 VERTIGO ‘VERTIGO’
(FRONTIERS RECORDS/BERTUS)
VERTIGO is the brainchild of former TOTO lead singer
JOSEPH WILLIAMS, who recorded a great album for FRONTIERS
RECORDS, with the help of songwriters like JIM PETERIK,
JOEY CARBONE, DAN LUCAS, DAVID TYSON etc. and musicians
like Fabrizio V. Zee Grossi (PERFECT WORLD) and Alex De
Rosso (DOKKEN). The musicstyle is pure 80s AOR, similar
in style to a rockier STARSHIP and TOTO circa ‘The
seventh one’, and actually this album might be
called the AOR album TOTO never made! There are some very
sensational pure AOR tracks on this album. I would like
to mention here tracks like “Straight to your
heart” (excellent typical late 80s semi AOR ballad,
with a very catchy chorus a la MARK FREE’s
‘Long way from love’), “More than
enough” (lovely AOR ballad), “I don’t want
to go” (another beautiful AOR ballad), “Love is
blind” (classy uptempo 80s AOR, previously recorded
by JOHN O’BANION, ALKATRAZZ and several others) and
“When it doesn’t matter” (great midtempo
AOR). Anyone who waited for TOTO to release a new AOR
album are better off buying this awesome new JOSEPH
WILLIAMS album which offers more than any of the TOTO
records from the past 16 years!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 ION VEIN ‘REIGNING
MEMORIES’
(MAJESPHERE RECORDS)
The American band ION VEIN returns with a new CD and
without a doubt, this is one of the best Progressive/80s
US Power Metal orientated releases so far this year. The
band has created a truly awesome high quality record that
sounds like the perfect mixture between 80s QUEENSRYCHE,
CRIMSON GLORY and BALANCE OF POWER. The CD was produced,
recorded and mixed by none-other than Mr. NEIL KERNON,
who is famous for producing major masterpieces by
QUEENSRYCHE, SHY, JUDAS PRIEST, FM, KANSAS, AUTOGRAPH and
many more. The CD has a playing length of 64 minutes, and
contains in total 12 superb tracks of the highest level
you can reach in today’s Prog/Power Metal genre. The
musicianship is excellent, and lead singer Russ Klimczak
has a terrific high pitched voice that makes you forget
GEOFF TATE ever existed! Anyone waiting for QUEENSRYCHE
to return to their old style, forget it, and just
purchase yourself a copy of this masterpiece by the
Chicago settled ION VEIN. It’s hard to pick
favourite tracks, as all tracks are sensational, but
songs like “Spiral maze”, “Faith and
majesty” (beautiful harmonies), “The power of
you”, “Another life” and the epic
“Adrian’s ladder” are definitely the
absolute highlights here. This CD doesn’t need any
negative comments, maybe only the sax in the song
“Twilight garden” wasn’t necessary. Fans
of the first 2 albums of CRIMSON GLORY and early
QUEENSRYCHE can easily buy this ‘perfect’ CD.
More info at: http://www.ionvein.com and e-mail them at: mail@ionvein.com
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
MAMMOTH
‘LARGER
AND LIVE’ (ANGEL AIR RECORDS)
The heaviest Rock band ever? Well, in the 1980s the UK
band MAMMOTH received a great deal of publicity with
being labelled as the heaviest rockband on the scene, but
it’s a shame they were never taken serously for
their music, because their mix of AOR and Melodic Heavy
Rock sounded very impressive at times. Notable members
include vocalist NICKY MOORE and bassist/guitarist JOHN
MCCOY, and basically this CD release on ANGEL AIR RECORDS
contains most of the recordings by MAMMOTH. In total 17
tracks are included, of which 6 are live recorded tracks.
The 11 studio tracks are a very interesting listen for
fans of 80s British AOR/Melodic Rock, although the band
also offered some weaker rocksongs (like “Monster
mania”, “Working for the man”,
“Dressed to kill”, “Bet you wish” and
“Do what you want to”). Highlights however are
such great AOR/Melodic Rockers like “Fatman”,
“All the days”, “Can’t take the
hurt” (almost a classic, fantastic memorable
chorus!), “Always and forever” and
“Catcher in the rye”. Without a doubt, an
underrated band that could have scored massive with their
song “Can’t take the hurt”, although need
to be added here that it ended up on the soundtrack of
the famous Horrormovie ‘Freddy’s Nightmare on
Elm Street’, so there was some success, but the main
feature on the band was the fact they were the heaviest
band on the planet and were more seen as some sort of
SPINAL TAP kinda band!
