Wednesday 13 - Calling All Corpses

If Wednesday 13 sounds unfamiliar you obviously haven't listened to Murderdolls. Wednesday 13 a.k.a Joseph Poole is the singer of Murderdolls and ofcourse, singer of Wednesday 13. :D The album Calling All Corpses was released recently, October 11th to be exact. Poole likes horror movies and is a fan of Alice Cooper and listening to the album was quite a surprise: it sounds very Alice Cooper-like and definitely in a good way.

Not only the sound world on the album is great, lyrics and names of the tracks are brilliant. The influence from Mr. Cooper can be heard especially on tracks I Wanna Be Cremated and Miss Morgue, although my favorites include the name track of the album, Calling All Corpses, and One Knife Stand as well. If anyone thought that Poole is only riding with the fame of Murderdolls and Joey Jordison, this album absolutely shows the talent of Poole himself. Gotta respect that.

http://www.myspace.com/officialwednesday13

Tuesday Top 3

1. Poisonblack - Drive

2. Poisonblack - A Dead Heavy Day

3. Sentenced - The Cold White Light

Poisonblack - Drive

I believe Ville Laihiala made the right decision when he started his side project named Poisonblack so he could focus on playing guitar. The fifth album, Drive proves my point pretty loud and clear. The guitar is the carrying force throughout the whole album, it is the glue that keeps this album together. So, not a bad album at all. Great tracks that work well live as well. I think the focus is a bit more on music than it was on A Dead Heavy Day which hit straight to my heart with its lyrics.

First time listening to the album might not leave any remarkable memories but the even quality following Laihiala all the way from the days when being lead vocalist in Sentenced makes it sure that the more you listen to this album (or any other album with Laihiala on it) the more you like it. You'll find hidden gems and find yourself nodding your head and repeating the lyrics. Album starts strong with Piston Head and continues with Mercury Falling, track that was chosen to be their first single from this album. The album was released already in April but just recently the band released a music video for the (obvious?) favorite track of mine: Scars. But as said the album has more to it than the obvious, I had several favorites after listening the album a couple of times. A Good Day For The Crows, Sycophant and The Dead-End Stream work for me as well. Sycophant is most definitely one that will work perfectly live on stage as well. This one gets my vote!

http://www.poisonblack.com/

Flashback Friday

Tuesday Top 3

1. Stone - Stoneage 2.0
2. Megadeth - Countdown To Extinction
3. Judas Priest - Single Cuts

Alice Cooper - Welcome 2 My Nightmare

We know him as the Golf Monster. We know him as a son of a minister. We know him as a man who invented shock rock. Alice Cooper is known all around the world, and so is his music. Generation after generation we've been attracted (or repulsed) by his concerts involvong blood, live snakes, swords, electric chairs and all kinds of effects from horror movies to vaudeville. So it's no wonder his latest album has similar variety to it as his character and shows in general. Usually the change is for good but I'm not quite sure about Welcome 2 My Nightmare. It does have it's highlights but unfortunately they are only few. He might get this one forgiven (at least by me) in knowing he has a wicked humour and the fact that he's kept his career going on for four decades, meeting all kinds of strange people during those years, from Groucho Marx to Elvis Presley, Liberace and Salvador Dali. The man has certainly had a spectacular life but I'm still not really sure whether I should laugh out loud or cry when listening to this album.

The best track on the album is most definitely the opening track, I Was Made Of You. Although it is a bit declamatory, it has those Alice-like-ballad effects to it: beautiful lyrics combined with talented use of guitar solos and simple drum beat. As he said in his book, the best musicians know when NOT to play, what to leave out. Too bad the simple, pure rock (and quality) can't be heard on the whole album. Even though the third track tells us The Nightmare Returns the only actual way the nightmare really returns is to put on the original Welcome To My Nightmare -album. So, sorry Mr. Cooper, but this one won't end up to my collection. Love you though and luckily I still have some of the old ones missing from the collection, and while trying to get my hands on them (and the money to buy them with) I can listen to the oldies goldies like Poison, Hey Stoopid, School's Out and He's Back (The Man Behind The Mask).

http://alicecooper.com/

http://www.myspace.com/officialalicecooper

Flasback Friday