rockin' hard and heavy
937459
I most certainly was NOT ready for ...Sounds Like This when I first experienced it.

I went in expecting -and I mean absolutely no disrespect by saying this- overblown, pretentious musical ideas similar to the other Nektar classic albums.

Oh sure, those progressive rock albums are really good and I honestly love them to pieces, but let's be honest- when I first seen how long this album is (over 70 minutes) you better believe I got REALLY nervous. Why? Because I was afraid the band was attempting something similar to the Yes album Tales from Topographic Oceans.

You know, a fear that Nektar might have tried taking their progressive rock style and stretched out their ideas for TWICE as long, even when it's not particularly necessary to write music that way, and therefore, becoming bored rather quickly with the album.

That's definitely NOT what ...Sounds Like This is like. Not at all.

Instead, this album is a really heavy, hard rockin' affair *very* similar to Deep Purple in some spots, and a comparison to Made in Japan wouldn't be much of a stretch.

These songs rock *exceptionally* hard, but because several moments of the album remind me of Deep Purple, I believe this may have contributed to the album (and perhaps even the band) never becoming more popular with the public. I may be wrong though.

I assume at the time there wasn't much room on the music scene for bands that resembled Deep Purple (though somehow Uriah Heep managed to make it big).

Which is a cryin' shame. The opener "Good Day" has wonderful guitar playing that reminds me of flowers blooming for some reason, and a chorus that isn't much different from Peter Frampton's vocals (solo or with Humble Pie).

"1-2-3-4" is where the Deep Purple connections are almost impossible to ignore. A jam that's honestly quite good from beginning to end, with much of the guitar soloing played in a melodic and tasteful way, but definitely comparable to Deep Purple.

"Do You Believe in Magic" (no, NOT a cover song!) has amazingly good vocals. Some of the best vocals I've ever heard the band create, in fact.

"New Day Dawning" has a mysterious atmosphere about it. It's either going for a sad or hopeful vibe (not sure which). Excellent song at any rate. Morphing into "Norweigen Wood" (the Beatles classic) for a few seconds is rather bizarre, but hey, that *is* one of my favorite Beatles songs, so alright then!

I honestly think, despite obviously being influenced by Deep Purple, this is some quality heavy rock and quality songwriting, and you know what?

I probably prefer this Nektar album to Deep Purple because the classic period with Gillan and Blackmore definitely has its fair of filler (IMO) whereas this album is pretty great from beginning to end.

I love this album, but paying more than [...] for it is ridiculous. Come on now! That's insane.
3254461
This CD is so heavy. "Rock N Roll Hell", "Danger", "I Love It Loud", and "Keep Me Comin'" are the best off the album. But, the crown gem is "War Machine". It's really tough and the solo is blistering. "Danger", "Keep Me Comin'", and the title track are Paul's vocal since "Love Gun". Also, the title track is great played in concert. "I Love It Loud" is a great anthem, with a pounding drum beat and chant. Eric Carr's drum really stands out here. This is a great CD.
4113566
Who would have thought that Southern Rock could get so heavy and insane with catchy pounding goodness? It almost takes a step towards classic rock and then at the last second it's all like "Hey, I'm gonna rip your face off instead."

Good answer. Awesome album. Buy it.
1910706
This is the band's heaviest album and, personally, their best. Adding Mutt Lange as producer made a huge change in comparison with the first record. It's not only because of the "heavy" factor that High n' Dry is for me the best album of Def Leppard's career. Also because all songs are great and played with so much emotion. The raw vocals of Joe Elliot mixed with the furious guitar playing of Willis and Clarke definitely is a blast combination. The band would maintain, partially, the energy contained here for one more album (the follower "Pyromania") mutating thereafter in a much softer and pop-rock oriented band. So, if you are fan of heavy rock music and just want to have an album by this band, this is definitely the one to get.
4712700
I think that this is one of UKJ's best Cds.  Although there are only a few tracks, and the cd is rather short, I feel that this CD still rocks hard.  If you are into good hard rock, then this cd is for you.  Songs like 'madman' and 'whiplash liquor' show the listener that rock is one of the greatest types of music we have.
3407984
KoRn has done it again!  Another wonderfully hard-rockin' album, better than Life is Peachy and Issues, and a good source of competition with Follow the LeadeR.  More stuff to my review to come!
Surprised I'm the first person to review this CD.
4344963
This song rocks in spades. It hits real hard when the system is crancked up. The beat is my favorite, cool for the drums.
4511507
A review written for the Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange
by Mark S. Tucker

