Live In Japan

Ended out the Punk run here with the all female band that launched a few successful solo careers. I speak of course of The Runaways. Formed in the mid 70's and quickly making an impact of the Punk/Rock scene. Given at the time there wasn't a whole lot of all girl groups that played Punk/Rock. The band gained some success stateside, but were a bigger draw overseas, especially in Japan.

The band if you're familiar with them or god forbid you saw that sorry biopic that came out a few years back, know The Runaways helped launch the careers of Joan Jett, Lita Ford, and Cherie Curry. Each of course having varying degrees of success throughout the 80's and into the 90's. Best know for their hit "Cherry Bomb", the band quickly fizzled out after four studio records and a Live record, all within a three year period. However the Live record, 'Live In Japan' is a prime slice of what the girls were capable of. Recorded over three shows on June 5th, 6th and 12th in Japan. The album was mixed a week later and released later that year. It's twelve tracks of gritty in your face Girl Punk/Metal that would serve as inspiration more female rockers for years to come. The band would cut their final record a year later and breakup. 'Live In Japan' however captures exactly what the band was capable of at their height of popularity.

Preview

Download

The Only Way To Know For Sure

Continuing on with the Punk Rock theme of sorts, this post features one of Punk's more vocal frontman and his band after Punk. I speak of course of Henry Rollins. Love him or loathe him, Rollins has made a name for himself. Fronting Punk bands S.O.A and Black Flag in the 80's. Rollins went out to release two solo records before putting together his new band, Rollins Band.In addition to fronting bands, Rollins has also been in several movies, wrote several books and has taken to Spoken Word over the past few decades now.

With Rollins Band, Rollins fused the hardcore aspect of his earlier works with a tinge of Blues/Jazz infused rock. When you here the band, you instantly know it's Rollins on vocals, fronting a controlled chaos that's a treat for the senses. The band formed in '87 and put out material up until '03 before calling it a day. The band briefly reunited in '06 but has since been put to rest. Rollins band perhaps may be best known for their hits, "Liar",  and "Low Self Opinion", but the band was always much more than those tracks.  2002 saw the final Live album from the band be released. 'The Only Way To Know For Sure' is a two disc collection of Rollins Band's finest material. Recorded at The Metro in Chicago IL, the album captures a band on fire and on top of their game. This is just a freight train from start to finish. This provides a great insight into what an underrated band they were. Grab this album for the sheer fact that it doesn't disappoint.

Preview

Download

It's Alive

Time for a run of some punk related Live albums. To kick things off we go with the Godfathers of the American Punk movement, The Ramones. Punk in America took off with bands like The Ramones, Television, The Dead Boys, Black Flag and so many other bands. Three chord punk rock proved that anyone could play Punk and make a career out of it.

The Ramones throughout the bands career have had more than a handful of Live albums released. More so with the umpteen reissues since the band called it a day in '99. But ask any avid Ramones fan and there's really only one Live album and that's '79's 'It's Alive'. Recorded on New Years Eve '77 at the Rainbow Theatre in London. This album is 28 tracks that cover the bands first three classic albums. It clocks in at just under an hour. This Live record pretty much sums up the Punk explosion that the Ramones caused. This for me is one of the best Live albums in any genre, it's a down and dirty, in your face, hit after hit Live record. This is somply the best concert you went to caught on tape. In addition to being a great Live record, you can't deny the influence of The Ramones today. There's been several tribute albums released, kids still pick up the records and fly the flag of good ol Punk too. There will never be another band like The Ramones, so you may as well enjoy this fine slice of Punk.

Preview

Download

No Quarter

In keeping with the theme of Unplugged of sorts, we turn our attention to something that may have flew under the radar when it was released back in '94. I speak of course of the almost Led Zeppelin reunion album 'No Quarter: Jimmy Page And Robert Plant UnLedded'. Many of us wonder what could of been if John Paul Jones played on this album. Just another great what if in music history kids. Instead it's Page and Plant reliving some classic Zep tunes.

