Dragontown is like Alice waking up. It's a transition from Brutal Planet to Eyes Of, which celebrated a return to classic 70's Alice. It's not quite there yet, but it's getting there. Marlette is still producing, but this time he and Cooper have decided to brighten the whole affair.

There are a couple really outstanding songs here. "Every Woman Has A Name" sounds like something Alice would have done with Ezrin. It's a lush song with strings that recalls "Only Women Bleed" or "It's Only My Heart Talking". Also great is "It's Much Too Late", which reminds me of "Wind Up Toy" from 1991. It has a lot of the old Alice 70's vibe too, it's fantastic. Very pop. Modern production is left off this one, the instruments sound cleaner and bright.

"Triggerman", the opening track, is fast with an industrial sound, but with much more emphasis on melody than Brutal Planet. "Disgraceland" features Alice doing quite a great Elvis impersonation, and the band are kicking back in a rockabilly groove too. Some might consider this track fluff, and it's definitely different than any other on the album, but it's pretty fun.

Unfortunately "Deeper" is just basically a rewrite of Brutal Planet's title track, with some "Blessed By Fire" mixed in. Just a boring, uninteresting track, with terrible sounding cymbal samples and a muddy riff that is just horrifically generic.

The bonus disc here is totally worth owning, even for casual Alice fans. Actually, especially for them in a way, because it'll give them exposure to some other awesome Alice tracks they may have missed. "Go To Hell" and "Dwight Fry" are live. (I cannot tell you if they are same versions as on Brutally Live or not, but I suspect that they are.) "Clowns Will Eat Me" was previously only available on Japanese import, and it's a great party track that fits much better in Dragontown than Brutal Planet for which it was recorded. Finally there's the remix of "Brutal Planet" itself which gives it a Rob Zombie feel. It's not a superior mix, (I miss the female backing vocal) but I always dig robots talking.

The most obvious influence is that Chris Cornell, ex-Soundgarden, wrote two songs and co-sings one. "Stolen Prayer", the best song on the album, is Cornell's, and his pipes have never sounded so good. Another thing that grunge did is that it forced a lot of hard rockers to drop the glossy production sheen of the 80's, get serious a little bit on the lyrics, and write harder songs. This is evident in the world of Alice. This album spends a lot of time on the temptation of drugs, and while many rock fans might cringe at the idea of Alice delivering a "message" to us, this really is nothing new for our favourite masked rock star. He's been serious before, on some of his finest moments in fact, but he always makes his messages fun to listen to and sing along with. West Side Story has always been a huge influence on Alice as most fans know, and The Last Temptation is another album that shows this.

Many Alice fans feel that Cooper bottomed out a bit on the Trash album from 1989, even though it was a top seller at the time. That record was basically one awesome single surrounded by nine filler tracks and a whole lot of guest appearances in order to hype the record. Hey Stoopid was a step in the right direction, heavy-ing up the music a tad, but Alice came roaring back with The Last Temptation. This is Alice's first true concept album since DaDa in 1983. In fact there was a three-part Neil Gaimon comic book available at the time to help flesh out the story.

Musically, Alice is on the very top of his game here. Gone is the gloss. In fact, the opening track "Sideshow" sounds so much like the 70's that you could swear it's from the Welcome To My Nightmare record! Awesome horn sections, great riff, killer lyrics, you'll be singing this one for days after hearing it. "Nothing's Free" rips off "Billion Dollar Babies" somewhat with the opening drum hook, but you won't be complaining when you hear it. Most likely you'll be pumping your fists to it. The first single "Lost In America" is a fast, tight rock song with insanely catchy lyrics, very different from a lot of stuff Alice had done recently.

The rest of the album is strong, with "It's Me" being the sole ballad. (I refuse to count "Stolen Prayer" as a ballad, it's a dramatic dark piece that is better than the word ballad implies.) For the most part the songs are dark, catchy, with great playing from the entire cast and Alice spitting out the words as only he can. The fact that most of these songs were played live on tour is a testament to the strength of the material and Alice's confidence that he had made yet another classic album.

The Last Temptation is an album that is sadly unknown to many casual Alice Cooper fans. However, anybody who loved Welcome To My Nightmare would be well advised to pick this up. They might find that Alice has built a musical time machine, an album that sounds timeless despite its 1994 release date. It may not be a grunge album, but I think we owe a thanks to the grunge movement for helping Alice make the strongest record he'd done since 1975.

What happens to Steven? You'll just have to listen and find out.

