Quick Bits (Mini Reviews Of New Releases)

Queensrÿche – American Soldier
Loosely woven concept record about war from the point of view of those in the United States Armed Forces. Songs are interspersed with recorded voices of servicemen relating their stories in either brief samples or slightly longer interludes. This is a very fine album that takes on a very hot and noteworthy -- as well as timeless -- topic that no one else has had the guts to take on in such a grand scale thus far. Standout tracks: If I Were King; Home Again; Man Down! - Recommended You can purchase the CD here.





Heaven And Hell – The Devil You Know
This is as we all know Black Sabbath with Dio on vocals calling themselves Heaven and Hell. Oddly, it's the closest in spirit to the first two Black Sabbath albums. Tony Iommi's riffs and Vinnie Appice's drumming punishing the listener like medieval monks scourging unbelievers. Dio's voice is as powerful as ever. The Osbourne-fronted and Dio-fronted versions of Black Sabbath are very different bands yet this is an album that matches its moment every bit as perfectly as Paranoid did back in 1970. Standout tracks: Bible Black; Turn Of The Screw; Atom And Evil - Recommended You can purchase the CD here.