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
KROKUS
‘STAMPEDE/TO
ROCK OR NOT TO BE’ (ANGEL AIR RECORDS)
The legendary Swiss Hardrockband KROKUS made a return to
the scene in 1990 with the album ‘Stampede’, an
album that saw the replacement of original singer MARC
STORACE. New singer was found in the shape of Peter
Tanner, who was a good replacement. The album’s
opener and titletrack “Stampede” saw the band
moving into faster paced pure melodic metal, like JUDAS
PRIEST, yet a bit more melodic. The rest of the album was
just pure KROKUS, so rough and ready Hardrock with
singable choruses, with as highlights “Electric
man”, “Nova-zand” (pure LED ZEPPELIN
midtempo “Kashmir” style), “Good
times” and “In the heat of the night” (a
7-minute classy melodic rocker). 4 years later the band
released ‘To rock or not to be’, which saw the
return of MARC STORACE, although musically a bit simpler
Hardrock and not as good as classic KROKUS, but still
with songs like “Flying through the night”,
“In the dead of the night”, “Talking like
a shotgun” and “Stormy nights” an
interesting record for the fans of the band. Both albums
have been released onto a double-CD in the UK by ANGEL
AIR RECORDS, with the addition of a few bonustracks, such
as the BTO cover “You ain’t seen nothin’
yet” and the unreleased KROKUS originals
“Wasteland” and “Stormy night”. In
other words, highly recommended to the KROKUS fan!
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
NU
CLEAR DAWN ‘POEM
OF A KNIGHT’ (INDEPENDENT)
It is definitely the truth what I am about to say about
this band, because NU CLEAR DAWN is by far the first and
best band ever to emerge from the Middle East. The band
comes out of Syria, and as we all know music has no
borders and so it is my honour to present you the first
band from Syria, and it’s not just a band, because
their debut CD ‘Poem of a knight’ is a very
impressive high quality Melodic Neo-Classical Prog/Power
Metal release with strong similarities to KAMELOT,
SYMPHONY X and MALMSTEEN. The artwork looks very
professional, so is the production and the included 8
tracks. Highlights are the fast uptempo “The
meeting”, “Revolution” (fantastic
ProgMetal, with lovely keyboardwork and a very melodic
vocal/chorus approach, like SILENT EDGE),
“Wounded” (ballad), “Rebirth” (a la
SYMPHONY X) and “Memories on the road”. The CD
takes up to 60 minutes and is without a doubt an
important album, as it is the official first really
sensational Neo-Classical Prog/Power Metal from the
Middle East (not counting Turkey, as they are actually an
European country). Let’s hope more bands will
follow, as NU CLEAR DAWN proves there’s enough
talent out there. More info on the band can be found at: http://www.nucleardawn.com and e-mail them at: info@nucleardawn.net
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 HARDLINE ‘LIVE AT THE GODS
2002’
(FRONTIERS RECORDS/BERTUS)
With only 1 album out and a 2nd coming out soon back
then, the band HARDLINE was one of the headliners at The
Gods of AOR in 2002. This live-CD (and soon on DVD) is
the perfect registration of what went down that night,
because HARDLINE gave away a fantastic performance,
performing mostly classics from their debut ‘Double
eclipse’, such as “Hot cherie”,
“Everything”, “Rhythm from a red
car”, “I’ll be there” and excellent
new stuff like “Face the night” and “Only
a night”. Backing vocals were done by Gudrun Laos,
who also backed up vocalist Johnny Gioeli during his AXEL
RUDI PELL tour. The musicians included Johnny
Gioeli’s brother Joey on guitar, Josh Ramos (THE
STORM, RAMOS) on guitar, Bob Burch on bass, Michael T.
Ross on keys and Bob Rock on drums. Together they
performed an excellent show, which can now be heard on
this Live audio-CD, while soon we can also see the
original performance on the DVD version.
