Old Rage

Of all of rock & roll's many comatose old tricks, few are hanging as tenuously to their life-support systems as that absolute relic known as the live album. Having said that, Rage's first such effort, From the Cradle to the Stage, benefits from a better premise (celebrating the enduring power thrashers' 20th anniversary), a better track listing, and a better overall recording quality than most half-hearted, contract-fulfilling entries into the format…

It was in the year 1985, when the foundation was laid for the career of a band which is, almost 35 years later, as active as on the very first day. Certainly, the talk is of Rage that have started out as Avenger, before the band name was changed. Now the three albums between 2001 and 2003 of the Metal Legend from Herne, Germany, are being re-released on three double CDs in a box set, including bonus CDs containing numerous demo versions that also include previously unreleased songs. Especially interesting for all fans is the digitally re-mastered version of the album "Welcome To The Other Side".

Many in the field of high speed German steel have come and gone since its heyday in the 1980s, but veteran speed/power metal fence-sitters Rage have endured long past most of the competition, and have been among the most prolific progenitors of the art form to boot…

After tackling old-school R&B, country-roots, and Memphis soul on his previous three releases, Australian rock veteran Jimmy Barnes returns to more familiar territory on his 16th studio release, Rage and Ruin. Produced by longtime collaborator Don Gehman, the back-to-basics affair sees the gravelly-voiced rocker, the most successful home-grown recording artist in his country's history, battle his demons on 12 tracks inspired by a book of notes he wrote while struggling with drug and alcohol addiction – hence the biblical titles like the driving country-rock of "This Ain't the Day That I Die," the Eagles-influenced AOR of "I've Seen It All (Rage and Ruin)," and the self-described "raw rockin' stomper" "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead."

After tackling old-school R&B, country-roots, and Memphis soul on his previous three releases, Australian rock veteran Jimmy Barnes returns to more familiar territory on his 16th studio release, Rage and Ruin. Produced by longtime collaborator Don Gehman, the back-to-basics affair sees the gravelly-voiced rocker, the most successful home-grown recording artist in his country's history, battle his demons on 12 tracks inspired by a book of notes he wrote while struggling with drug and alcohol addiction – hence the biblical titles like the driving country-rock of "This Ain't the Day That I Die," the Eagles-influenced AOR of "I've Seen It All (Rage and Ruin)," and the self-described "raw rockin' stomper" "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead."