The Disregard of Timekeeping

I've wanted Bonham's The Disregard of Timekeeping for a long time - and now the album is finally available on iTunes! Thanks to a gift card, the album is now on my iPod.

If you don't remember, the track listing looks like this:

The Disregard of Timekeeping
Wait for You
Bringing Me Down Guilty
Holding On Forever
Dreams
Don't Walk Away
Playing to Win
Cross Me and See
Just Another Day
Room For Us All

Basically, this albums owns you. I love the song "Guilty" and the entire album seems to hold up really well, nearly two decades after its initial release. Furthermore, if you like Led Zeppelin, you'll probably really dig Bonham. Jason got his dad's drumming genes and sense of song construction. The last I read, MacMaster was working on a solo project and a new album. I'd love to hear his new stuff.

Even better, Daniel MacMaster can actually sing. His voice could easily overpower The Disregard of Timekeeping, but excellent production means that doesn't happen.

If you don't remember Bonham, don't fret. Here's the video for "Wait for You."

So, do you own The Disregard of Timekeeping? The critics loved this band - but they just didn't last long enough to create a complete catalog.

Destination Unknown

There’s a new melodic rock band making some waves in Italy these days. Knyght features five guys hoping to make it big with album oriented rock.

Since I’m an English nerd, I’m going to interrupt this review right now and talk about the band name. The word “knyght” has evolved over time to become “knight.” In Middle English – and Geoffrey Chaucer’s time – the word was spelled knyght. In early phonics, that would be pronounced “ka nick” with a heavy emphasis on the second syllable of the word. Look up The Canterbury Tales and you’ll know what I’m talking about here.

Back to the band Knyght and their EP Destination Unknown. The disc features these songs:

Stop Me
Neverland
The Believer
I’ll Live In Your Shadow
Destination Unknown

The music is there but the boys who formed Knyght are awfully young. The biggest obstacle facing Knyght is a language barrier. Destination Unknown is recorded in English, but Tommy Forni’s vocals are thick with an Italian accent. Still, the band can progress with a little more practice and perhaps a vocal coach.

Not surprising, Knyght looks up to music luminaries like Queen and Bon Jovi. It’s especially easy to hear the Queen influences as Knyght likes keyboards and seem to be edging toward big scale production.

Give them a few years and watch out. 

Knyght on Myspace

Bang Camaro

Do you know Bang Camaro? They are getting buzz thanks to the popular video game Rock Band. Don't worry, I'm trying to learn how to really play bass, so I don't know much about Rock Band (or Guitar Hero for that matter).

So anyway, Bang Camaro just might be glam. They've got three guitar players, a bassist, a drummer and about 15 singers! Yes, 15! Their self-titled debut is full of arena rock anthems - I guess that's not a surprise considering you need an arena so the entire band can fit onto the stage!

Here are a couple Bang Camaro videos. The first is of "Push Push (Lady Lightning)."

Now here's a promotional video for the band. The song is "Rock Rebellion" and it's a little heavier than "Push Push."

If you can hear the blatant touches of KISS, Iron Maiden, Motley Crue and Poison - good for you! This band lists just about every 80s Metal act as an influence. That can only mean good things for us. Yes, I think it's safe to say Bang Camaro is bringing back glam!

Bang Camaro on Myspace

Return of the Mother Head's Family Reunion

One of the best albums of 2007 is easily Return of the Mother Head’s Family Reunion by Richie Kotzen. Featuring eclectic styles, great songwriting and Richie’s melodic voice, this album has everything a fan of blues-based rock could want or need.

The track “You Know That” is one of the album’s best - and my personal favorite. It is half rock, half funk and completely fantastic. Many parts of this song are a throwback to classic rock of the 1960s. “You Know That” is a song with great guitar work that makes you want to move. Think Parliament Funkadelic meets The 5th Dimension meets the Rolling Stones.

A little slower is “You’re Crazy.” As per usual Kotzen, the guitar work album-wide is phenomenal, but exceptionally good on this track. The emotional lyrics help Kotzen and his band seem more human, thus the songs more believable. Piano work adds an extra layer to this melodic rock track.

