L.A. GUNS ARE BACK TO DISCUSS THEIR CHECKERED PAST
Three albums into the Tracii Guns and Phil Lewis L.A. Guns reunion, most of us know the difference between this version of L.A. Guns, and Reiley’s L.A. Guns. Checkered Past is the third go-round for Guns/Lewis variation of the band. It follows 2019’s The Devil You Know, and 2017’s The Missing Peace.
L.A. Guns is a band that has always for the most part pleased and entertained me. No matter who is in or out of the lineup, I always find something I like off of all of their releases. Some albums may be stronger than others, but there is still something good to find.
Checkered Past is no different, it follows the solid work the Lewis/Guns tandem has been putting forward on their last two albums. There are plenty of solid tracks on the album. And being someone that isn’t a fan of ballads, there are a few, that I don’t care for.
I have always argued that the band’s debut should be mentioned in the conversation when discussing great albums by bands from L.A. Although their second album, Cocked And Loaded, had “all the hits”, the self-titled debut is timeless. The rawness, the energy, and the songs themselves put it over the top for me. I still listen to it all the time and actually don’t skip that album’s ballad.
Is L.A. Guns’ Checkered Past on the level of their debut album? No, not even close for me. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy most of the album. Case in point, a lot of the album’s tracks are already in my L.A. Guns playlist.
If you remotely enjoy the band, check the album out. As alluded to above, it continues what this variant of the band has been doing on their last few releases. If you like those, you’ll more than likely enjoy this one as well.
Here is L.A. Guns with the title track off of their latest album Living Right Now.
Interested in checking out Checkered Past by L.A. Guns before picking the album up?
Pick your poison, check out the album on either Spotify or Apple Music here.
EMIGRATE RETURNS WITH ALBUM NUMBER FOUR
This is album number four by Emigrate. I really love their 2014 released Silent So Long, and 2018’s A Million Degrees. They’re albums I play all the time, and own on vinyl.
Even their 2007 self-titled release has a bunch of cool tracks. But The Persistence Of Memory falls way short of my expectations from the band.
The album isn’t bad at all, and I still prefer Richard Kruspe’s side project to his “day job”. But I didn’t need a millionth and one cover of “Always On My Mind”. I also didn’t need another version of “Hypothetical”, I’m good with the original.
While I feel like other bands really raised their game during the pandemic, most of the songs off of the album are decent but not as great as other things Richard has released under this name.
I do encourage you to check the album out and decide for yourselves.
Here is Emigrate with "I'm Still Alive" off of their latest album The Persistence Of Memory.
Interested in checking out The Persistence Of Memory by Emigrate before picking the album up?
Pick your poison, check out the album on either Spotify or Apple Music here.
HERE ARE SOME OTHER NEW RELEASES THAT MAY INTEREST YOU
Gov’t Mule – Heavy Load Blues
Enuff Z’Nuff – Enuff Z’Nuff’s Hardrock Nite
Beatallica – The Devolver
Haunt – Unplugged Vol. 1
Scattered Hamlet – Stereo Overthrow
NorthTale – Eternal Flame
Bonded – Into Blackness
Negură Bunget – Zău
Darkwoods My Betrothed – Angel Of Carnage Unleashed
Insania – V
Delphian – Somnambulant Foregoer
Groundbreaker – Soul To Soul
Unleashed – No Sign Of Life
All Life Dies – Ghost Dust
Blood Sports – Hot Blood And Cold Steel
Suntitle – In A Dream
Rhine – Ausland
Tower – Shock To The System
200 Stab Wounds – Slave To The Scalpel
Hyperdontia – Hideous Entity
Cave Bastard – Wrath Of The Bastard
Burial Waves – Holy Ground
Anton Johansson – Nevertold Stories
Silent Planet – Iridescent
EPs
Rise Against – Nowhere Sessions
All Hail The Yeti – Within The Hollow Earth
Eyes Wide Open – Through Life And Death
Vended – What Is It//Kill It
REISSUES
Nirvana – Nevermind 30th Anniversary Edition
Hammerfall – Renegade 2.0
All That Remains – The Fall Of Ideals
Borknagar – Borknagar
LIVE ALBUMS
Suffocation – Live In North America
COMPILATIONS
Mordred – The Noise Years
Support the site and the bands you love by picking up any of the albums listed above.
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