Loading ...Rumors of Saigon Kick Reunion Are Making The Rounds
Just a few weeks ago, a Facebook page popped up for Florida Metal band Saigon Kick offering up hints of a reunion. Phil Varone (drums), Matt Kramer (vocals), Jason Bieler (guitar/vocals) & Chris McLernon (bass/vocals) are listed as the band members of the page and if this is true, this will mark the first time Saigon Kick has been together in line up since 1993.
This news got me really pumped up as I believe Saigon Kick to be one of the greatest bands that never made it. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. “Ewwww, they had that “Love Is On The Way” song…” Yeah, well fuck you if that’s all you know about this band. Saigon Kick is responsible for putting out two of my all time favorite albums: their self titled debut and their 2nd album “The Lizard.” The songs were melodic, dark and beautiful all at the same time. Songs like “What You Say”, “Colors” and “ICU” showed the bands ability to use really killer harmonies and melodic choruses and hooks while songs like “Hostile Youth”, “Freedom”, “Ugly” and “Body Bags” showed that they could get as heavy as anybody could with heavy guitars and lyrics that could get down right dark and scary at times. These guys were terribly overlooked for the right things and acknowledged heavily for a song that is nowhere near as amazing as the other things they did.
After being frustrated with the creative direction of Saigon Kick, Matt Kramer took a hike leaving the band in the hands of Guitarist/Singer/Songwriter Jason Bieler. Bieler took the reigns and delivered a bunch of uninspired albums that made me totally understand why Kramer left the band. In 2000, Kramer, Varone, and original bassist Tom DeFile resurrected the Saigon Kick name for a short tour but Jason Bieler was MIA. Bieler was busy with his band Super TransAtlantic and wanted no part of a reunion. He was replaced by former Left For Dead and current Slaughter guitarist Jeff Blando which in my opinion was not a great move because it’s the vocals of Bieler and Kramer that truly make the Saigon Kick experience something to behold.
Matt Kramer went on to release his fantastic solo album “War and Peas” album in 2002 which received some stand up reviews and rightfully so. It was a great example of what Kramer was capable of doing on his own two feet and the result was stellar. Kramer was joined by former Saigon Kick drummer Phil Varone for a few one off appearances but that was pretty much the end of Saigon Kick.
Now here we are, 2010 and the rumors are flying high about a reunion. I can only hope that all parties involved have grown up and changed to realize that there is some amazing music from the past to be shared with a new generation and hopefully some amazing music to be made in the future. While I’m trying not to get my hopes up, my hopes are high for one of my all time favorites. C’mon guys! Pull it together, let bygones be bygones and bring it back home to the fans old, new and future.
Check out the videos below that ARE NOT “Love Is On The Way.”
Saigon Kick – What You Say
Uploaded by AtlanticRecords. – Watch more music videos, in HD!
Saigon Kick – All I Want
Uploaded by Pepe302. – Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.
Saigon Kick · Hostile Youth
Uploaded by efrarr. – Explore more music videos.
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Heaven and Hell Says One Last Goodbye To Ronnie James Dio
On July 24, 2010, the surviving members of Heavy Metal legends Heaven and Hell reunited at the High Voltage festival at Victoria Park in London, England to bid their fallen comrade one last good-bye. Ronnie James Dio lost his battle with cancer on May 16, 2010 and it was the cry heard around the Metal world. Fans from far and wide flooded all avenues of the internet with condolences, memories and best wishes to his family and friends.
It was announced that Heaven and Hell would honor their booked appearance at the High Voltage Festival and use it as a time to pay their respects to the late great Dio. As opposed to attempting to fill his shoes, new shoes were drafted in the form of two close friends of Ronnie’s, Norwegian Metal vocalist Jorn Lande and the legendary Glen Hughes. Each one took on the task at delivering some of these all time Metal classics but in my opinion it was Lornde who reigned supreme. While Hughes sounded pretty damn good, he sounded tired and lacked the power and punch these songs originally had. Lornde on the other hand had no problem making these songs his yet keeping the spirit of Dio very much alive to the demanding but appreciative crowd.
The setlist was as follows (vocalist for each track listed in parenthesis):
01. The Mob Rules (Jorn Lande)
02. I (Jorn Lande)
03. Country Girl (Glenn Hughes)
04. Children Of The Sea (Glenn Hughes)
05. Turn Up The Night (Jorn Lande)
06. Voodoo (Jorn Lande)
07. Bible Black (Glenn Hughes)
08. Falling Off The Edge Of The World (Glenn Hughes)
09. Die Young (Jorn Lande)
10. Heaven And Hell (Jorn Lande, Glenn Hughes)
11. Neon Knights (Jorn Lande, Glenn Hughes, Philip Anselmo)
The performance was shot by a local TV station and will broadcast on August 28 at 9:00 p.m. local time, U.K. on the cable satellite channel Sky Arts. We can only hope that some of this amazing footage will surface here in the US. I still say I would love to see an actual US Tribute Show take place where many great Metal singers would join Heaven & Hell to pay their respects to the Man on the Silver Mountain. Europe has has their opportunity to do so. Let us have ours!