'No Quarter' was in released under the MTV Unplugged banner, but renamed UnLedded for this occasion. This album is a little bit different as well in the sense that it was recorded in Morocco, Wales, and London. It also features a Middle Eastern/Moroccan musical vibe to it. So these aren't the good ol' Zep tunes we grew up listening to, it's a bit of a different take. Also this isn't an entire album of Zep tunes, there's a handful of new tunes if you will. Overall though they could pass for old Zep B sides or unreleased tracks to the average fan. For the ten year release, the label in their infinite wisdom decided to reissue the album with a new cover, one bonus song in "The Rain Song", a newly titled track, "Yallah" becomes "The Truth Explodes", oh and a reworked tracklist. Anything for extra money. Oh and they had the nerve to remove "Thank You" from the reissue. Savages. In either case I forget what a solid Live album this really is and that I should throw it into rotation more often. And yes this is the reissued version posted.

Preview

Download

The Roundhouse Tapes

Time to feature another Double Live album from one of my favorite bands and one that got me into more diverse metal. Opeth is a band, I'd say you either love or hate. And that's true if you've ever seen them Live. Some people can't handle the witty banter in between songs from frontman Mikael Akerfeldt. In either case Opeth is an odd mix of Progressive Death Metal, although the last few years have really been focused on the Progressive aspect.

'The Roundhouse Tapes' marks the first official Live album for the band. Unless you want to count '03's 'Lamentations: Live At Shepherd's Bush Empire', which was more of a Live DVD, although there is an unofficial CD floating around out there. Recorded Live at the Camden Roadhouse in London on November 8, 2006, this double Live album captures a song from almost every Opeth album up to that point. The omission being no track from 'Deliverance'. 9 tracks make up an hour an a half of music. Hey no one ever said Opeth did short songs, or any Prog band for that matter. This album would mark the departure of longtime Guitarist Peter Lindgren and the debut of Drummer Martin Axenrot. Opeth would follow up the release of 'The Roundhouse Tapes' with another Live album in '10, before properly releasing another studio album. Like it or not this album is a prime slice of Opeth and captures the band wonderfully in an ideal venue.

Preview

Download

Unplugged In New York

Some of you fine readers out there will recall a time when MTV played nothing but videos. You'll also recall a little show called Unplugged, in which bands would strip down to acoustic guitars and jam out on their hits. So lets take a little trip back to the best one, if not certainly most well known one with Nirvana.

Nirvana at one point was the biggest band in the world. And I believe would probably still be if Cobain didn't join the 27 club. Riding high of the success of the grunge movement and the release of 'Nevermind' and the much grittier 'In Utero', the band had been in talks with MTV for a while to do an Unplugged show. Finally in '93 it happened. Recorded on November 18, 1993 at Sony Music Studios in New York, Nirvana would show the world a night they wouldn't soon forget. Instead of playing their hits, the band focused on playing some of their lesser known material as well as a handful of covers by the likes of The Vaselines, David Bowie, The Meat Puppets, and Lead Belly. It took many for a loop who were expecting to hear the hits. Instead they got a man bearing his soul while in the middle of detoxing. The pinnacle of the album of course is the final cut, a Lead Belly song entitled "Where Did You Sleep Last Night". Look no further than the final line of the song in which Cobain goes up an octave, cracks his voice, and you get goosebumps. The track would serve as a reminder of what a showman Gen X had just lost.

The album wouldn't be released until after Cobain's death. In fact the album didn't see the light of day until almost a year later in November '94. The DVD wouldn't see light of day til '07. The album of course would go on to sell millions of copies worldwide. Serving as what would be at the time the final release of the band. Of course we all know how the music business works and there's money to be made. Several posthumous releases have been issued in recent years. Again making Nirvana a top selling act.

Preview

Download

Showtime, Storytime

It's been a bit since I've featured anything female fronted. So lets change that with some Nightwish. Perhaps the biggest band to come out of the Symphonic/Opera Metal scene, Nightwish has been turning out albums since '96. The band once thought to be constant and never changing has gone through a few lineup changes in the past decade. Now on lead vocalist number three. The band has enlisted former After Forever frontwoman Floor Jansen. And really what better way to debut her vocal talents than on a double live album.

