SORRY!! The first pressing of "Meteor" is SOLD OUT! There is no definite date on the second pressing but it IS coming. Stay Tuned. If you want to go ahead and order it, feel free to but know the expected date of shipping is `unknown`. Hey - Hey - HEY! One of the true classic, hot rocking bands in the last 15 years....RETURNS! Ladies & Gentlemen, won`t you please welcome back ---- THE SHAZAM!!
Recorded at Sage & Sound in Hollywood, Meteor is produced by Mack, who produced Queen, Black Sabbath, Sparks, Billy Squier, and has worked with Electric Light Orchestra, T. Rex, The Sweet, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Elton John and the Rolling Stones, among others. Collaborating with Mack marks a turning point in the band`s 15-year career, giving them the opportunity to record an album with the rock legend who worked on the very albums that influenced their music.
Okay, exhale the (just and proper) hype and let`s continue to talk about this new Shazam album. The Shazam`s garage rock and power pop roots intertwine to make Meteor the band`s biggest sounding record yet. "So Awesome", the explosive lead-off track, sets the stage for the whole gamut of The Shazam`s modern classic rock: big, Who-sized guitars collide with glittering insanity, melodic hooks, anthemic rockers, sweeping balladry, layers of vocals, resounding drums, guitars, guitars, guitars. With each successive Shazam album, the band has grown from small-screen to wide-screen in terms of production and grandeur. It was the stripped-down English Mod approach of their 1997 debut that gave The Shazam the credit for starting Nashville`s "powerpop" scene. With sophomore release Godspeed The Shazam came mellotrons, theremins and overblown psychedelia. Dubbed their "experimental" album, Rev9 was the bridge from Godspeed to Tomorrow The World`s full-tilt arena rock. Meteor is everything Shazam all at once. All songs on the album were written by singer/guitarist Hans Rotenberry, whose soaring vocals were never more inspired than on Meteor`s 11 powerful tracks. Drummer Scott Ballew, with the band since its formation in 1994, is Rotenberry`s creative foil. Ballew`s distinctive thundering beat is the engine that makes The Shazam run. Jeremy Asbrock`s crisp guitar work and newest member Mike Vargo`s melodic bass playing are the perfect complement to Rotenberry`s and Ballew`s exuberance. Now is the time celebrate an event in the middle of summer and remind yourself of the true, visceral, transcendent joy of what rock `n roll means in 2009 and beyond. "Meteor" is not just another album to put on your shelf and occasionally play. It will be a precious piece of your life, a sideman, a stately presence, a reminder of how a great piece of music
colors the corners of your life with more meaning, more joy and the spirit of that rock flame that burns inside real music fans. Engage. Enjoy. This one is for you. Right here, right now.
Let`s hit some reviews of "Meteor" from Absolute Power Pop blog - Read on, kind sir: "The Shazam is Power Pop with a capital "P" (or "PP"), and it`s all here: crunchy guitars, power chords, hooky melodies, a touch of glam, and just enough attitude.
The disc opens with "So Awesome", which aside from serving as a two-word condensed version of this review, is the calling card to let you know that The Shazam is truly back. Frontman/Guitarist Hans Rotenberry (great name) pulls out all the rock-star moves on this killer track, and the sound behind the track can be traced all the way from T. Rex to Sloan. The midtempo "Don`t Look Down" follows, a winner with its psychedelic flourishes and Beatlesque feel and "NFU" (which stands for "Not F----d Up - enough") rocks with the attitude its title implies. "Disco @ the Fairground" isn`t quite what its title implies, but it`s a refreshingly goofy glam number that recalls Queen in its mid-70s heyday.
"A Little Better" kicks off the midsection of the album, and its acoustic guitars and early 70s vibe make it sound like a lost classic rock tune from the bastard child of Led Zeppelin and The Move. "Always Tomorrow" features an easygoing melody in support of some rocking moves and recalls Big Star, and "Let it Fly" is the power pop equivalent of those quiet/loud tunes that the Pixies and Nirvana were well known for.
The final third of the disc sees them go in a Ramones-with-more-melody direction ("I Got the Bomb"), the glam rock theme for an imaginary superhero ("Latherman") and the double-entendre rock of "Time 4 Pie". All in all, it`s the perfect return for a long-lost power pop staple and a long-lost power pop label. A definite year-end contender."
