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REVIEWS RATING SYSTEM
* 1 Star -- Moped
** 2 Stars -- Skoda
*** 3 Stars -- Daewoo
**** 4 Stars -- Ford
***** 5 Stars -- Volkswagon
****** 6 Stars -- BMW
******* 7 Stars -- TVR
******** 8 Stars -- Porsche
********* 9 Stars -- Ferrari
********** 10 Stars -- Private Jet

AEROSMITH, "JUST PUSH PLAY" (2001)
Not a hair metal band by any means, but if you like rock and don't like Aerosmith then I fart in
your general direction. Not liking JUST PUSH PLAY, however, might be a little more forgivable.
Or a lot more.
   Aerosmith have sold out, no question. If you'd told Steven Tyler in 1976 that he would one day
perform on stage with the equivalent of the Bee Gees only more manufactured and less talented,
he would have beaten you up, or, in the event of being too incapacitated to do such a thing,
thrown a glass bottle at you. In 2001, Aerosmith will do anything to stay rich and popular. Do 
they have any idea how uncool their core audience finds *NSync?
   Ah well, great music has, in the past, been made by musicians purely motivated by money, so
Aerosmith's greed is excusable if the music is good. Which it has been, up to now. JUST PUSH PLAY
is actually nothing like as bad as AeroFans are saying, provided you can get past what a blatant
pop sellout it is. "Beyond Beautiful" has a pretty beasty groove, but things really get moving 
with the title track, a "Walk This Way" clone that nevertheless succeeds in hitting the mark. Hit
single "Jaded" you've heard and you know if you like it. The first nine tracks are all good, 
ranging in quality on my running rating system from BMW to Porsche (Brad Whitford's drive of 
choice, incidentally). They are nice enough sing alongs, with some amicable pop in "Sunshine" 
and a beasty riff in "Under my Skin". Only Steven Tyler could get away with "Outta Your Head", 
but he is Steven Tyler, and he pulls it off. Tracks 10-12 really are dire, which is a great shame
because "Light Inside" is the fast rocker the album lacks. Bonus track face is an unspectacular
but pleasant ditty, much like most of the album (but not as good).
   In short: Different but the open minded will find good songs here and a good spin. *******

BARREN CROSS, "STATE OF CONTROL" (1989)
I'm aware I virtually panned Barren Cross in my white metal section but as you probably inferred
from the rating of 70%, they are actually alright -- certainly in the top 5 white metal bands. 
This album finds them at their creative and musical height, as well as the height of their suc-
cess. The Iron Maiden stylings are virtually gone, although Mike Lee's gutsy and operatic voice
definitely has something of Bruce Dickinson in it. The super clean and slick production is trade-
mark Elefante stuff, but the Pakaderm pair basically made their production name with Barren Cross.
The sound of this album is more Firehouse-like, super clean but heavy melodic metal. The opener
and title track is strong, but follower "Out of Time" is simply blistering. Other great melodic
moments come in the pop rocker "Hard Lies" and "Inner War". "Two Thousand Years" is abysmal, but
everything else here is at least "BMW" on my reviews rating system. "The Stage of Intensity" was
voted the song of the year by readers of Heaven's Metal magazine (who obviously didn't have "Out
of Time" on their copies), and "Love at Full Volume" is actually a beefy rocker. 
You won't find one in the stores, but if you're prepared to pay, fans of Firehouse's debut, Def
Leppard, Iron Maiden at their most commercial, and Van Halen will find a gem and a shot in the
arm for Christian metal. Whether it's worth the high price it commands is down to you, however.
********

