The Immediate Family

What do you get when you take 5 great studio musicians, put them all together, to put out an album. One phenomenal album. On guitars you have Danny “Kootch” Kortchmar, Waddy Wachtel & Steve Postell. On bass you have Leland Sklar & on drums & percussion, you have Russ Kunkel. Some of these gentlemen played live with Carole King on this year’s Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame awards.These guys have been playing together for a long time. The music is great. The vocals, depending on who is singing, is good. The music was mostly written by these guys as well, which goes to show you that when you hang with the greats, you can pick up on some great things. Some of the tracks on this album were written by Warren Zevon & Jackson Browne, just to name a couple. I would give this album 4 out of 5 Music Guru stars, perhaps more with more listening. Another thing to mention is, there seems to be some breakup songs filled with hurt & pain, however instead of playing slow drawn out ballads, these musicians make the music bubbly & poppy. Give this a listen.

Legends Play The Beatles by Various Artists

How can you say anything bad about any Beatles songs. Some of these songs are exact representations, others are quite a bit different. If you listen to this album, I believe that you’ll be happy. Each of these artists does what they do, sometimes in their own style. What is included in this collection? Here’s a list…

Here Comes The Sun by Richard Page with Steve Morse

Across The Universe by Ann Wilson (I think that I’ve heard this one before).

Penny Lane by John Wetton

Back In The USSR by Molly Hatchet

Norwegian Wood by Andrew Gold

The Long And Winding Road by Air Supply

Tomorrow Never Knows by Electric Moon (My favorite version of this song is done by Phil Collins, not on this album)

Rain by Sugar Candy Mountain

Elenore Rigby by Jack Bruce

And I Love Her by Howard Jones

Yesterday by Judy Collins

Let It Be by Glenn Hughes,

12 great songs done by some of the world’s best artists. I give this 4 out of 5 Music guru stars

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Issa ~ Queen Of The Broken Hearts

While I’m not always a fan of female vocals (yes, there are quite a few exceptions), Issa has some female vocals that soar. Not only does her vocals work really well for me, the rest of this band cooks. Even though they are listed as a metal band, there is a lot of rock & pop overtones. Helping Issa Oversveen sing these great songs, you also have Simone Mularonion on guitar, Andrea Torricini on bass & Marco Di Salvia on drums with Alessandro Del Vecchio on keyboards & songwriting. This album took me by surprise. I give this album 4 out of 5 Music Guru stars.

Jailbirds ~ Jungle Boogie EP

Another band that I’d love to hear more from. This band takes me back to the 1980’s. It makes me think of bands like Bon Jovi or some Poison & others of that kind of music. The music is sharp, and makes you feel like you’ve heard it before…even if you didn’t. The music is good. The vocals are good. What else can I say, other than I want to hear more. I give this album 5 out of 5 Music Guru stars.

Ivy Gold ~ Six Dusty Winds

This album makes me want to like it, but, the vocals weren’t for me. The band was on point, everything on that end was smooth. Don’t get me wrong, the vocals weren’t bad. They just didn’t seem normal. Almost forced. Everything else was pretty good. I would give this 3 out of 5 Music Guru stars. Some songs were better than others.

MC Roads ~ No Nostalgia EP

Mike Cross, the original guitarist for Sponge is the lead vocalist & guitarist for his new band MC Roads. I was not a fan of the band Sponge. After listening to this EP, I find I’m not much of a fan of MC Roads either. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t bad…it just wasn’t memorable either. Maybe with more listening, I may change my mind, but, as of now, I give this only 3 out of 5 Music Guru stars. There are 4 other members in this band. Unfortunately I cannot find any information on them.

The Livesays ~ Not What I Bargained For

I REALLY like this band. Really, really like this band. This album is chock full of pop hits that you’ll be able to sing along with. This album brings me back to the 1960’s & 1970’s. This brings to mind bands like the Beatles, the Grass Roots, Jackson 5, The Osmond Brothers, & many more this kind of genre. The music is great. The vocals are good, although, some are better than others. What I would like to say is every song is a gem. A hit. What more do you need? I give this 5 out of 5 Music Guru stars.

Marco Mattei ~ Out Of Control

This Italian guitarist starts off his album “Out Of Control” with a brilliant song titled “Would I Be Me”. This song has a great feeling from the first time you hear it. This could be the first single. Very nice catchy song. A pop favorite. Following that up with “Picture In The Frame”, which didn’t take to me the first or second time that I heard it. The rest of the album does go up & down but is very listenable. Very enjoyable. Helping out on this album are many great musicians including Tony Levin, Jerry Marotta, Pat Mastelotto, Chad Wackerman, Dave Bond, Matthew Brown, Felix Brandt, Barek Sequin, Richard Farrell, Clive Deamer, Matt Crain, Fabio Trentini, Gabriele Bibbi Ferrari, Duilio Galioto, Paolo Gianfrate, Marco Planells, Paul Johnson, Diederik van den Brandt, Rob Wakefield & more. I give this 4 out of 5 Music Guru stars. Give this a listen. I think you’ll be happily surprised.

Alice Coltrane ~ Kirtan Turiya Sings

A bunch of people who are into jazz, seem to buzz about this album. After listening to this, I cannot agree. I didn’t like it at all. This seems to be a religious album featuring the voice of Alice Coltrane & an organ. Perhaps she was the wife of the late John Coltrane, I had high hopes, but, I was let down very much. If you’re a fan of music that you may hear in a church, this may be for you. I, myself would struggle to give this 2 Music Guru stars. Again, if church music is what you like, this may be for you & you may give it a higher rating. This is just Alice singing with an organ. No other musicians play on this album.

Queen + Adam Lambert Live Around The World

A live album with 2 members of Queen with Adam Lambert filling in for Freddie Mercury. Although Adam does pull off some of the vocals, you can tell that there is something missing. One of the big things missing for me, was, since this was sort of a greatest hits live album, they kept out some of their greatest hits. I would have loved to hear Brian May play ” ’39”. Also, Roger Taylor singing “I’m In Love With My Car”. There were other songs as well that were originally sung by Freddie Mercury, but they were not on this album. I have seen Queen back in their early days & they put on a great show. I’m sure this one was as well, but, again, some things were missing Even the bass playing of John Deacon is missed very much. Besides Brian, Roger & Adam Lambert, playing with Queen was Spike Erlney on keyboards & vocals, Neil Fairelough on bass & vocals, Tyler Warren on percussion & vocals & Rufus Tiger Taylor on percussion & vocals. The backup band did an exceptional job. I give this record 4 out of 5 Music Guru stars.