Johnny Van Zant

Johnny Van Zant is the younger brother of Ronnie (and of course Donnie) Van Zant. The three brothers shared very similar voices, but it was Ronnie who sung for legendary Lynyrd Skynyrd. Ronnie died in a airplane crash in 1977 and became a myth. Simple man, That smell, Free bird among others defined what southern rock was about. After that it was obvious his brothers would always walk in his shadow, not because they lacked the talent, but because things are what they are. Ronnie and his band 38 Special soon strayed from their southern rock origins into a radio friendly AOR sound and enjoyed some success during the 80's. Johnny, a more gifted singer than Donnie in my oppinion, took a path somewhere in between. His first official recording was ''The Johnny Van Zant band- No more dirty deals'' (1980). A fantastic mix of classic southern rock and late 70's AOR that puts no shame to it's creators. Much better than any original Skynyrd member after the tragic accident, Jonnie and his band delivered kicking southern rock with a focus on melody. 1981 saw the release of ''Round two'' and the style was very much the same. The involvement of Journey members and production team resulted in a couple of softer songs, but the band rocked on the rest, so it’s not a sellout at all. Maybe some fewer female backing vocals would have served better. A worthy follow up nonetheless. In 1982 Johnnie’s band released ‘’The last of the wild ones’’. I didn’t enjoy that one as much as the previous, but here we have the absolute AOR anthem Can’t live without your love, which makes up. From that point on Johnnie did release a couple of more albums which have flown under my radar. Next thing I know is Lynyrd Skynyrd are back, Johnnie is fronting them and the guys are releasing new material which I love. One may have his own opinion about whether there should be a Lynyrd Skynyrd after Ronnie’s and Steve’s death, but what I think cannot be argued is the fact that Lynyrd Skynyrd have released great albums since the reunion, toured to the pleasure of their countless fans, kept the spirit of southern rock alive and honored their legacy. Born to run (The last rebel-1993) Travelin’ man (Live 2008) Edge of forever (Edge of forever- 1999) Red, white and blue (Vicious cycle-2003) God & Guns (God & Guns-2009) One day at a time (Last of a dying breed-2012)

Blackfoot- Sunshine again

If I'm good for anything it's knowing a good song when I hear it. And this one, well it's a magic moment I just came across. Originally an Axe song, released on the underrated album the Crown (2000), Sunshine again is performed live here by Blackfoot, the connection being Bobby Barth who has fronted both bands. The performance comes form 2005's Sweden rock festival and Bobby lays down some fantastic vocals and some great licks too.

COCO MONTOYA- Good days, bad days

Having a couple of shots of Vodka & caramel while listening to Coco play the blues feels always great.

JOURNEY- Eclipse (2011)

By now you should be aware of the new album Journey released recently. If not, well here we are. Journey's one of the greatest rock bands of all times with countless of millions albums sold and many timeless songs. And their heart's still beating loud. ''Eclipse'' comes 38 years after their debut but it's far from an obligatory, retro album. Just like 2008's ''Revelation'', ''Eclipse'' is here to demand your attention, not because of the brand name, but because of the tremendous songs. With Arnel Pineda on vocals the band is on fire and recaptures the passion of the early days, when they conquered the world. Neal Schon is back with even more fiery guitar work continuing to steer the band into new days of glory. The new songs remind a lot of the ''Frontiers'' era, when Journey wrote their heavier ever material. If one word was needed to describe the album, it would certainly be passion. When you listen to songs like Chains of love or Resonate, you cannot but feel the energy and get carried away by the storng emotions. It's top class stuff the band will be proud of regardless of record sales. It's not only the rockier stuff they recorded in decades, it's also an interesting glimpse at the progressive side of the band, something that we hadn't seen since the early albums. The overall production is really powerfull and crystal clear and performances just as expected perfect. Againa a few words for Pineda: He may sound too close to Steve Perry, but he does this out of true love for his idol and he's original in this sense. And if a voice can be immitated, soul cannot. Pineda prooves he has plenty of soul and it shines through making ''Eclipse'' a very special moment in Journey's discography.

JAMES BYRD- Jane

Just felt like posting a great instrumental track by James Byrd. It can be found on the 1998 album ''Crimes of virtuosity'', which you should at one point add to your collection if you like good hard rock/metal, great guitars and great vocals courtesy of the terrific Kendall Torrey.



