Don Dokken ~ Solitary

I’ve always liked Dokken as a band, but, I would never say that they were my favorite. Now, Don Dokken puts out an album, which, I could say would be right up there with my favorites. Since I’ve last heard Dokken (which was a long time ago), the man has musically matured. The music was beautiful, the lyrics were real good & the singing sounded better than ever. I would try to give you my favorite song, but, I really liked them all. This album originally came out in the 2000s. This 2020 version gives you a couple of extra songs that are covers. I give this 5 out of 5 Music Guru stars.

Dirty Shirley

This album took me by surprise. I knew almost nothing of this band. I can tell you that George Lynch is in this band, which, I believe is the reason that I took to it so quickly, but, perhaps it was Dino Jelusick, the other part of Dirty Shirley, who made this album, with it’s “classic” sound. I really enjoyed this. The music was hard, but smooth. The vocals were right on the spot. All I can really say is give this one a try. I think you’ll like it. I give this 5 out 5 Music Guru stars.

Patrick Hemer ~ The writing’s On The Wall

This 2020 release is good for those of you who like hard rock music. Almost every song has a lot of distortion & guitar licks that would make a guitar player want to play his guitar licks. While it may be impressive to listen to, I want to hear a guitar player, playin with, what, I would call, guitar soul. Jeff Beck has it. Carlos Santana has it, as do many others. I personally don’t feel as if Patrick Hemer has it. Don’t get me wrong, this is not a bad album. It just doesn’t have the same feeling for me as do the previous 2 mentions or others. Give this a listen & see if you feel the same. During the song “The Legacy”, I expected a great power ballad. It started off that way, then went straight into the same stuff as the rest of the album. This could have been the song that would make Patrick Hemer a household name. Hemer DOES have some good licks. I give this 3.5 Music Guru stars.

Simon Collins ~ Becoming Human

Simon Collins ~ Becoming Human wasn’t quite what I thought it would be. Being the son of Genesis drummer & frontman, & also the frontman of Dimensionaut, & Sound of Contact. This album, to me, doesn’t quite hold up to what I had previously heard. I won’t say that it’s bad, because it’s not. There are too many effects on this album that really don’t need to be used. The beginning of the album really shows what I’m talking about here. AS the album goes on, it does get better. Again, this is not a bad album, I guess I may be expecting more from Simon. I would give this 3.5 out of 5 Music Guru stars.

Mandoki Soulmates with Ian Anderson ~ We Say Thank You EP (Single)

This is the perfect time for this song to come out about living in this world with the corona virus. This is a very simple song with a very good message. Ian Anderson plays flute & sings. I think you’ll like this. I certainly did. This EP (single) came with 3 different versions of the same song. Luckily, I DID like this song. I give this 5 out of 5 Music Guru stars.

Automatism ~ Immersion

This release was pretty good. If you’re a fan of psychedelic jam rock, you will more than likely find this appealing. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but, I kind of enjoyed it. There is no singing on this album, which, in this case, doesn’t really go anywhere, but, even with me saying this, I still found it to be very nice. This is “chill music”. That means you put the music on, & just listen & chill. Give this one a try & tell me what you think. I’d love to hear your take on it. I give this 3.5 out of 5 Music Guru stars.

Hexx ~ Entangled In Sin

If you’re a fan of Van Halen, you may just like this band as well. You can hear Dan Watson or Bob Wright, whoever is on lead guitar, doing licks similar to Eddie Van Halen. In my opinion, the vocalist, Eddy Vega has really good vocals for this kind of music. I like him better than both David Lee Roth & Sammy Hagar. The drumming & bass were there in the back round. This album has some really good music & the vocals fit in really well. It is a little less pop than Van Halen & has a bit more metal thrown in. Give this a listen & let me know what you think.

Frost* ~ Others EP

This EP, which has 6 songs (wouldn’t that be an album?) is quite different than what most would think about, when they listen to Frost*. I really love this band. Most of their music is really great. Their debut album, “Milliontown” was one of my favorites when that came out. Their sophomore album, was better than this one & I didn’t like that one as much as I liked “Milliontown”. This one really hasn’t come anywhere close to either of those albums. The album does get a little bit better going toward the end. I give this one 3.5 out of 5 Music Guru stars.

Allman Brothers Band Live At The Warner Theatre, Erie PA. July 19, 2005

If you’re a fan of the Allman Brothers Band, or jam bands, you will love this. The one thing this band can do is play. The good thing is, no 2 shows are alike. According to the band, this IS the show that THEY wanted out there. The only thing that I didn’t want to hear was an over 16 minute drum solo. Unless you’re a drummer, you don’t want to hear a drum solo, especially this long. It may be great to watch, but, just to listen, I would pass. The rest of the music was great. Also, guest vocalist Susan Tedesci came in for 1 song. This was a treat. I give this 4 out of 5 Music Guru stars, only because of the excessively long drum solo.

Anyone ~ On The Ending Earth

This band has some talent. The only problem with it is it doesn’t seem to go anywhere. It is very enjoyable to listen to, but, It didn’t leave me singing or humming along with any of the songs. Once again, the music was very good. The drums really stood out to me, since most of the songs started out with drums. “Sip The Pleasure Of Days” was mostly drums all throughout the song. That I could probably live without. Guitar started to eventually flash in. For me, I give this 3.5 Music Guru stars.