Vinyl Review: Sara Bareilles - Amidst The Chaos

Artist: Sara Bareilles
Album: Amidst The Chaos
Release Date: April 5, 2019
Label: Epic

Sara Bareilles has been one of my favorite songwriters since I first heard her hit "Love Song" back in 2007.  Her ability to capture emotion in her words and music makes me want to be a better songwriter myself.  In fact, her song "The Light" from the Kaleidoscope Heart album is one of my all time favorite songs, so when I saw she had a new album coming out I quickly pre-ordered it.

After the departure that was What's Inside: Songs from the Waitress, which was a Broadway play, I was looking forward to the return to form.  While I enjoyed the last album, it wasn't really what I think of when I think of Sara Bareilles.  Amidst the Choas is a wonderful return to that songwriting that I fell in love with, and the vinyl package is pretty cool.

Vinyl Review: Halloween (2018)

Album: Halloween (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Artist: John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter, and Daniel Davies
Label: Sacred Bones Records
Released: October 19, 2018

So you may be asking yourself, why are we looking at the Halloween soundtrack in March? We still have six months to go before Halloween season begins.  That's a great question, and the answer is simple... The music is amazing and should be played year round.  Also, I finally bought my copy last month, so I am a little late to the party.

Halloween is the soundtrack to the 2018 sequel of the original Halloween (1978) movie.  For more takes on that, head over to Timeout, Need More Popcorn and request the archived reviews of the whole franchise of movies I did with my buddy Jay on Continuous Play Podcast.  Today though, we are looking at the vinyl package that was released in October of 2018.

Vinyl Review: Opus Science Collective - Girls On Bikes (Sofa King Vinyl)

Opus Science Collective
Album: Girls On Bikes (2018)
Sofa King Vinyl SKV-1004-2
Release Date: October 12, 2018

I have to admit until I received this album from Sofa King Vinyl, I had never heard of Opus Science Collective.  Synthwave or Vaporwave music isn't typically something I listen to.  It isn't because I don't like the genre, but I just don't typically think to look for music from that genre.  I was approached by Sofa King Vinyl about my willingness to listen to and give my thoughts on a couple of their releases.  After picking myself up off the floor, I graciously accepted.  Sofa King Vinyl was generous enough to send me two albums they recently put out to review.  I made sure not to listen to either album before the vinyl came so I had a clean slate to go off once it arrived.  So let's get into my thoughts on Opus Science Collective's Girls On Bikes from Sofa King Vinyl.

Vinyl Review: Prince Reissues by the Prince Estate

The Prince Estate has been pretty busy lately keeping the legacy of Prince alive and well. They recently put out three of Prince's 2000 era albums, Musicology, 3121 and Planet Earth. Check out my review of the album packaging and more below.

 

Vinyl Review: Metallica - Helping Hands... Live & Acoustic at The Masonic

They are hailed as thrash metal icons by many, heavy metal heroes by others, but today they can add acoustic masters to the list.  A quarter of a century after the dawn of the MTV Unplugged craze, Metallica has joined the fray... well sort of.  While it isn't MTV Unplugged, Metallica's latest release is unplugged, all acoustic concert put on to raise money for All Within My Hands Foundation which was set up by the band in February of 2017 to help communities in need.

The benefit show took place on November 3rd at the Masonic in San Francisco, California in conjunction with an auction, and raised 1.3 million dollars for Feeding America and the American Association of Community Colleges.  It was announced the show would be released as a double LP in February 2019 with the money received from sales of the album (also available digitally and via streaming services) going directly to the foundation.  The album was sold via Metallica's website and was made available to independent record stores on vinyl.

Vinyl Review: Type O Negative - Bloody Kisses (Run Out Groove)

The year was 1994, the month was August, and the venue was the Mirage Nightclub in Minneapolis, MN.  I was a young kid aged just 16 years when I stepped into that venue that night to see Motley Crue headed up by their new lead singer, John Corabi.  I couldn't have been more excited since I was one of the Crue fans who loved the new direction they took with Corabi at the helm.  I was out with my good buddy James and we got there early so that we could be right up front.  We made it all the way into the second row of people (it was open floor) and waited patiently for Motley Crue to take the stage.  Neither of us had heard of the opening act, Type O Negative, before the show and didn't know what to expect.