BON JOVI, "CRUSH" (2000)
This album is a bone of contention among Def Leppard fans who can't believe that Bon Jovi get so
much more promotion than Leppard when they are on the same label, have similar sounds, and have 
sold similar numbers of records in the past. It does seem a bit unjust but I don't see the big 
deal because to my ears they are sufficiently similar that if you enjoy one you should definitely
be able to like to other as well. On to the album. You've probably heard "It's My Life" and 
rightly so. Although essentially a slightly inferior re-run of "Livin' on a Prayer", the song
has much of what made "Prayer" so good and playing it at high volume should induce similar levels
of feelgood factor. Follower "Say It Isn't So" is cool enough and "Thank You For Loving Me" is a
typical but good Jovi power ballad. "Just Older" is an enthusing romp and "Captain Crash" is 
a fantastic collision of Bon Jovi and the Beatles. "Save the World" is a power ballad out there
with the Bon Jovi best, far better than "Thank You For Loving Me", while "One Wild Night" and 
bonus track "I Could Make a Living Out of Loving You" provide the hard rock the album needs more
of. Unfortunately, that's about it for the good stuff. "Next 100 Years" is saved only by Sambora's
great guitar finale, and "Mystery Train" is pleasant but likely to receive the skip treatment. 
"She's a Mystery", however, is simply droning, dismal, and dire, while "I Got the Girl" is little
better.
Not the return to Bon Jovi's classic sound we hoped for, but nothing like as bad as some have 
suggested. ******

DEF LEPPARD, "EUPHORIA" (1999)
After a three year absence (nothing big by Lep standards), Def Leppard return with a huge grin 
and a youthful freshness that says "We're back!" This isn't just a re-treading of "Hysteria" 
however; the overall feel of the album is cleaner and more open (sorry to be so abstract, just a
vibe it gives me) and there are definitely things here the band haven't done before. "Demolition
Man" is an opening blast that has energy and excitement dripping from every catchy and memorable
moment; lead single "Promises" is more classic Lep but the thick harmonies have a different sound
to the past Lep vocals, the riff is new, and the feel is slightly different. Overall, though, it
invokes the classic "Photograph". Further highlights are the massive, intense, and heavy epic 
"Paper Sun", the upbeat but movingly romantic pop song "Guilty", and a commercial pop rocker
with amazing hooks and freshness in "21st Century Shalalala Girl". "All Night" is funky, with
a Prince influence but some crushing guitars and a pretty excruciating lyric, actually. Still,
along with Paper Sun, 21st Century, It's Only Love and Demolition Man, it doesn't sound much like
anything they've done before. In fact, the album is killer from start to finish, with a glam rock 
stomp in "Back in Your Face" and ballads a-plenty, plus the instrumental "Disintegrate". The album
only lets up at the end with "Day After Day" and "Kings of Oblivion" being completely lacklustre.
However, with many of the tracks as good as anything Leppard have ever done and most of the rest
being strong showings, the album is still a much better example of classic rock for today than
Bon Jovi's "Crush". ********

EXTREME, "III SIDES TO EVERY STORY" (1992)
Hot on the heels of their major success, PORNOGRAFFITI, Extreme produce their most ambitious work
to date. Another concept album, this time based around the three sides: yours, mine, and the 
truth. Opening up is THE TRUTH, a six song section. This is the section with all the straight
ahead rockers, all with the usual Extreme funkiness, creativity, and some quirkiness. "Warheads"
and "Peacemaker Die" are just great rock songs (although to make sense of the lyrics on any of
the tracks here you have to hear the whole album), and the others here, while a bit less straight
forward, also rock. Some take more time to grow on you than others, but this section is what fans
of PORNOGRAFFITI were hoping for without being a replica of that album
   Next up is MINE, a five song section which contains all the ballady stuff. "Seven Sundays" has
the most Queen influence we've heard from Extreme (They were introduced at the Freddy Mercury
tribute concert as the band who had most understood what Freddie and Queen were about all along),
with falsetto vocals and pianos a-plenty. "Stop the World" has great descending basslines, and
"Tragic Comic" is a loadsa-fun acoustic track to show they haven't disappeared up their creative
backside just yet. 
   The centrepiece of this opus, however, is the epic THE TRUTH section, subtitled "Everything
Under the Sun". This section was slammed by critics as a throwback to prog rock excess. Whatever.
If Extreme want to do something ambitious and orchestral, all power to them, and they deserve
praise simply for having the vision to do something as elaborate as this and then the courage to
release it (they must have known what the critics would say, and eight minute songs are hardly
radio material). It never quite reaches the soaring, sweeping grandiose heights you hope it will,
but it isn't far off, and within the 21+ minutes this suite of epic compositions goes on for, 
there are no shortage of great moments. If you like anything Extreme have done in the past, or
just good melodic rock with creative twists, or you're into ambitious progressive rock type
stuff, this is totally essential. Nuno's guitar playing, as ever, is great, and he dishes up 
solos less flashy but more tasteful than ever -- if you still call him a mere Van Halen clone
after this, you're simply ignorant. ******** for the music but ********** for the attitude, 
ambition, vibe, vision, and courage.