Topics: Jorn Lande, Music News, Ronnie James Dio | No Comments »
Album Review: Accept – Blood Of The Nations
Accept – Blood of the Nations
Release Date: September 14, 2010
Highlights: Beat The Bastards, The Abyss, Blood of the Nations,
2010 seems to be the Year of the Classics. Iron Maiden released their latest album “The Final Frontier” which is not only an amazing album but their best release in probably 10-12 years. Germany’s Accept is following in Iron Maiden’s footsteps as they release the facemelting “Blood of the Nations.” This albums is a big fucking “YES” to the age old questions “Is there life in Accept after Udo Dirkschneider.” Not only is there life but it’s a mighty fantastic one at that.
Former TT Quick singer Mark Tornillo has been recruited to take on the lead vocalist role in Accept and the end result as proven on “Blood of the Nations” is nothing less than outstanding. Much like Iron Maiden, Accept has managed to do what few classic Metal bands can do. Accept is a band that has a lot of life left in them. Instead of packing it in or even choosing to go the nostalgic route, they have proven that they are just tapping into what they are capable of doing as a Heavy Metal powerhouse in 2010. Original Accept members Wolf Hoffman(guitar), Peter Baltes (bass) and Stefan Schwarzmann (drums) along with Tornillo and guitarist Herman Frank set out to break new ground in 2010. They managed to do just that without compromising their classic sound. It’s a very natural sound for them and it sounds like it came very easy to them. These guys didn’t have to try too hard to melt faces. They just flat out did it.
The songs on “Blood of the Nations” are without a doubt classic Metal and while they have that classic Accept sound, they managed to re-invent as opposed to re-hash an old sound. A band like Accept can run the risk of sounding dated but Mark Tornillo has given them a new energy that makes them sound 1/2 their age. Songs like “Burn The Bastards” and “Blood of the Nations” scream classic Accept but Tornillo proves himself as a true Metal powerhouse in his own right. I actually prefer his vocals over Udo’s and find him to have so much more character. The highlight of the album to me is “The Abyss” where Tonillo steps it up and shows just how versatile he can be as a vocalist. “Rollin’ Thunder” is a major facemelter that literally had me missing my studded bracelets and wanting to pump my fists in the air in allegiance. Mark Tornillo has such a commanding presence and voice that I cannot wait to see how these songs are delivered live.
“Blood of the Nations” is another example of the older cats showing the young kids how it’s really done. I will put this album up against any Heavy Metal album released in the past 10 years and this one will stand tall and strong on it’s own as a great classic Metal album. The production is absolutely stellar, the songs are top notch and the performance is nothing short of amazing. “Blood of the Nations” is evidence that Accept’s best days are still ahead of them.
Topics: Accept, Album Reviews | 2 Comments »
Breakin’ Up Is Hard To Do
Break ups are hard no matter what the situation might be. Much like when a couple breaks up, when a band breaks up or loses members it’s hard on not just the ones involved but for those that surround them. Being in a band is very much like being in relationship. You start out seeking someone that is compatible with you. You want someone who shares in your likes and dislikes yet you want to have enough differences of opinion to keep it interesting. That person also needs to be someone you spend day in and day out with; someone you can accept and have them accept any and all quirks or shortcomings; someone you can trust and someone that can trust you. Sometimes, in a band, not all of these things nececssarily work out. Egos, drug abuse, creative differences and death over time become issues within a band. Way too often when this happens, then we have “the break up.”
Some bands have managed to find huge success in carrying on after a lead singer leaves but this is a pretty rare occurance. Sometimes the rifts in bands are caused by LSD (Lead Singer Disease). This occurs when the lead singer at some point believes that he is the “star” of the band and the sole reason for their popularity. This can cause some serious turmoil and usually leads to the singer parting ways to pursue the “solo career.”Many believe this to be the case with Van Halen. David Lee Roth was without a doubt the “star” of Van Halen besides Eddie Van Halen. Eddie was the guy that all the dudes wanted to be and Diamond Dave was the guy that all the girls wanted to be with. After much publicised drama within the band, Diamond Dave left the band to pursue a solo career that would last for well over 20 years. Van Halen would replace him with Sammy Hagar and go on to acheive much commercial success.
