CD Review: "Swamp People" Bring Out The Musical Charm Of Louisiana

The History Channel’s latest breakout television show is “Swamp People” and to celebrate, HISTORY and the Concord Music Group are releasing the first soundtrack to that hit show. Inspired by the deep southern roots of Louisiana, “Swamp People” showcases a rich tradition that dates back almost three centuries. As important as the rich history, is the great music that has come from this area of the country. This album features 13 songs by some of the biggest artists drawing inspiration from their southern roots including The Neville Brothers, Hank Williams and Buckwheat Zydeco.

The album begins with the show’s theme song, “Swamp People” by Steel Bill (aka Billy Joe Tharpe) a native of Louisiana. The song is a favorite of Troy Landry, who plays the lead in the show, as he lends his talents on the harmonica to the song. The classic country sounds of Jerry Reed and Hank Williams on the songs “Amos Moses” and “Jambalaya (On The Bayou)” get a shot of Cajun to give their music a little spice. The real New Orleans flavor of Buckwheat Zydeco’s “Zydeco La Louisianne” and Beausoleil’s “Kolinda” adds some authenticity to the album.  Famous blues songs, “Polk Salad Annie” by Tony Joe White and “See You Later Alligator” performed by Bobby Charles, add some fun to the album’s southern charm.

The “Swamp People” album was released on May 21 through Rounder Records in association with the Concord Music Group. For more information, please visit www2.concordmusicgroup.com/albums/Swamp-People/.

CD Review: Keith Moody Is "Dreaming Out Loud," While Keyless Becomes A "Hot Shot"

Singer/songwriter/guitarist Keith Moodyis looking to build upon the success of his latest release "Dreaming Out Loud." This album shows Keith in a different light as his music has a stripped-down, acoustic pop appeal. But no matter what type of music he plays, his wonderful songwriting is what makes his music so attractive.

 

The eleven-song release begins with the pop/rock of "Long Way Up," as his music and vocals draws some similarities to Matthew Sweet. Another great sounding, up-tempo acoustic rocker is "Lay It Down Easy" as Moody lifts your spirit with his words of encouragement. It's great to hear Moody add a dash of punk into his clean-sounding repetoire as in "Up," but his lyrics really fly during the blusey ballad "Red Line." The album closes with Moody showing us more of his guitar skills on the swaying blues of "Plastic Hearts."

 

Keith Moody has a load of live dates scattered throughout the U.S., beginning June 1st in Florida. For a complete list of tour dates and for more information on Moody's new album "Dreaming Out Loud," please visit keithmoody.com.

 

Memphis, TN pop artist Keyless is looking to breakthrough with his new album "Hot Shot." The self-released album comes out May 21 and features the song "Deep End" which has been featured on a number of television shows and appears in the full-length motion picture "The Devil Within: Rise Of Evil." The song combines a memorable chorus with a dancefloor beat that is very contagious to get wrapped up in. The album's lead single "Everything" is beginning to catch fire on the "top 40" charts with its pure pop lyrics and easy to follow beats that appeal to listeners of all ages. Some of the other songs on the album take on a more club beat like "Crazy" and "War On The Floor," before the album closes with another possible hit with Keyless taking on the DJ reigns in"Shatter."

 

To find out more on Keyless and his new album "Hot Shot." please visit keylessmusic.com.

CD Review: New Heavy Metal Music From Stone Sour, Killswitch Engage And Kvelertak

Roadrunner Records unleashed some amazing new albums last month from Stone Sour, Killswitch Engage and newcomers Kvelertak.The new Stone Sour album, "House of Gold & Bones, Part 2" is continuing the story of last year's "House of Gold & Bones, Part 1." Led by lead sing, Cory Taylor, this latest album has lyrics that dig deeper into his mind as a songwriter. The songs still rock hard with edginess like in "Black John" and "Peckinpah," while Stone Sour explore their softer side with the meaningful "Sadist" and "Blue Smoke." The get down and dirty with the heavy bass groove of "Gravesend" and head into a mainstream metal sound with "The Uncanny Valley." The album closes up with the punk-like fury of "Do Me A Favor," then they add strings to the power ballad "The Conflagration," before finishing up with the eruption of "House Of Gold & Bones."

The album was released on April 9 where is entered the Billboard Album charts at #9 and made four straight Stone Sour albums to crack the Top 10. Stone Sour will be touring Europe for the first month of summer, but be sure to visit stonesour.com for the latest information on the band.

One of Roadrunner Records' heaviest artists is Killswitch Engage as they continue to crank out albums of aggressive attacks that certainly keep the blood pumping. Their latest release, "Disarm The Discent" was released at the beginning of April and entered the Billboard Album chart at #7, their highest charting album to date.

The band come blasting out of the get with the high-octane of "The Hell In Me," before continuing with the machine gun drumming of "The New Awakening." The album's lead single, "In Due Time" has a mainstream metal chorus, without losing its aggressive edge with its screaming vocals. The guitars stampede through "A Tribute To The Fallen" with a reckless cause, while the deep howls of "The Turning Point" give the song a darker,more monstrous sound. The album closes with the only moment of breath with "Always" and the speed metal assault of "Time Will Not Remain."

Killswitch Engage are taking their new album on the road with a U.S. tour starting at the end of the month. Then they had overseas to Japan at the end of July before making their way over to Europe in August. For more information on the new album "Disarm The Discent" and for a complete list of tour dates, please visit killswitchengage.com.

