezer
08. Is Anybody Home by Our Lady Peace
07. Geek Stink Breath by Green Day
06. More Human Than Human by Rob Zombie
05. In The Mean time by Spacehog
04. Gone Away by The Offspring
03. Santa Monica by Everclear
02. Just Like Anyone by Soul Asylum
01. The Beautiful People by Marilyn Manson

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Check Out The Last Vegas

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Hollywood Undead - American Tragedy

This has been floating around for a bit now and I have been listening to some of it on a regular basis. Hollywood Undead has not been a band I've cared for much outside of a couple of tracks. The album kicks off with "Born To Hell" which is a solid tune overall with its heavy groove and decent rap-rock flow. The chorus reminds me of Linkin Park at their best. The band have some really strong songs on this record and two or three that are infectious as hell which I listen to a lot.

The record is long at eighteen tracks and with some editing could be much more cohesive making it much more lethal. Overall this is one of the best rap-rock records I've ever heard and if this is the beginning of the future for Holywood Undead's career I'm in for the ride. Not perfect and not quite Starfish/Hot Dog by Limp but this is a strong release and one I'm glad I listened to for sure.

Song Highlights: Apologize, Lump Your Head, Comin' In Hot, Hear Me Now, Bullet & Levitate
Undead Sample by Splashadian

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Duff McKagan's Loaded - The Taking

Another new album from an ex GNR member and well it's another wasted effort. This album is another in a long line of shit coming from the GNR camp of musicians. That crap solo album from Slash, The Snake Pit mediocrity, Gilby's somewhat lackluster solo albums along with Axl's truly awful re-birth of GNR and of course Izzy's shite albums all prove that these guys are meant to be together in a collective not as individual artists. Together they make magic even missing Axl the others can get enough together to not completely suck as in the case of Velvet Revolver which was passable.

This album has Duff singing which he cannot do well and his songwriting verges on atrocious at many times during the album. A good example of the awfulness is "Cocaine" one of the worst songs ever composed by Duff. This album just misses the mark it always lacks spirit and genuine belief in the music. "Lords Of Abandon" is the first track and if you think its a hard rock gem then your going to love this album. I can't see how anyone with the ability to hear would want to play this album or any of its songs a second time. The one passable song is "We Win" that with a little more spit and shine it could be a good song but not with the lame ass vocals that are currently put on it.

Duff should have hired a real lead singer which might have saved a little bit of this release from being flushed down the crapper. There are no song highlights to be posted from this album and it gets a big fat zero from me.
Duff McKagan's Loaded - We Win >

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Nazareth - Big Dogz

Well this band has been running on empty for about thirty-five years now and somehow they still put out new material every once in awhile. The band's previous album showed some spark now and again making this new album interesting to see if anything could be made from that small spark. The albums opening cut is slow and plodding not in a good way either. "Big Dog's Gonna Howl" is a terrible song with little energy and completely missing a hook. So from there the band puts together another song almost as bad but equally as slow and dragging.

Two songs into the album and I'm ready to just give up but "No Mean Monster" actually comes to life and shows a little light in the tunnel. Does it catch fire, the answer is no its slows down for the chorus to that plodding pace. The band tries to write a song with the murder song blues march but with lyrics that are supposed to be enlightening for the religious folks. It completely misses the mark. Now "Radio" has enough going for it to manage being an ok song. Again it's nothing to write home about and isn't anywhere near the classic era of the band.

The old dogs actually pick up the pace for "The Toast" to near light speed, yes that is sarcasm but it's the quickest tempo on the record. The guitar solo is laughable it's so bad. I don't know nor do I care who's playing in the band now all I know is that they are low level musicians. This is close to being the worst album Nazareth's name has ever been put on. I do not recommend this album to anyone even the bands die hard fans. This album is one of the worst albums of 2011 that doesn't deserve even the completest collectors money.