Topics: Music Editorial | No Comments »
Rare Early Rainbow Footage Surfaces
Former Rainbow bassist Bob Daisley has posted high-quality video footage of of RAINBOW performing the songs “Gates of Babylon”, “Long Live Rock ‘N’ Roll” and “L.A. Connection” at a New York studio prior to the release of the band’s third studio album, 1978′s “Long Live Rock ‘N’ Roll’. These videos are nothing short of stellar and have Rainbow at the top of their game fronted by a young Ronnie James Dio. Ronnie James Dio fronted Rainbow from 1975-1978 and was featured on the albums “Richie Blackmore’s Rainbow”, “Rising”, “On Stage” and “Long Live Rock & Roll.”
I can’t think of anything that Dio did that he didn’t make better. He’s like the fucking bacon bits of Heavy Metal. Black Sabbath, in my opinion, was never as good as when he was fronting them and Rainbow was without a doubt at it’s greatest with those first three albums. Seeing these amazing videos is so cool to see the youthful energy and magic that was Rainbow at the time. Enjoy these gems!
Topics: Music News, Music Videos, Rainbow, Ronnie James Dio | No Comments »
Blast From The Past: Poison/Slaughter/Bulletboys – May 27, 1991 – Atlanta, GA
I’ve been a Poison fan since the very beginning and there are very few bands that could put on a show as fun as Poison. Poison adopted the KISS mentality of believing that you didn’t have to be a flawless musician to rock the fuck out and have a good time. Poison created a spectacle and a party for their audience where you could forget all your trials and troubles for an hour and a half and hear some great, fun and catchy Rock & Roll music. Poison’s 1991 “Flesh & Blood” tour was pretty much the beginning of the end of this band. Substance abuse, clashing egos and a sudden shift in the music scene was putting some pressure on the self proclaimed “Glam Slam Kings of Noise.”
On this 2nd leg of the “Flesh & Blood” tour, Poison brought along Slaughter and Bulletboys as their opening acts. My buddy and I were really into the Bulletboys and were baffled as to why they were going on first. The Bulletboys had two albums out and Slaughter one but that’s ok. The Bulletboys came out opening with “Hell Yeah” from their Freakshow album and they sounded so goddamn awesome. The Bulletboys were one of those bands that people either loved or despised. They got pegged as being Van Halen wannabes but damn I thought they were awesome. They were arrogant and cocky but could back it up. They had a killer guitarist and singer who could sing his ass off. They did a lot with their 30 minutes pulling from both albums. I remember “Hang On St. Christopher” being kick ass but “THC Groove” and “Smooth Up In Ya” being the real show stoppers. They fucking killed it and we still had two more to go.
Slaughter was making huge waves and had a platinum selling debut album making them pretty big shit. Well, shit is the right word to describe these guys. I wasn’t a fan by any means but I kinda dug the first single “Up All Night” and figured that I’d give them a shot to wow me live. They came out with a pretty impressive stage set up for an opener with lights, stairs, ramps, you name it. The minute they kicked into the first song, I was a believer. A believer in the fact that they SUCK! Good lord what a crappy fucking band. They were running around and posing for the cameras like they were killing it on stage when the only thing they were killing was my ears. This even may have been one of the first times I was aware of “studio magic.” Man, you had to be David Copperfield to clean up the amount of suck that these guys exhuded. I couldn’t wait for them to get off the stage.
When Poison took to the stage, it was with a literal bang as they opened with “Look What The Cat Dragged In” like they always had (and still do). Right away I was pumped but I started to realize that behind the smoke and mirrors was a band that wasn’t what they used to be. The energy from the band was kind of off and I even commented to my buddy that they all looked sick. These guys had been out on the road for the better part of a year at this point and they looked beat to hell. They sounded like they were going through the motions and CC Deville was so whacked out of his mind on something. The rest of the band wouldn’t even go near him while he pranced around and played his extremely out of key and time guitar solos. The set list was pretty broad and covered a great variety from all three of their albums at the time but it was just painfully obvious there was something going on. Not long after the tour ended it was announced that CC Deville and left the band and was replaced by guitar virtuoso Richie Kotzen. Yeah, that’s what we said!
This was one of those shows that could have been and should have been better than it was. Luckily before and since then I have seen numerous fantastic Poison shows and had the time of my life. The Bulletboys were the MVPs of this show without a doubt. They took ownership of the stage that night and not long after were cast into obscurity.
Topics: Blast From The Past, Bullet Boys, Poison | No Comments »
Happy Birthday Gene Simmons
Happy Birthday to the God of Thunder! Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz) was born on August 25, 1949. Who would’ve thought that a guy named Chaim Witz would grow up to have sex with more women than you could ever dream of! Happy Birthday Gene!
Topics: Happy Birthday | No Comments »
Sneak Peak at Megadeth’s “Rust In Peace…LIVE” DVD.
