{"id":54952,"date":"2017-06-19T19:59:32","date_gmt":"2017-06-20T00:59:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=54952"},"modified":"2017-06-19T20:09:18","modified_gmt":"2017-06-20T01:09:18","slug":"lillian-axe-love-war-rock-candy-records-remastered-reloaded-music-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2017\/lillian-axe-love-war-rock-candy-records-remastered-reloaded-music-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Lillian Axe | Love + War"},"content":{"rendered":"

by John Kindred<\/span>
\n– Publisher —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Rock Candy Records Remastered & Reloaded<\/h4>\n

\"\"Lillian Axe gets the ‘Rock Candy’ sugary-sweet treatment as the label has reissued the band’s sophomore album Love + War as a \u201cspecial deluxe collector\u2019s edition,\u201d complete with a multi-page colored booklet with a 4000-word essay. The reissued album has been remastered in High Definition by John Astley from an audiophile recording from the original master, shaped from 24 BIT digital technology.<\/p>\n

New Orleans-based Lillian Axe was founded by guitarist Steve Blaze. Originally the group performed for their enjoyment but the local music scene helped to propel the interest of music labels. The band — comprised of guitarists Steve Blaze and Jon Ster, vocalist Ron Taylor, bassist Rob Stratton and drummer Danny King — released their debut self-titled studio album in \u201988 on MCA Records. The follow-up Love + War<\/em> arrived in \u201989 and although well received by fans the album was all but ignored by their labels promotions department. Even landing a video on MTV for the song \u201cShow a Little Love\u201d did nothing to spur the label’s promotion of the album.<\/p>\n

Twenty-eight years after the initial release of Love + War<\/em>, with the resurgence in interest of \u201880s Metal and Hard Rock bands, the album gets another release on life with its reissue and remaster of this classic album. Back in 2007 Metal Mind Productions delivered the much sought after album in a re-mastered limited (2000 manufactured) digipack edition. And with that one now a hard to get collectible Rock Candy teases your sweet tooth yet again giving fans a second chance to hear the classic album again. <\/p>\n

Love + War<\/em> packs a wallop with 10 songs produced by Tony Pratt (AC\/DC) that seethes with melodic overtones, hard and heavy rhythms, blazing solos (no pun intended Mr. Blaze) and stylish, gritty vocals. The \u201880s were known for lyrical content that tied into sexual innuendos and Lillian Axe was not shy about dabbling within the confines of sexual context; \u201cShe Likes It On Top,\u201d \u201cDiana,\u201d \u201cDown On You,\u201d \u201cMy Number\u201d and \u201cShow A Little Love.\u201d Whether or not you cared for those sexual references, Lillian Axe’s strength came through within the confines of the music.<\/p>\n

Others songs, that didn\u2019t play up to the often pretentious sexual escapades, helped showcase the band’s engaging musical explorations; \u201cThe World Stopped Turning,\u201d \u201cGhost of Winter,\u201d \u201cFool’s Paradise\u201d and \u201cLetters in the Rain.\u201d<\/p>\n

A band is nothing without a good vocalist. Lillian Axe again was ahead of their peers as Ron Taylor\u2019s voice had matured since their debut release. His gritty, soulful voice complimented the music that was written by both Taylor and Blaze. The songwriting partnership of both men helped steer the quality of Lillian Axe\u2019s sophomore release.<\/p>\n

Where the debut self-titled studio showed the bands rookie explorations, Love + War<\/em> delivered polished well written and well-crafted songs. The first single released, \u201cShow A Little Love,\u201d fit in with the current trends on MTV. This alone should have sparked the interest of a mass audience as the band’s visual appeal was the same as their peers. Lillian Axe though could also deliver in the music department and should have never fallen into the hair-metal classification.<\/p>\n

Love + War<\/em> is a flashback to a time when Metal music delivered much more than hairspray and lipstick. The compositional ideas and flamboyant vocals highlighted exactly what was positive about \u201880s metal. Although Lillian Axe continued to release music, suffering through lineup changes and the band continues to release new music; Love + War<\/em> was the pinnacle of the band’s creative endeavors. The album deserves a second look by naysayers. Even if they come away with negative criticism, we the fans know exactly what genius lies behind the album.<\/p>\n

Genre: Hard Rock, Melodic Hard Rock, Melodic Metal<\/p>\n

Band Members:
\nRon Taylor – vocals
\nStevie Blaze – guitar, keyboards and background vocals
\nJon Ster – guitar, keyboards and background vocals
\nRob Stratton – bass and background vocals
\nDanny King – drums<\/p>\n

Additional Musicians:
\nMichael Dorian – keyboards<\/p>\n

Track listing:
\n01. All’s Fair In Love And War
\n02. She Likes It On Top
\n03. Diana
\n04. Down On You
\n05. The World Stopped Turning
\n06. Ghost Of Winter
\n07. My Number
\n08. Show A Little Love
\n09. Fool’s Paradise
\n10. Letters In The Rain<\/p>\n

Lillian Axe – “Show A Little Love”
\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ZzLLdUoQ7Qk<\/p>\n

Label: Rock Candy Records<\/p>\n

Web: http:\/\/www.lillianaxe.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: [usr 9 size=20]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by John Kindred – Publisher — Rock Candy Records Remastered & Reloaded Lillian Axe gets the ‘Rock Candy’ sugary-sweet treatment as the label has reissued the band’s sophomore album Love + War as a \u201cspecial […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":54591,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15128],"tags":[304,13393,13396,12354,13394,10402,10440,13395,9319],"class_list":{"0":"post-54952","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2017","8":"tag-lillian-axe","9":"tag-love-war","10":"tag-mca-records","11":"tag-music-review","12":"tag-reloaded","13":"tag-remastered","14":"tag-rock-candy-records","15":"tag-ron-taylor","16":"tag-steve-blaze"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54952","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=54952"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54952\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}