Good Knives "A Place Called Doubt"

There’s more to Good Knives than just your average hard rock band. Their latest album A Place Called Doubt would show anyone that while there is a definite classic rock influence to their sound, they have no intentions of sounding like anyone but themselves. The reason I find this very apparent is in the bands singing. Singer Shaunny P does have a familiar sounding voice, reminding me of Joel O’Keefe from Airbourne (one of my least favourite modern rock bands thanks to their complete unoriginal sound). However, unlike Joel, Shaunny doesn’t seem to want to sing in front of an AC/DC rip-off, but rather a band making original sounding material making his vocal capabilities shine that much brighter.

The Lad Classic "Thunder"

The first time I’d heard of Toronto hard rock band The Lad Classic was probably close to a year ago when they followed me on Twitter. I always listen to the independent bands that follow me before following back. At the time they just had an all acoustic EP called Lightning, something I normally don’t find to be a good idea in terms of sampling music if a band is also an electric band, but I really heard something in that acoustic EP that I thought it would be a good idea to follow them. Then every now and then I’d see their name pop up playing live shows around Toronto, more so than practically any other independent band I’ve come across, which made me realize that The Lad Classic are a bigger deal than I estimated.

Ume "Monuments"

 It was in a recent Guitar World issue - the one that counted the top 50 Eric Clapton moments - that featured a small article on Texas rock band Ume. It was then that I was first gained knowledge that such a band existed, and to top it all off they were mere weeks away from releasing their album Monuments. I checked them out right away; their song Black Stone was not hard to find on YouTube, and I knew immediately that this was going to be big.

Rynheart "Rynheart"

Toronto hard rock band Rynheart wear their influences on their sleeves, as have a lot of bands I’ve written about. That, of course, is never truly a bad thing. Another of the independent bands who seemed to grow up fans of 80s hard rock, it isn’t hard to hear the balls of Guns N’ Roses infused with the sleaze of Poison on this four track self titled EP that I was given by them. I mean who doesn’t like a good hard rock song that can shake the ground under your feet?

Albatross "Happenstance"

I do love a good blues rock tune. It’s something I’ve made quite clear in previous articles. Both as a listener and as a guitar player it is one of my go-to types of music to go to. It is a type of music that I find really shows the true emotion behind the instruments played, and as per usual, the more genuine emotion put in to a song (by the guitarist, the singer, whomever) the better. I was happy when Albatross gave me their EP Happenstance for review, as I feel they have a good grasp on the blues rock genre.

Step Echo "Songs for the Broken"

In the year and a bit that I’ve been reviewing albums, I’ve got my hands on quite a few independent albums by bands from all over the world. Hell, since mid January, all but one album I’ve reviewed have been recorded by independent bands. It’s refreshing to have finally been given the follow up album to one of these bands for review. Last May I write about St. Catherine’s Step Echo and their album Jagged, an album that I was impressed with as well as a few other people that I’ve played the album for. Now I feel privileged that their independent record label Red Dragon Records felt comfortable sending me Songs for the Broken.

Social Strife "Social Strife"

I’ve done over a hundred of these now so it’s getting hard to find clever ways to introduce my articles. It’s frustrating really, I enjoy my rants, sometimes relevant, sometimes not so much, but after thinking about it for days, I just can’t find one this time. It’s unfortunate because Toronto hard rock band Social Strife really do deserve a good introduction to their featured article on my site for their five-track self titled EP which is nothing short of a classic hard rock sound that can stand pretty tall in today’s rock music.

Wildheart "Gypsy Soul"

When Toronto hard rock band Wildheart gave me their EP Gypsy Soul for review, I’ll admit that the first thing I did was judge them on appearance, before giving them one listen. I thought to myself they’re just another band trying to look and play the part of an 80s band, whose real talent in performing and writing are oblivious to their attempt revive a musical genre by only its clichés. Luckily I was wrong.

Red Dragon Cartel "Red Dragon Cartel"

It took me a little longer than I’d like to admit to truly appreciate Jake E. Lee. He is known prominently as one of Ozzy Osbourne’s most popular guitarists, having played on his immortal Bark At The Moon album, but it wasn’t until I first heard Shot In The Dark from his second album with Ozzy, The Ultimate Sin, when I first truly discovered who this man was. I was in my early years of high school by this time. It was a little bit after then that I discovered Badlands; the other band Jake is well known for. However, despite having found out of his existence, I still didn’t truly have a grasp on how significant Jake E. Lee is as a guitar player. Just before graduation, I got my hands on a copy of The Ultimate Sin and was blown away. To this day it remains my favourite Ozzy album, completely because of Jake E. Lee’s ability to bring the best out of Ozzy Osbourne as a singer.