In 2010, Megadeth set out on probably their most ambitious tour to date. After a postponed American Carnage tour, instead of lying down and waiting Megadave and Co. hit the road to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the now legendary “Rust In Peace” album. Megadeth played some of the best shows of their career and their performance on May 31st at the Hollywood Palladium was captured in all it’s glory for “Rust In Peace…LIVE.” The DVD will be released on September 7th by Shout Factory.
The full track listing for the “Rust In Peace Live” CD, DVD and Blu-ray is as follows:
“Rust In Peace” Live:
01. Holy Wars…The Punishment Due
02. Hangar 18
03. Take No Prisoners
04. Five Magics
05. Poison Was The Cure
06. Lucretia
07. Tornado Of Souls
08. Dawn Patrol
09. Rust In Peace…Polaris
Bonus Content:
10. Skin O’ My Teeth (Countdown To Extinction)
11. In My Darkest Hour (So Far, So Good…So What!)
12. She-Wolf (Cryptic Writings)
13. Trust (Cryptic Writings)
14. Symphony Of Destruction (Countdown To Extinction)
15. Peace Sells (Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying?)
16. Holy Wars – Reprise (Rust In Peace)
Considered to be one of the greatest Heavy Metal albums of all times, “Rust In Peace Live” shows the staying power of this amazing album. “Rust In Peace” stands up very well on it’s own as a true classic album and I’m so pumped that I got to see it performed live in it’s entirety. I’m even more pumped that I will get to witness it again as Megadeth will take to the road with Slayer and Anthrax making this a Clash of the Titans reunion. This DVD is going to be a real treat and I cannot wait to see the end result. For those of you, like me, who can’t wait to see it, here’s a great clip of “Holy Wars…The Punishment Due” from the DVD. What I really love about this DVD is that it’s warts and all baby. It sounds so fucking live that you could be there in the flesh. Consider this the beginning of a huge ass facemelt!
Topics: Megadeth, Music News | No Comments »
Halloween Hootenanny Tour With Rob Zombie and Alice Cooper
After a successful run earlier this year on their “Gruesome Twosome” Tour, Rob Zombie and Alice Cooper have once again teamed up for the 2010 Halloween Hootenanny Tour and have taped Murderdolls as their opening act. I just don’t understand why the closers this tour is coming to the Southeast is Roanoke, VA. I don’t think Alice Cooper has played Atlanta since 1999. What’s up with all the hatin’ to this corner. First it’s Iron Maiden and now Alice? Sheesh man, we love us some Alice Cooper in these parts.
Anyways, this tour should be a pretty cool run. I’m not a Murderdolls fan by any means and Rob Zombie puts on an amazing live show but I’m just not into his music. I’ve just never felt that connection but as for Alice, I’ve been a HUGE fan since I was 11 years old. He never fails to put on an amazing show and I’m thinking that this one just may be worth a road trip to either VA or Nashville.
The tour kicks off on September 30th in LA and will wrap up on October 20th in Nashville. Am I the only one that finds it odd that there is no Halloween date on the Halloween Hootenanny Tour? How bizarre!
2010 Halloween Hootenanny Tour Dates
Sep. 30 – Los Angeles, CA – Gibson Amphitheatre
Oct. 01 – San Diego, CA – Harrah’s Rincon
Oct. 02 – Tucson, AZ – Anselmo Valencia Amphitheater
Oct. 04 – Salt Lake City, UT – USANA Amphitheatre
Oct. 06 – Kansas City, MO – Independence Event Center
Oct. 07 – St. Charles, MO – The Family Arena
Oct. 08 – Bloomington, IL – U.S. Cellular Coliseum
Oct. 12 – Binghamton, NY – Broome County Arena
Oct. 14 – Portland, ME – Cumberland County Civic Center
Oct. 15 – Uncasville, CT – Mohegan Sun
Oct. 16 – Worcester, MA – DCU Center
Oct. 19 – Roanoke, VA – Roanoke Performing Arts Theater
Oct. 20 – Nashville, TN -Nashville Municipal Auditorium
Topics: Alice Cooper, Halloween Hootenanny Tour, Music News, Rob Zombie | No Comments »
Iron Maiden Has A Few Drinks
On August 10th, Iron Maiden was getting down to some serious business. Serious DRINKING business that is. Iron Maiden took a break from melting everyone’s faces off to melt their own faces off with just a few drinks at a pub in Norway. By a few drinks, I mean a few drinks that had Iron Maiden running up a $3275 bar tab! Now THAT’S fucking metal! Heineken, Jaegermeister, and Guinness for sure but just how Metal is a Slippery Nipple?
Topics: Iron Maiden, Music News | No Comments »
