I'm one of the few weirdos who makes up the American cult following that Loudness retains on this side of the Pacific. After hearing and loving the self-titled Loudness album with former EZO frontman Masaki Yamada, I decided to check out this dual album set we with Dragon and Ghetto Machine.After listening to it, I dig it. There are two new members from the self-titled album lineup: bassist Naoto Shibata and Yamada's old EZO bandmate Hirotsugu Homma on drums. The lineup is competent and I dig the music. They're definitely a lot more groove metal-oriented than what I'm used to from Loudness but I line it. Akira Takasaki has never been one to stand still creatively. Some of these songs blend funk metal with thrash or groove metal passages. As one other reviewer mentioned: Akira doesn't solo on every song like he did during the 80's but I personally am not bothered by that. I grew up listening to nu-metal, which was all about the riffs, meaning that I'm used to songs that stomp and focus more on the riff and the song than the solo. Some of the e songs may take a little time to grow on you but it's worth the effort. I wousl recommend that any Loudness fan check out these albums.