How about one from POWER POP AHOLIC blog: "9 out of 10. back with plenty of guitar crunch and killer hooks that brings to mind the bastard son of Cheap Trick, T.Rex and The Sweet. The sound is classic power pop helped in part by the legendary producer Mack (Queen, ELO). The vintage guitar chords get things started on a high note with "So Awesome." This is music you play loud and jump around doing air guitar to. The mid-tempo "Don`t Look Down" is a big fat rock anthem that is one of many album highlights. Next comes "NFU" (Not F_`ed Up ) which is another fast paced gem with loud harmonies along the lines of Queen. "Disco At The Fairgrounds" sounds like it fell straight off of the "Sheer Heart Attack" LP. And "Dreamcrusher Machine" reminds me a little of The Strokes mixed with Urge Overkill as well. The album falls a bit short of the classic Godspeed the Shazam, but there is plenty here to celebrate. Lots of fun is to be had with "I Got The Bomb," it`s faux Ramones chorus, and the guitar frenzied "Time for Pie" to close out this collection." ESD Music has this to say on this new slab from da Shazam: "The Shazam have never been shy about baring their retro influences. After all, when you take your name from the title of one of Brit Rock`s great cult classic recordings - specifically, the seminal set by the Move - there`s no hiding that unbridled devotion. This is a band that`s effectively blended their penchant for power pop variety with a hint of psychedelic suggestion, holding firm to their `60s sensibilities at every interval. This time around however, the Shazam alter their palette ever so slightly, veering away from the more lumbering aspects of their sound in favor of a more straight-ahead approach, displaying a clear unabashed exuberance that finds each track a veritable sonic extravaganza." "The long awaited follow up to Tomorrow The World finds The Shazam somehow pulling off the feat of sounding more classic and more weird, all on the same LP. This album is a bit more in the vein of Godspeed The Shazam, with some eccentric tunes serving as change ups for the band`s drawling take on power pop a la Cheap Trick, The Move and The Who...It`s been my view that The Shazam is the best band of the crop of great talents that spurred an indie power pop revival in the late-`90s. This album not only solidifies that status but shows that they still have what it takes."- Mike Bennett, HabloEnnui blog. Let`s see what the BLOODY RED BARON has to say on "Meteor": "Nashville`s The Shazam have been around since 1993, stunning audiences with anthemic, hook-laden rock in the spirit of their two poles, The Who and The Move. They moved beyond those obvious influences on `03`s stunning Tomorrow the World, a blast of rawk big enough to fill ten Olympic stadiums...Meteor is a titanic yawp of brilliantly executed hard rock anthems alternating with hooks so sweet they take your breath away. Hans Rotenberry, who wrote and sings the songs, has carved style from extreme rock dynamics crossed with a sweet, supple voice.
"So Awesome" opens the record with a twenty-one guitar salute to the sheer joy of living, lead guitar as hard and elegant as the Golden Gate Bridge. "Don`t Look Down" is a power ballad with guitar written in rock. You could climb the notes like a staircase. Rotenberry`s vocals are winsome and masterful, going from cooed aside to anthemic bellow in a heartbeat. "Disco at the Fairground" is the best Move song the Move never recorded. Alternating sinister, earth-chewing minor chord guitars with drunken sailor music hall choruses it crunches euphorically. Zappa would approve.
"A Little Better" is a self-improvement song that might have come off Workingman`s Dead with a slightly harder rock edge. "Always Tomorrow" is one of those bittersweet masterpieces built around a simple repeating guitar motif overlaid with Rotenberry`s pliant vocals, filled with inchoate longing as is all great pop. "Let it Fly" is more of the same only better, harking back to "queeze the Day" from Tomorrow the World. This is life affirming rock that will have you pumping your fist in the air and yelling "YEAH!"
"Hey Mom I Got the Bomb" contains the lyric:
I got The Bomb, yeah I got The Bomb
If you don`t think I`ll use it you`re ridiculously wrong
You really have to hear this to get the full effect. "Time For Pie," the closer, is a distillation of every great arena rock guitar solo you ever heard.You won`t hear about the Shazam in Rolling Stone or Spin. You won`t hear them on Big Radio, certainly not on MTV or VH-1. But the Shazam are merely the tip of the iceberg. And the hardest part of the iceberg too. " - Mike Baron, BloodyRedBaron.com
Want to listen to the full audio of lead-off track "So Awesome" on YouTube - click here
Read an great article on the making of "Meteor" from Nashville Scene with interviews with producer MACK and Shazam Brigadier General Hans Rotenberry click here
 Song #1 - mp3
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