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
JANI
LANE ‘BACK
DOWN TO ONE’ (Z RECORDS)
JANI LANE is best known as frontman for WARRANT, the band
that scored several huge hitsingles in the USA in the
late 1980s and early 1990s, with the wonderful ballad
“Heaven” almost reaching the number 1 position
in the official US Billboard charts almost 15 years ago.
Anyway, we are now in the year 2003 and the world has
changed a lot since then. Hair Metal has completely
vanished, and it took JANI LANE 10 years to recover. Now
he has gone solo and his first CD is being released
through Z RECORDS. The music has not much to do with
WARRANT, although songs like “Nothing” and
“Better than you” sound like an updated version
of the typical bubblegum rocksound of WARRANT, but mainly
this record is a typical Nu-Breed Melodic Poprock affair.
Despite the fact that it sounds so modern, Jani’s
vocals didn’t change that much and therefore this
album sounds a little more melodic than all the other
releases in this genre. Opener “Funny” is one
of the better tracks, a good uptempo melodic poprocker,
while other highlights can be found in the shape of
“Back down to one”, “Don’t trust
me” and “6 feet under” (catchy sing-a-long
song, could have been a WARRANT tune). Definitely not as
good as WARRANT once were, but still a good quality
nu-breed rock album, although a bit on the short side
(only 34 minutes!).
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
THE
MILLIONS ‘MILLION
DOLLAR ROCK’
(STEALTH RECORDS/Z RECORDS)
On the new sublabel of Z RECORDS, STEALTH RECORDS, we can
find the debut CD of the new American Nu-Breed Melodic
Poprockoutfit THE MILLIONS. At first sight this band
sounds very modern and very different from anything we
have heard on Z RECORDS the past few years. It sounds
like a mix between DEF LEPPARD circa ‘X’ and
HAREM SCAREM circa ‘Rubber’, sometimes catchy
and melodic, with lots of harmonyvocals, but also a bit
modern at times. Nevertheless, this is a good album that
could easily become huge in the USA with some good
promotion backing it up. Highlights are uptempo rockers
like “Today is the day”, “Heather”,
“January fool”, “Million d
d
band, and definitely much better than all the other
Nu-Breed Rockacts out there at the moment!
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 FALCONER ‘THE SCEPTRE OF
DECEPTION’
(METAL BLADE RECORDS)
On the 6th of October METAL BLADE RECORDS will release
the third CD of the Swedish Power Metal band FALCONER.
The line-up has changed compared to the first 2 albums,
because lead singer Mathias Blad left the band and new
frontman is now Kristoffer Göbel. Musically not much has
changed, and so also this new CD is filled with high
quality medieaval Power Metal with a slight folk touch, a
lot sounding like BLIND GUARDIAN here and there. 10 songs
are included, and together with a big production, this
album is set to become a winner for the fans of true
European Power Metal. Highlights are such faster uptempo
Power Metal pieces like “The trail of flames”,
“Night of infamy”, “Ravenhair” and
“The sceptre of deception”, all very catchy.
Concluded, we have here a highly recommended Euro Power
Metal CD for you to be released in early October.
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
SECRET
SMILE ‘THE
ROAD LESS TRAVELED’ (METAL MAYHEM MUSIC)
This band from Connecticut, USA has released a pure 1980s
sounding Melodic Rock record that was engineered and
mixed by none-other than JEFF CANNATA. He did a great
job, because the CD has a very big sound. The AOR/Melodic
Rock of SECRET SMILE also sounds pretty good, but not
always sensational. This is a little bit due to the lead
vocals of singer T.J. Gabriele, who reminds me of MIKE
TRAMP, so a more Glam/Party-Rock orientated voice, not
bad, but it doesn’t always match with SECRET
SMILE’s AOR/Melodic Rock music. We can easily
compare the band to early DANGER DANGER mixed with some
WHITE LION, basically you then have SECRET SMILE’s
sound. Highlights on their CD are “Take a chance on
you” (early DANGER DANGER orientated fun 80s
AOR/Melodic Rock), “Stop and go (Follow your
heart)” (excellent catchy uptempo melodic rocker),
“Around” (another catchy uptempo melodic
rocker), “Come in from the rain” (classy AOR
song a la NELSON) and “Tell me why?” (high
class melodic rock). Concluded, a recommended CD to fans
of
late 80s US Melodic Rock in the style of mentioned bands.
