You Am I: Saturday Night ‘Round Ten

“Tim comes up with some arse kickin’ songs and we’re just lucky enough to get to play ‘em” -sentiments of Russel ‘Rusty’ Hopkinson on the enigma that is YOU AM I.

“Damn Straight” immediately springs to mind in affirmation!

In a decade of rock n roll, few other bands have emerged with as many accomplishments and genuine accolades as this once little known rock band from Sydney. With their relentless touring and ever highly charged live shows, they are an act that must be seen to be truly believed. Nevertheless, it is only fitting that an attempt has been made to capture the raw power and energy so definitive of YOU AM I – “LIVE”. Read the rest of this entry »

Aerosmith

Seventies Rolling Stones copyists whose career was revived when they guested on a 1986 hit remake of their funky-rock oldie “Walk This Way” by hip-hop pioneers Run-D.M.C. The song helped Run-D.M.C. (and rap generally) cross over to a white audience and introduced Aerosmith to a new generation of record buyers.

Reinvigorated, the band, led by ageless, rubber-limbed singer Steven Tyler (b. Steven Tallarico, 1948), cranked out a string of polished, lascivious hits (among them 1989′s “Love in an Elevator,” “Dude [Looks Like a Lady]“) that put them squarely back on the charts and MTV.

Even as the ’90s Aerosmith has grown stale and Read the rest of this entry »

Natalie Grant – Relentles

Sounds like … Kelly Clarkson, Celine Dion, Nichole Nordeman, and BarlowGirl through an eclectic array of adult contemporary, pop, rock, and R&B.

At a glance … picking up right where Awaken left off, Relentless finds Natalie Grant pushing herself musically and thematically to offer more than the usual Christian pop.

Natalie Grant is a case study in artist development. She started out in 1999 like so many other gifted vocalists in Christian music—performing pleasant-but-forgettable pop songs that failed to leave a lasting impression or distinguish her from her peers. Today, she’s on the A-list, and Read the rest of this entry »

Finger Eleven : Tip

The members of Finger Eleven grew up in Burlington, Ontario where they started playing as a band in high school and won a rock band search contest on local radio. They used the prize money to record their first album.

Tip is their second album and it features heavy guitar playing with riffs a major focus. According to Rick Jackett, one of the guitarists, “Both of us have always been fans of good, heavy guitar. We both love good riffs…something that’ll hit you in the gut.” The band was actually dropped from Read the rest of this entry »

Feel Love Fury : Source

Feel Love Fury is a quartet operating out of Wilmington, NC. Their music is Alternative Rock, with a basis in acoustic guitars, and incorporates folk, rock, jazz influences.

The musicianship and much of the songwriting is pretty solid with a few exceptions. Much of the self-production was well done, but ultimately the work suffers to an extent. An outside producer could have provided an objective viewpoint to help make the album a little more consistent and accessable. For example, Read the rest of this entry »