Stormbringer followed Burn, a rebirth of sorts for Deep Purple. Gone were shouter Ian Gillan and bassist Roger Glover. In were rookie David Coverdale, and his partner in crime Glenn Hughes. Coverdale was a bluesier singer, and Hughes was a funky bass player who enjoyed singing soul music. Their addition brought new life to Burn, an excellent record with hints of these new influences.

Stormbringer, however, seemed to be more a product of the new members than the old. Hughes was now singing leads instead of just backups (see "Holy Man") and Richie Blackmore took a step back in the songwriting; a first for him. Two songs do not bear his writing credit at all. In addition his guitar stylings, where once aggresive and powerful, were now largely smooth and sublime.

A lot of fans did not like the funkier, softer direction of the band. You can understand this, of course. A fan who loved In Rock, one of the heaviest records of any decade, was going to be turned off by the radio-ready soul funk of "Hold On".

Here's the good news: Whatever Deep Purple set their minds to, they could do. And they could do it well.

Blackmore may not have liked the album, and may have taken a step back in the mix, (you can barely hear any guitar on "Hold On") but he could adapt and play any style. His playing here, while sparse, is still excellent. Ian Paice adapts to the funky rhythms very well, laying down some excellent grooves. Jon Lord steps up to the forfront, supplying some excellent, funky keys.

There are a few songs that hark back to the past: "Stormbringer", the title track, sounds as solid as any epic the band had ever composed. It could have been on Burn as easily as this record. In fact, it stands out as being out of place: As the opening track, fans must have been shocked and surprised when the rest of the album was so different. "The Gypsy" is a slow moody piece, perhaps akin to "Mistreated" from the previous album.

One track showed an interesting glimpse of the future. "Soldier Of Fortune" is an acoustic track which forshadowed much of the music Blackmore would do with Rainbow, and even now with Blackmore's Night. David Coverdale in fact performed it live with Whitesnake on an acoustic CD in the late 90's. It is one of Richie Blackmore's finest compositions.

With Stormbringer being such a departure, it wasn't surprising that most of the band felt that a return to a "rock" sound would be wise for its followup. The band were quoted in interviews at the time stating that the next album would be a "rocker". It would also be the first without Richie Blackmore on lead guitar, as Stormbringer was the nail in the coffin for him. He was replaced by American Tommy Bolin. With Bolin Deep Purple did indeed return to a rock sound (retaining some funk) and put out the splendid Come Taste The Band...continuing the Deep Purple saga of a strong album following a weaker one.

Having said all this, I give Stormbringer five stars because it's an extremely entertaining and interesting listen. You'll never again hear Blackmore playing as funky as he does on "You Can't Do It Right", and it's a treat. Viewing this album as a temporary departure from the core Deep Purple sound, five stars seems appropriate.

As most Deep Purple fans know, their remasters have been stellar. Each one, from the first In Rock remaster back in the mid 90's to Burn, has had the most amazing sonic makeovers. I imagine they now sound much like they once did if you happened to break the seal on a brand-new vinyl back in the 70's. They finally sounded the way they should.

In addition, they were given extensive liner notes: So extensive in fact that it usually took you longer to read them than it did to play the album! Burn is no exception, and I am sure that there are tidbits of info here that even the most dedicated fan did not know. Rare photos? Yeah, they included those too.

Of course, bonus material is included. The amount of bonus material for Deep Purple remasters has always varied depending on how much cut material remained on the master tapes. For Fireball, there was a lot. For Burn, precious little. The band had rehearsed these numbers until they were tight before recording, so there was no wasted tape. As a result there are no alternate guitar solos like Machine Head had. We do get five very nice remixes that add some different dimensions to the original songs. The most drastic remix is the B-side "Coronarias Redig" which has been extended a great deal past the point where it originally ended, revealing lots of great playing from Blackmore and the band.

You will not believe the sound of this CD. You simply must hear it to believe it. Of course, if you'd bought any of the previous remasters, you knew this. Burn was well overdue. Let's hope Stormbringer is not.

Volume II takes all these positive points, throws them out the window, and adds a heck of a lot of confusion to boot. This box technically covers the years 1989-1994. If they followed the same format as the previous box set, it would include four albums and bonus material. Instead we get two complete albums, and a lump of miscellaneous tracks from a bunch of albums available elsewhere.

