Sunday, July 20, 2025

Kiss - Asylum [Japanese Ed. SHM-CD] (1985)

Year: September 16, 1985 (CD Jun 25, 2008)
Label: Universal Music (Japan), UICY-93527
Style: Hard Rock, Glam Metal
Country: New York City, U.S.
Time: 38:55
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 272 Mb

Charts: US #20, AUS #89, CAN #54, GER #43, NLD #34, NOR #11, SWE #3, UK #12. CAN & US: Gold.
Asylum is the first album to feature lead guitarist Bruce Kulick as an official band member. Kulick had replaced former guitarist Mark St. John on two tracks on the previous album Animalize (1984), during the latter's absence due to reactive arthritis. Subsequently, Kulick filled St. John's spot on most segments of the Animalize tour. This new lineup of Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Eric Carr, and Kulick would last until Carr's death in November 1991, while Kulick would stay with the band until the reunion of the original lineup in 1996.
The song "Love's a Deadly Weapon" credits Plasmatics members Rod Swenson and Wes Beech as it borrows heavily from their band's song "Party". The title and lyrics are however taken from a 1981 Kiss demo written by Paul Stanley that was officially released on the 40th Anniversary remaster of Creatures of the Night (1982).
Another Plasmatics member Jean Beauvoir is also credited as songwriter and plays bass on at least two songs.
The album cover depicts the four band members with colored lips, mirroring the colors of the 1978 solo releases: red for Simmons, purple for Stanley, blue for Kulick (replacing Ace Frehley) and green for Carr (replacing Peter Criss). The placement of the band’s faces also mirrors 1979’s Dynasty cover: (clockwise from top left) Stanley, Simmons, Carr (replacing Criss), & Kulick (replacing Frehley). The artwork for the back cover is similarly stylised and colourful, depicting Kiss against a white background. The cover art of the remastered 1998 CD release of Asylum featured slightly altered, bolder colours than that of the original release.
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asylum_(Kiss_album))

01. King Of The Mountain (04:20)
02. Any Way You Slice It (04:04)
03. Who Wants To Be Lonely (04:03)
04. Trial By Fire (03:26)
05. I'm Alive (03:47)
06. Love's A Deadly Weapon (03:31)
07. Tears Are Falling (03:53)
08. Secretly Cruel (03:43)
09. Radar For Love (04:02)
10. Uh! All Night (04:02)

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British Lions (Mott the Hoople) - Trouble with Women (1980)

Year: June 6, 1980 (CD ????)
Label: COE Records (Russia, Unofficial Release), COE337
Style: Glam Rock, Rock
Country: Herefordshire, England
Time: 72:57
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 476 Mb

British Lions were a short-lived British rock band, together from 1977 to 1979, with former members of Mott and Medicine Head. They toured Britain extensively, as support to Status Quo, whose management they shared, and AC/DC, but were more successful in America. They released two studio albums with little commercial success in the UK. Their second album was rejected by RSO and then by Vertigo, and they disbanded in 1979. The release rights were acquired by Cherry Red, who released it the following year.
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Lions_(band))

British Lions were in large part a continuation of Mott (the post-Ian Hunter version of Mott the Hoople), retaining keyboardist Morgan Fisher, lead guitarist Ray Major, bassist Overend Watts, and drummer Dale Griffin; ex-Medicine Head singer/guitarist John Fiddler was added on lead vocals. Just as Mott had been a devolution from Mott the Hoople, so did British Lions continue the dilution into journeyman British hard rock. The British Lions concentrated on the American market, feeling the UK scene to be unsympathetic to veteran rockers during the new wave/punk days, and toured the US supporting groups like Blue Oyster Cult and UFO. Their single "Wild in the Streets" made the lower reaches of the Top Hundred, and they did an album for RSO in 1978. The band collapsed after making a second album, which RSO did not release, although it was issued in the early 1980s. Another album (Live and Rare) of live-in-the-US recordings from the 1978 tour, as well as some previously unreleased demos and rehearsals, appeared in 1999.
(allmusic.com/artist/british-lions-mn0000522068/biography)

01. British Lions US Radio Promo (00:30)
02. Trouble With Women (03:32)
03. Any Port In A Storm (04:22)
04. Lady, Don't Fall Backwards (04:22)
05. High Noon (04:24)
06. Lay Down Your Love (04:49)
07. Waves Of Love (04:20)
08. Electric Chair (04:59)
09. (Won't You Give Him) One More Chance? (03:50)
10. British Lions US Radio Promo (00:29)
11. One More Chance To Run [Demo Version] (03:28)
12. But The Night Is Young [Demo Version] (06:02)
13. The Studio Song [Home Recording] (04:22)
14. Eat The Rich [Demo Version] (03:42)
15. British Lions US Radio Promo [K-SJO San Jose] (00:28)
16. Rising Sun [Live] (04:59)
17. Come On [Live] (02:59)
18. My Life's In Your Hands [Live] (05:43)
19. Wild One [Live] (05:29)

