Customer Reviews

Living Loud

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

To think i was one of a lucky few who saw Living Loud in Sydney last April 26, 2004.
The album is brilliant, well worth the money.
In all honesty the 5 Ozzy Osbourne rehashes sound so much better on this album thanks to the brilliance of Steve Morse on lead guitar. The old combination of Messers Daisley(Bass) and Kerslake(Drums) has always been an enjoyable listening experience. Out with Ozzy and in with Barnsey you cant do much better than that......Get it, It's worth it.

This cd is what I call Must Have!!! It is as good as Sting in the Tale.
Great power rock, good tunes, very enjoyable!! There are 5 originals and 6
ozzy tunes. First off, the musicianship is great. Lee plays powerfully as
always, and Bob plays a thunderous bass. Morse is an exceptional guitarist
and plays passionately and versatilely throughout. The vocalist, Jimmy Barnes, is one of those raspy types that grow on you, like Springteen, Joe Cocker, John Kay etc. Beside no one can sound any weirder than Ozzy!! Don Airey plays some really great keyboards that are often easy to pick out in the mix. This cd redefines the image of Super Group!! Tight, cohesive playing with the true meaning of team work..

First the originals, Last Chance is a power rocker that starts off the cd. It features heavy guitar, heavy bass and is easy to sing along with. One of those songs that gets your hips moving and screams get up and dance!
"Every Moment a Lifetime" track 3 is a bluesy song that turns power rocker. The guitar just rings out in this song and vocal emotional and moving. The song ambles along nicely with an underlayment of some nice Hammond. It sort of reminds me of Uriah Heep's "Shelter From the Song" with its intensity and structure.
Track 5 is "In the Name of God" I like the message, so appropriate in today's times. The song is not syrupy at all, but powerful. I cannot predict the success of this as a single, it will be either a huge dud or a smash hit. It is that different and has that potential. The guitar work has an Asian sounding twang to it, I am talking region, not the group Wetton was in. Track 7 "Push me too hard" is killer!! I love it!! It first starts out with some ACDC sounding guitar riffs, but becomes more complex than ACDC ever would be. My highlight of the cd, featuring rip roaring guitar solos, some nice Hammond and overall a danceable rocker. Walk Away is a power blues rock ballads. Has emotional vocals, prominent keyboards and lots of changes throughout the song.

Now for the remakes! "I Don't Know" very true to the original, nice treatment and very powerful. "Crazy Train" has stunning guitar work and sound effects, Morse makes you forget Randy Rhoads, the playing is that great! The end of the song has a very cool vocal effect. "Flying High Again" featuring more power guitar work and outstanding vocals. One of the ozzy songs "Mr. Crowley" just blew me away. If Heep were to cover an Ozzy tune, this is what it would sound like. The opening Hammond riffs sent chills up and down my spine. It has a vocal sort of like Iron Man or 21st Century Schizoid Man. "Tonight" I at first thought was original, since the song to me sounds different then the original. A power ballad with emotional vocals, one of my favorite tracks on the cd. Lastly "Over the Mountain" closes out the cd, it is my opinion the heaviest track on the cd. Lee's drumming is fast and furious, Bob plays a thumping bass, the guitar work is screaming and Jimmy Barnes sounds like he is singing for his life. They put it all into this song.

Overall this cd is a winner!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wouldn't go so far as to say you'll forget all about Randy Rhoads - because that would be impossible. Steve though brings these classics to life, with a huge guitar sound, while staying true to the originals. He takes a little liberty with the solo's, but that's the point - I'm more interested in how he would approach those songs. Overall Morse just rocks out, particularly on the Ozzy songs, so much so, I'd love to see him play with Ozzy eventually.

Ever since our late night rock DJ here in the UK ( we only had one station then ! ) used "take it off the top" as his theme tune, some 30 years ago, I have been a fan of Steve Morse., and lets face it, I bought this album simply because of Steve Morse .... And as I thought he would, he dominates the project.

Whilst Kerslake and Daisley have been part of the music scene for a long time and contributed to some great songs, their musical contribution is not "outstanding" and they provide a solid backbone, and no more, to Steve Morse and Jimmy Barnes.

I bought this album because I always thought the original Ozzy tracks were great ... and now here is a group that have the ability to make them even better ... what could possibly go wrong ?

Lets, to use a SM title, "Cut to the Chase" ... Steve is guitar playing's equivalent of a Brain Surgeon. IMO, rock tracks called "crazy train" and "flying high again" require more of the approach of a "Jack the Ripper". Whilst Steve plays riffs with energy and precision, when it comes to the solos, the band, more often than not, stop playing and allow him free reign ... and he struggles. His superb, clinically clean approach (which makes him so unique) cannot by itself create the manic energy and "hair on the back of the neck" moments required in all these rockers, and the band are doing nothing to help. Can you think of a SM track where his "heavy" playing alone has created the excitement and energy required of these tracks ?

I would love to see how the guys in Dream Theater could have done this. John Petrucci style is more than able to create the energy required to support the riffs, and Mike and John would have been belting out a powerhouse of support .. not standing back and admiring.

