Video Rundown; Pantera, Sick Of It All, Steel Panther, Me First and Gimme Gimmes

With so much video content out there, it seemed like a good idea to bring you a selection of the music videos that have caught our attention for one reason or another.

It could be a great song, a funny video, a great representation of a particular band, or some other reason - or it could be something that you have nominated. If you have seen any good music videos online, then let us know (post a comment below, or visit the Swoj.com forums) and it could be included in a future Video Rundown.

The selection this time around is as follows:

1. Sick Of It All - Step Down

New York hardcore band Sick Of It All have been around for a long time now, over 20 years, and rank as one of the favourites of the Swoj.com team. In all their time they have continued to produce fantastic music while still loving what they do and keeping their sense of humour. We definitely recommend seeing them live if you get the chance!

This is the video for Step Down, from their Scratch the Surface album.

2. Steel Panther - Death To All But Metal

From Steel Panther's upcoming debute album Feel The Steel, this video demonstrates that as well as providing us with some old school metal, the band obviously has a good sense of humour as well!





3. Pantera - Cowboys From Hell (live)

Coming from the album of the same name, this live performance of Cowboys from Hell at Ozzfest demonstrates the quality of Pantera's performance, the intensity of their music and is a great legacy for this brilliant band. (note, swearing aside, it's definitely NSFW at 5 minutes in!)






4. Me First and the Gimme Gimmes - I Believe I Can Fly

This Punk Rock cover band has covered some great songs since they formed in 1995, taking some very unlikely songs and performing them in an energetic punk manner. Some of the unusual ones include; Puff The Magic Dragon, Country Roads, Blowin' In The Wind and (Ghost) Riders In The Sky.

This cover of I Believe I Can Fly (from the album Take a Break
) is not only lively and fun, but also came with an excellent video - see if you can spot some of the cameos.





5. Static X - Black and White

With the new Terminator film coming out soon, this seems like a fitting video to show. Black and White is from the Machine album, released back in 2001, with the video themed around the title of the album and giving tribute to the Terminator.






Remember, if you have any video suggests for the next blog, post in the comments below or in the forum.

Upcoming albums (April 2009)

I've been taking a look over the upcoming releases for the next few months and thought it was time to give an update on what to look out for.

Coming on Monday (27th April) the new releases that caught my attention are 'Live Volume' from Corrosion of Conformity, 'The Infection' from Chimaira and the anticipated debut album 'The Devil You Know' by Heaven and Hell - who comprise of Black Sabbath members (past and present) Tony Iommi, Geezer, Vinny Appice and Ronnie James Dio.

In May we'll be seeing albums from Green Day (21st Century Breakdown), Hatebreed (For The Lions), Black Label Society (Skullage), Marilyn Manson (The High End Of Low) as well as the sound track to the Iron Maiden documentary, 'Flight 666' (which features a variety of live tracks across a double album). I'm hoping the new Marilyn Manson album will be back to their old style as I wasn't too taken with their last album 'Eat Me, Drink Me' - though the return of Twiggy to the band may provide the return to form I'm hoping for. Also showing up in May are a couple of the collectors out there; Janes Addiction are releasing 'A Cabinet Of Curiosities' which comes with 3 CDs and a DVD covering a variety of demo and live tracks, also up are the release of most of AC/DCs back catalogue (again) this time as 'Limited Edition Fan Pack', with each seeming to come with a small collection of merchandise (stickers, key rings, etc).

Beyond May the release schedule seems a bit sketchy, with only 'Back From the Dead' by Spinal Tap and 'Feel The Steel' by Steel Panther (both out in June) catching my attention, though I'm sure this will change as we get through May.

Forgotten Classics!

I’m currently ripping my entire CD collection to my new backup device and the other day I reached the letter L - I'm one of those sad gits that has his shelf in alphabetical order. As I worked my way through the Life Of Agony back catalogue I had a notion to play their debut album River Runs Red. The very next day I picked it up on my way to work and blasted it out the car stereo – Chris Moyles didn’t get a look in that day!

To be honest I’d forgotten how fantastic this album is, it’s an absolute whirlwind of human emotion set to the backdrop of some outstanding hardcore. Strictly speaking I never thought of LOA as an out and out hardcore band, they were always a bit different from the regular scene but I wouldn’t know where to start by putting them into another genre.

This Time, Through And Through, Bad Seed, The Stain Remains...in fact the whole damn album. Absolutely brilliant. One of the most criminally unknown albums in the rock world. If you own it, go dig it out and give it a spin, it’ll still sound as great as it did in 1993. If you haven’t heard it before then get it, it’s worth taking a chance on.

It makes me wonder though, what other classics exist in my collection that I haven’t listened to for ages and have forgotten about? If you have any suggestions yourself let me know.

Top 10 albums of 2008

Another year gone and another year of divided opinions. In a way they year is most noted for the release of 3 very long awaited (some more than others!) albums from 3 of the best know names in rock and metal. First we had Metallica with the album Death Magnetic, with opinion typically divided prior to release due to fan disappointment with St Anger - we were being promised something that was a return to Metallica's roots, did we get it? Well, we'll come back to that in a minute. Next up was AC/DC, who were getting on the best part of a decade since their last album. Finally, the real surprise of the lot, was Guns 'N' Roses with Chinese Democracy. At the end of the October we were all informed that the latest in a long line of pencilled in release dates (24th Nov) would now actually be the real release date of the album that's been nearly 15 years in the making. That is a long time coming and a lot of expectation to meet.