British-Lions80-Trouble-With-01 British-Lions80-Trouble-With-02 British-Lions80-Trouble-With-back

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British Lions (Mott the Hoople) - British Lions [8 bonus tracks] (1978)

Year: February 10, 1978 (CD Unofficial Release)
Label: COE Records (Russia), COE336
Style: Glam Rock, Hard Rock
Country: Herefordshire, England
Time: 74:29
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 441 Mb

British Lions were a short-lived British rock band, together from 1977 to 1979, with former members of Mott and Medicine Head. They toured Britain extensively, as support to Status Quo, whose management they shared, and AC/DC, but were more successful in America. They released two studio albums with little commercial success in the UK. Their second album was rejected by RSO and then by Vertigo, and they disbanded in 1979. The release rights were acquired by Cherry Red, who released it the following year. Their debut album was reissued in 2023 by Think Like A Key Music.
British Lions is the 1978 debut album by British Lions, the band consisting mainly of members of Mott-Morgan Fisher, Ray Major, Pete Overend Watts and Dale Griffin-alongside singer/guitarist John Fiddler, previously of Medicine Head. It was released on the Vertigo label in the UK and the RSO label in the United States. A single "One More Chance to Run" b/w "Booster" was released by Vertigo in the UK to promote the album. In the US, the track, "Wild in the Streets" went to #87 on the Hot 100.
"One More Chance to Run" was covered by Joe Elliott's Down 'n' Outz on their 2010 album My ReGeneration.
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Lions_(band))

01. One More Chance to Run (03:36)
02. Wild in the Streets (03:00)
03. Break This Fool (04:20)
04. International Heroes (04:19)
05. Fork Talking Man (05:30)
06. My Life's in Your Hands (05:17)
07. Big Drift Away (08:29)
08. Booster (04:07)
09. Eat the Rich (03:40)
10. One More Chance to Run (John Peel sessions) (03:49)
11. Break This Fool (John Peel sessions) (05:10)
12. Wild in the Streets (John Peel sessions) (03:23)
13. Wild One (live) (06:12)
14. Eat the Rich, the Second Course (demo) (03:52)
15. Can't Get Over You (demo) (03:05)
16. Long Distance Love (demo) (03:30)
17. You Got Everything (demo) (03:00)

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Peter Gabriel (ex Genesis) - Peter Gabriel (aka Peter Gabriel 3: Melt) (1980)

Year: 30 May 1980 (CD 1987)
Label: Virgin Records (UK), PGCD3
Style: Pop, Progressive Pop
Country: Chobham, England (13 February 1950)
Time: 45:31
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 239 Mb

Peter Gabriel is the third solo studio album by the English rock musician Peter Gabriel, released on 30 May 1980 by Charisma Records. The album, produced by Steve Lillywhite, has been acclaimed as Gabriel's artistic breakthrough as a solo artist. AllMusic wrote that it established him as "one of rock's most ambitious, innovative musicians".
Building on the experimental sound of his previous self-titled studio album, it saw Gabriel embracing post-punk and new wave with an art rock sensibility. Gabriel also explored more overtly political material with the anti-war song "Games Without Frontiers" (which became a No. 4 hit and remains his joint highest-charting single in the UK) and the anti-apartheid protest song "Biko", which remembered the murdered activist Steve Biko.
The album is also often referred to as Melt, owing to its cover photograph by Hipgnosis. Some music streaming services refer to it as Peter Gabriel 3: Melt.
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Gabriel_(1980_album))

Album recorded and mixed in the analog domain - AAD. That is, a minimum of digital processing.
A=Analog. D=digital. The first letter stands for how the music was recorded. The second letter for how it was mixed. The third letter stands for the format (all CD's will have D as the last letter).

