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Steeler (with Yngwie Malmsteen), Hawaii, Chastain, Tony Mac Alpine, Jason Becker, Racer X, Cacaphony, Marty Friedman, they all have something in common with Vicious Rumors. All were part of Mike Varney's Shrapel label in the eighties. For Vicious Rumors debut album 'Soldiers of the Night', Mike introduced the band to guitarist Vinnie Moore to fill it with his excellent solos. That cooperation didn't last long and as a follow up Mark McGee joined and together with Geoff Thorpe he took care of the axes. The most important change however was that vocalist Gary St Piere left and was replaced by Carl Albert. His mighty singing still makes their second album 'Digital Dictator' their best. I remember having the album on tape and I played that one over and over again, going on holiday in my dad's car with my girl-friend somewhere around 1988 or 1989. When I look back, I think it drove my girlfriend crazy back then, but she didn't dare to say that because she liked me so much... After three more albums with Carl Albert, he sadly left our world, but he will always be remembered as one of the best metal vocalists ever! Looking back, it just feels like it all happened yesterday. On the next album, Geoff Thorpe, Morgan Thorne and James Rivera took care of the vocals. Today's singer is Brian Allen, an average singer in my opinion, who can't fill out Carl's footsteps. The band decided to release a live album of the show in Passau (Germany). The first thing that I thought, why only 9 songs and why the 2 studio recorded cover tracks as an extra? For a live album with only 9 songs is not enough and in my opinion there are a lot more songs worth putting on the album. That Vicious Rumors is aware of the fact that 'Digital Dictator' is their best album is underlined by putting 4 tracks from that record on this one. When you listen to the first track you immediately hear the limitations of singer Brian, man does he sing bad on that track. Fortunately that changes in the next tracks when his voice sounds more warmed up. The songs sound nice and being a fan of the band, you don't hear me complaining about their musical abilities, but I don't see the relevance of this album. It doesn't add anything to their repertoire and the Vicious Rumor fans have all better versions of the songs at home. I am disappointed with this album, it is too short and the 2 cover tracks are not special enough to compensate for that. I have a very warm spot in my heart for the band, but I would not be honest to you and myself to praise this album. | ||||||||||||||||||
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