Return
by Blue Plasma Orb
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Return, the sophomore release by veteran Southern California rockers, Blue Plasma Orb, is infused with energetic and edgy blues-tinged indie rock, including clever commentary about “the establishment” and relationships that makes the album a compelling listen. The addition of Martin Gerschwitz’s keyboards completes the band’s ‘70s garage-rock sound.
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The first track, “Heavy Time,” sets a strong tone for the album with a driving guitar riff and biting lyrics that conjure images of gluttonous elites perched in their ivory towers with a “master plan” to get fat while the common man “works his fingers to the bone.” “If only they could hear the mothers crying” and “see the world as I do,” the song fantasizes, “they could help to build a world of peace.”
The album features several insightful tracks about the feminine ability to ensnare men. “Lost My Mind” is a heavy rocker with a ripping guitar solo that pleads, “I lost my mind” and “it’s a crime how pretty you are.” The singer in “Voodoo Girl,” bemoans that the title character of the eighth cut “cast [her] spell” and “stuck [her] pin in me” and “now I’m [her] plaything.” And “I Got a Fever” is a funky track with a soaring organ solo in which the singer recounts a girl in New Orleans who “stuck her claws in me,” and he laments that “I can’t break free” but nevertheless “I’ll do it again.”
We can’t help but smile all the way through “What Do You Want.” It’s an upbeat track that expresses the universal male frustration: “You don’t want my feet on the table, you don’t want my feet on the couch,” and “If you want me in your life, tell me what do you want from me.”
Return by Blue Plasma Orb is a “return” to what made rock music great—real, skilled musicians playing raw, evocative, not overproduced tunes with gritty riffs and driving bass lines.
RockTaleHour.com
The album features several insightful tracks about the feminine ability to ensnare men. “Lost My Mind” is a heavy rocker with a ripping guitar solo that pleads, “I lost my mind” and “it’s a crime how pretty you are.” The singer in “Voodoo Girl,” bemoans that the title character of the eighth cut “cast [her] spell” and “stuck [her] pin in me” and “now I’m [her] plaything.” And “I Got a Fever” is a funky track with a soaring organ solo in which the singer recounts a girl in New Orleans who “stuck her claws in me,” and he laments that “I can’t break free” but nevertheless “I’ll do it again.”
We can’t help but smile all the way through “What Do You Want.” It’s an upbeat track that expresses the universal male frustration: “You don’t want my feet on the table, you don’t want my feet on the couch,” and “If you want me in your life, tell me what do you want from me.”
Return by Blue Plasma Orb is a “return” to what made rock music great—real, skilled musicians playing raw, evocative, not overproduced tunes with gritty riffs and driving bass lines.
RockTaleHour.com
2 to Make 1 and Feeling Strong
by Didorion
I discovered Didorion, an alternative rock artist from Hasbrouck, New Jersey, on Reverb Nation. And he graciously agreed to share a few excellent cuts with the RTH gang. Listen here, and check out his Reverb Nation page at http://www.reverbnation.com/didorion.
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Blue Plasma Orb
by Blue Plasma Orb
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We here at the Rock Tale Hour are always on the lookout for good up-and-coming rock bands, so here's our quick review of Blue Plasma Orb. These four veteran Southern California rockers recently released their self-titled debut album, and any of you who love straight up, blues-tinged indie rock will not regret taking a deep dive. With its driving guitar riffs, guttural vocals, and hooky melodies, this twelve-track CD is worthy of a spot in the regular rotation of your music library.
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The album opens strong with a distortion-laden, fist-pumping anthem against the Man in “Fight.” With so much of modern music sounding overproduced and digitized, Blue Plasma Orb achieves a grassroots ‘70s rock sound with foot-stomping bass and guitar riffs on the next tracks: “Strange Things,” which is reminiscent of Traffic, “Rocket” and “Lover.”
Our favorite cuts include the hard-driving rocker, “Lighting N’ver Strikes Twice,” about the rarity of finding true love, and “Whatcha Gonna Do [at the End of the World],” about the forthcoming zombie apocalypse (Walking Dead fans rejoice!).
Blue Plasma Orb rounds out the album with mellow tracks such as “Summer Girl” and the reggae-infused “Lazy Days” and “Fire and Ice,” which feel like the soundtrack to a day at the beach.
Treat yourself to a generous helping of Blue Plasma Orb.