01. Intruder (04:53)
02. No Self Control (03:55)
03. Start (01:20)
04. I Don't Remember (04:41)
05. Family Snapshot (04:28)
06. And Through the Wire (05:00)
07. Games Without Frontiers (04:06)
08. Not One of Us (05:21)
09. Lead a Normal Life (04:14)
10. Biko (07:29)

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Saturday, July 19, 2025

Uriah Heep - Sweet Freedom [Japanese Ed.] (1973)

 Year: September 1973 (CD Nov 21, 1989)
Label: Teichicu Records Co. Ltd. (Japan), TECP-18012
Style: Hard Rock, Hard Pop
Country: London, England
Time: 37:27
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 244 Mb

Charts: UK #18, AUS #19, CAN #5, GER #12, AUT #9, NOR #2, SWE #13, US #33, FIN #2, JPN #45. UK: Silver; US: Gold.
You might think they've settled down a bit after giant success of their million seller double live vinyl. No way! Band was heading for another studio release. This time Uriah Heep moved into France for tax purposes. New album called "Sweet Freedom" sounded heavier with colors of and intense shakin' rock'n' roll in songs like Dreamer and R&B oriented Stealin'. "The Magician Birthday" was a pure dreamland, I mean a record where you could fully switch off your conciseness, while entering into world of your dreams. "Sweet Freedom" also contains strong dreamy moments but at the same vein offers more earthly and punchier shapes of rock... and roll than it's predecessor. It strikes very intense right from the start with Dreamer, where David is accompanied with some astonishing guitar lead hooks by Mick with his usual enthusiastic squealing wah wah guitar language. Band did complain a lot over recording conditions in new studio, but with "Sweet Freedom" as band's sixth studio album, Uriah Heep produced the heaviest sound so far.
With passionate band's all time classic Stealin' Urah Heep proved again that composing of smashing hits was always among their strongest trademarks. After short mid tempo rollin' jam One Day, Uriah Heep takes the listener with title track into world of dreams, surely a first atmospheric highlight on a record. Massive chunky Hensley's Hammond dashing and fantastic tender approach of soulful David sourounded with angelic back vocal choir are fantastic counter points which in same vein draw expressive contrasts inside songs and establish many spine-tingling climaxes.
What follows next is fantastic continuing of this high ambinet with If I Had A Time. Well this song was actually written by Hensley back in 1971 and here on this very special re-release it is included among few bonuses as a version performed by Ken on grand piano and lead vocals with a little help from his friends Simon Kirke (Free/ Bad Company) and Paul Kossoff (Free/Back Street Crawler). I was in seventh heaven as a huge Free fan when I found this version included here on this reissue. Funnily enough, but at same time as I bought renewed version of "Sweet Freedom", I also did The Spencer Davies Group re-release of their forth album "Living In A Back Street" where SDG bonus We Can Give It A Try with special guest Gary Thain playing bass guitar is included. A track recorded back in 1974, so in times of Gary's splitting with Uriah Heep.
(full version: firegoat.com/eng/?id=5&d=211)

01. Dreamer (03:43)
02. Stealin' (04:53)
03. One Day (02:47)
04. Sweet Freedom (06:34)
05. If I Had The Time (05:41)
06. Seven Stars (03:51)
07. Circus (02:45)
08. Pilgrim (07:09)

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Gary Moore - Run For Cover (1985)

Year: 2 September 1985 (CD 2003)
Label: Virgin Records (Europe), 7243 5 83577 2 1
Style: Hard Rock, Heavy Metal
Country: Belfast, Northern Ireland (4 April 1952 - 6 February 2011)
Time: 61:25
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 420 Mb

Charts: UK #2, AUS #73, FIN #10, GER #27, NZ #23, NOR #7, SWE #6, US #146. UK: Silver; SWE: Gold.
Run for Cover is the fifth solo studio album by Northern Irish guitarist Gary Moore, released on 2 September 1985. It is often considered his breakthrough album.
The album includes the top 5 single "Out in the Fields" and a re-recording of the song "Empty Rooms", originally from Moore's previous album Victims of the Future, which became one of Moore's biggest solo successes, reaching No. 23 on the UK charts.
The album features many of Moore's musical friends, including Deep Purple bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes, Paul Thompson of Roxy Music and Phil Lynott from Thin Lizzy. Lynott and Moore trade lead vocals on "Out in the Fields", while Lynott sings alone on "Military Man", an old Grand Slam track. "Out in the Fields" is about the turmoil in their native Ireland. Lynott also provided vocals for a re-recording of the Thin Lizzy classic "Still in Love with You", on which Moore originally played guitar; the track was initially issued as a B-side of "Out in the Fields", but is included on later remastered versions of the album.
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Run_for_Cover_(Gary_Moore_album))