C'mon, you know that a band with a moniker like this one isn't gonna be yer average run of the mill group, don'cha? And you're right. Too Slim and the Taildraggers take the down-and-gritty hard blues path, greasy and funky, a power trio centered in Tim "Too Slim" Langford's blazing axe. With all the great finessy discs I've been covering lately, I really found myself needing something for setting my size 10s down on the floor with a rhythmic stomp and a bit of headbangery. This fills the bill nicely.

Langford puts the smoke sauce in his playing and singing, with a guitar as raspy as his voice, both crying out in lamentive wails while traveling back to the days when the whole dirty white blues thang was cranking up mucho heavy. You'll hear bits of T.S. McPhee, Alvin Lee, Adrian Gurvitz, Billy Gibbons, Paul Kossoff, and some of the later Southern crunch boys (Outlaws, Lynyrd Skynrd, Rossington-Collins, etc.), especially when Langford double tracks himself, smokin' with 60s and 70s pysch, funk, and distortion.

And the guy did damn near everything on the tech side here, too: recording, engineering, mixing, then co-producing the entire shebang with his wife Nancy--and he wrote all the songs. The CD has raggedy edges but they're perfectly appropriate, part and parcel of the woof and warp of the entire package. Free Your Mind isn't a prettified heavy disc but a glorified garage job designed to stay in the gutter and cook. That Ted Nugent, Steppenwolf, Blue Oyster Cult, Johnny & Edgar Winter, and a whole raft of others have chosen the band to tour with them speaks to that aspect. I suspect this cat was punkin' big time before he arrived at this point--could be wrong, but there's a feel to it like that--but he sure as hell figured out what's what here.
4944762
Not only do you get a punch in the face. You also get a slug in the bread-basket, hit with a brick and a kick in the head, fallowed by a karate chop to the throat. Excellent songwriting, beefy tones, guitar solos and a bucket of fun ! Good listening in the car, but better through headphones to block out that pesky background noise.
Angus Clark and Aurelien Budynek are two of the best guitar players, and to have them on one record is fabulous. Andrew Ross delivers the grind with his powerhouse vocals. Chris Altenhoff  (bass )and Jason Gianni (drums) carry the heaviest rhythm section into the sun. No way are these dudes ever getting shot down ! Live to fly, fly to live .
3096798
This album from the late 70's is some of the best hard rock I have ever heard. Simply amazing guitar rock,with really wild ,fast guitar playing by Jim Gustafson. He surprises you with song after good song ,just bursting with impressive playing. The bass and drums are top notch ,too, and could stand up to any other band in thier ability. It is a mystery why this album did not become as big as Cream,Van Halen,Sabbath,Purple,Ac/Dc.ect. Powerful stuff. I love this CD and you will too.
3124
Since by man play some of the most passionate, energetic, and moving hardcore ive heard in a while... this album makes you want to dance in the street and flail your arms around like an idiot, and kiss some random girl getting out of her car and run like hell... what do they sound like? somewhere between converge and the swing kids with a little bit of refused...  there are alot of really strong riffs and melodies on here, even though they are not always technical riffs. these guys just plain bring the rock, and you need to hear this if you like hardcore or punk... turn it up as loud as you can.
2217356
I like this album very much. Meshuggah really did it on this latest cd. It hits hard & heavy extreme style.
3227795
Arguably the HEAVIEST rock album of all time. Hawkwind's "Doremi" succeeds both as heavy metal and spacerock in equal measure. Lemmy Kilmister's rumbling bass lines are augmented by D. Brock's fuzzed and wahhed electric guitars as thunderous drums keep the tribal beat going. Certainly, the feedback-drenched sequeway from "Brainstorm" into "Space Is Deep" qualifies as rock's most audacious song intro (-the sonic equivalent of the sky being torn in two! ). "Space Is Deep" being another strong point-combining twittering audio-generators with hamfisted acoustic guitar work. "Time We Left This World Today" could've been done by primitive Amazonian tribesmen wielding Telecasters and forests of 100-watt Marshall stacks. The song's roto-rhythmic riffs and are orgasmically entrancing. Overall a tour-de-force for the heavyhanded spacerock enthusiast. Those liking "Space Ritual" will love "Doremi" ( -the album is in-fact cited as a major inspiration for Star Tribe's music ). Play this one LOUD!