First of all, the two complete Motley records you do get are Dr. Feelgood and the amazing 1994 self-titled album with John Corabi. You also get all the bonus tracks associated with the Hip-O re-releases of those discs. What you do not get in completion is the other record Motley released in that time: Decade Of Decadence. (Although you do, for unknown reasons, get a fold out poster of that album's cover.)

What Motley Crue have done instead is to give you all the material that was exclusive to Decade Of Decadence: Three remixes, two tracks from compilations, one live song, and the three new tracks. (You do not, however, get the two live tracks from the Japanese pressing of Decade.) They have interspersed those songs with a bunch of tracks from the Vince era of Motley that were previously released on Supersonic And Demonic Relics (1999). The majority of these songs are completely out of place on a box set that covers 1989-1994. On another disc, Motley Crue have taken the John Corabi era tracks from the Supersonic album, mixed them in with all the rare remixes from that era, and the entire Quaternary EP.

Here's the good news: When I say entire Quaternary EP, I mean it. It has all the tracks from the super rare Japanese version, too. And the remixes included are generally pretty rare. The really rare one was the "Hooligan's Holiday" derelict version, which I have only ever seen once before on a numbered European single.

Here's the bad news: If you're into the concept of an "album", Motley Crue have just wrecked two in one fell swoop. I've always felt that Decade Of Decadence was a great, perfect greatest hits record, well thought-out and sequenced. Now it no longer exists: can't get it on this box, and it's been deleted and replaced with the updated "Greatest Hits" CD. Supersonic is still available, but it's hard to part with your old copy now that all its tracks are jumbled up here. There's also a glaring error in the liner notes that was probably designed to make you feel like you needed this box set a bit more. "Knock 'Em Dead Kid (Demo)" is listed as only available on the Japanese Supersonic CD, but it's not. You can get it on the currently available Hip-O reissue of that CD.

Like the previous box set, this one too elimates all original album artwork, packaging, and liner notes (except the aformentioned Decade Of Decadence, which puzzles me.) Instead you get yet another drooling essay about how great the band is. Like the fans need an essay to make them feel OK about liking the band, or something. You also get a mini comic book reprint, which is pretty nice.

My recommendation: Only buy this box set if you don't already own these albums, or if you feel you'll have no prayer at all of finding the B-sides from the Corabi era. If you're a Motley fan though, chances are you've already collected all this stuff. There is nothing here to bait the die hard collector, like there was on the first box. This box is strictly for beginners, it seems.

This also raises some questions as to what will be in box III. Generation Swine, for certain, a couple tracks from Greatest Hits, both discs from New Tattoo and both discs from the live album? Can it all be fit in? I suppose we will find out.

"Hero, Hero" was originally released in 1981 (or thereabouts) to take advantage of Priest's rising star. The original two releases on Gull records, "Rocka Rolla" and "Sad Wings Of Destiny", had been exploited previously in a compilation called "The Best Of Judas Priest", which was a single record. "Hero, Hero" was a double record which included all of "Rocka Rolla" and most of "Sad Wings", as well as the crucial Joan Baez cover, Diamonds and Rust, in an alternate take (previously heard on "Best Of").

So, if you already have all that material, why is this album such a test of your dedication? The reason is revealed in the liner notes. All of "Rocka Rolla" had been remixed for this release. Why is unknown, as that record sounded just fine for what it is. The remixes are, in general, not even all that different. The major changes are made during Cheater, the "Winter suite", and Rocka Rolla itself, during which major portions of the songs are noticably shifted around. There's a burst of harmonica in Cheater, for example, where there never was before. Rocka Rolla has its verses rearranged. Whether different takes were used for these changes is hard to discern.

The remix done to "Rocka Rolla" doesn't really add or subtract anything from the album, which makes it that much harder to understand why it was done. Really, the ideal way to remix a classic album is to reveal new nuances to the music, or even include alternate takes to various parts, like Deep Purple did with the Machine Head remix. Gull records apparently didn't feel the need to do that, but spent the money on a remix anyway. Bottom line, though, is that this is a different version of the music, and therefore if you are truly a fan, it's something you need to add to your collection.

I should also add that I've always loved this cover art too, and wouldn't want to do without this in my music collection. It's just plain cool.

There you have it. Are you a Priest fan? Truly? Then you must purchase this album. Add it to your collection, and know that you have something that other fans do not.

"Hero, Hero" was originally released in 1981 (or thereabouts) to take advantage of Priest's rising star. The original two releases on Gull records, "Rocka Rolla" and "Sad Wings Of Destiny", had been exploited previously in a compilation called "The Best Of Judas Priest", which was a single record. "Hero, Hero" was a double record which included all of
"Rocka Rolla" and most of "Sad Wings", as well as the crucial Joan Baez cover, Diamonds and Rust, in an alternate take (previously heard on "Best Of").

