{"id":41650,"date":"2014-06-25T06:46:28","date_gmt":"2014-06-25T11:46:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=41650"},"modified":"2014-06-25T06:46:28","modified_gmt":"2014-06-25T11:46:28","slug":"stan-bush-the-ultimate-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/stan-bush-the-ultimate-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Stan Bush | The Ultimate<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Ron Higgins<\/span>
\n– Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"StanA Stan Bush record is like an episode of \u201cModern Family\u201d\u2014 you can always count on it being good. The Ultimate<\/em>, his twelfth studio album in over 30 years, is no exception. And to be clear, it\u2019s not a greatest hits record but it\u2019s certainly filled with some great hits. It\u2019s packed with soaring vocals, uplifting lyrics, beautiful melodies, rocking guitars and outstanding keyboards. Basically your typical Stan Bush release; reliable like an old hound dog sitting dutifully at the feet of his master\u2019s rocking chair.<\/p>\n

For the uninitiated, or someone like Patrick Starr who has been living under a rock for the past three decades, Stan Bush is an Emmy Award winning AOR singer\/songwriter who consistently releases high quality, keyboard-heavy, melodic hard rock with a classic \u201880s sound in a similar vein to legendary artists like Journey, Survivor, Foreigner, and others.<\/p>\n

The album kicks off strong with the mid-tempo \u201cSomething to Believe.\u201d A piano\/keyboard intro is followed by Stan\u2019s smooth voice which is accentuated nicely by some tasty guitars and a killer chorus. Visions of classic Loverboy hit you immediately. This is followed by the title track, \u201cThe Ultimate,\u201d which features heavy keyboards, amazing vocals and another ridiculously catchy chorus. Although evoking classic sounds from decades past, it\u2019s also reminiscent of newer AOR bands such as Mecca.<\/p>\n

Other standout tracks include tracks five, six and 10. The front half of the album is definitely stronger than the back half. Track five, \u201cStand in the Fire,\u201d assaults the listener with an aural attack of furious guitar work and a slamming bass before slowing down to allow Stan\u2019s voice to enter the picture. Another easily memorable chorus shines again with plucking guitar notes suggestive of AC\/DC\u2019s \u201cThunderstruck\u201d. The next track, \u201cUnstoppable\u201d is probably the best song on the album. Musically, it starts with a spacey keyboard intro and is filled with lush harmonies, excellent lead guitar and a chorus that will live with you long after the song ends. Lyrically, it\u2019s a very positive, uplifting song, featuring lyrics like \u201cWe are unstoppable, an indestructible force.\u201d The lyrics could easily be applied to athletics, or Christianity, but the corresponding video showcases the song\u2019s patriotic theme, making it a perfect accent to the upcoming Fourth of July holiday in the United States. Track 10, \u201cIf I\u2019m Not Lovin\u2019 You\u201d is a wonderful ballad. It sounds familiar, but in a good way, and features a brilliant guitar solo that would make Neal Schon proud. <\/p>\n

There are several other good ballads on the record too. \u201cLove Again,\u201d a tale of a man finding unexpected love, features some nice piano work and another lovely guitar solo, and \u201cThe Memory of You\u201d is nice because it has some beautiful acoustic guitar accompaniment. Other songs include, \u201cHeat of the Battle,\u201d which has an \u201cEmminence Front\u201d-like keyboard intro followed by some hard rocking guitar and Stan\u2019s tremendous voice, and \u201cThe Journey,” which is a decent song but nothing special.<\/p>\n

The final two songs are actually remakes. The first one is \u201cThunder in Your Heart,\u201d This was originally done by John Farnham for the 1986 movie RAD<\/em>, which, according to IMDB is, \u201dThe story of one young man, Cru Jones, who has the intensity and desire to win a BMX race called Helltrack.\u201d The movie hasn\u2019t exactly lived in the collective consciousness of \u201880s moviegoers like, say, Fast Times at Ridgemont High<\/em> or even The Goonies<\/em> so many people probably aren\u2019t familiar with this song. Thanks to modern day technology like YouTube you can jump in your Delorean, kick it up to 88 miles per hour and instantly jump back in time and listen to it. If you do, you\u2019ll realize that the new Stan Bush version is nearly identical to the original. The production is certainly better as are the vocals but not much else has changed. And that\u2019s a shame because the song isn\u2019t really that strong. However, Mr. Bush obviously liked it enough to cover it and it also happens to feature the other video released for this album. The video is somewhat interesting because it\u2019s an animated video produced and directed by Randal Ng, featuring cartoons of the original, first generation Transformers. <\/p>\n

So why Transformers<\/em>? Because the song that Stan Bush is probably best known for is \u201cThe Touch,\u201d which was featured in and became famous for, Transformers: The Movie<\/em>. Interestingly, the song was re-released in 2009 for Guitar Hero and then remixed in 2013 for the hit video game Transformers: Fall of Cybertron<\/em>. That\u2019s the version included here. It\u2019s called \u201cThe Touch (Power Mix)\u201d. A shorter 2:53 minute video advertisement of it can be found online but the full 4:03 version appears here. Overall, this is probably the most modern sounding track on the album, which can be perceived as either good or bad depending on your perspective.<\/p>\n

Overall, this is another solid Stan Bush release. It\u2019s not perfect but it\u2019s pretty darn good. Diehard Stan Bush fans will obviously love it but so will all lovers of classic \u201880s sounding melodic rock. So grab some nice comfortable well-worn slippers, ease back in your favorite chair, adjust your earphones and fire up this latest Stan Bush release. You\u2019ll enjoy it. And like that old dog, you can count on it.<\/p>\n

Genres \tHard rock, Pop Rock<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1.\tSomething To Believe
\n2.\tThe Ultimate
\n3.\tHeat Of The Battle
\n4.\tLove Again
\n5.\tStand In The Fire
\n6.\tUnstoppable
\n7.\tThunder In Your Heart
\n8.\tThe Journey
\n9.\tThe Memory Of You
\n10.\tIf I\u2019m Not Lovin\u2019 You
\n11.\tThe Touch (Power Mix)<\/p>\n

Labels: MelodicRock Records (Europe) \/ LA Records (USA)<\/p>\n

Websites:
\nhttps:\/\/www.facebook.com\/stanbushmusic<\/a>
\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/Stan_Bush<\/a>
\nhttp:\/\/www.StanBush.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven Rating: 8.5\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Ron Higgins – Columnist — A Stan Bush record is like an episode of \u201cModern Family\u201d\u2014 you can always count on it being good. The Ultimate, his twelfth studio album in over 30 years, […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":41651,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10848],"tags":[2317,1103,9467,1643,9262,8793,9466],"class_list":{"0":"post-41650","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2014","8":"tag-cd-review","9":"tag-hard-rock","10":"tag-la-records","11":"tag-melodicrock-records","12":"tag-pop-rock","13":"tag-stan-bush","14":"tag-the-ultimate"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41650"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41650\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}