ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, DEC. 18, 2003 By Steve Newton Many music fans have discovered the beauty of the blues while uncovering the roots of rock, yours truly included. Twenty-some-odd years ago I got set on that course by a pedal-steel guitarist and country-bluegrass performer named Smokin’ Joe Michno. As a dedicated hard-rock … Continue reading Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues overflows with deathless blues classics
Motörhead’s Stone Deaf Forever! box set brings the ear-busting goods
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, DEC. 18, 2003 By Steve Newton So I was hangin’ out in the vicinity of the Straight music editor’s desk—since that’s usually where the CDs go before being parcelled out to the various scrounging contributors—and along comes the shiny new expanded edition of the David Bowie boxed set, Sound … Continue reading Motörhead’s Stone Deaf Forever! box set brings the ear-busting goods
Album review: Iron Maiden, Piece of Mind (1983)
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JUNE 3, 1983 By Steve Newton The music on Iron Maiden's Piece of Mind is about as mean and nasty as the expression on their mascot Eddie's tortured face. Iron Maiden's greatest strengths have always been the nimble and precise fingers of lead guitarists Dave Murray and Adrian Smith, and on songs … Continue reading Album review: Iron Maiden, Piece of Mind (1983)
Album review: UFO, Making Contact (1983)
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, APRIL 15, 1983 By Steve Newton While we're on the subject of riff-riddled hard rock, take into consideration the latest UFO release, Making Contact. The man who now holds Michael Schenker's old position on lead guitar, Paul Chapman, is no lightweight when it comes to intense blues bastardization. UFO … Continue reading Album review: UFO, Making Contact (1983)
Album review: Gary Moore, Corridors of Power (1983)
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, APRIL 22, 1983 By Steve Newton Gary Moore is an astounding rock guitarist, capable of wrenching the most scintillating and unique licks imaginable from six strings. His brief stints with Colosseum II and Thin Lizzy showed him to be a versatile and technically superior player, and on Corridors of … Continue reading Album review: Gary Moore, Corridors of Power (1983)
Album review: Accept, Midnight Highway (1983)
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, MARCH 25, 1983 By Steve Newton Judas Priest and Scorpions I can handle, but these guys are even raunchier than them! Both Jorg Fischer and Wolf Hoffman are werewolves on guitar, driving home with furious abandon the basic message behind songs like "Breaker", "Helldriver", and "Son of a Bitch". I … Continue reading Album review: Accept, Midnight Highway (1983)
Album review: Quiet Riot, Metal Health (1983)
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, MARCH 25, 1983 By Steve Newton Dedicated to the memory of Randy Rhoads, the first album by his former band is one heavy chunk of vinyl. "Metal Health", "Slick Black Cadillac", and "Breathless" are all excellent, bang-your-head crotch rockers, but the album's most outstanding cuts are the bluesy "Don't Want to Let … Continue reading Album review: Quiet Riot, Metal Health (1983)
Album review: Molly Hatchet, No Guts…No Glory (1983)
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, MARCH 4, 1983 By Steve Newton Easily the best hard-rock album I've heard yet this year, Molly Hatchet's No Guts...No Glory even outdoes their earlier blockbusters Flirtin' With Disaster and Beatin' the Odds. Growling vocalist Danny Joe Brown is back in the Hatchet lineup after fronting his own band for … Continue reading Album review: Molly Hatchet, No Guts…No Glory (1983)
Album review: Blue Öyster Cult, Extraterrestrial Live (1982)
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JUNE 11, 1982 By Steve Newton Extraterrestrial Live is Blue Öyster Cult's third, and best, live album. The weak production and muddled performances on 1975's On Your Feet Or on Your Knees and the rush job "this will keep them going till our next studio album" impression of 1978's … Continue reading Album review: Blue Öyster Cult, Extraterrestrial Live (1982)
Rock and Hyde gets a boost from ex-Kick Axe picker “Hitman” Harvey
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON DEC. 25, 1987 By Steve Newton Since the U.S. release of Rock and Hyde's Under the Volcano nine months ago, the album has sold more copies stateside than all of the duo's previous work put together. That's a fair accomplishment given that Bob Rock and Paul Hyde released four albums as the Payola$, … Continue reading Rock and Hyde gets a boost from ex-Kick Axe picker “Hitman” Harvey
Pseudo Echo rises from Down Under to turn North America into “Funkytown”
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, DEC. 11, 1987 By Steve Newton They say that rock 'n' roll is a young man's game, although the number of aging rock stars raking in big bucks today makes you wonder. Still, there are always some fine young whipper-snappers whose youthfulness comes through in the freshness and vitality of their … Continue reading Pseudo Echo rises from Down Under to turn North America into “Funkytown”
Album review: Axe, Offerings (1982)
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JULY 9, 1982 By Steve Newton Just the fact that it includes a rousing version of the Montrose classic "I Got the Fire" makes Offerings worth the price you pay for it. Chief Axeman Bobby Barth pulls out all the stops on that particular tune, and makes a gallant, … Continue reading Album review: Axe, Offerings (1982)
Album review: Mötley Crüe: Too Fast For Love (1982)
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JULY 9, 1982 By Steve Newton Talk about ugly. These guys make the New York Dolls look like the kids on Leave It To Beaver! Well, maybe they aren't that bad. Anyway, their music sure isn't ugly. It's beautiful, in fact. That is, if you're into energetic, hook-filled boogie. … Continue reading Album review: Mötley Crüe: Too Fast For Love (1982)