Last, but on least, we get the latest release from Norway rockers Kvelertak entitled "Meir." The album carries a big guitar/drum sound with the lyrics in their native tongue, but with a great metal sound, you don't need to understand the words. The band motors through the song "Trepan," a classic hard rock sound with screaming vocals. They slow the tempo down for "Evig Vandrar" as the song is sure to become an arena rocker during their live shows. The band keeps the energy high and consistent on the almost seven-minute metal attack of "Nekrokosmos," before finishing the album with the nine-minute epic "Tordenbrak" and the classic guitar rock of the band's theme song, "Kvelertak."

Kvelertak will be wrapping up their North American tour this week with a couple of shows in Canada. For more information on this rising metal band, please visit kvelertak.com.

Concert Review: Motley Crue Blasts Through A Hits Packed Set At Mohegan Sun

Heavy metal music would have a totally different look today if not for Motley Crue. Their California looks and flashy concerts brought in a whole new audience (mostly female) to discover heavy metal music. After 32 years and nine studio albums (six platinum) Motley Crue are nearing the end of their career together, but after seeing their performance last Saturday night at the Mohegan Sun arena I still cannot understand why. The band (Vince Neil, Nikki Six, Tommy Lee, Mick Mars) still put on an adrenaline pumping, energetic show, as if they were out to prove why they are considered one of the premier bands of heavy metal.

With the lights out and the band's new, modern introduction music blarring through the speakers, a countdown appeared on two giants clocks at the back of the stage. Then, appearing from the back of the arena was a "march of evil" as two females on the shoulders of a couple roadies held flags while a hooded drummer banged away as if leading their victims to a hanging. Once on stage, the hooded drummer was revealed as Tommy Lee as he ran to his drum set to kick-off the night with "Saints of Los Angeles." Only distracted for a moment by the female acrobats going on above the stage, all eyes were on the band as lead singer Vince Neil worked the stage running from end to end. Signature fist pumps signaled the beginning of "Shout At The Devil" as the band mixed in songs from their first couple album with their most popular hits, "Wild Side," "Same Ol' Situation" and "Dr. Feelgood."

The only slow part of the evening came when a piano was lowered from the ceiling as Tommy Lee and the band gathered around it for the beginning of "Home Sweet Home." As the spotlight remained on Lee he proceeded with a drum solo that had to been seen to appreciate as he flipped upside-down along a track while continously banging away to a DJ-style club beat. Guitarist Mick Mars followed with his eye-starring, jaw-dropping solo which lead into the audiences participation of "Live Wire."

Motley Crue finished their set with two of the band's most popular hits, "Girls, Girls, Girls" which had a couple of stripper poles being occupied by dancers, and the high-energy "Kickstart My Heart." During the song's performance, bassist Nikki Sixx would proceed to spit, what looked like a blood-like substance, into the front row of the audience, but that was nothing compared to the finish. Sections of the front row became drenched as buckets of the red liquid were thrown at the audience by Sixx and Lee.

 

While this current tour may be wrapping up soon, Motley Crue are looking forward to making their final studio album and then say farewell with a final world tour. Many of today's bands have a debt to owe to Motley Crue and their live performance can attest to the fact that they are one of the premier heavy metal bands of all time.

 

Setlist: Saints Of Los Angeles, Wild Side, Shout At The Devil, Piece Of You Action, Same Ol' Situation, Louder Than Hell, Sex, Don't Go Away Mad, MF Of The Year, Home Sweet Home, Live Wire, Too Fast For Love, Primal Scream, Dr. Feelgood, Girls Girls Girls, Kickstart My Heart

DVD Review: Iron Maiden Finally Get "Maiden England" Out On DVD

Heavy Metal band Iron Maiden pleased long-time fans with the release of their new DVD "Maiden England '88." It is a re-release of their long, out-of-print concert video "Maiden England" with three bonus songs not on the original release. Plus, it also includes a second disc full of goodies, including of two documentaries and five promo videos.

 

The concert video was recorded live at Birminham NEC on November 27th and 28th, 1988 in support of the band's highly successful album "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son." The footage was directed and edited by Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris. The video was originally released in 1989 on VHS, then re-released in 1994 on VHS with a bonus CD. Harris stated that this concert was filmed from the fan's perspective with most of the shots coming from the angle of the crowd and not really on stage with the band.

 

In 2007, it was mentioned that the film was being cleaned up for a DVD release in 2008 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the shows. It was later delayed until 2013, being released by Universal Music on March 26 as a 2 DVD set, which hit #1 on the Billboard video chart. While the first disc covers the entire concert, the second disc has the goods that fans have been waiting for. Included on the second disc is part 3 of "The History of Iron Maiden" which features new interviews with the band as they discuss the making of the albums "Somewhere In Time" and "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son." Also included is another out-of-print video entitled "12 Wasted Years" which documents the beginning of the band with tons of live footage and archival interviews with members of the band. To round out the disc are the 5 promotional music videos for the songs "Wasted Years," "Stranger In A Strange Land," "Can I Play With Madness," "The Evil That Men Do" and "The Clairvoyant."

 

Even though the concert was not filmed in high-definition (hence no Blu-ray release) the footage still looks and sounds amazing, especially for being 25 years old. The other great thing is how the film was cut together. Too many concert videos today have camera shots that jump all over the place, while this one has camera shots that stick to one angle for more that a few seconds. Also released was a 2 CD set of the show which also includes the songs, "Can I Play With Madness," "Hallowed Be Thy Name," "Run To The Hills," "Running Free" and "Sanctuary" which were left off the original CD release back in 1994.

 

To find out more about this great new release, please visit www.ironmaiden.com/maiden-england-88-concert-to-be-released-on-dvd.html