So, just what did stand out this year? Well after much discussion on our views on the year, for us Metallica were the best of the year - Death Magnetic is a distinct jump back to what made Metallica great; epic scale songs, extended instrumental sections and good old head banging music. It's different to the 'classic' Metallica albums, but it's a more modern sound and definitely brings them back to the fore. Coming in second place was Slipknot's 'All Hope Is Gone', marking a more musical effort from them that has gone down well with the team. Third are Trivium, who had previous made 2nd on the list with the great (in our opinion) The Crusade album, for us Shogun is good but doesn't reach levels that The Crusade managed for us; while Soulfly, in fourth place, has scored a distinct improvement over their previous album. AC/DC take 5th place with Black Ice, followed by Cradle of Filth, Therion and The Offspring. Guns 'N' Roses makes it in at 9th place - a tricky decision, while a good album it just doesn't deliver what we'd been expecting after all this time but with a release so late in the year this may need more time to be fully appreciated. Closing out the list with a joint tenth place are Viking Skull with 'Doom, Gloom, Heartache and Whiskey' and Ansur with 'Warring Factions'.

The full count down is as follows:

1. Metallica - Death Magnetic
2. Slipknot - All Hope Is Gone
3. Trivium - Shogun
4. SoulFly - Conquer
5. AC/DC - Black Ice
6. Cradle Of Filth - Godspeed on the Devil's Thunder
7. Therion - Live Gothic
8. The Offspring - Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace
9. Guns N Roses - Chinese Democracy
10= Viking Skull - Doom Gloom Heartache and Whiskey
10= Ansur - Warring Factions


However, it has to be noted that we've been left a bit underwhelmed this year. While there have been some good albums, there has not been anything this year that has stood out to the team as a truly great album. Metallica are certainly close, reaching top spot with decisive total score but overall we feel that 2008 has not been the greatest year for metal music releases. On the other side, the year was by no means bad and now we will look forward to what 2009 will bring us.

If there albums there that you don't have in your collection yet, then have a look at our Amazon Store

Chinese Democracy first impressions

Just like Dr Pepper, Axl Rose got the last laugh on me, it wasn't that long ago I took a pop at Stevie for having the audacity to suggest GNR's new album would be out this year, fortunately I didnt bet a couple of million cans of juice on it :)

But now that it's finally here a Grindaar review is most undoubtedly in order and will follow shortly, there's no telling when the next Guns record will come out so we should make the most of this moment.

In the meantime though, let me take you through my first impressions. Overall, I have to say I dont think it's a bad album, that might be due to the fact I had such low expectations, but it may be several months or a year before I form a balanced opinion but for now I'm ok with it. My gut feeling though is that this is not a Guns N Roses album. It sounds nothing like the music the band produced in the past and I think this is a major stumbling block for most people. I think if this had come under the name Axl Rose instead of Guns N Roses it would have been far better received. What you get here is a decent rock album, but it's not rock in the sense of say Out Ta Get Me or You Could Be Mine.

Stand out track so far: There Was A Time

Transformers: The Ride

Universal announced today that in 2011 they will be launching a Transformer theme park ride at their Hollywood and Singapore theme parks. Following the success of last years live action Transformers movie, Universal obviously has a lot of faith in the franchise, with the sequel out next year and the third movie probably due in 2010 or 2011 (the latter is more likely in my opinion, since the theme park rides would launch on the back of the movie hype).

From the article:

The attraction will fuse 3D-HD media, mega special effects and stunning robotics with a ride system that will transform perceptions of theme park experiences. The rides are scheduled to make their debuts in early 2011, first at Universal Studios Singapore and then at Universal Studios Hollywood. In "Transformers," Earth's humans are caught in the middle of an intergalactic war between the friendly Autobots and the evil Decepticons, which are able to change into a variety of objects, including cars, trucks, planes and other technological creations.

Tom Williams, Chairman and CEO, Universal Parks & Resorts, said: "'Transformers' will be a jewel in our collection of world-class rides based on great movies. We're thrilled to be collaborating with Hasbro, DreamWorks, director Michael Bay and the film's executive producer, Steven Spielberg, who has been responsible for so many of our signature rides and attractions." Steven Spielberg serves as creative consultant to Universal Parks & Resorts and has worked closely with the company in the creation of some of the world's most innovative theme park attractions. Those attractions include Jurassic Park-the Ride, a featured attraction at UP&R parks in Orlando, Hollywood and Japan, the E.T. Adventure at Universal Orlando and Universal Studios Japan, and the "War of the Worlds" sets at Universal Studios Hollywood.

Sounds like this this ought to be a good ride, guess I'll have to plan a holiday to Hollywood in 2011 :)


Read the full story here:
Transformers Attraction Coming to Universal's Parks

AC/DC Tour and Album

Possibly one of the most anticipated albums in years is about to be released. "Black Ice" by AC/DC is the bands first album in 8 years and is due out on the 20th October. Of course, no band as big as AC/DC releases an album with a tour to follow it up. Previous an 18 month world tour had been announced and yesterday the UK dates for the tour we announced.

Sadly, there are only 3 dates in the UK (and none of them in Scotland :( ), these are as follows:

Tuesday 14th April 2009 - London O2
Tuesday 21st April 2009 - Manchester MEN Arena
Thursday 23rd April 2009 - Birmingham LG Arena


Of course, I did say it was an 18 month world tour, so I suspect that they are doing a quick tour initially to follow the album release with a bigger tour to follow later.

Black Ice is available in both Regular and Deluxe (Collectors Edition)