So, if you already have all that material, why is this album such a test of your dedication? The reason is revealed in the liner notes. All of "Rocka Rolla" had been remixed for this release. Why is unknown, as that record sounded just fine for what it is. The remixes are, in general, not even all that different. The major changes are made during Cheater, the "Winter suite", and Rocka Rolla itself, during which major portions of the songs are noticably shifted around. There's a burst of harmonica in Cheater, for example, where there never was before. Rocka Rolla has its verses rearranged. Whether different takes were used for these changes is hard to discern.

The remix done to "Rocka Rolla" doesn't really add or subtract anything from the album, which makes it that much harder to understand why it was done. Really, the ideal way to remix a classic album is to reveal new nuances to the music, or even include alternate takes to various parts, like Deep Purple did with the Machine Head remix. Gull records apparently didn't feel the need to do that, but spent the money on a remix anyway. Bottom line, though, is that this is a different version of the music, and therefore if you are truly a fan, it's something you need to add to your collection.

I should also add that I've always loved this cover art too, and wouldn't want to do without this in my music collection. It's just plain cool.

There you have it. Are you a Priest fan? Truly? Then you must purchase this album. Add it to your collection, and know that you have something that other fans do not.

The band took their experiments with counterpoint vocals, layering multiple lyrics and melodies over top each other, to the ultimate level. On the title track, Stevens is singing no less than 6 distinct vocal parts, overlapping. Such is the wonderful production (as always by Paul O'Neill) that you can hear each one, with a little bit of effort. Not only this, but Stevens also successfully tackle's O'Neill's patented "rapid fire lyrics", singing them in a blur, but distinctly, all within the same song!

Band members Johnny Lee Middleton, Al Pitrelli, and Chris Caffery all provide co-songwriting credits on this album. This is somewhat rare for a Savatage record, as the last several were usually written by keyboardist/vocalist/founder Jon Oliva, and Paul O'Neill. The result is that this is a more varied record than Dead Winter Dead, and more riff oriented. Dead Winter Dead was written on keyboards, this album was written on guitar, and the difference is evident.

This reissue, for the most part, makes a good thing even better! The liner notes are fantastic. They are enlightening, in depth, and feature insights from many band members. They are long enough that they take almost as long to read as the album does to listen to. The bonus tracks on this CD have been heard before, but are hard to find. "This Is Where You Should Be" was previously available on a greatest hits album, and chronologically does not fit in with The Wake Of Magellan. It was recorded 10 years beforehand by a completely different version of the band. "Desiree" was available on a Japanese import, and is much more rare. It doesn't exactly fit in with this album either, but at least now it's easier to get. Finally, the cover art for the album has been (unintentionally?) altered for this reissue. The original was bright and clear, this version is dark and muddy. Although this is dissapointing, the wonderful liner notes here make this my preferred version of the album.

Any Savatage fan, from any era of the band, would do well to pick up this version of The Wake Of Magellan. Musically it offers something for all of us, and added value of bonus tracks is always a plus.

If you already own volume one, the Fish years, then you know what this box is about. If not, then read on...

What we have here is a complete set of every single that Marillion released on EMI from 1989 to 1995. In other words, every single from the four Hogarth era EMI albums. When they say complete, they mean it. Over the course of 12 CDs, Marillion have lovingly collected every B-side from every format of each single. Remember these singles were originally released on such archaic formats as 7" and 12" vinyl, sometimes with different tracks on each! As we moved on into the 90's, often a band would release a CD single in two parts that you had to purchase separately. Marillion have combined every track from every format, and put them all on one CD for each single. They have created super-singles for each one, if you will!

To top it off, all the original artwork has been retained, and the music has been wonderfully digitally remastered. All housed in an attractive box with some Brave-era artwork on it.

If you're a fan of Marillion, and particularly a collector of the band, this solves a lot of headaches. You don't need to track down old vinyl and out of print CD singles anymore to hear these B-sides. While some have been heard on the Marillion remasters and a few on compilations, this is the first time that everything has been released to CD. Enjoy...until Seasons End.

One thing the reissues got wrong, and that could have been fixed so easily, would be to include the original Leathur Records mix of Too Fast For Love. Some (including me) feel it's the superior version of the album, but no matter how you feel about it, it's a long sought after collectible. Some of you are lucky to have a copy on vinyl. Some of us are unlucky to have a copy on cassette, which of course sounds worse and worse every time we play it. One one day, that cassette's just going to snap....