GIANT, "LAST OF THE RUNAWAYS" (1989)
Session player and former White Heart guitarist Dann Huff is better than most people realised.
His opening solo on this album sets the tone, but actually the first track is slightly disap-
pointing. Much better is second track "Innocent Days" with a great pre-chorus and a beasty anthem
of a chorus that deserves to be shouted from rooftops and arena stages around the world. "I Can't
Get Close Enough" and "No Way Out" are bluesy numbers but really only average songs. "I'll See
You in my Dreams" provided a huge US hit single (it's a ballad) but "Love Welcome Home" is a more
sentimental and probably better track in that style. "Shake Me Up" and "The Big Pitch" are two of
the hardest rockers here, the former being far the superior with a shout along chorus. Like 
almost every song here, however, it follows to formula of playing the chorus quietly after the 
guitar solo... That's a cool idea but it is really overused. The best song of all is "Hold Back
the Night" with a cool riff, an amazing and emotional chorus (they should repeat it more times 
at the end because it's sort of thing you could sing forever), and a great outro solo. The rest
is fairly mediocre.
Still, for fans of more mature but clean and very melodic rock with big hooks and vocal harmonies,
this should appeal to those that like Mr. Big in particular, as well as attracting fans of 
Def Leppard, White Heart, Firehouse, and Sammy Hagar's Van Halen. Look out! According to legend,
the follow up to this, "Time to Burn" is an all-time classic. I haven't been able to get a copy
for a reasonable price to confirm this. *******

TAMPLIN, "TAMPLIN" (1993)
What do you do after your successful band breaks up? Solo career of course! Ken's first two 
solo jobbies had some experimental touches and some of the commercial flair of Shout. More of the
latter and less of the former please Mr. Tamplin. TAMPLIN, Ken's third effort, however, is a 
heavier album than anything Shout did but it's straight rock and the songs are strong... Just 
what the doctor ordered! Ken knows how to open his albums with a slamming string of great songs
and this album has three tracks, BANG BANG BANG, straight in a row, that will blow your hair 
back. He also knows how to recycle his riffs, and this album has several riffs that have either
appeared in past Tamplin recordings or would appear in future ones. That aside, this is a great
album. His mate Gene Simmons certainly thought so. There is nothing else on the album to compare
to that opening triple-whammy, but there are some further great moments. Overall, yet again you
are frustrated that Ken's talent is more than he can handle; in spite of the fact that he's a
great musician, he still manages to take great ideas and make only good songs from them. Thank-
fully, there are plenty of occasions where he takes great ideas and makes stunning songs. *******

TESLA, "REPLUGGED LIVE" (2001)
It's been too long! Let's just say there can be no better introduction to Tesla. It has 20 tracks
on two discs so no one can complain about value, but naturally there will be differences of 
opinion as to whether or not the right twenty were chosen. They can't please everyone though, and 
as a selection of 20 great Tesla tracks to demonstrate what they are all about, it would be 
difficult to improve. They haven't really ever done anything bad; Tesla are simply much more 
original and creative than any other band like them. The musicianship is expectedly superb. 
They play the songs rawer than on the original recordings, with crunchier, more distorted guitars
and occasionally a bit more speed... just the way a live album should be. There are some creative
variations with the solos but for the most part they stick true to the original arrangements. 
It's not over-produced but they are so tight that the songs still come over very cleanly. 
The backing vocals are well-executed (these can be a problem for many bands live), even on 
Edison's Medicine which probably has the most harmonies of any song they do. The only annoying 
thing is that in the chorus of that song sometimes Jeff Keith misses his part (the main melody),
so you get the harmonies but not the melody.
Oh well, they are rapidly catching up to Leppard as my favourite band and I cannot recommend 
it enough. Sickeningly brilliant, right down to the perfect balance between raw edge and clean
sound. **********