Skrou "Skrou"

It’s very obvious, after listening to the band Skrou, how much influence the band takes from the 80’s. A time when rock songs were big and hair metal reigned supreme. Before grunge came and changed music (you can argue for better or worse, but that isn’t the point of this article) it was more common for rock bands to have fun and sound like they were having fun. It kind of trailed into pop metal, or glam metal, with acts like Autograph or Vixen adding in a lot of keyboards to their already pop-oriented rock hooks. Before this, though, with bands like Ratt in their earliest days and Mötley Crüe, to name a few, recorded a lot of songs, though most were centred on partying and sex, which would eventually become a complete cliché. Despite the lyrics, the songs were always big; I mean layered guitars, over emphasized drums: big. And I feel this is all what Skrou are trying to encompass.

Top 10 Albums of 2013

Something different today; I decided that rather than reviewing an album, I’d write an article based on my Top 10 albums of 2013. I figured I’d explain why each album made the list. And probably reiterate some of each albums best moments. Hope you enjoy, I’m definitely excited to write this! I’ve provided a YouTube video to each album. Each video is the song I initially considered the highlight.

Motörhead "Aftershock"

Has there been a hard rock band more distinctive than Motörhead?

The Bloody Nerve "Red"

Nashville has famously been coined as “Music City” for years. It’s no surprise really. It has been the designated home for country music for decades; it got that nickname in 1950 and still stands tall to it today. It has always been the city for country artists to migrate to, just as Los Angeles was for rock music in the late 60’s/early 70’s. It is also the home of the Grand Ole Opry, which is essentially the Country Music Hall of Fame; and apparently the oldest music hall of fame also. But with such a reputation for country music, how would a rock band formed in this city sound?

Halestorm "ReAniMate 2.0"

I’ve written two articles on Halestorm by now, one on their TheStrange Case Of... album (the first album I ever gave a 10/10 to) and then one on their debut, so there really is no need for paragraph after paragraph on the history of the band. Hence this article may be shorter than most (at least pretend that’s a bad thing for my sake).

Coney Hatch "Four"

I’m not sure how many people can remember the first time they ever heard music. Most people might be lucky and remember around what age but not what artists. I however remember pretty much all of them. Thanks to my dad’s cassettes that he’d play in the car, I remember Van Halen and Boston being the first two bands I ever listened to who I liked enough to remember their names and want to hear more. This moved on to listening to my dad’s mixed cassettes in the car with artists that ranged from Don Henley to Rush to Ronnie James Dio. I was even introduced to some of the more obscure artists that my dad would listen to that I know a lot of people have never heard of such as Tygers of Pan Tang and Riot. I grew up with all of these artists and I credit this to my love for music and most importantly my love for classic rock.

Avenged Sevenfold "Hail to the King"

 

I don’t think I know a rock band that is disliked more than Avenged Sevenfold. The most amazing thing is that none of these “haters” have any credible reason to dislike the band. It appears that ever since the turn of the millennium, any hard rock/metal band that gains popularity of any kind gets a lashing; it’s impossible to win. But at the end of the day I’ve never met any of these seemingly professional music analysts in person, they prefer to remain hidden, while in reality (you know, that world beyond the computer screen) I meet more and more fans of the band as they become among this generations biggest hard rock acts.

Laura Wilde "Sold My Soul"

I believe it’s been about a year since I discovered Laura Wilde. Late August/early September of 2012 she followed me on Twitter, as I’m sure she did to a lot of people to broaden her reach. I told her that day that I was sure glad she followed me otherwise I’d never have discovered her music. I then realized that this lovely 23 year old young woman from Australia (who moved to L.A.) had spent the better part of 2012 touring with none other than Ted Nugent and had already slowly started making a name for herself.

Heavens Fire "Judgement Day"

 

Toronto-based band Heavens Fire may not be a well enough known name in rock music, but they sure have as interesting of a back story as any of the many bands to have come before them. I personally think of Def Leppard’s well documented misfortunes when I think of the heaven and hell that the band has gone through over the past thirteen or so years. The story is well documented on the bands Website, so to shorten it slightly, after the release of their debut album in the year 2000 and what looked like a promising start having gained attention in Europe and Japan, the band’s drummer suffered a very untimely death. Not long after that, guitarist JT Harris was given months to live after being diagnosed with cancer. After defying those odds and surviving, JT’s father grew very ill and the band was once again put on hold.

Scorpion Child "Scorpion Child"

If you read my review on Monster Truck, you’d have read a bunch of words that sum up to me ranting and raving about a band finally able to harness the sound of classic hard rock and successfully modernize it and call the style their own. After a number of bands that I have heard, some popular and some underground, who concentrate on trying so hard to sound like what much of them refer to as the good old days of rock, but lacking any true identity, Monster Truck turned my hopes, and the hopes of many people in the world, including Slash, that the future of hard rock was in good hands.

Halestorm "Halestorm"

I had so much fun writing about Halestorm’s The Strange Case Of... album a few months ago that I decided I’d go back to their self-titled debut album. I discovered Halestorm when the first Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival was announced. Since there was no way I was going to miss what was essentially an Avenged Sevenfold/Disturbed co-headliner, I checked out what other bands were going to be there. Only two really caught my attention, and the main one was Halestorm. This was approximately a year after the April 2009 release of their debut album, so I immediately went to HMV to pick it up.