This was an album that no one really seemed to take much notice of when it was released. The reason being, it really does not have too many catchy commercial singles like Bark at the Moon had. The only one that comes to mind is "Shot in the Dark". All the songs are pretty good rockers, though. If I could, I would give this cd a three and a half star rating. The songs could have had some better melody lines and the guitar playing could have used some intense, fast solos. The highlight is that even though the songs omit the fast solo work, Jake E. Lee's heavy power chords are distinctive and this album solidified the Jake E. Lee "sound". Without Jake Lee playing on this cd, though, it would be very average. After all, a rock song should have a memorable chorus line. That's what makes it exciting and interesting. I don't understand these individuals who say heavy rock should not have this, or that it is too "80's" or "commercial". That's what good music should be like. Def Leppard did it well in the mid 80's before going overly sappy in the 90's. The opposite extreme of "counter-sappiness" has been the grunge movement. Most 90's grunge music is just utter garbage. In conclusion, Jake makes this cd, as does the tune "Shot in the Dark", which the new Ozzy guitarist Zakk Wylde is not able to emulate. "Fool Like You" is another well written song. Overall, this is a fairly strong cd, but it possesses very little in the way of big hits.

I believe that there is a combination of reasons why Def Leppard has gone limp as of late. One big reason is that the interplay between Steve Clark and Phil Collen is no longer because Steve Clark is dead. The Def Leppard smooth "sound" is still there because Phil Collen was the one who sort of perfected it when he joined Def Leppard in 1983. However, Steve Clark was likely better at playing fast solos than Collen. This missing component that "steamin'" Steve provided was evident with the release of Adrenalize. Did you notice how the album had no songs like "Run Riot" and "Don't Shoot Shotgun"? The fast solos and leads were pretty much gone. Vivian Campbell has come in and should be have been allowed to add his own flare but that has not happened. Albeit, he's got a slightly different sound than Clark had, but he may be just as good if he's given a chance. But he's not being given the chance. The direction of Def Leppard is simply sappy and I doubt whether Vivian Campbell will stay in the band. They should simply adopt a new sound now that Clark has passed away and focus more on a "heavy" guitar sound. There's enough sappy bands out there with no distinctive attitude. Def Leppard have gotten too used to commercial success and have lost their edge. Will they get it back? They won't until they start letting Vivian do some stuff like he did when playing with Ronnie James Dio in 1983. Thank you.

The new lead singer sounds very much like Steve Perry. In fact, unless you are a Journey connoisseur you won't even know it's not Steve Perry... He probably sounds better than Steve Perry would have at this point. The songs on this cd are phenomenol. Excellent melody, lyrics, musicianship etc. This is probably close to being the best Journey cd ever, excluding, of course, their greatest hits collections. It has a disproportionate amount of ballads, but that's what we all expect from Journey. And the first song "Higer Ground" is a decent rocking tune. I feel the cd is simply touching... I was listening to track 8 before writing this review. The ballads on this cd are so good that anyone who dislikes this cd must not have any musical feeling whatsover. Don't get me wrong, Perry's old stuff like "Faithfully" and "Open Arms" will always be hard to touch, but this cd has some songs that are right there...

After several years of lousy solo albums with one or two good songs or just really bad sound engineering, this compilation is worthy of Schenker's guitar talent. This one also omits Gary Barden who is a pretty bad vocalist, especially live, in favour of Sundin and Van Landing (who share vocal duties on here). This compilation is not truly MSG's best of collection, but it provides a fairly comprehensive selection of Michael's best work. And the most important thing for me at this point, was that the sound quality was good- and it really is. One of the best live cd's I've heard. Even if you compare it with other hard rock live recordings done recently, like Queensryche's Live Evolution comes to mind, this cd is much, much better. I can crank it to the max and I don't get any hisses or annoying production limitations, just clear bass, mids, tweets, all well-balanced. One reviewer mentioned that Schenker does well for an old geezer. He's actually only 46 years old now and he looks and performs better, at least on this cd, than any of his previous stuff. He isn't the fat old fogie type that some of his contemporaries have become. It looks like he actually follows an exercise program (at least from the photos). Another testament to the fact that while diet and execise may not guarantee a long life, it sure looks a heck of a lot better and usually makes you feel better, too.

Don't be fooled by anyone stating that this live Queensryche compilation is not good. It is the best that they have come out with so far. Most of the songs actually sound better than they do on the studio versions. There are several Chris DeGarmo fans that poor mouth this compilation because Kelly Gray plays along with Michael. Chris DeGarmo does not appear on these recordings. I say, who cares. The sound quality is not perfect, but if you listen to "Operation Livecrime" (which I also own), you will find that "Livecrime" is all high frequency and virtually no mids or bass. The "Live Evolution" is a well-balanced, more warm sounding cd set. It has more of a bass feel about it. And why would you want to hear hard rock'n roll with all highs?!! Also, Queensryche sounds better live, especially these days, then they do on their studio stuff. Buying their studio cds is a waste of time, in my opinion. If you look at the song selections on this compilation, it is virtually a greatest hits. This is Queensryche at their best. Who cares if DeGarmo is not there and if Geoff Tate doesn't get some of those high notes like he used to. They were overdone anyway. Geoff Tate is still among the top five best male vocalists in the history of Rock. Jimi Jamison, Joe Lynn Turner, Lou Gramm, Steve Perry, Geoff Tate... Anyways, hope this review was helpful and unbiased. By the way, if you're wondering why I did not include David Bowie or Mick Jagger or any of those characters in my male vocals selections, it is because they don't come close to these guys! It would be a joke to place them in the same category.