'Showtime, Storytime' was recorded Live at the Wacken Open Air Festival on August 3rd, 2013 and the album was released a few months later in November. This marks the debut of Floor on vocals and she kills it. A perfect fit, that most fans thought would replace Tarja when she was fired by the band. Floor fills in where Tarja left off with an amazing versatile vocal range and it shows on in the Live environment. This album captures the bands more recently material, covering some of the more well known Nightwish tracks. While I wish this album went a little deeper into the bands catalog, it's a good starting point to show off the new members.

Nightwish continues to release new material with the upcoming release, 'Endless Forms Most Beautiful', the bands first official studio album with the new members. I will continue to say that Nightwish is a good starting point for people not necessarily into Metal. While it's a bit different, and to some hard to take in, it does show that there are other sides to an ever growing genre.

Preview

Download

The Year Of The Voyager

Time to unleash another Double Live Album in your general direction. This time is comes from Seattle based Nevermore. Formed out of the ashes of the well received Sanctuary, Nevermore rose to some degree of fame with their self titled debut in '95. The band initially started out as a mix of Power/Thrash, before evolving into a mix of Progressive/Thrash/Groove metal by the late 90's. Underrated by some, but recognized as one of the more standout American Metal bands by many, Nevermore released two critically acclaimed records in '99's 'Dreaming Neon Black' and the follow up '00's 'Dead Heart In A Dead World'. Both albums seemed to set the path for the band into the next level, but sadly a constantly rotating lineup of Guitarists and health problems saw the band dissolve and as of this year officially disband.

The early part of the decade saw the band continue to rise despite lineup changes and label issues. In '08 the band released their first Live Album/DVD. 'The Year Of The Voyager' is a double Live album that pulls from the bands entire catalog. Recorded on October 11, 2006 at the Zeche Club in Germany, the band pulls out all the stops and shows people what a Live Nevermore gig is really like. Originally slated for recording in Sept of 06 but delayed due to health issues for frontman Warel Dane, the album was delayed a month. By this time the lineup changes were in full swing. Guitarist Steve Smyth had left the band due to turmoil and the recording of his other projects. Replacing him was then current Jag Panzer axeman Chris Broderick, who had previously helped out for Live shows in '01-03. Just a few years later the band would release what is now their final record in 'The Obsidian Conspiracy'. Guitarist Jeff Loomis and Drummer Van Williams would soon leave the band after the release. The band recruited new members and toured briefly before going on hiatus. In '15 Warrel Dane officially put Nevermore down. The members old and new continue to play in various bands. Jeff Loomis in addition to releasing two solo records now plays in Arch Enemy. Chris Broderick, just left Megadeth and is working on new projects. Warrel Dane and Jim Sheppard reactivated Sanctuary. And Van Williams has issued some new projects as well. Nevermore had the potential to become really big, but problems complicated the matter and the band barely made it out of the underground, a shame for a talented group.

Preview

Download

No Sleep Til Hammersmith

Time to take it back to another classic Live Album. This time from the mighty Motörhead. Lemmy has been fronting the band since '75, since Hawkwind gave him the boot. The man has been hailed as God in the Metal community since album one it seems. Motorhead has influenced hundreds of bands, maybe none so more than Metallica, who for Lemmy's 50th dressed like him and ripped through a set of Motorhead classics. 40 years on, Motorhead is still touring and putting out new material, proving once again the adage, if it ain't broke don't fix it.

'No Life Til Hammersmith', the name alone reminds people of one of the best Live records ever in the Hard Rock/Metal scene. Released in '81and with already three classic albums under their belt, 'No Sleep Til Hammersmith' proved to the rest of the world that Motorhead was indeed the loudest band on the planet and they meant business. Recorded in '81 at the bands Leeds and Newcastle gigs, the band churns out 11 classics. Don't believe me, each of those songs is still played Live today by the band. This is no nonsense headbanging, fist pumping Metal. It's dirty and meant to go to 11.

This rip is the 180-gram LP version on the album. So dust of the old Hi-Fi and crank this one up to 11.

Preview

Download