“Black Feathers” Spiritual Beggars, On Fire

In the early days of the Internet I was hunting high and low for the next big rock band and happily stumbled across Spiritual Beggars-  if you like Deep Purple, Rainbow, and early Whitesnake you should love these guys.  “Black Feathers” features second singer JB’s strong pipes, Per Wiberg’s killer Hammond organ work, tight rhythm section in Sharlee D’Angelo and Ludwig Witt, and fab guitar work from Michael Amott.  Just a solid, solid rock cut that takes elements of early 70s heavy rock bands and creates a slightly more modern piece of work.  Highly recommended.

“All Of My Friends Were There” The Kinks, Village Green Preservation Society

As a huge Kinks fan thanks to their raucous late 70s/early 80s arena rock period, it came as a shock to hear some of their earlier material.  “All Of My Friends Were There” is certainly shocking; quite far removed from that rock period courtesy of Ray Davies’ somewhat silly vocal throughout but beautifully mixed with the playful instrumentation and melodic chorus.  Village Green is a bit of a concept album and the song definitely fits in with the rest of that material, mixing old English traditions and values via reminisces from Ray Davies’ youth.

“Radioactive” Paul Rodgers, Live In Glasgow

From his days with Jimmy Page and The Firm comes Paul Rodgers’ live take on that bands’ “hit”, this version from his cracking Live In Glasgow album.  If you remember the original there’s not too much different here other than two lead guitars playing that quirky Page noodle (that always felt a bit out of place to my ears) but the calling card is Rodgers glorious voice, a mix of bluesy rock ‘n soul like very few others.  Yeah man, the band is tight and nails the groove but this is Paul Rodgers we are talking about here!  He’s definitely on point, maybe a tad too playful but great nonetheless.

“Repeat (Stars and Stripes” Manic Street Preachers, Generational Terrorists

Not really a song as much as a remix of their album cut “Repeat (UK)” thanks to the work of The Bomb Squad, this version gets a bit hip hoppy in sound effect yet tosses in some of the rock elements as well.  But no…  that’s not what’s going to catch your ear, especially if you are familiar with that original.  It’s those pure punk vocals; the “repeat after me fuck Queen and country” which I’m sure gained them quite a bit of notoriety and fandom in equal measure.  That original is really the version you want to grab as this remix is more of an interesting curio than anything else.

“What Went Wrong” The Smithereens, 2011

I’m a big Smithereens fan and it makes me said that this is the last studio album we’ll ever hear from Pat Dinizio.  2011 is prime Smithereens and “What Went Wrong” is a fab cut, sounding like a classic mix of The Who and The Kinks due to Dennis Diken’s Keith Moonisms and Jim Babjak’s dead on Dave Davies/Pete Townshend buzzsaw guitar.  Dinizio’s slacker cool vocal is on fully display on this bouncy and swinging rock cut, so if you miss those swingin’ ’60s maximum R&B days this cut is your perfect tonic.  RIP Pat, you will be missed!

“Warning” Queensryche, The Warning

If I have a Queensryche preference it’s definitely anything pre-Empire with most of my love for Operation:Mindcrime and The Warning albums, the latter of which you’ll find this cut (makes sense, doesn’t it?).  “The Warning” is a good reason why I like the band; solid militaristic, fist raising riff and Geoff Tate’s ungodly vocals are enough to grab any headbanger’s attention.  Still, the production (as with a good chunk of Queensryche albums) leaves me a bit cold as the guitars are a bit layered and deep in the mix with little fatness on the bottom end.  But hey, I still like it!

“Things Ain’t Working Out Down At The Farm (BBC Radio 1 Version)” Thin Lizzy, Vagabonds Of The Western World

Like mentioned in the Kinks blurb above, I first got into Thin Lizzy due to the radio hits from the Robertson/Gorham era and was a bit surprised to hear the early material with Eric Bell on guitar.  “Things Ain’t Working Out” is a great little tune, this version from a BBC live session that allows the band to stretch out from the original version, giving Bell a bit of room to get “Hendrixy” near the end.  Of course Phil is a joy on vocal as usual, full of confidence at such a young age and Brian Downey provides rock solid timekeeping and snappiness on the drums.

“Calling Dr. Love” KISS, Sonic (Boom Bonus Disc)

Yeah baby!  But what’s this?  It’s Dr. Love but not Dr. Love and I’m sorry, I prefer the original because when I was a kid KISS meant the world to me and it has to be the original Fab Four here (no Ace, no Peter…  sorry!).  All that said, I have full respect for Gene and Paul wanting to continue with replacements and this version is very good but since I dressed up as Ace for Halloween and had the smokin’ guitar poster it has to be the original.  No disrespect to Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer (a killer drummer) but the original is one of my fave KISS songs of all time!  That riff…  whew!

“Back On My Feet” Vandenberg, The Definitive Collection

Vandenberg’s debut was a great little album and “Back On My Feet” is one of my favorite songs, taking a hot ‘n ready Schenkerized riff and tossing in a bit of funkiness during the verses and prechorus then getting some bass n drum double time during the chorus and lead solo section.  Vocalist Bert Heerink sounds strong here, maybe a bit like Klaus Meine in vocal tone midrange but also with his own unique stylings in the higher ranges.  Band namesake Adrian Vandenberg features a hot solo but bassist Dick Kemper’s thunder is pretty cool too.

“I Will Follow On” The Answer, Raise A Little Hell

Big fan of these guys, thanks to past plugs from Classic Rock magazine.  “I Will Follow On” is a bonus track on fifth album Raise A Little Hell, which peels back some layers of over the top rock found on their previous material and leaving a bit more of a slinkier, sexier tune.  Much of that is due to guitarist Paul Mahon’s greasy riff, although lead singer Cormac Neeson’s vocal is a bit more laid back than usual, easily sliding into the band groove and staying away from a Plant-esque belt.  Certainly less Led Zeppelin/Free this time around and more Stones/Aerosmith, which works very well.

Tough picks this time around!  I gotta go with “Black Feathers” as the number one this week with “Radioactive” not far behind and “What Went Wrong” bringing up the rear.