Free Music Friday #100: The Union

I've featured the union before (see Free Download Friday #66: Back after a long holiday...) and every time I hear them I decide I want to hear more. The band features Luke Morley from Thunder and Pete Shoulder from Winterville and I believe they are supporting Whitesnake when they tour later this year.

They are currently offering two tracks for download on their website. The first, in exchange for your email address, gives you the chance to download their new single, which is also the title track from their forthcoming album: Siren Song. This is a belter of a track. It starts with a Blues soaked acoustic section for a verse or so before the rest of the band comes crashing in. There is real light in shade in this track with a grumbling bass line, a short but impressive guitar solo, Siren style backing vocals and a kitchen sink for good measure. (Well, I may have lied about the sink part.)

They did a live version at the Rock Radio Birthday bash. Not quite as impressive without the acoustic section at the start but still jolly good I hope you'll agree:

They are also offering an older track, Black Monday, which is more of a straightforward Blues/Rock offering.

You can almost smell the whisky from the saloon bar the track conjures up as you listen!

So what do you think? Do you want to hear more from the Union?

{P.S. The hundredth Free Music Friday download. I'm quite pleased to have kept it going this long!}

Free Download Friday #66: Back after a long holiday...

It's been a long time since Free Download Friday #65 so I'll through in a few from Classic Rock Tracks of the Day that I didn't pick up because I was on holiday, and then one from Planet Rock... just because I like it! So without further ado:

Seraphina from GUN. I've featured GUN before (Free Download... er... Tuesday?) when they were showcasing their new singer, Toby Jepson. Well they have another new singer (to lose one singer is unfortunate but to lose two...) and another free download to let people hear what he's like. I would say that the new vocalist, Dante Gizzi (previously the bass player - so is that promotion?), acquits himself admirably. The track is let down a bit by poor lyrics, especially the oft repeated chorus, but otherwise it sounds great and rewards repeated listens.

Portrait Of Red by The Virginmarys. This caught my eye initially because I saw the name and got confused. I thought it was Electric Mary, a band that I had heard a bit and liked. However, I discovered I liked this track from The Virginmarys and I will need to see what else I can find by them. (Note to self: are their other bands with "Mary" in there name that are worth checking out? See Paint it Black for similar phenomenon with "Black".) The band are a relatively new three-piece and all three of them seem to be going flat out. The is a snarl in the vocals and power and energy in the music. Well worth checking out if you like your rock raw and raucous! Final note: in a bizarre bit of synchronicity, the track offered for download is produced by Toby Jepson!

One Last Soul by Black Country Communion. If you've not been paying attention to the recent rash of supergroups, the name Black Country Communion might not mean much to you, but if I say Glenn Hughes, Jason Bonham, Derek Sherinian, and Joe Bonamassa, maybe I can change your "Who?" to a "Whoo!". I've been wanting to here this group since I heard Joe Bonamassa was involved. As I've mentioned before (see other Joe Bonamassa posts) I am a huge fan of Mr Bonamassa, so I was pleased to see some output from this group available as a free download. On first listen, I was disappointed that Joe's guitar didn't feature more strongly, however, on reflection, that's probably right for a group setting - it's not a solo project. And as a group project, it works. Perhaps the keyboards could feature more strongly but otherwise, everyone gets a chance to show what they can do (including a great solo, or two, from Joe). On the strength of this track, I'd say we have a group worthy of the adjective "super".

Cheat The Gallows by Bigelf. Bigelf have featured here before (Free Download Friday #49: Metal!). I was so impressed with the few bits of Bigelf I'd hear, so I got their album (Cheat The Gallows is available on eMusic). I detect hints of Pink Floyd in this track but heavier and meatier than Floyd.

Last but by no means least, Planet Rock featured The Union (see Free Download Friday #54: Two old hands). Planet Rock were offering a chance to win a concert in your living room from The Union (which you are probably too late to enter) and a free download of Watch The River Flow (which is hopefully still available).

{Sorry. first Friday after the holidays, and I'm a day late. I'd say I'd do better in future but past experience suggests that Free Download Saturdays will still feature on a semi-regular basis!}

Free Download Friday #54: Two old hands

Two downloads from people who are already known from their membership in other bands.

First up is an offering from Vince Neil, the vocalist with Mötley Crüe. He has a new solo album out, Tattoos & Tequila, which is mostly covers of hits that have "...inspired Vince throughout the years". However, there are two new tracks and he has released one of those, the title track, as a free download through his website. In fact, you get not only the song but the promo video too. As with the Slash track I linked to last week, you can also embed a widget to let people download it from your site:

I like the sound of this track. It's got the growly guitar sound I like, Vince's voice sounds good and it has a catchy chorus. Also, in the video, the drummer looks like he's having fun. My only problem is with the lyrics which don't seem to stray far from the clichéd sexist rock lyric mode. Perhaps it's an occupational hazard of having been in the Crüe that you get stuck in the eighties.

Second free download is from The Union, a band that features Luke Morley from Thunder and Pete Shoulder from Winterville. On the band's website, you can download Step Up To The Plate from a widget on the front page. (It looks like the same widget as used by Slash and Vince but you don't seem to be able to embed this one.) Step Up To The Plate is a great, Blues tinged rock track and Pete's vocals are excellent. They played a gig in Glasgow last week and on the strength of the tracks available in their website, I'm miffed that I didn't make the effort to go and see them.

So what do you think? Artists that have passed their sell by, or artists that are going on to bigger and better things?