2024 Albums

[Zzzptm]

Pilots of Baalbek, a hard rock outfit from Australia that I follow, will have a new album on 11 March. We can tell Charger about that one.

[Zzzptm]

The Pilots of Baalbek album is a fun "name your price" offering that delivers some good hard rock. Call it pub rock, action rock, whatever, it's a nice set of background tunes to rock out with as you do stuff and things with work.

https://pilotsofbaalbek.bandcamp.com/album/by-the-seat-of-our-pants



It is not my top album of the year by any measure, but it's better than a lot of other stuff coming out. Definitely in the middle to high-middle of the pack for this year.

[Zzzptm]

https://travelermetal.bandcamp.com/album/prequel-to-madness-2

Thinking of buying this one. The vocals are good, but not inspiring. It's one of those top-of-the-middle-of-the-pack albums I like to listen to a few times and then move on, but for CAN $12, I need to be a little more sure of things before I commit to tossing my cash their way. The guitar player is winning me over, though, and I think it's worth playing online before committing to purchase.

*Strong* NWOBHM flavor in this record, no question about that. Somewhere in between Judas Priest and Iron Maiden in terms of speedy double-bass drum work and running guitars.



EDIT: The vocals really started to fall off in quality when they did a slower song. I'm out.

[Charger]

BLAZE BAYLEY - CIRCLE OF STONE

Took me a while to get this due to customs issues but here it is and my god Blaze has done it again! One hell of an album!!!

There's so much character in Blaze's vocals here! It's crazy to think he's 60 now and his voice just keeps getting more and more powerful.


After first listen I don't think this can quite challenge Hell Fire And Damnation for the best album of the year (so far) but it's pretty damn close!

[Zzzptm]

https://buffalobudbuster.bandcamp.com/album/el-diablo-locomotor



This one for CAN $6, and a great buy at that. Great groove metal, like Pantera meets Motorhead. Vocals very growly, I like that style. Slamming, keep-it-simple riffage, really clever lyrics add to the fun. The music sounds EXACTLY like the cover indicated it would. Beef jerky for the ears. I'm buying it.

[Zzzptm]

BLAZE BAYLEY - CIRCLE OF STONE

Took me a while to get this due to customs issues but here it is and my god Blaze has done it again! One hell of an album!!!

There's so much character in Blaze's vocals here! It's crazy to think he's 60 now and his voice just keeps getting more and more powerful.


After first listen I don't think this can quite challenge Hell Fire And Damnation for the best album of the year (so far) but it's pretty damn close!

I will check this out after I'm done with Buffalo Bud Buster.

[Zzzptm]

Really enjoying the Blaze Bayley album so far... it pairs very nicely with last year's Uriah Heep release with the progressive elements in the tracks. Got an awesomeness point for Charger for this one!

[Charger]

I agree this is the most progressive album Blaze has done...there were some prog elements already present on the Infinite Entanglement trilogy but this takes it further...not over doing it though.

Glad you're enjoying it too!

[Zzzptm]

Just finished with a listen, it has a very lovely closing track. It's going to be in the top area of my rankings this year, pretty sure about that. Good, clean, metal with progressive influences. Again, as you mentioned, HF&D it isn't, but it's certainly an album that stands proudly on its own foundations, really good album.

[Zzzptm]

Just saw this...



Drive By Wire is a band I'd been wishing had more albums out there, looking forward to this. The advance track with this announcement is heavy, laid-back, and trippy. Vocalist is as on-point as ever, expecting much from this release.

[Zzzptm]

https://drivebywire.bandcamp.com/album/time-horizon



Drive By Wire album just dropped and it's everything I expected it would be. If you like Sky Valley Mistress, Drive By Wire is definitely worth checking out. DBW goes more for grooving, but the vocalist is great for what they do.

https://highdesertqueen.bandcamp.com/album/palm-reader



I also bought High Desert Queen's latest release. I didn't go for their earlier stuff, but this one has a strong maturity to it and I didn't get one bit tired or bored with it in two full play-throughs before deciding that if I liked it so much, I should buy it.

Still waiting for that SVM album that was supposed to be "early 2024"... 

[Zzzptm]

My list of 2024 albums on my "They're good" list is:

Saxon - Hell Fire & Damnation
Blaze Bayley - Circle of Stone
Buffalo Bud Buster - El Diablo Locomotor
Drive By Wire - Time Horizon
High Desert Queen - Palm Reader

That's a rate of one per month, so far. Be nice if 7 more goodies dropped through the rest of the year.

[Zzzptm]

Looking over the Wiki page of 2024 releases thus far, I am reminded that my wife got Beyonce's Cowboy Carter and really enjoyed it. I liked quite a lot from it, as well. Not all, but a lot.

Anyway, looks like I'll also need to check out the latest from Judas Priest, Hawkwind, The Black Crowes, Ian Hunter and Lenny Kravitz. Hawkwind and Black Crowes have their albums up on Bandcamp, so I can likely spin them there first, then hunt down the other three on YouTube for a try before I buy.

[Zzzptm]

Tried out The Black Crowes and liked it a lot.

https://tbchappinessbastards.bandcamp.com/album/happiness-bastards



If you liked Hackney Diamonds, you'll enjoy this release. It's got a good mix of tempos and vocals are strong. Guitar work reminiscent of Stones, AC/DC, and Tom Petty as the album evolves. After I finish listening to the radio, I'll take a swing at one of the other albums. Might try one I think I won't like so it'll be over quick and I can pan it and move on to the next one. 

[Zzzptm]

Ian Hunter's Defiance Part 2: Fiction has a pair of rockers, "That Ain't Rock and Roll" and "Everybody's Crazy but Me" that do a fine job. But the collection of songs, although very well written, is a bit too ballad-y for my tastes to take in large helpings, which is how they're served up here. It's not like I only liked 2 songs. It's that I rocked out to 2 of them and really enjoyed several others. But it's overall just not quite right for me, even though I have great respect for the man and the music he's made.

EDIT: Checked out the Lenny Kravitz and it's just too digital for my taste. Or something like that. I can't get into it with those 80s pop-sounding drums on top of perfectly good funk or house tracks. Oh well...