Check Torrey's vocals here:

SOLID ROCK (christian rock)

The white metal/christian rock scene has a lot of hidden gems that never got out of the circle of christian distribution. Seems like this kind of music found its way to a certain audience based exclusively on the religious message it carried, regardless of the music style, while fans of rock/metal who would appreciate the music had no access to the stuff. Funny situation.

Solid Rock released three albums:

Change of heart (1979)
Interdesign (1983)
Real to real (1985)

The debut just like pretty much all late 70's christian albums lacks direction, getting lost between 70's prog pomp rock, AOR and accoustic singer/songwriter folk/psych stuff. Still it's much better than what well known bands like Petra did at the time. The 1983 album is much more focused on pomp/AOR. The last one seems to be the most interesting, a lyrical pomp/AOR album that will please any fan of this style.


No substitute (Real to real):


Just this side of darkness (Interdesign)

BLIND OWL

This is a strange case. Blind Owl were formed in 1972 in Gardena, California, playing heavy psych. There's no official recording known until the 1985 7'' single ''Lady of America'', which was an effort in a totally different style, melodic 80's hard 'n' heavy. Even the band members are unknown, the single only credits some David Jeru as the songwriter and this must be a stage name, not a real one.
Here's the 7'':

A couple of years ago Blind Owl resurfaced on the internet.
On http://www.myspace.com/blindowl1972 you can check some photos, but too little info. The new formation of the band even played some gigs. According to a review posted on their muspace blog the live band consisted of bassist Gordon James, vocalist/guitarist Danny Brant and vocalist/guitarist David Hodges. No drummer listed.
The most important thing though is that on their myspace you can listen to some tracks from the 70's (Alone again, Another change, Children, Aftermath, War pigs- Black Sabbath cover and the diamond We can find forever). Other songs of the band I haven't yet found anywhere are Non-Fiction, Hard Hearted Man, Anything Goes, Native Of America and Truth Seeker. Probably they are to be discovered on demo tapes, who knows...

Also keep in mind that the band Blind Owl with the ''Debut at dusk'' album from 1988 is a totally different band hailing from Boston and playing prog pomp rock.

NORTHWIND (US prog rock)

The Northwind Story

by Northwind

The original Northwind band was founded in 1968 by Roland Ernest and me (Jan Stepka).
We were inspired originally by bands such as the Doors, Cream, the Moody Blues, the Beatles, and Procol Harum.
We were later heavily influenced by ELP, Yes, King Crimson, and Genesis. Echoes of these styles are found in the Distant Shores recordings.
The band went through four membership changes. The first incarnation was a trio with drummer Steve White. In 1970 we created and performed an original rock opera entitled “Looking Back.” In 1972 we recorded an untitled demo album featuring the song “Last Day at Lokun.”
Tom Iacaboni replaced Steve White on drums when Steve White left the band to pursue the guitar.
In 1974 Tom, Jan and Roland recorded the world famous (in collectors' circles) Northwind demo album in Roland's family's basement. This album is often erroneously referred to as “Woods of Zandor.” Tom was at heart a jazz drummer, and when he left Northwind, Tim Cahill joined on drums and percussion. For a short period, Bob Pascoe contributed his rock guitar to Northwind's sound.
Northwind performed mostly in clubs at that time and created a reputation in Canada. This period largely had the band playing covers of other rock bands' material.
In 1977 returning to original music, Roland took over guitars and the band added the talents of Rob Foster on wind instruments. In 1978 we recorded our magnum opus “Distant Shores” in Roland's family's basement in Sterling Heights, Michigan.
One song, “Just Yesterday,” was released as part of a local radio station's compilation of Detroit area bands' music entitled “Home Grown.”
Tim Cahill's religious calling conflicted with his perception of the rock and roll lifestyle leading him to leave secular musical performing. Howard Wells joined the band on drums and percussion for rehearsals while Roland and the band's manager Ron Geddish vainly persued a record contract. These efforts included a trip to California to visit record companies.
Northwind broke up in 1978 largely because of this failure. In the end, the “Distant Shores” songs were never performed outside of Roland's basement.

Support the band by getting their albums at a price you set yourself:

http://northwindband.com/