VAN HALEN, "OU812" (1988)
The second Van Hagar album finds the band in fine fettle, with Edward tapping and shredding with
the customary aplomb and Hagar in good voice. The songs some of the fastest of the Van Hagar era,
with "Mine All Mine", "AFU", "Source of Infection", and "Sucker in a 3 Piece" all blasting along
the other side of the speed limit. Highlights? Well, they're the slower tracks, actually. "When
It's Love" is a great ballad with a fairly aggressive verse and a killer Eddie solo. "Black and
Blue" has great groove, and "Cabo Wabo" has some great riffing, a thrilling pre-chorus, and 
actually a rather disappointing chorus. Still, those songs are all typical Van Hagar fayre and
good with it, so if you like anything they've done, they'll be to your taste. "Finish What Ya
Started" is riotous country-tinged acoustic bash with surprisingly authentic licks from Eddie 
(the live version on RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW is horrible) and some tongue in cheek lyrics. The rest
of the songs, pop crossover "Feels so Good" and blues cover "A Apolitical Blues" excepted, are
all seriously fast and pretty good too, with no huge choruses or anything but some good melody
nonetheless and ripping guitaring from Eddie. Ultimately, however, "AFU" and "Source of Infection"
are forgettable (the latter's great guitar intro aside).
Not the best Van Hagar album by about a billion miles, but good enough. ******

WARRANT, "GREATEST & LATEST" (1999)
Warrant return to their classic sound with this album of remakes, remixes, and new tracks. For
those who have heard that this is merely a compilation; it isn't. It contains re-recordings and
new versions of their classics, as well as three new songs and some absolutely unspeakably crap
remixes. Some of the tracks are more different from their original incarnations than others, but
there is one problem; in their heyday Warrant were stars on a major label with a big money budget.
These days they are on Cleopatra and no longer have gold and platinum status, nor the recording
budget that goes with it. As a result, most of these recordings are actually inferior to the 
original versions. As for the new songs, well "The Jones" has fairly good energy and trips along
at a good speed but in an attempt to be creative Jani Lane has given it a slow chorus rather than
the big anthem you would expect from a song like this. Remember what Tesla did with "Can't Stop"?
Well, it's like that, kinda. Only it worked for Tesla. It doesn't work for Warrant. "Bad Tattoo"
has kind of a heavier sound with some handclaps going on in the background but its quite melodic
and is an above average track, unlike the remaining new song "Southern Comfort". "Thin Disguise" 
is awesome but apart from that you really are better off with one of the band's first two albums.
*****

WHITESNAKE, "SLIP OF THE TONGUE" (1989)
I think in 1989 you had to have a band name beginning with "W" to be successful... WASP, Winger, 
White Lion, Whitesnake, Warrant... Well anyway, this is the Whitesnake album everyone hates. Well,
maybe not hates exactly... but heaps derision on anyway. This is unfair because it takes the 
'Snake's heavy rock into uncharted US commercial waters with quite some success. And just because
the sales didn't compare to the blockbusting 1987 album, that's not to say it was a flop. "Now 
You're Gone" is simply awe-inspiring (see Listmania), and the following "Kitten's Got Claws" is
a turbo charged rocker which, while not exactly tasteful musically or lyrically, is pretty cool.
"Judgment Day" is an epic rocker and "Sailing Ships" is an epic power ballad, and both deliver.
"Wings of the Storm" is kind of epic without being long, and "Fool for Your Loving" is a remake
of a Whitesnake classic, and so has a more 70s rock sound. Steve Vai's solos may lack the 
authenticity required, but he certainly does not lack virtuosity and is not afraid to use it
whatever taste may suggest. "Cheap an' Nasty" and "Wings of the Storm" have suitably self-
indulgent guitar explosions. "The Deeper the Love" is a strong AOR ballad, and "Slow Poke Music"
has great groove if little else to its credit.
Not classic, but if you've enjoyed Whitesnake's 1987 or SLIDE IT IN records, check this out.
*******