01. Run For Cover (04:13)
02. Gary  Moore feat. Glenn Hughes / Reach For The Sky (04:45)
03. Gary Moore with Phil Lynott / Military Man (05:40)
04. Empty Rooms (04:18)
05. Gary Moore feat. Glenn Hughes / Out Of My System (04:07)
06. Gary Moore feat. Phil Lynott / Out In The Fields (04:17)
07. Gary Moore feat. Phil Lynott and Glenn Hughes / Nothing To Lose (04:41)
08. Once In A Lifetime (04:18)
09. Gary Moore feat. Glenn Hughes / All Messed Up (04:52)
10. Listen To Your Heartbeat (04:38)
11. Gary Moore with Phil Lynott / Still In Love With You (05:59)
12. Stop Messin' Around (Live) [Bonus Track] (04:08)
13. Murder In The Skies (Live) [Bonus Track] (05:23)

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Uriah Heep - The Magician's Birthday [Japanese Ed.] (1972)

Year: November 1972 (CD Nov 21, 1989)
Label: Teichicu Records Co. Ltd. (Japan), TECP-18009
Style: Hard Rock, Hard Pop
Country: London, England
Time: 37:57
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 258 Mb

The Magician's Birthday received mixed reviews from contemporary critics. Mike Saunders, writing for Creem, called the album "a package full of dreck", finding the first side of the LP "listenable" despite poor production and side two downright "irritating". Village Voice critic Robert Christgau described the songs on the album as "third-hand heavy metal fantasies (...) hooked to some clean, powerful arrangements, and a good melody or two."
Modern reviews are more positive. AllMusic reviewer remarked the album's prog elements and wrote that "The Magician's Birthday never quite hits the consistent heights of Look at Yourself or Demons and Wizards, but remains a solid listen for Uriah Heep fans". Joe Geesein of Record Collector praised the musicians and the good sound of the album's reissue, but wrote that most of the songs "don't stand up quite out so well" in comparison with opener "Sunrise" or the single "Spider Woman". Canadian journalist Martin Popoff called The Magician's Birthday "another colourful, mystical journey", although "somewhat disjointed, less accessible and in total much less metallic" than previous efforts, "culminating in the band's most harrowing, nightmarish epic of them all, the ten minute title track."
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magician%27s_Birthday)

Album recorded and mixed in the analog domain - AAD. That is, a minimum of digital processing.
A=Analog. D=digital. The first letter stands for how the music was recorded. The second letter for how it was mixed. The third letter stands for the format (all CD's will have D as the last letter).

01. Sunrise (04:06)
02. Spider Woman (02:29)
03. Blind Eye (03:36)
04. Echoes In The Dark (04:53)
05. Rain (04:02)
06. Sweet Lorraine (04:17)
07. Tales (04:10)
08. The Magician's Birthday (10:21)

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Scorpions - Fly To The Rainbow [Japanese Ed.] (1974)

Year: 1 November 1974 (CD Jun 21, 1989)
Label: RCA Records (Japan), B20D-41010
Style: Hard Rock
Country: Hanover, West Germany
Time: 41:01
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 273 Mb

In support of the Lonesome Crow album, Scorpions toured as the opening act for the British rock band UFO. At the end of the tour, Scorpions lead guitarist Michael Schenker was asked to fill an open position as UFO's guitarist and accepted the position. Schenker's departure temporarily resulted in the breakup of the band but Rudolf Schenker and Klaus Meine ultimately merged with the band Dawn Road. The new band consisted of guitarist Uli Jon Roth replacing Michael as well as drummer Jurgen Rosenthal, keyboardist Achim Kirschnig and bass guitarist Francis Buchholz. The new lineup assumed the Scorpions name and recorded Fly to the Rainbow. Three songs on Fly to the Rainbow were co-written with departing guitarist Michael Schenker as part of his agreement on leaving the band.
When asked to comment on the cover art for the album, Uli Jon Roth said: "Don't ask me what that cover means...  I disliked it from the beginning. It looked ludicrous to me back then and looks just as bad today. It was done by a firm of designers in Hamburg, who had actually done a good job on the Lonesome Crow album before, but I think that time they failed miserably. As for the meaning, I can only guess, but I'd rather not... "
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fly_to_the_Rainbow)

01. Speedy's Coming (03:38)
02. They Need A Million (04:54)
03. Drifting Sun (07:44)
04. Fly People Fly (05:05)
05. This Is My Song (04:17)
06. Far Away (05:41)
07. Fly To The Rainbow (09:39)

Scorpions74-Fly-To-The-Rainbow-Jap-01 Scorpions74-Fly-To-The-Rainbow-Jap-back

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Friday, July 18, 2025

Gary Moore - Rockin' Every Night - Live In Japan (1983)