So that is my MAIN problem. The soloing, whilst excellent musically, they are out of character to the main riffs, and the energy level sinks, rather than rises .... But what of the music ?

The originals are good .. they are a little more laid back, and so my main problem is not so obvious. Some nice alternate picking accompaniments make for some good music. Jimmy Barnes voice takes a bit of getting used to, and is a cross between Joe Cocker and Brian Johnson of AC-DC, but is not bad.

The remakes are nowhere near good enough, in my mind, to satisfactorily answer the question ... why did they bother? They have added nothing, and have actually removed some of the energy levels from the tracks. Yes, they have some interesting playing from Morse, but they are 80's rock tracks which are just not in character with Morse's clean playing. I am not saying he CANNOT play this way ... There is plenty of evidence of his ability to really "shred", but he needs Van and Dave to compliment him, and help him out. He just does not get that help here.

Strange record ... some good tracks, but others leave you wondering WHY?

I think that Bob Daisley is a very talented bass player and musician (song writer as well). The songs that were NOT former Ozzy songs were mediocre to average. I think the Ozzy covers were OK. Daisley added more to these versions and Steve Morse did a good job playing Randy's pieces and making them his. The vocals werent good. I dont think this guy's voice is that great and he is the weak point in the band (Don Airey, i could barely hear you... and your version of mr crowley on blizzard was 10 times better).

Bottom line...After the whole debacle between Ozzy and Daisley/Kerslake, they go and re-record ozzy's songs to try and capitalize on it. I dont think they did good enough job. I'd be curious to listen to clips of a new album, but Bob... Lee... dont try and revive the ozzy classics, lets see what you have now.

supergroup, yep. supergroup with steve morse on guitar... even if it was terrible, the completest in me had to have it. my guitarist's ear locks in on steve morse of course, so for me the shining point of this album is what morse does with these tracks. one of the things I have to give morse, outside of what every other guitar player on the planet always says about him, he is one of the very few players who can employ such a wide swath of styles without losing his own voice... bill frisell and nels cline fall into this category as well. For example, I've never been a big deep purple fan, but of course when steve morse began playing with them I was suddenly on the purple bandwagon because I just had to hear what a band I really didn't like would sound like with one of my favorite guitarist playing for them. admittedly, deep purple is not one of my favorite morse related groups, but much like pizza (and other things)... it's still good even when it's not so good. everybody knows morse's style from the dregs and the steve morse band (which... even though I'm a fan... sounds a lot like the dregs at times), and his playing with deep purple remains true to the band's traditional sound, Living Loud is a FANTASTIC project for the steve morse fan. he covers the cores of the songs perfectly, but there isn't a single solo, or outro for that matter, on this album that doesn't just make you want to enjoy late 80's technical guitar rock again (no. poison doesn't count... unless you're talking about the 2 seconds that blues saraceno played with them...) his solo on crazy train was the point where I said out loud, "I'm SO glad he stopped being an airline pilot and started playing music again..." my only complaints are: first, this disc is only good in the car on days when my wife doesn't wake up before me and drive my jeep to work, leaving me with the ford escort zx-2 she drove in college. .. second, I look far too old to be playing this album at high volume while driving in my car, also, relate this complaint to the previous one and I look exceptionally stupid, and third, I have a hard time listening to this album sitting at home. I need to be driving somewhere without stoplights, or at least operating heavy machinery. I also feel obliged to note that I focused on morse's role in this project because, to me, his is the part that stands out the most. but we all hear things differently. this album is an all around EXCELLENT treatment of its material, and even the casual rock fan will find it - at the least - interesting and dare I say it... fun. buy it before it goes out of print! I also recommend tracking down the DVD of their live show if you have a multi-region DVD player.

this album is worth the import price. if you are familiar with these artists, steve morse, jimmy barnes, bob daisley, lee kerslake. you know how good they are. the only problem i have with it is, steve should have shredded a little more on the ozzy tunes. the song in the name of god should be a big hit. it is so damn good!

This album is a disappointment for me, mostly because I find Morse's interpretation of Rhoads' guitar work to be mediocre. I also find Jimmy Barnes vocals a poor match for the material. Daisley and Kerslake doing this record is as bad as Sharon Osbourne pulling them off the original releases of Blizzard and Diary all IMHO of course.

I like the Randy Rhoads Tribute CD better than this, for the Ozzy covers anyway...

At first I was expecting another duplicate of Zakk Wylde takes of Ozzy classics. After hearing it on the first listen, I thought....this is a little odd. After numerous listens, I thought, WOW this is way cool. Steve Morse puts his own signature on Randy Rhodes classics and does it splendidly. This is a really cool cd, with good original songs as well, especially Pushed Me Too Hard and Walk Away. Good job guys!

Bob Daisley and the boys give you one of the best CD's of the year without a doubt. Busy Bob also just got through recording "
Power of the Blues" with gary Moore and it's well Gary moore nuff said!!!!!!!! Living loud is superb. Worth $100 dollars!!!