As we waited for Crue, the lights went down and we got our first look at this band, Type O Negative.  Peter Steele walked right up to the mic and told the crowd how much they sucked before launching into a brutal ear assault that I couldn't take my eyes off of.  It was amazing, to say the least.  My jaw hit the floor as I listened to John's thundering drums, Kenny's drop tuned guitar licks, and Peter's pounding bass, and accented by Josh's haunting keyboards.  Then Peter began to sing in his low voice and I was hooked!  I had never seen or heard anything like it before.  I knew I needed to buy their CD as soon as possible.

Vinyl Review: Christina Aguilera - Liberation (RCA Records)

Artist: Christina Aguilera
Title: Liberation
Label: RCA Records 19075-89419-1
Release Date: November 16, 2018
Other: Target Exclusive

As a college student in the late 90s/early 2000s, I got to see the meteoric rise of Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera from Disney Club kids to pop icons.  While I had no idea who they were pre-Baby One More Time, I certainly had no choice to know them after that hit.  Christina's Genie In a Bottle was a smash and set her on a path to superstardom.  I started to get interested in her music with the release of Stripped in 2002.  Her Back to Basics album ranks high on my list of favorite pop albums.  After Back to Basics, I lost track of Christina until her appearances on the hit NBC show, The Voice. With the success of the show, it was only a matter of time before she put out a new album.  Well after a long wait, Christina unleashed Liberation on the world on June 15, 2018, via CD and digital/streaming media.

I will admit that I tried to stream the songs a few times and just wasn't really into what I heard, so I put it away for the time being and planned to revisit it down the road.  Fast forward to October and I'm walking through my local Target and notice a new section erected in the electronics department housing a few shelves full of beautiful vinyl.  Now, most of the selections they offered were the popular releases you can find anywhere.  Your greatest hits packages, your represses of old albums, and a few current titles, but nothing screaming buy it from Target.  As the days and weeks went on you began to see little red stickers indicating that the album was a Target exclusive.  

Vinyl Review: John Corabi - One Night In Nashville (Rat Pak Records)

Artist: John Corabi
Title: One Night in Nashville
Label: Rat Pak Records RPR603090
Release Date: December 14, 2018
Other: Limited Edition - 300 pressed

As I left the house on Saturday morning, I was not expecting any new vinyl to show up that day.  When I was informed that a record arrived at the house I scrambled to find out what it could be.  I checked my Amazon.com account and there was nothing there.  I racked my brain trying to figure out what it could be.  Once I returned home that afternoon, I looked at the package and was immediately overcome with excitement.  Rat Pak Records the return label said.  I knew exactly what I was receiving, but before we get into the package itself let's go back and tell you why I was so excited about this delivery.

The year is 1994 and the news has just hit the wire that Vince Neil has been replaced as lead singer in Motley Crue.  Neil had quit the band, or maybe he was fired, in 1992 over a spat with his bandmates.  His replaced is announced as a little known singer from a band called The Scream, John Corabi.  Motley Crue was coming off a massive success with Dr. Feelgood and a very successful hits release called Decade of Decadence.  They were on top of the hard rock world even though the music scene had changed and moved away from hard rock and heavy metal in favor of grunge and alternative rock.  This was before the explosion of the Internet, so finding out any information on John Corabi was virtually impossible unless you knew of his previous band, The Scream.  It wasn't until March of 1994 that Crue fans finally got a chance to hear the new singer in action when Hooligan's Holiday was released to radio and a video to MTV (back when they played videos).  Corabi was a major departure in style and sound from Neil.  He had a deeper, more soulful voice that was perfect for the heavier direction Crue seemed to be taking.  Some loved it, some hated it.  I was one of those that loved it.