Year: 21 May 1983 (CD 2003)
Label: Virgin Records (Europe), 7243 5 83668 2 2
Style: Hard Rock, Heavy Metal
Country: Belfast, Northern Ireland (4 April 1952 - 6 February 2011)
Time: 57:42
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 400 Mb

Rockin' Every Night - Live in Japan is a live album recorded by Gary Moore at Tokyo Kosei Nenkin Kaikan in 1983, during the Corridors of Power tour. Despite being released in Japan in 1983, it was not given a European release until 1986. The 2002 CD reissue included three live tracks recorded at the Marquee in London on 26 August 1982, originally from a bonus EP included with the first 25,000 vinyl copies of Moore's earlier album Corridors of Power.
The song "Sunset", which had been a staple of Moore's live setlist since 1980, is dedicated to the late Randy Rhoads, who had died several months prior. It was finally recorded in the studio in 1982, for Cozy Powell's Tilt album. Keyboardist Don Airey had previously recorded and performed with Rhoads in Ozzy Osbourne's backing band during the Diary of a Madman tour.
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockin%27_Every_Night_%E2%80%93_Live_in_Japan)

01. Rockin' Every Night (03:18)
02. Wishing Well (04:54)
03. I Can't Wait Until Tomorrow (11:55)
04. Nuclear Attack (05:58)
05. White Knuckles (03:48)
06. Rockin' And Rollin' (04:05)
07. Back On The Streets (05:12)
08. Sunset (04:36)
09. Back On The Streets (05:08)
10. Rockin' Every Night (02:54)
11. Parisienne Walkways (05:48)

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Scorpions - The Original Scorpions (Lonesome Crow) [Japan Ed.] (1972)

Year: February 1972 (CD Sep 1, 1986)
Label: Brain / Polystar Records (Japan), P33X-20003
Style: Progressive Rock
Country: Hanover, West Germany
Time: 40:42
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 256 Mb

It is the band's only album with lead guitarist Michael Schenker – just 16 at the time of the recording – as a full-time member. He soon left to join UFO and was replaced by Ulrich Roth. Schenker would, however, rejoin briefly during the recording and touring of 1979's Lovedrive.
Klaus Meine: With Lonesome Crow, we were just a young band trying to find our way, trying to shape an artistic style to find the Scorpions DNA. There was a ballad with "In Search of the Peace of Mind", and a psychedelic rocker with the title track, "I’m Goin' Mad", [which] was a great rocker with Michael Schenker playing great solos. We were just a young band with talented guys, with no idea on where to go from here. For the subsequent album, Fly to the Rainbow, we brought in Uli Roth, who had a Hendrix influence, and Rudolf and I became a songwriter team. When Matthias Jabs joined the band, we found our style, fast riffs but great melodies, along with the power ballads.
Michael Schenker in later years has spoken bitterly about not getting his proper writing credit, with a blanket "all songs by Scorpions" when in his mind many of the songs were written by himself and Klaus alone. In particular Michael cites "In Search of the Peace of Mind" remaining, unjustly, in the Scorpions set list for years when it's in reality, his song. Apart from these occasional performances of "In Search of the Peace of Mind" up to 1978 and between 1996 and 2006, Scorpions have played no song from Lonesome Crow since the tour in support of their third album In Trance.
The songs "Action" and "I'm Goin' Mad" are re-recordings of the songs for their unreleased 1970 single on CCA label that were later released on the compilation Psychedelic Gems 2, making them the earliest released Scorpions recordings.
The album had several different sleeves and was re-titled Action for its initial release in Scandinavia, The Scorpions for one 1976 release, and The Original Scorpions, with a different running order, for a Japanese release in 1981 and its first-ever CD issue in 1986. The 1982 German reissue cover art was created by the artist Rodney Matthews.
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lonesome_Crow)

01. Action (03:56)
02. It All Depends (03:27)
03. Lonesome Crow (13:33)
04. I'm Goin' Mad (04:56)
05. Leave Me (05:06)
06. In Search Of The Peace Of Mind (05:01)
07. Inheritance (04:40)

Scorpions72-Lonesome-Crow-back Scorpions72-Lonesome-Crow-inlay

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Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard Of Ozz (1980)

Year: September 12, 1980 (CD 1995)
Label: Sony Music / Epic Records (Austria), 481674 2
Style: Hard Rock, Heavy Metal
Country: Marston Green, Warwickshire, England (3 December 1948)
Time: 39:33
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 277 Mb