More info at: http://www.secretsmile.net and e-mail them at: tj@secretsmile.net
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 ZON ‘ASTRAL
PROJECTOR/BACK DOWN TO EARTH’ (ESCAPE MUSIC)
In the late 1970s in North America there was a big scene
filled with Pomprockbands that wanted to breakthough
after STYX and KANSAS scored massive with their records
‘The grand illusion’ and
‘Leftoverture’. Bands like TOUCH, SPY, AVIARY
and ROADMASTER are just a few examples, and it is clear
that we can also put the Canadian band ZON next to those
bands. ZON managed to release 3 albums, of which the
first 2 are now re-issued onto 2 CDs by ESCAPE MUSIC.
There aren’t any Bonustracks here, but who cares,
because both LPs were very hard to get the past 25 years,
and so ESCAPE MUSIC has done a great job with putting
both on a double CD. The fans of classy Pomprock will
enjoy this a lot, as the sound is crystal clear on this
CD. The big late 70s Pomprock of ZON sounded like a mix
betwee STYX, QUEEN and TOUCH, with lots of keys and
guitarwork, while the vocals of singer Denton Young sound
a lot like DENNIS DEYOUNG. Both albums are perfect late
1970s Pomprock, with as best songs “Put on the
show”, “Man in the mirror”, “On the
road” and “Astral projector” (from
‘Astral projector’ – 1978) and
“Circus” (STYX harmonies meets BOSTON
guitarsound, excellent song), “Please stay”,
“Back down to earth” and “Take it from
me” (catchy melodic rocker) (from ‘Back down to
earth’ – 1979). If you want to find out how
pure STYX influenced 70s Pomprock sounded like, then
better check out this excellent double-CD release of ZON,
which comes along with some very nice artwork and
packaging.
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 VOICE ‘SOULHUNTER’
(AFM RECORDS/ROCK INC./BERTUS)
The German band VOICE returns with maybe their best
release so far. The production is big and the included 9
songs are very catchy melodic heavy rockers in the best
German tradition. This time the band used MIKA JUSSILA
(STRATOVARIUS, SONA ARCTICA) for the mastering of the CD,
so that’s probably the reason why this CD has such a
big sound. The music is Melodic Heavy Rock like a mix
between VICTORY, EDGUY and HELLOWEEN, so typical German.
Although there are only 9 tracks on the CD, and the
playing length is about 45 minutes, from start to finish
this is high quality melodic heavy rock/metal. Highlights
are “Soulhunter”, “Valhalla”,
“Place of deliverance”, “Firedevil”
and “Glorious empire”. Fans of EDGUY, PRETTY
MAIDS, VICTORY, HELLOWEEN, MAD NAX etc. will like this CD
a lot.