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Andrew W.K. Is Still Making Music, Well He Thinks It's Music

Since the "Party Hard" single on his debut this tool hasn't dropped a song that has been listenable. This hasn't changed and his new release "Party All Goddamn Night" is yet another terrible song in his catalog. The one thing positive I can say is that at least he's consistent. The E.P. of the same name is full of badly written and produced electronic punk metal which doesn't have any redeeming qualities.

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Warrant - Rockaholic

Hell Yeah! Warrant's back with a grooving heavy metal swagger that has been missing for far too long. The band's original set of musicians are present but the man behind the majority of the music is not, in his place is the uber kick ass frontman that is built from the legendary mold of the best prototypical hard rock singers Robert Mason. Mason is one of "the" greatest hard rock singer on this and any other planet. His voice has a timbre that exudes all things great about sleaze rock or greasy L.A.Sunset Strip heavy metal...this guy is the real deal.

The bands second album without Janie and even though the excellent Jamie St. James did a good job on the bands Born Again album in 2006 he didn't have the same effectivness that Mr. Janie Lane did. Here Mason has taken the band down a similar path musically of Born Again but because of his incredible vocal charisma he makes Warrant sound as good as they did on Cherry Pie. I prefer this bluesy version of the band with their sound more akin to South Gang or Tora Tora and picking up on the groove/spirit of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and their brilliant cover of "Train, Train". Turner and Allen have once again shown they can write and play good hard rock guitar. Dixon and Sweet sound great laying down a nice thick bouncy groove for the boys to riff and solo over.

When any fan listens to this record missing Lane won't happen much because when you listen to "Home" Robert Mason has enough in his delivery to remind you of him but still take the vocal to another level which Janie never could. One of my personal favorites on this disc is "The Show Must Go On" which is directed at their original singer who after yet another opportunity was fired. It's a shame that he can't put the bottle down but then again a blessing because of who's now in his place.

This album is far from perfection and has a couple of tossers like "Cocaine Freight Train" a juvenile song on all levels. Just misses the creativity bus being left behind considering how good some of the other songs are. "Found Forever" is a great tune that is already been added to my I-Pod for many loudly sung plays in the car. This is a power ballad worthy of being on any hard rock record. The albums closing number reminds me of Ratt in composition with a nod to Fastway hidden in their as well as a little "Power & Glory" from Saxon. A strong Warrant album made even better with a great singer. Easily this album gets 4 Eargasms out of 5

Warrant Sample 2011 by Splashadian

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Check Out Big Cock

Here is a band that takes everything from the hair metal genre tosses a heaping does of cock rock lyrical musings over top all the attitude one would need to be successful and the outcome is brilliant batch of rock n' roll that makes most modern rock bands sound like armatures on the main stage.

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The Poodles - Performocracy

Another Poodles album and another disappointment. This band seemed destined to be the saviour of hard rock/pop metal but have turned out to be kinda weak. Listening to this album is like trying walk upstream in a running river, hard to get through. The album is nearly devoid of energy and power with almost every song being a mid-paced snooze fest. The best tune on the album is probably "Bring Back The Night" but its still nothing to write home about.

I recommend not buying this album or wasting bandwidth downloading it for free. If you did I'm sorry for you and if you like this its time to have your head examined.

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The Ladies Are Ruling The Pop Charts So Far This Year

It seems to be another strong year for the ladies rocking the charts. It doesn't happen on this level very often but a lot of the best pop music out right now is being released by woman. I don't take to most female singers because they are usually lightweight torch song singers like Celine or Whitney both who sing crap music constantly. This year of 2011 which is riding on the wave of success 2010 started with the likes of Ke$ha and the continuation of dominance by Lady GaGa.