Charts: UK #7, CAN #8, NZ #47, US #21. UK & AUS: Gold; CAN: Platinum; US: 5x Platinym.
Much of the album was written by guitarist Randy Rhoads, bassist Bob Daisley, and Ozzy Osbourne while staying at the Monnow Valley Studio near Monmouth, Wales, with a friend of Osbourne's named Barry Scrannage performing as the group's drummer. Scrannage was never considered as a candidate to be the group's permanent drummer and was not involved in the songwriting process at all. The band recorded demos of the songs "I Don't Know" (which became Osbourne's second most-performed song), "Crazy Train" (the most performed one), "Goodbye to Romance", and "You Looking at Me Looking at You" in Birmingham in early 1980 with ex-Lone Star drummer Dixie Lee. They had hoped Lee would be a permanent member but "he wasn't the final piece of the puzzle", bassist Daisley recalls. After auditioning several drummers, ex-Uriah Heep member Lee Kerslake was hired as the permanent drummer. The completed lineup retreated to Clearwell Castle in Gloucestershire for six days to rehearse and give Kerslake an opportunity to learn the new songs. A week later, they travelled to Ridge Farm Studio to commence recording.
The first track written for the album was "Goodbye to Romance". Osbourne has stated that the song was his way of saying goodbye to his former band Black Sabbath, as he had thought his career was over after leaving the band. After performing a show in Birmingham, the band hastily returned to Ridge Farm to remix "Goodbye to Romance" for a single. The next morning they were informed that their label Jet Records instead wanted a brand new song to release as a single. Rhoads, Daisley, and Kerslake quickly put together the song "You Said It All", with drummer Kerslake performing the guide vocal at soundcheck while a drunken Osbourne slept under the drum riser. The song was ultimately never recorded, though a live version was released on Ozzy Osbourne Live EP in 1980.
(full version: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blizzard_of_Ozz)

01. I Don't Know (05:17)
02. Crazy Train (04:56)
03. Goodbye To Romance (05:35)
04. Dee (00:49)
05. Suicide Solution (04:19)
06. Mr. Crowley (04:56)
07. No Bone Movies (03:58)
08. Revelation (Mother Earth) (06:09)
09. Steal Away (The Night) (03:30)

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Kiss - Animalize [Japanese Ed. SHM-CD] (1984)

Year: September 13, 1984 (CD Jun 25, 2008)
Label: Universal Music (Japan), UICY-93526
Style: Hard Rock, Glam Metal
Country: New York City, U.S.
Time: 36:09
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 260 Mb

Charts: US #19, AUS #40, CAN #41, GER #25, NLD #17, NOR #14, SWE #8, UK #11. FIN: Gold; CAN & US: Platinum.

With two strong albums back to back (Creatures of the Night and Lick It Up), Kiss fans were confident that the band's next album would be just as good. Although 1984's Animalize was a big hit (eventually going double platinum), it was the beginning of the band's second unfocused period. Instead of leading the heavy metal pack with raw hard rock (i.e., their classic albums from the '70s), in the mid- to late '80s, Kiss seemed to be copying other successful pop-metal bands (Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, Mötley Crüe, etc.), both musically and visually. Mark St. John replaced the departed Vinnie Vincent on guitar (guitarist number three in a span of three years) and proved to be a highly technical player, the complete opposite of original member Ace Frehley's straight-ahead style. Still, there were a few strong compositions on Animalize, such as the MTV hit "Heaven's on Fire" and two heavy tracks: the opener, "I've Had Enough (Into the Fire)," and "Under the Gun." But by this point, bassist Gene Simmons was more interested in pursuing an acting career than being an integral member of Kiss, so many of his compositions are either forgettable ("While the City Sleeps") or just plain embarrassing (the Spinal Tap-esque "Burn Bitch Burn"). Although a commercial success, Animalize was not nearly as strong as its two predecessors.

(allmusic.com/album/animalize-mw0000194487)

01. I've Had Enough (Into The Fire) (03:52)
02. Heaven's On Fire (03:21)
03. Burn Bitch Burn (04:43)
04. Get All You Can Take (03:44)
05. Lonely Is The Hunter (04:28)
06. Under The Gun (04:01)
07. Thrills In The Night (04:21)
08. While The City Sleeps (03:41)
09. Murder In High Heels (03:54)

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Thursday, July 17, 2025

Gilgamesh - Gilgamesh [Japanese Ed.] (1975)

Year: 1975 (CD Jul 4, 1990)
Label: Virgin Records (Japan), VJCP-2534
Style: Instrumental, Progressive Rock, Jazz Rock
Country: United Kingdom
Time: 37:03
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 190 Mb