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
 MADOG ‘FAIRYTALES OF
DARKNESS’
(SOUND RIOT RECORDS/ROCK INC./BERTUS)
Sometime ago we reviewed the 2nd Independent CD from the
band MADOG from Austria and I remember that it was a very
good record, so it wasn’t out of the question that
they would be signed by a label soon. Now in the year
2003 the Portuguese label SOUND RIOT RECORDS has signed
MADOG, and released that 2nd CD ‘Fairytales of
darkness’ officially. It is a high quality release
that contains well-played guitar orientated melodic
German/Euro Power Metal like BLIND GUARDIAN, EDGUY and a
bit RAGE. The songs are quite heavy, but on the other
hand also very melodic, due to the excellent singer
(guitarist Hans Zedrosser). Like I said this is a high
quality CD release, partly due to the big
production/sound quality, but also the songs are all very
good. There are 11 tracks on the CD, and the album starts
with the heaviest track on offer here, namely the fast
uptempo melodic power metal piece "Veni mecum"
that can easily be related to ICED EARTH and GRAVE
DIGGER, yet with better lead vocals. Not a bad start for
some of you, but I can guarantee you the rest of the CD
is different (and better!). The band continues with a
bunch of great melodic metal songs, such as "Fairy
of darkness", "Miracle" (a la EDGUY),
"Hunter" (very catchy chorus, fantastic song a
la 80s PRETTY MAIDS, ATTACK), "Dream of the
mountain" (best song, lovely midtempo melodic
hardrock with impressive huge chorus!) and the uptempo
"One thousand feet". Fans of mentioned bands
need to check out MADOG a.s.a.p., go get more info on
them at: http://www.madog.net
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 SAVALLION DAWN ‘THE CHARGE’
(SOUND RIOT RECORDS/ROCK INC./BERTUS)
Sometime ago we reviewed the Independent CD ‘The
charge’ from the German band SAVALLION DAWN. The
band got signed to SOUND RIOT RECORDS, and their first
release on this Portuguese label is their CD ‘The
charge’, which contains 2 more tracks, so in total 9
tracks. SAVALLION DAWN is a great band and their CD
‘The charge’ is filled with melodic Prog/Power
Metal of a high level. The CD has a great sound, the
included 9 songs are very impressive and the band has a
good lead singer (Ernesto Monteiro). The best tracks on
their CD are “Down in silence” (great melodic
Prog/Power Metal), “The final hunt”,
“Onward”, “Destiny” and “Seven
signs” (catchy melodies). The band is comparable to
OMEN, HELSTAR, DESTINY’S END, ONWARD and WARLORD, so
a clear 80s US Power Metal influence may be heard here
and there. The band switched from line-up quite a few
times the past 3 years, but since last year they have a
steady line-up. Most striking fact is that the lead
singer comes out of Uruguay, a country not particularly
known for Hardrock and Metalbands. Anyway, this SAVALLION
DAWN is highly recommended to all Prog/Power Metal fans.
Check out their site at: http://www.savallion-dawn.de
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
ANDRA
‘CIRCLE
OF FIRE’ (DARK EDEN/ROCK INC./BERTUS)
We are back in Germany once again where we can find a
band called ANDRA. Lead singer is the beautiful lady
ANDRA J., who sang with the band HELICON before forming
ANDRA. The band’s 2nd CD ‘Circle of fire’
was co-produced by Uli Kusch (MASTERPLAN, HELLOWEEN) and
so there’s nothing bad to say about the production,
which is by far of a very high level. The music is just
so typical German, with heavy riffs and singable
choruses, like a heavier version of DORO. Not all the
songs are impressive, because the gang-vocals of
“Love changes to hate” do not really work that
well, but despite a few weaker songs, most of the album
sounds pretty good. Highlights can be found in the shape
of “False religion” (very strong chorus),
“La Rosa del Amor” (catchy fast Power Metal),
“Angel” (strong semi-ballad) and “The
circle of fire”. Recommended to fans of HEADLINE,
DORO, HELICON, HELLION...
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 BODY ELECTRIC ‘WALKING THROUGH
WALLS’ (ESCAPE MUSIC)
The British label ESCAPE MUSIC has been doing some great
stuff so far this year, mainly in the re-issue/re-release
are, because after we have had excellent re-issues of
SUGARCREEK and ZON, it is now time for BODY ELECTRIC.
This Canadian band has had a long history before turning
into BODY ELECTRIC. Since the 1970s the 2 main members
(keyboardplayer Bob Buckley and vocalist/guitarist David
Sinclair) were respected session musicians, but in the
early 1980s they started their own band called STRAIGHT
LINES. I have reviewed one of their 2 records back in the
day, but actually haven’t played it in 10 years or
so, although I can still remember the album was filled
with good typical early 80s US AOR/Poprock/Mainstream Pop
like a mix between TOTO and CHICAGO. As STRAIGHT LINES,
the band even managed to score some hitsingles, but after
2 LPs they were dropped by CBS Records. However, David
and Bob joined hands together again to form a band called
BODY ELECTRIC. This time moving into a more Hi-Tech
Poprock style, although the AOR was still present.