The best thing about this modern wave of female artists is that they don't repeat the same old patterns of their previous peers. The new wave is coming out with strong powerful music that has more dimensions than broken hearts and yearning about romance novel style love affairs. You have Robyn who has released some of the best electronic/synth pop in the last 10 years. She did so with three E.P.'s culminating into a fully fleshed out album all at the highest caliber quality. Her inspired and creatively awesome "Fembot" single was one of my favorites of last year. Body Talk Pt. 1 includes the nearly perfect "Dancing On My Own" which stormed the British Charts proving once again how much cooler they are over there en-mass to North. Body Talk, Pt. 1 received an aggregate score of 76 out of 100 from Metacritic, indicating generally favorable reviews from music critics. America.

Her next to releases also performed incredibly well and had hits of their own like "Hang With Me" a stark and striking new wave love song. Then Pt. 3 had "Indestructible" another top flight tune that should have been a massive hit over here but the audience just isn't cool enough to get her stuff on the large scale. Another of the huge female singers to come to power was Ke$ha who has been a non-stop hit machine since she dropped 'Tick-Tock" which she only followed with multiple number one singles and an E.P. that is riding high as well. The remix album which just came out has what I think is her best song to date "Fuck Him He's A DJ" that is a dance floor monster for sure. She is easily the second biggest female artists right now burning up the charts to only Lady GaGa. Even though you have Rihanna another powerful female force who seems to have the Midas touch. Always finding success no matter how good or bad her stuff is.

Another of the best of the best is Eliza Doolittle who's found much success over seas but yet to catch fire in North America. She's had a trio of top 20 singles which include "Pack Up", "Skinny Genes" and "Roller Blades". Then the exuberant Kate Miller-Heideki who does it like no other. She's got a bright future and I'm excited to hear what will come from her in the next few years. I have to say Jessie J is and Nicki Minaj will be huge parts of the near future with how those two are burning up the charts. Nicki seems to be on everyone's track being featured almost as much as Kanye West. Jessie J who's already dropped two number one's on the Brit charts has her first here and more are forth coming from her stupendous debut album.

Another of the new queens running the charts is Dev. She is solely responsible for the whole G6 success for Far East Movement. Her song which was was sampled and inspired the world wide hit from a verse in her "Booty Bounce" single is another one that has shown to be a little more creative and talented than the old guard. Her sound is her sound and nobody can mistake that for other pop queens. Avril Lavigne who's riding the wave of her current album is just beginning to burn up the charts. Lady GaGa the reigning warrior queen can't miss with her songs. It seems no matter what she releases its a bonafide hit song. When her Born This Way album is finally out on the streets it will probably be the biggest selling album of the year. I can't see what is coming in the future months but that album is going to move a massive amount of units.

You still have many other female singers who are kicking supreme ass like Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift who might be the sweetest and nicest superstar out right now and the excellent Kelly Clarkson who's going to have a new record soon. There is also new comer Victoria Justice to watch out for and then the Disney pop princess's. In that world of tween pop singers like Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez and Emily Osment or Miranda Cosgrove will have a huge impact as well only growing the strong movement of female pop singers. The more unknown artists like Elen Linto, Tristen, Lena, Lenka or even Rumer who all have a chance to become major stars are waiting in the wings. The more established Sheryl Crow will continue to pull her weight along with Sara Bareilles, Duffy and Britney Spears adding more girl power all year long.

I know there are so many I've not even mentioned yet like Imelda May who's album is absolutely awesome and hopefully will see her grow into a household name and the darling of the moment Adele who is finally getting recognized in North America. So when you hear all the rhetoric calling 2011 the year woman finally get acknowledgement as their year in rock music you can actually believe it this time because never before has there been so many strong female artists who are much more than a hot body or pretty face. This time they all have talent to go along with those looks.

Here is a little list of some of the woman I'd recommend you give a chance and listen to outside of the ones mentioned previously in this post.

Emma Bunton, Caroline Chevin, Raveonettes, Emma Shapplin, Nell Bryden, Scarlet Haze, Inna, Averysunshine, Ellie Goulding, Neon Hitch, Kat Deluna, Julie C, Bridgette Tatum, Ashlyne Huff, Caro Emerald, Sky Ferreira, Daniela, Clare Maguire & Ida Corr

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