Gilgamesh's 1975 eponymous debut portrays a fine group that emerged during the waning days of Britain's Canterbury scene. The album by keyboardist Alan Gowen's quartet -- also featuring guitarist Phil Lee, bassist Jeff Clyne, and drummer Mike Travis in this incarnation -- was issued by Virgin Records' budget-line Caroline imprint. By the mid-'70s, Virgin's support for bands of this ilk was approaching its end, with punk and new wave soon ruling the day. Arriving late in the game, Gowen and company sounded most similar to Canterbury supergroup Hatfield and the North, and in fact Hatfields keyboardist Dave Stewart co-produced the album. Gilgamesh had clearly mastered the Hatfields' suites'n'segues approach to Canterbury-style complexity while sidestepping blatant imitation -- for the most part. Certainly from the first notes of opening three-part suite "One End More/Phil's Little Dance/Worlds of Zin," Gilgamesh prove capable of nimble thematic lines and knotty stops and starts, while admirably refraining from pyrotechnics. The suite's kitchen-sink approach makes room for King Crimson-ish Mellotron and grand piano flourishes (recalling Keith Tippett on Lizard) as well as Stevie Wonder-ish funk-lite clavinet, but the uniform production smooths out such quirky juxtapositions. "Lady and Friend" provides a true jolt, with Clyne's lullaby-like bass melody, seasoned by light electric piano/guitar accompaniment, preceded by a brief blast of full-band unison riffing seemingly designed as a rude interruption. Just over a minute and a half long, Gowen's "Arriving Twice" is a wonderful interlude, with acoustic guitar, electric piano, and synth sketching a melody that draws from jazz, folk, and classical but ultimately transcends such labels; it's the perfect segue into "Island of Rhodes," the first portion of the album's next three-part suite, with the track's namesake keyboard floating in nocturnal ambience a la In a Silent Way before the introduction of a dreamily beautiful theme accompanied by the subtlest percussive embellishments from Travis. The suite ultimately offers its own share of unpredictable twists, ending with a driving vamp as guitarist Lee cuts loose, but the production again manages to avoid shattering the prevailing vibe. The album does court Hatfields imitation here and there -- "Jamo and Other Boating Disasters" features Amanda Parsons' soprano vocals in pure Northettes style during an interlude that clearly strives for the drama of The Rotters' Club's "Mumps" coda, while elsewhere Lee employs a decidedly Phil Miller-esque electric guitar tone. But Gowen himself avoids obvious Canterbury devices, eschewing fuzz organ solos during the music's most animated moments in favor of round-toned synth voicings that snake and float through rather than pierce the air. Gilgamesh's studio-based forays may have tamped down the band's woollier aspects, but the keyboardist and his bandmates were charting their own inimitable direction, too briefly explored but holding up admirably in recordings such as this.
(allmusic.com/album/gilgamesh-mw0000743979)

01. (a) One End More; (b) Phil's Little Dance - for Phil Millers trousers; (c) Wo... (10:22)
02. Lady And Friend (03:44)
03. Notwithstanding (04:47)
04. Arriving Twice (01:37)
05. (a) Island Of Rhodes; (b) Paper Boat - for Doris; (c) As If Your Eyes Were Open (06:41)
06. For Absent Friends (01:13)
07. (a) We Are All; (b) Someone Else's Food; (c) Jamo And Other BoatingDisasters ... (07:49)
08. Just C (00:47)

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National Health - D.S. Al Coda (1982)

Year: 1982 (CD 1995)
Label: Voiceprint Records (Austria), BP129CD
Style: Instrumental, Progressive Rock, Jazz Rock
Country: Canterbury, England
Time: 46:20
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 299 Mb

D.S. Al Coda is the third and final album by the progressive rock and jazz fusion group National Health. It is a tribute to former member Alan Gowen, who died of leukaemia in May 1981, and consists solely of compositions written by him. Most of these had not been recorded in the studio before, although "TNTFX" and "Arriving Twice" both appeared earlier on albums by Gowen's other band Gilgamesh.
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D.S._Al_Coda)
Musically, the album doesn't quite measure up to the previous two National Health releases, but that is largely due to the times and technology and not the songwriting. Although the material is perhaps jazzier than ever before, it is still firmly rooted in the bittersweet Canterbury style.
(expose.org/index.php/articles/display/national-health-d.s.-al-coda-8.html)

01. Portrait Of A Shrinking Man (05:35)
02. T.N.T.F.X. (03:12)
03. Black Hat (04:52)
04. I Feel A Night Coming On (06:37)
05. Arriving Twice (02:22)
06. Shining Water (08:53)
07. Tales Of A Damson Knight (01:56)
08. Flanagan's People (05:18)
09. Toad Of Toad Hall (07:30)