Anyway, ESCAPE MUSIC has re-issued the album
‘Walking through walls’, with the addition of 5
bonustracks. Similarities to HAYWIRE, MR. MISTER, TIM
FEEHAN, THINK OUT LOUD, LOVERBOY, RICHARD MARX etc. come
to mind when listening to this CD. The excellent lead
vocals of David Sinclair surely made this band sound
better than other bands in the genre, although some more
electric guitar could have made BODY ELECTRIC a pure AOR
band, but one way or the other, this CD really captures
the sound of the keyboard orientated Canadian Poprock of
the 1980s. My favourite tracks are “Strangers in
love” (midtempo pure 80s AOR), “Out of the
blue” (lovely calmer AOR ballad), “Ordinary
madness” (good pure 80s fun uptempo AOR/Poprocker),
“Fire and ice” (catchy uptempo aor/poprocker
like the first 2 HAYWIRE classics, but also a bit THE
OUTFIELD and even CUTTING CREW when they rocked), “I
think I’m falling” (great early 80s
AOR/Radiorocker a la STEEL BREEZE, 2nd SILVER CONDOR),
“After the storm” (lovely early 80s AOR) and
closing track “The things you didn’t do”
(a beautiful semi AOR ballad with classical influences a
la JOHN MILES’ “Music”, very late 70s
style, is an original STRAIGHT LINES song). This CD is a
must for the fans of 80s AOR/Poprock, and a good move
from ESCAPE MUSIC would be the re-issue of the 2 albums
of STRAIGHT LINES up next, and Barrie of ESCAPE MUSIC
informed me that this will probably happen soon, so
cheers on that!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
HEARTPLAY
‘THE
ALBUM’ (VDS MUSIC)
Out of nowhere this CD came my way, a recording by a band
called HEARTPLAY, which features lead singer Kimmo Blom,
whom some of you might know from URBAN TALE. That Finish
band released an awesome AOR debut, but sadly followed it
up with an average record, but before the URBAN TALE
releases, lead singer KIMMO BLOM recorded songs as
HEARTPLAY, together with the actual leader of the band,
Sakari Salli. The band still exists, although the CD says
it was made in 2001, but it took the band until now to
release it to a bigger audience, and I am glad to inform
you about this excellent AOR record. The album has a big
sound (thanks to Finnvox) and although only 9 tracks are
included (so a short playing length of hardly 34
minutes), this is high quality AOR from start to finish.
The material is somewhere between BAD ENGLISH, JOURNEY,
HUGO, STREET TALK, URBAN TALE and ALIEN, although
slightly more based on slower poppier tunes instead of
real rockers. The album’s highlights are
“Waiting for you” (excellent big midtempo AOR a
la JOURNEY/HUGO), “Don’t let them fade
away” (strong AOR rocker a la ALIEN, DAVINCI,
TREAT), “Take my word” (80s JOURNEY AOR rocker)
and the midtempo AOR of closing track “Father
forgive me”. Anyway, without a doubt, this CD is a
MUST for fans of pure emotional AOR a la HUGO, STREET
TALK, URBAN TALE and JOURNEY. You can buy the CD at: http://www.targetrecords.de
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
SPIRIT
WEB
‘FAR BEYOND THE VISUAL MIND’ (MAUSOLEUM
RECORDS)
I am a big fan of the band SYRIS, who managed to release
2 great albums, and therefore I was looking forward to
the SPIRIT WEB album, as this band features SYRIS
guitarist Paul Speredes. Unfortunately, the album they
deliver here has not much to do with the high class
Melodic Metal (a la early QUEENSRYCHE) of the previous
band SYRIS. SPIRIT WEB is much more modern and quite
average actually. Only a semi-ballad like “Far
beyond the visual mind” is quite good, but mostly
they play a very aggressive typical American modern Metal
style that sounds a lot like PANTERA. That’s really
a pity, because the CD contains one track that is
different and reminding of what SYRIS once did, which is
good quality Melodic Metal, and then I am talking about
the song “From a Prince to a pauper”, a
7-minute epic classy Metal song a la HELSTAR, JAG PANZER,
old QUEENSRYCHE, CRIMSON GLORY etc. and also featuring
good melodic vocals instead of the annoying aggressive
vocal style on the rest of the CD. Why on earth
didn’t the band make a full CD with such material!
Anyway, you can avoid this release, unless bands like
CROWBAR and PANTERA are your kind of bands. Fans of
‘real’ Metal can only check out 1 song (track
number 10) to hear their favourite style.
