Epic (2013)

Los Angeles-based hard rock outfit Burning Rain draw from a well dirtied by classic late-'70s blues-rock and Sunset Strip-kissed pop-metal. Issuing a pair of efforts – 1999's eponymous debut and 2000's Pleasure to Burn – at the turn of the century, they pressed pause on the project until 2013, when they returned with Epic Obsession. Formed in 1998 by seasoned guitarist Doug Aldrich (Whitesnake, Lion, Dio, Hurricane), vocalist Keith St. John (Big Trouble, Medicine Wheel), drummer Alex Makarovich (Steelheart), and bassist Ian Mayo (Bangalore Choir), the band issued a pair of well-received albums (1999's Burning Rain and 2000's Pleasure to Burn) in Japan and Europe before going on an indefinite hiatus due to Aldrich's busy touring and recording schedule with Whitesnake and Dio.

It's easy to write off There's a Riot Goin' On as one of two things – Sly Stone's disgusted social commentary or the beginning of his slow descent into addiction. It's both of these things, of course, but pigeonholing it as either winds up dismissing the album as a whole, since it is so bloody hard to categorize. What's certain is that Riot is unlike any of Sly & the Family Stone's other albums, stripped of the effervescence that flowed through even such politically aware records as Stand! This is idealism soured, as hope is slowly replaced by cynicism, joy by skepticism, enthusiasm by weariness, sex by pornography, thrills by narcotics…

It's easy to write off There's a Riot Goin' On as one of two things – Sly Stone's disgusted social commentary or the beginning of his slow descent into addiction. It's both of these things, of course, but pigeonholing it as either winds up dismissing the album as a whole, since it is so bloody hard to categorize. What's certain is that Riot is unlike any of Sly & the Family Stone's other albums, stripped of the effervescence that flowed through even such politically aware records as Stand! This is idealism soured, as hope is slowly replaced by cynicism, joy by skepticism, enthusiasm by weariness, sex by pornography, thrills by narcotics…

The 2013 mini-box Original Album Classics rounds up the early-2000s expansions of Texas Flood, Couldn't Stand the Weather, and Soul to Soul at an affordable price point. It's arguable that SRV's best work came a bit later (In Step often seems like his best), but all three of these showcase the guitarist at his best and this package is a good bargain.

Five albums from Joe Satriani – picked seemingly at random but not unappealingly – are collected on this budget-priced 2013 box set. The albums here – Surfing with the Alien, Engines of Creation, Strange Beautiful Music, Is There Love in Space?, Super Colossal – arguably showcase Satriani at his best, even if they don't focus on any particular time…

The 2013 mini-box Original Album Classics rounds up the early-2000s expansions of Texas Flood, Couldn't Stand the Weather, and Soul to Soul at an affordable price point. It's arguable that SRV's best work came a bit later (In Step often seems like his best), but all three of these showcase the guitarist at his best and this package is a good bargain.

Dead Meadow's unique marriage of Sabbath riffs, dreamy layers of guitar-fuzz bliss, and singer Jason Simon's high-pitched melodic croon have won over psychedelic pop/rock and stoner rock fans alike, while elements of folk and pop would creep into their formula over time. Although the band's members met while attending all-ages shows in and around Washington, D.C.'s punk/indie scene, the trio draws more of its sound from such classic rock legends as Pink Floyd and Black Sabbath. The trio formed in the fall of 1998 out of the ashes of local indie rock bands the Impossible 5 and Coulour, with singer/guitarist Simon, bassist Steve Kille, and drummer Mark Laughlin. The three members set out to fuse their love of early-'70s hard rock and '60s psychedelia with their love of fantasy and horror writers J.R.R. Tolkien and H.P. Lovecraft. Collection includes: "Dead Meadow" (2000); "Howls From The Hills" (2001); "Got Live If You Want It!" (2002); "Shivering King And Others" (2003); "Feathers" (2005); "Old Growth" (2008); "Three Kings" (2010); "Warble Womb" (2013).

Joe Tex - Bumps & Bruises (1977) {2013 Remastered & Expanded - Big Break Records CDBBR 0247}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 330 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 111 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 79 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1977, 2013 Epic / Big Break Records | CDBBR 0247
R&B / Soul / Funk / Disco / Southern Soul

Joe Tex (born Joseph Arrington, Jr. in Rogers, Texas) was one of Southern Soul’s most uncompromising performers blending gospel, country and rhythm & blues into his repertoire. After winning several revues at the famed Apollo Theatre Tex signed to King Records, in 1955 and recorded a succession of singles for the label from ballads to rockers. A session at Muscle Shoals in 1964, with the singer now signed to the Dial label, produced Tex’s first R&B #1 with the straight ahead R&B ballad ‘Hold What You’ve Got.’ Over the next 10 years Tex racked up numerous R&B and Pop hits including arguably his most well-known song ‘Skinny Legs And All’ in 1967 (R&B #2) and ‘I Gotcha,’ his fourth R&B #1 in 1972.