If you like mellow, you’ll probably dig “Faith,” with its slow tempo and passionate vocals. While Return of the Mother Head’s Family Reunion is a decidedly rock album, “Faith” has an (unsurprising) gospel feel. Kotzen pours his heart out for his listeners, and we win. Even if you don’t like religious music, “Faith” is surprisingly approachable and exceptionally enjoyable.

Back to the rock. “Drift” helps pick up the pace, and illustrates many of Kotzen’s many guitar techniques, including sweeping. In America, Return of the Mother Head’s Family Reunion is actually called Go Faster, and that’s another track on the album. “Go Faster” is the hardest and fastest track on the release and it also features a big chorus. This is also the most commercial track on the album, meaning a great opportunity for radio play.

Here's the track listing:

Go Faster
Feed My Head
Fooled Again
Can You Feel It
You're Crazy
Chase It
Bad Things
Do It To Yourself
Dust
Faith
You Know That

Here's Richie performing "Fooled Again" live. The sound quality doesn't do the song justice.

Hear a few more songs at Richie Kotzen on Myspace.

Faster Pussycat Friday

It's Friday and it's been a really odd week. I was cruising YouTube, looking for some fun glam. I found two great Faster Pussycat clips that I haven't seen in a very long time.

The first is the video for "Nonstop to Nowhere." The band looks so hot in this clip.

Now here's the video for "Don't Change That Song."

Which do you prefer? I think I like the first clip a little more.

EndeverafteR - The Bring Back Glam! Interview

Kiss or Kill is the debut effort by California-based EndeverafteR. It features a fresh mix of sleaze rock and classic glam swagger. The buzz surrounding EndeverafteR started in 2006, after securing an opening slot on the Poison/Cinderella tour. In just a couple weeks, the rockers will sail with a rowdy crowd on Vince Neil's Motley Cruise, and lead singer/guitarist/songwriter Michael Grant couldn't be happier. Michael recently spoke to Bring Back Glam! about the formation of EndeverafeR, being pretty, and searching for the right record label. Transcription follows.

Bring Back Glam!: You just finished a tour with Trapt and Fuel.

Michael Grant: Yes, a whopping 2 and a half, three month tour. It’s a feeling of accomplishment. Everything went quasi-smooth. All in all…I’ll give it four out of five stars.

BBG: Kiss or Kill came out at the end of October. How long did it take to record?

MG: About a year. We recorded the first half of the album…12 songs, before we went on tour with Poison in the summer of 2006, and then we recorded the other six songs after that…right after the tour. We were at a different place at that point. We knew what we wanted to bring forth and what we wanted to have heard…so we wanted to take the experience from the Poison tour, so we had a lot more to say and a lot more to show for it.

BBG: Do you consider Endeverafter a glam band?

MG: I don’t but…whatever. People are going to see it however they’re going to see it. I don’t really put any label specifically on it – I think we’re a straight up rock n’ roll band. We do have glam influences…and glamorous ideals. We look good on stage. It’s not like we wear costumes on stage. If you see us on stage, we wear the same kind of shit on the street…it’s not a front. I guess because we’re pretty, people like to say we’re glam.

BBG: I don’t think so. It has more to do with your guitar tone and your song lyrics. That’s why people think you’re glam. You can go ahead and call yourself pretty. Does that bother you to be pretty?

MG: No…it comes up a lot. You can’t get buy on looks alone. Nelson proved that!

BBG: Wow. That was a little harsh.

MG: I’m just kidding. It’s a joke.

BBG: You’re going to perform on the Motley Cruise.

MG: It was sort of out of the blue. I think the powers that be…after we went on tour with Poison/Cinderella…the whole 80s genre is a small little circuit. It’s not like there was a ton of bands that were successful that are still playing and I think, you know, our CD is going to spread throughout that community. They [cruise organizers] caught wind of us and invited us on the cruise. We were never gonna decline that…getting the chance to play with some people you really look up to – and bands you really enjoy – and it’s on a cruise ship for crying out loud!

BBG: I’m going on the Motley Cruise!

MG: Shit your face. For real?

BBG: Yeah…I’ve been booked for months.

MG: We got invited just a few weeks ago.

BBG: Do you know how many times you’ll get to play when you’re on the boat?

MG: What I’ve heard…is three sets a day. Maybe once on different stages? We’re not really sure how it all works.

BBG: Kiss or Kill is on Razor & Tie. How did that relationship form?

MG: Basically I was shopping the album around, hopping label to label, major to major and Razor & Tie had a lot of enthusiasm. Tons of tons of enthusiasm about the project and really driven to take it somewhere. That was a kind of passion the other labels didn’t have. Razor & Tie, they keep pulling through in the clutches, getting us tons of publicity and really pushing the album, pushing us to radio and getting us opportunities that we otherwise wouldn’t have. I was skeptical going into …going from a major [Sony] to an indie…but it turned out for the better.

BBG: Was it your childhood dream to be a rock star?

MG: I don’t know. I had a bunch of different dreams…this is definitely the most fruitful one. I thought I was going to be a basketball player. Wrong!

BBG: Are you struggling to live as a musician?

MG: I’m completely struggling right now. But I’m in a band with my best friends. We’re a great rock n’ roll band.

BBG: How did EndeverafteR come together?

MG: I was playing in a hardcore act in Sacramento. Everyone – when I was trying to form EndeverafteR – wanted to play emo so I would try to find like-minded people…which was impossible. I ended up playing in bands I wasn’t happy in. One of those was bands featured Chris Reid, my guitarist…he worked at a [design] magazine. I read an article, we later became best friends. I started dating his girl and her brother happened to play bass. We had another drummer at the time. He was on a different wavelength than us – but we continued to play. I wanted the core of this band to be more about the music and not looks…My favorite era of Motley Crue is Shout at the Devil…which was definitely glam but it worked for them. We just take whatever we’re influenced by and take it to our own direction. Anyway, we got a new drummer (Eric Humbert)…he was the drum tech for Fall Out Boy. Right before the Poison tour is when we decided to kick out our old drummer. Six days before the tour. We were auditioning drummers that could learn our set in a few days. Eric flew out from Chicago…we went into the studio and the moment he sat down behind the kit, we started jamming some Led Zeppelin. He knew every song perfect and was really solid. We were supposed to audition 11 or 12 other dudes, but after him I didn’t even want to see anyone else. We all went on the Poison tour…and now here we are.

BBG: Finally, tell me about your band name.

MG: We were all thinking about combinations of words, play on words, and what not. We wanted to think of a word that meant “the end of forever.” We came up with EndeverafteR.

EndeverafteR on Myspace.
Photo credit: Drew Crozier for EndeverafteR 

Big Cock Get Ready for the Motherload

Who doesn’t love Big Cock?

Wait, that came out funny. I’m naturally referring to the Arizona-based rock band featuring guitarist David Henzerling.

The band will release Motherload next month. The other day, I received a promotional copy of the disc. In a word, it rocks.

The track listing looks like this:

Get A Load of Me
Stamina
Breaking My Balls
Bump and Grind
Road To Ruin
Slave
Don’t Ask Me to Be Faithful
Live to Rock
M.I.L.F.
Feverish
Built for Speed

Yes, Big Cock is a little tongue-in-cheek, but no one can deny the band’s musical ability. Motherload shows some maturity as a band. By maturity, I’m referring to the cohesiveness of songs, not the end of their toilet humor. Henzerling’s playing is top notch, and Robert Mason hits impossibly high notes. As per Big Cock fashion, the new songs are all written as arena standards. Each track can stand alone and sound great in either a dive bar or Madison Square Garden.

Ok, I laughed out loud at some of the songs. Especially when I thought Big Cock were playing it straight with “Don’t Ask Me to Be Faithful.” It really sounds like a classic power ballad that would make Kip Winger proud. The piano parts are really nice and again Mason’s voice is strong. There’s a big sonority in the backing instruments…until you realize the band is crooning about adultery. It is what is, I suppose. By the way, this is probably the single best track on Motherload.

What other songs do I dig? I’m a big fan of “Breaking My Balls” with its overtly glam intro. “Stamina” is also a choice cut, with a strong rhythm section, thanks to drummer John Covington and bassist Colby. “Slave” has deep, breathy vocals and musical nuances that make a song a signature. I hope to hear this track live very soon.

The deal is this: I’ve had Motherload less than two full days and I keep listening over and over on my iPod. It’s a quality disc…sure to be one of the best of 2008.

The band's Myspace now features new songs from the forthcoming album. I suggest you take a listen. www.myspace.com/bigcockrocks