4377455
From start to finish this is beyond what I would call an album that rocks hard.  It demolishes everything in its path with Mike Ness's rugged vocals leading the way.  "I Was Wrong" received some attention for good  reasons, but the other songs are comparable and some are better.  "Gotta Know The Rules," "Don't Drag Me Down,"  "Dear Lover," and "Down On The World Again" are all  relentless rockers that mostly last for over four minutes.  Even the  semi-ballads like "When The Angels Sing" contain a guitar assualt  and rough vocals that keep your head moving throughout.  The only misstep  may be "Down Here (With The Rest Of Us)," but this is not even  what I would call a bad song.  It just doesn't have the sense of urgency or  speed that characterizes most of the album.  This is definitely top-notch  punk agression from one of genre's older bands.
3704087
For those who enjoy very technical hard rock music, this is the album for you.  There are some incredible duets with guitar and keyboard which boggle the mind.  Vocals on this album are excellent.  Highly reccomended.
4789742
I like rock, hard rock, and melodious heavy metal and this album has soft rock to heavy metal on it.  Moreover, the songs have cohesion and it tells a story.
4946538
What do you do when you're a full-heavy-metal-51-years-of-age, have had two subpar releases that in truth should have been a single disc, and want to prove that you're the toughest and wickedest rocker on the planet? You release Dominator. In truth, this is another of Blackie's rock operas. The good part is that it doesn't feel like one. We believed in Jonathan and were glad to hear Chainsaw Charlie get his. And we loved parts of the Neon God (there's no better all-balls tune than "Asylum #9). But this is a smooth and flawless concept album that rocks you, lets you think for a minute or two, and then rocks you to a grand finale. You're blistered, healing, and then burned alive. Even the ending, normally a rockabilly-metal tune is ratcheted up about five notches. "Mercy" is about love as a violent, full body contact attack and a great opening song (where the heck did Blackie get the ultra-cool, literary line "It's hurly-burly now!"?? Wow). The next tune just keeps it going and, in part penitent, wonders why we "feed [our] children through the hell-bent war machine" and replies:  Because "no nearer to God, we got a long, long way to go." In a rhetorical move that's scary in its truthfulness, Blackie then asks, what can save us and says:  you got it, "Gasoline." The rest of this album is just like that. It's as wicked as we ever wanted W.A.S.P. to be. Even the ballad, "Take Me Up," is a hard-rocking scream for love rather than anything like those near-begging turned we got on the last cd. I could talk about every song. But there's no point. They're all very good. Trust me. They rock hard. But, okay, "The Burning Man" is an absolute killer. Everybody's talked about this cd being anti-Bush. And it is. Even in the liner notes. But once you make it through this, you'll probably agree that Blackie's got it right. Because he d**n sure has the music right. This is W.A.S.P. finding the perfect balance between "The Headless Children" and "Dying for the World." There's not one weak song on this cd. They guys are back in form. LAST NOTE:  My cd has a track called "Burn" listed that is not actually on the cd. I'm wondering if this is a cover of the Coverdale song? If anyone knows, please put it in a review. There's also been talk of a French import that has new live material, but I've contacted sellers in France over and over and haven't found any cd that has new material. The Russian import has live material that's simply a new selection of old stuff from the reissues. There's also a very cool version of this with a 3-D cover.