So finally, this long long long sought after music has been put to CD, in digitally remastered glory, alongside the Elektra remix of the album. This box therefore represents a complete set of all the music Crue released from their first album to their fourth. The Japanese bonus tracks are included, the domestic bonus tracks, everything, in a four-disc set. Finally! Finally someone got it right!

This being "Volume I" and only including the first four albums, we can only hope that the next volumes are equally as well thought out and complete.

Rejoice, Crue fans. Someone in Crue-land is finally getting this reissuing business right. This is the package to own. Go for it, but keep your eyes on the road....

So how do you do that? You start off by replacing departed members. Phil Varone (ex Saigon Kick) replaces Rob Affuso on drums. The previously unknown Johnny Solinger comes in to fill Bach's cowboy boots. Solinger did the trick on the Kiss farewell tour in 2000, hitting the notes, being the frontman, and coming away with decent reviews. That's all well and good, but can he help the band make a decent comeback record?

Sure can!

Solinger only has one writing credit on the disc, leaving the majority of the songs to Rachel Bolan and Snake Sabo, who wrote all of Skid Row's older material anyway. Where Solinger succeeds is in doing all those things that Bach used to, that fans loved. The shrieks in all the right places, the roughness, the toughness, and the expressiveness. Solinger's voice is stronger than Bach's currently is. After years of abuse, Bach's voice is shot. Solinger's is fresh. If only he'd stay away from those dreadful Nickelback moments that you hear on the verses to "Ghost"...

Song-wise, we have an album that comes prettyclose to the two classics of Skid Row past, Subhuman Race and Slave To The Grind. Very few weak songs blemish this album, and even the weak songs have strong choruses. The best songs include "Ghost" (killer chorus!), "Born A Beggar" (even better chrorus!), "Thick Is The Skin" (the sort of speedy metal that made my sister afraid of Skid Row 10 years ago), "See You Around" (a sort-of ballad that reminds me of "I Remember You"), and, best of all..."I Remember You Two". Not a remake, per se. It's a fast punk version of their best known ballads, and it works!

The sound is vintage Skid Row circa Subhuman, which was way ahead of its time anyway. Which means this album sounds like something that should be released in the 2000's. Perfect. In the past, bands that have hired sound-alike singers such as Judas Priest and Journey have suffered because the singers they replaced were such icons. This time out, it just might work. Solinger's voice is so good he just might make fans forget about that guy that's now on the Gilmour Girls.

With that in mind, it's no surprise that Kiss didn't return to true experimentation for over a decade. CARNIVAL OF SOULS was the record that brought that back. "Grunge" might be the word best used to describe its sound. While perhaps using that word is pushing too far, the album is loud, angry, underproduced (by Grunge-meister Toby Wright) and lyrically quite serious.

"Hate" is definitely the heaviest song Kiss have ever recorded. Gene has never sounded more angry or intense. Paul's "Master & Slave", and "In The Mirror" are more straightforward but rock harder than anything the guitarist has done in years. The true gem on the album is "Jungle", a near-7 minute excersize in groove (not something often associated with Kiss). To attempt to describe the song in words is futile. The fact that it never became a hit is a crime.

The true stars of CARNIVAL OF SOULS, for the first time ever, were not Gene and Paul. For once, it was Bruce Kulick and Eric Singer. Eric's drumming demonstrates why reunion-era Kiss never attempted any of these songs: Because Peter Criss is not capable of such complex patterns. You can listen to the drum tracks alone and be spellbound for the entire duration of the album. The increasingly innovative Bruce Kulick spits blood all over his guitar lines, squeeling feedback, pulling off fast runs, and grinding the strings, never sounding like anyone but Bruce Kulick. On this album, Kulick should have become the 90's equivalent of a guitar hero, but that was never meant to be...

When Kiss announced a reunion with their original members, Bruce and Eric quietly left Kiss behind them, and Carnival remained unreleased for almost two years. When it was finally released (now subtitled "THE FINAL SESSIONS" so as to not confuse this version of Kiss with the original lineup), it was done so with little fanfare, no commercial singles, and a ghastly album cover that did nothing to sell the album to the public. In fact it looked like Gene and Paul no longer cared, as no effort was put into giving the fans a decent booklet. There's no artwork, there's no lyric sheet, no liner notes explaining to the confused what this album is all about, nothing. It's no wonder the album barely sold.

