U.D.O.
CELEBRATOR

I know for many people, the fact that Accept is back with a vengeance is a bad thing since lead vocalist Udo Dirkschneider is not along for the ride.  I guess, on some level, I wish he was there as well.  That said though, I think I'm one of the few that enjoys his post Accept band U.D.O. just as much as I ever did Accept.  Let's be honest here - all U.D.O. amounts to is Accept with a slightly more electronic edge to them.  To my ears, they are virtually the same band.  The vocals are obviously the same, and even the guitar players have names that sound somewhat similar (Wolf Hoffman - Stefan Kaufmann).  It may just be due to pressure, but the last two U.D.O. albums DOMINATOR and REV-RAPTOR have smoked sonically.  Needless to say, when the latest CELEBRATOR came across my desktop, I was definitely excited.

The Cult
CHOICE OF WEAPON

Having never been an overly huge fan of The Cult, I've always struggled to understand the rabid way their fans follow them. Clearly, they are one of those bands that are polarizinng. Their fans tend to REALLY love their music. Being honest, I think songs like "Edie" and "She Sells Sanctuary" are pretty cool. I have a few albums, like ELECTRIC, LOVE and SONIC TEMPLE. They are cool I guess. I think they might just be a bit too artsy for my taste, to be perfectly honest.

Europe
BAG OF BONES

Wow! Europe has been pretty good recently, but never in their career have they been this good. Yes folks, it seems that the band that created arguably the worst back to back hits the 80s hair scene had to offer ("The Final Countdown" and "Carrie") have completely reinvented themselves. By completely, I mean that there's not a single note of music here that could be mistaken for anything in the band's past. In fact, I'd bet most people wouldn't even recognize this as the same band.

Motorhead
THE WORLD IS OURS - VOL. 1

"We are Motorhead, and we play Rock N' Roll", Lemmy proclaims while casually walking out to the front of the stage in Santiago, Chile. We've all heard it so many times. What follows next is a no frills, straight forward onslaught of typical Motorhead madness...just like it's always been...throughout the entire length of most of our lives!