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Ian Hunter (ex Mott The Hoople) - You're Never Alone with A Schizophrenic (1979)

Year: 27 March 1979 (CD ????)
Label: Razor & Tie (US), RE 2011
Style: Rock, Glam Rock
Country: Shropshire, England (June 3, 1939)
Time: 42:02
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 259 Mb

You're Never Alone with a Schizophrenic is the fourth solo studio album by Ian Hunter. The album featured members of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band as the backing band. AllMusic considers the album to be Hunter's best.
Hunter says that the title had been spotted on a toilet wall by co-producer Mick Ronson, who planned to use it for one of his solo albums. Hunter loved the title so much that he offered Ronson co-writing credit on the first single "Just Another Night" in exchange for the use of the title for the album. "Just Another Night" reached the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 68. The album became one of Hunter's biggest sellers at the time.
The song "Cleveland Rocks" (originally recorded as a single for Columbia Records and entitled "England Rocks" around the time of "Overnight Angels") later became a hit when The Presidents of the United States of America re-recorded the song as the theme song to The Drew Carey Show in 1997, raising Hunter's profile. Also, singer Barry Manilow covered the song "Ships" for his album One Voice which became a top-ten hit.
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You%27re_Never_Alone_with_a_Schizophrenic)

01. Just Another Night (04:36)
02. Wild East (03:58)
03. Cleveland Rocks (03:48)
04. Ships (04:11)
05. When The Daylight Comes (04:27)
06. Life After Death (03:49)
07. Standin' In My Light (04:35)
08. Bastard (06:37)
09. Outsider (05:57)

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Wednesday, July 16, 2025

Tchaikovsky - The Seasons - Bruce Liu (2024)

Year: 2024 (CD November 1, 2024)
Label: Deutsche Grammophon GmbH (Germany), 486 6050
Style: Classical, Romantic, Piano Suite
Country: Votkinsk, Russia (7 May 1840 - 6 November 1893)
Time: 54:07
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 193 Mb

In 1875, Nikolay Matveyevich Bernard, the editor of the St. Petersburg music magazine Nouvellist, commissioned Tchaikovsky to write 12 short piano pieces, one for each month of the year. Bernard suggested a subtitle for each month's piece. Tchaikovsky accepted the commission and all of Bernard's subtitles, and in the December 1875 edition of the magazine, readers were promised a new Tchaikovsky piece each month throughout 1876. The January and February pieces were written in late 1875 and sent to Bernard in December, with a request for some feedback as to whether they were suitable, and if not, Tchaikovsky would rewrite February and ensure the remainder were in the style Bernard was after. March, April and May appear to have been composed separately; however the remaining seven pieces were all composed at the same time and written in the same copybook, and evidence suggests they were written between 22 April and 27 May. The orchestration of Swan Lake was finished by 22 April, leaving the composer free to focus on other music; and he left for abroad at the end of May. This seems to put the lie to Nikolay Kashkin's published version of events, which was that each month the composer would sit down to write a single piece, but only after being reminded to do so by his valet.
Tchaikovsky did not devote his most serious compositional efforts to these pieces; they were composed to order, and they were a way of supplementing his income. He saw the writing of music to a commission as just as valid as writing music from his own inner inspiration; however, for the former he needed a definite plot or text, a time limit, and the promise of payment at the end. Most of the pieces were in simple ABA form.
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seasons_(Tchaikovsky))

01. The Seasons, Op.37bis (37a) - 1. January: At the Fireside (06:37)
02. The Seasons, Op.37bis (37a) - 2. February: Carnival (02:55)
03. The Seasons, Op.37bis (37a) - 3. March: Song of the Lark (02:55)
04. The Seasons, Op.37bis (37a) - 4. April: Snowdrop (02:40)
05. The Seasons, Op.37bis (37a) - 5. May: White Nights (04:39)
06. The Seasons, Op.37bis (37a) - 6. June: Barcarolle (05:29)
07. The Seasons, Op.37bis (37a) - 7. July: The Reaper's Song (01:59)
08. The Seasons, Op.37bis (37a) - 8. August: The Harvest (03:36)
09. The Seasons, Op.37bis (37a) - 9. September: The Hunt (02:58)
10. The Seasons, Op.37bis (37a) - 10. October: Autumn Song (05:46)
11. The Seasons, Op.37bis (37a) - 11. November: Troika (03:22)
12. The Seasons, Op.37bis (37a) - 12. December: Christmas (04:41)
13. Romance in F minor, Op.5 (06:25)

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