RockTaleHour.com
Our favorite cuts include the hard-driving rocker, “Lighting N’ver Strikes Twice,” about the rarity of finding true love, and “Whatcha Gonna Do [at the End of the World],” about the forthcoming zombie apocalypse (Walking Dead fans rejoice!).
Blue Plasma Orb rounds out the album with mellow tracks such as “Summer Girl” and the reggae-infused “Lazy Days” and “Fire and Ice,” which feel like the soundtrack to a day at the beach.
Treat yourself to a generous helping of Blue Plasma Orb.
RockTaleHour.com
Tornado 13
Musicians Benefit EP for Moore Oklahoma
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Great musicians generously pouring their hearts and music out to the victims of the Moore, Oklahoma tornado. Eight beautiful songs spreading the message of love and hope. This is music worth buying even if the proceeds weren't going to such a worthy cause.
RockTaleHour.com |
Peace Rocks
by Steve Bonino
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Steve Bonino’s Peace Rocks is a riff-based, vocally driven rock album that seeks a resurgence of anti-establishment ideals and pays tribute to the counterculture of the past with a modern twist. Lyrically, the album is loaded with deep meaning and embodies a 21st Century spin on the peace movement, free love, and civil unrest of the ‘60s. Peace Rocks makes you realize that despite 50 years of progress, society’s challenges and unrealized ideals haven’t changed much.
Bonino takes us on a pacifist romp from “Peace March” through “Big Brother,” where he excoriates the “fascist state” that “rob[s] us of our privacy” “to keep security.” And in “Will the World Mourn?” he poignantly asks “who can stop what is happening right now?” and “will the world mourn when we are gone?” Peace Rocks rounds out its progressive themes with “Paradise Lost” that warns us not to “mess with Mother Nature” who is “our home” and an “unforgiving landlord.” The album is literally a “Wake Up Call” for a “world turned upside down” where “the good are now called evil and the evil are called good.” Bonino challenges listeners to have a “Personal Revolution” by extending a hand to offenders and not pushing others away because they are different. The artist does not excuse himself. In “Peace, Love, Truth & Understanding” the singer admits that he can’t face himself in the mirror anymore, observing that “I see the brokenhearted people living in the world, and I can’t take it anymore.” The album leaves us with the final plea, “what is it going to take to find our way to peace, love, truth and understanding?”
Peace Rocks is as great musically as it is inspiring lyrically. Although in capturing a retro feel that matches the message, the music doesn’t break any new ground. Bonino is a seasoned vocalist, and his Beatle-esque harmonies and energetic guitar licks on “True North” match the passion and imagery of a man “heading where love is” and “risking it all.” The album has infectious riffs like the acoustic bass-line phrase that launches “Paradise Lost” and the dynamic acoustic and electric riffs in “Big Brother.” This is an album that stays in your head, and your head is happy it’s there. Peace Rocks ROCKS!
RockTaleHour.com
Bonino takes us on a pacifist romp from “Peace March” through “Big Brother,” where he excoriates the “fascist state” that “rob[s] us of our privacy” “to keep security.” And in “Will the World Mourn?” he poignantly asks “who can stop what is happening right now?” and “will the world mourn when we are gone?” Peace Rocks rounds out its progressive themes with “Paradise Lost” that warns us not to “mess with Mother Nature” who is “our home” and an “unforgiving landlord.” The album is literally a “Wake Up Call” for a “world turned upside down” where “the good are now called evil and the evil are called good.” Bonino challenges listeners to have a “Personal Revolution” by extending a hand to offenders and not pushing others away because they are different. The artist does not excuse himself. In “Peace, Love, Truth & Understanding” the singer admits that he can’t face himself in the mirror anymore, observing that “I see the brokenhearted people living in the world, and I can’t take it anymore.” The album leaves us with the final plea, “what is it going to take to find our way to peace, love, truth and understanding?”
Peace Rocks is as great musically as it is inspiring lyrically. Although in capturing a retro feel that matches the message, the music doesn’t break any new ground. Bonino is a seasoned vocalist, and his Beatle-esque harmonies and energetic guitar licks on “True North” match the passion and imagery of a man “heading where love is” and “risking it all.” The album has infectious riffs like the acoustic bass-line phrase that launches “Paradise Lost” and the dynamic acoustic and electric riffs in “Big Brother.” This is an album that stays in your head, and your head is happy it’s there. Peace Rocks ROCKS!
RockTaleHour.com