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Rating: BETWEEN FICTION AND REALITY
Jeff Scott Soto - vocals
Michael Matijevic - vocals
Zakk Wylde - guitar
Jeff Pilson - bass
Jason Bonahm - drums
Steel Dragon: a band created for the 2001 film "Rock Star" by recruiting some of the best artists from the hard & heavy scene.
An unprecedented lineup, but when there's talent, the results almost emerge mathematically, and there's plenty of talent here: Jeff Scott Soto (who performs most of the pieces) has been a guarantee for decades, boasting collaborations with a wide range of artists (Yngwie Malmsteen among them), with a simply devastating voice; Michael Matijevic is no less, the leader of Steelheart, another stage beast; Zakk Wylde needs no introduction, former guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne and current leader of Black Label Society, one of the best around; on bass is Jeff Pilson, already the bassist for Dokken, Ronnie James Dio, and Foreigner; and finally Jason Bonahm, son of the legendary John of Led Zeppelin, manages quite well on drums, good blood doesn't lie (incidentally, Wylde, Pilson, and Bonahm participated as actors in the film as members of the fictional band).
Let's get to the tracks. ""We All Die Young" is the only track performed by Michael Matejevic, it's a cover by Steelheart, completely revisited and even better than the original, a goosebump-inducing power ballad. ""Stand Up" features a Jeff Scott Soto deserving of an Oscar: the screams introducing the track and those preceding Zack Wylde's solo are textbook hard rock; in the same vein is ""Blood Pollution" where Bonahm provides a great demonstration of his talent in the intro but Soto and Wylde steal the show as it progresses, magnificent. ""Long Live Rock & Roll" and ""Livin 'The Life" are two classic streetwise hard rock tracks, dirty, brazen, with guaranteed engagement; finally, ""Wasted Generation" seems to come from the repertoire of the best Motley Crue (oh how nice to breathe the flavor of those years.. tear).
It's a shame they didn't follow up on the "Rock Star" experience, there were all the prerequisites for doing well. However, what Steel Dragon gave us, whether real or fictional, is of absolute value.
I conclude by launching a poll/proposal: Velvet Revolver are looking for a singer, wouldn't Jeff Scott Soto be suitable for them?
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Blood Pollution (04:03)
Bad mornings, good nights
Gotta run gotta hide from the light
Bar lights, blind my eyes
Crash the car and got in a fight
Gimme blood
Gimme blood
Gimme blood
Gimme blood pollution
Stole some whiskey, stole some wine
I stole my best friends girl for a line
Sin City, it's alright
I looked at the mirror, all I saw was light
02 Long Live Rock and Roll (03:31)
At the end of a dream
If you know where I mean
When the mist just starts to clear
In a similar way
At the end of today
I could feel the sound of writing on the wall
It cries for you
It's the least that you can do
Like a spiral on the wind
I can hear it screamin, in my mind
Long live rock and roll
Long live rock n roll
Long live rock and roll
In a different time
When the words didn't ryhme
You could never quite be sure
Then on with the change
It was simple but strange
And you knew the feeling seemed to say it all
It cries for you
It's the least that you can do
Like a spiral on the wind
I can hear it screamin' in my mind
Long live rock and roll
Long live rock n roll
Long live rock and roll
Getting as good as you give
Sleep with the devil and then you must pay
Sleep with the devil, and the devil will take you away
Look away from the sea
I can take you anywhere
Spend a vision with me
A chase with the wind
Move closer to me
I can make you anyone
I think you're ready to see
The gates of babylon
The power of what has been before
Rises to trap you within
A magic carpet ride a genie maybe more
A city of heavenly sin
Sleep with the devil and then you must pay
Sleep with the devil, the devil will take you away
Black gates of babylon
The devil is me
And I'm holding the key
To the gates of sweet hell
Babylon
06 We All Die Young (04:02)
Risk my soul, test my life
For my bread
Spend my time, lost in space
Am I dead
let the river flow
Through my callused hands
And Take me from my own
The eyes of the damn
Yeh it makes my stomach turn
And it tears my flesh from bone
Oooh we turn a dream to stone
And We all die young
And We all die Young
Tell me I know
I lived so afraid
And Still we cry alone
with words left unsaid
Yeh, it makes my stomach turn
And it tears my flesh from bone
Now we turn a dream to stone
And We all die young
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