Frontier Man

With Strange Frontier, Roger Taylor seemed to try and cast himself as a British version of Bruce Springsteen, writing a set of songs that were similar to the gutsy and anthemic work of the American rock hero…

With Strange Frontier, Roger Taylor (Queen, The Cross) seemed to try and cast himself as a British version of Bruce Springsteen, writing a set of songs that were similar to the gutsy and anthemic work of the American rock hero. The similarity went as far as the lyrics, many of which focused on working-class politics. Taylor even throws in a Springsteen cover, "Racing in the Street," for good measure. The differences between Taylor's music here and Springsteen's lie both in Taylor's production, which added some artsier ideas such as the symphonic break in "Killing Time," and in his vocals, which stray more into melodramatic territory than Springsteen ever has. For the most part, the concept works. The album is far from original, but Taylor is an accomplished enough songwriter that he doesn't come off like a poor man's Springsteen…

When Iron Maiden's classic lineup famously reunited in the year 2000, their first new album, the quite excellent Brave New World, neatly reconnected both musicians and fans with the band's heritage, while simultaneously promising a prosperous future still to come. However, their next two efforts didn't fare quite as well, and whether Maiden was choosing to repeat the same moves without as much imagination or consistency on 2003's Dance of Death, or becoming bogged down in tiresome prog rock excess on 2006's desultory A Matter of Life and Death, it seemed that neither playing it safe nor taking risks was a surefire recipe for success anymore. And so the heavy metal icons took an extra year - for them, a record-breaking four - to work on their fourth post-reunion opus, and 15th career studio album overall, 2010's The Final Frontier, which, like many of their original mid-'80s classics…

Elvis Presley - Young Man With The Big Beat: The Complete '56 Elvis Presley Masters (2011) {55th Anniversary 5CD Box Set}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.12 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 723 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 430 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1956, 2011 RCA Records / Legacy / Sony Music | 88697935342
Rock / Early Pop / Rock & Roll

The recorded legacy of Elvis Presley continues to be discovered by new generations that never saw him or heard him perform live. It's hard to appreciate that he started so much of what we take for granted now in popular music. Until 1956, the teenagers of suburban America, and the rest of the world, had to endure ditties by Rosemary Clooney and Perry Como but everything was about to be tossed upside down. On January 28 on a cold night in New York, Elvis took America by storm as he appeared on CBS-TV's Stage Show hosted by Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey. On February 4 for his second appearance he sang a song that literally changed the world of popular music "Heartbreak Hotel". Its unique sound and style literally blew everything before it away while at the same time inducing the blueprint for everything that was to come; by April, it would be #1 on Billboard.