CARNIVAL OF SOULS is not for every Kiss fan. It's for the Kiss fans who thought that albums like REVENGE, CREATURES OF THE NIGHT, and MUSIC FROM THE ELDER were trips down an interesting road that should have been continued. CARNIVAL is the logical conclusion of that journey. Buckling down and getting serious, Kiss came out with an underappreciated rocker of a record that really needs to be played repeated to be properly understood.

If you're even looking at this album, you already know the story, so we'll stick to the music. The original one-record set has now been expanded to two lengthy CDs, 17 tracks. It's been remixed and remastered. Production was supervised by Purple expert Simon Robinson, so you know that the quality level is high. Finally, some of the finest live Deep Purple moments have been restored to this album, such as "Gettin' Tighter" which was too long to include on a single record.

Some flaws remain. Tommy's guitar is now barely audible in the "Burn" riff as opposed to non-existent. You can only do so much while remastering, it seems.

If you're lucky enough to own Last Concert In Japan, this purchase gives you over an hour more of unreleased music. Even so, all of it has been remixed, so you don't own the songs in these versions. If you already own dozens of Deep Purple live albums (believe me, it's possible), this one has five songs that you can't get elsewhere in live versions. It's also a much stronger recording than the In Concert/King Biscuit Flower Hour (aka, On The Wings Of A Russian Foxbat) CD with stronger vocals. Plus you get Tommy singing on "Wild Dogs".

I'm a die-hard fan, but I wasn't big on the last one, Jugulator. The live album that followed, '98 Live Meltdown, won me over in a big way, however. Singer Rob Halford quit almost a decade ago (his last gig with the Priest was in Toronto in August of '91), and Tim "Ripper" Owens took over from him in the late 90's. So, to get you up to speed, Jugulator was OK. I'd give it 5.5 out of 10. Ripper's got an amazing voice (reportedly better than Rob's these days), but the lyrics were juvenile and the music was a tad monotonous. Demolition, the new album, is much better, and that's only after three listens.

The lyrics are still pretty juvenile in spots ("Don't access the site/or beware his megabyte/no virus scan/detects the man" from "Cyberface"), but on some tracks we're getting back to respectability! Besides, with Halford insisting on singing endless tributes to the Power and Glory of Metal, he's not doing much better.

The sound and production of the album is still similar to Jugulator. The guitars are good and chunky, the bass, usually lacking on Priest albums, is in your face, and Scott Travis is seriously kickin' it on the drum kit. The guitars and vocals sound a tad too processed, though. A little too much tinkering with the effects racks. Ripper's not screaming as much as he used to. I imagine his voice is already starting to wear, considering the great job he did on tour. Still, he rips it out for a couple tracks and it's very welcome.

Songwriting-wise, the band are coming up with much more interesting riffs than last time. Many of these riffs would have been at home on some of the legendary Priest recordings from ages past. Some are current and fresh sounding. The vocals are so much more melodic! The songs are more varied: they're finally slowing down and adding some acoustic guitar occasionally again. A track like "Close To You" is reminicient of stuff like "A Touch Of Evil".

Sadly, Mark Wilkinson isn't doing their album covers anymore. Maybe Iron Maiden have him working overtime drawing new Eddies, or maybe Priest just want to move on. I'll miss his art.

Anyhow, I really do like this album quite a bit. I know it's just going to continue to grow on me, and I think all Priest fans who enjoyed albums like Painkiller or Screaming For Vengeance should try it.

Let's get to the real reason you're looking at this limited version while we're at it: the bonus tracks! Both are studio tracks from Priest's Japanese CD single for "Bullet Train" in 1998. Rapid Fire is made even MORE rapid, if that's possible. It's similar to the live version on '98 Meltdown. Green Manalishi is slowed down to a killer groove, very different from the live version. Both are amazing.

Unfortunately, this album is even less memorable than the last. A couple great tunes, "Forgive" and "Another Nail In My Heart" hint at what this band is capable of doing. The rest are more attempts to...rock radio. Rubber are quickly losing an identity, and a direction change would be smart if they make a third album.

Of note, Barry Donaghy (bass) is singing more lead vocals, which adds variety, but his voice is so bland compared to that of Harry Hess. Yet even Harry only really cuts loose with his amazing pipes on the track "Forgive".

Buy it if you liked the first. If you didn't, let's hope that Harry, Barry, Creighton, and Pete Lesperance can find some energy and inspiration for the next.