Craving Blue Murder

John Sykes is a great guitarist. I dig his work with Whitesnake and love many of the Blue Murder tunes. I don't know if it's just me, but I find that when I have some downtime to rest and relax, I end up going through music I don't normally spin. I don't know why I play some bands more than others. Of course, I have my favorites that get played the most - but it's more complicated than that. Some days I get on a kick and I'll just play the same things over and over. After long periods of listening to the same songs constantly, I get twitchy and start to go through my music library. I then rediscover music I already own and then another kick begins.

On this Sunday, I'm on a Blue Murder kick. I hadn't listened to the band for awhile and now I'm all over them again. So, between my cleaning, organizing and watching the Cincinnati Bengals, I'll be listening to Blue Murder.

"Valley of the Kings"

"Jelly Roll"

Dates Announced for Next Shiprocked

If you didn't get what you wanted for Christmas...maybe you should start saving to buy yourself passage on the next Shiprocked. The next floating festival will happen November 11-14, 2010 and port out of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. The cruise will stop in Key West, Florida and Nassau, Bahamas. That's all I know for now - no info on the cruise line, cost or bands playing.

Click the link above to join the mailing list to receive future updates. That's how I learned of the date announcement.

'Silent Night' Done Metal - Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas my dear Glam friends! I hope you're having a lovely day with your friends and family - away from the interwebs. If you've decided to spend ten minutes on Bring Back Glam! this holiday, then thank you. For your listening pleasure, three versions of "Silent Night" - heavy metal style.

Here's Testament:

Here's Manowar:

Here's Deliverance:

Which do you prefer? Don't cheat - listen all the way through!

A Charlie Brown 'Heavy Metal' Christmas!

I don't know if I've ever posted this video before...and I don't really care if I have. It's awesome. I give you...A Charlie Brown 'Heavy Metal' Christmas set to Tourniquet's "Perfect Night For A Hanging."

Steven Tyler Checks Into Rehab; Is Aerosmith Saved?

I doubt any of us are surprised, but Aerosmith front man Steven Tyler is back in rehab. The story broke on People.com last night. I can't help but wonder if this rehab means Steven will get clean, healthy and back with Aerosmith?

Steven has struggled with addiction his entire adult life. People reports that the rehab is from an addiction to painkillers due to 10 years of performance-related injuries.

Apparently Steven suffers from chronic pain, which is basically awful.

People posted a statement from Tyler:

"With the help of my family and team of medical professionals, I am taking responsibility for the management of my pain and am eager to be back on the stage and in the recording studio with my bandmates Joe Perry, Joey Kramer, Tom Hamilton and Brad Whitford."

The very fact that Steven mentions his Aerosmith bandmates is curious. Maybe all the drama reported in the press isn't true. Then again, maybe it's a front. We'll probably never know for sure.

I guess the bottom line is that I hope rehab helps Steven and maybe through counseling Aerosmith can work out their differences. We'll see.

What If...One Album Edition

During the week of Christmas, it seems like the world slows way down. Everyone - musicians included - goes on holiday and ceases work. To that end, there doesn't seem to be much music news right now. That's ok - we'll make our own! To that end, let's do a fun "What if" post. Today, let's speculate how our fave bands would be regarded if they were only allowed to issue one album each.

Consider that for a minute: a recording industry where bands are only allowed to release one album.

I wonder what one album Motley would have released? Too Fast for Love, or Shout at the Devil? What if it was Theatre of Pain? If that was the case, would we care as much? If Def Leppard had never released Hysteria and had only put out, say,  On Through the Night, would we still love them? What if Michael Jackson had never launched a solo career? It's all a little nutty to consider.

The great thing about the arts - music, writing, painting - is that the artist can create as much (or as little) as she wants. So what if the output...was on the little side?

Think about Guns n' Roses. There's not much output by the "classic" lineup. Many say that has hurt the band's legacy. Other fans say it doesn't matter. I still think we're too close time-wise to Appetite for Destruction to really assess the GnR legacy on popular music as a whole.

I think you have to take a collective discography into account to judge a band on their impact to culture. Of course, limiting to one album each changes all that. Then again, I suppose there are bands that have only done one amazing work and have made an impact - I just can't think of any Glam acts off the top of my head.

What say you?

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Let's Talk About The Throbs!

Talk about a cool sleaze band! The Throbs are very much New York Dolls meets Hanoi Rocks. The Throbs are from New York too, which always amps up the cool factor just a little. After all, Midwesterners are the heart and soul of America, but New Yorkers know how to party! The band's Wikipedia entry lists how all the members are affiliated with other Glam acts, including Sebastian Bach, L.A. Guns and Faster Pussycat.

A lot of sites talk about The Throbs in past tense, but the band still has a very active Myspace page, so I think they are still rocking and willing to play gigs. I've never seen The Throbs live, but I bet it's great fun! The band released The Language of Thieves and Vagabonds (Geffen) in 1991. The album received a rerelease in 2007. I wished I owned a copy of the original pressing. Maybe someday.

Here's "Come Down Sister."