(Points:
6.5 out of 10)
MEDEA
‘INDIVIDUAL
UNIQUE’ (RED SEA RECORDS/ROCK INC./BERTUS)
Out of Holland comes this exciting new project called
MEDEA. The leader of MEDEA is guitarist/keyboardplayer
Henry Meeuws, who is also a member of the Dutch Neo-Prog
band CASUAL SILENCE. This CD is basically a concept-album
based on a partly fictional story of a young artist
living in the 18th century in Florence, Italy. The music
is like you would expect from a concept-record typical
Prog. Rockopera like we have seen on other releases like
GENIUS, NOSTRADAMEUS, STAR ONE, AYREON, LEONARDO, ONCE
AND FUTURE KING and MERLIN (KAYAK version). The album
features 9 vocalists, of which 3 also sing in CASUAL
SILENCE, and I have to say it again that these 3 singers
can really sing well. This is a very impressive record
indeed, and as highlights I would have to say “Make
the grade”, “The blind one leads the way”,
“Tell me...” and “Day and night”.
Concluded, this MEDEA has delivered a highly recommended
Rock Opera Concept CD.
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 SNAKE CHARMER ‘BACKYARD
BOOGALOO’
(MTM CLASSIX/MTM MUSIC/SUBURBAN)
10 years ago the Swedish all-star band released their
awesome AOR Classic Debut titled ‘Smoke and
mirrors’. This album is very hard to get nowadays,
and therefore almost every AOR fan hoped for a re-release
of this gem, but MTM MUSIC decided that the 2nd album
‘Backyard boogaloo’ of SNAKE CHARMER would be
re-released, because so far it was only released in
Japan. The music is still superb strong AOR/Melodic Rock,
but not as good as their classic debut. Nevertheless
there’s still some enjoyable high quality AOR on
this record, such as “Someday you’re gonna love
someone”, “Need a little help”,
“Pretty little small town girl”, “Take a
look at yourself” and “Not a day without
you”. It’s incredible that the absolute top of
the Swedish AOR and Metal scene came together and
released this SNAKE CHARMER album several years ago,
because the line-up featured vocalist GORAN EDMAN (STREET
TALK, MALMSTEEN, JOHN NORUM, GLORY, KHARMA), bassist Per
Stadin (SILVER MOUNTAIN), drummer ANDERS JOHANSSON
(MALMSTEEN, HAMMERFALL), keyboardplayer JENS JOHANSSON
(STRATOVARIUS, DIO, MALMSTEEM) and guitarist Benny
Jansson (ERIKA). Some of the songs were written by
outsiders, such as JEFF PARIS (“She made me
fall”) and Jeff Silbar/Mark Baker (“Someday
you’re onna love someone”) and there’s a
DAVID BOWIE cover included (“Life on mars”),
but the other 9 songs are all original songs written by
the band. The CD contains 3 bonustracks, so without a
doubt this is a recommended AOR/Melodic Rockalbum in the
best Scandi tradition. Let’s hope MTM will also
re-release the SNAKE CHARMER debut, but for now fans of
classy Scandi AOR/Melodic Rock can easily purchase this
record.
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 VARIOUS ARTISTS ‘MTM MUSIC VOLUME
9’
(MTM MUSIC)
MTM releases another new compilation CD with many
unreleased songs. 16 tracks are included, and it’s a
pity the mentioned DARE track isn’t included,
because that’s one of the most promising upcoming
releases on MTM. Instead we get to hear a new DANNY DANZI
track, and although I love his debut on Z RECORDS, this
new song “Only the strong will survive” is an
aevarge melodic rocker. The highlights on this
compilation can be found in the shape of
NORTHRUP/SHORTINO with the classy melodic rocker
“Afterlife” (rough mixed demo song of their
forthcoming album to be released spring 2004),
RADIOACTIVE with the Japanese bonustrack “Somewhere,
someday” (a great semi AOR ballad with big
harmonies), SEVEN WISHES (who switched from Z to MTM,
just like DANNY DANZI) with their BONFIRE/WHITE LION
influenced melodic hardrocksong “Fortuneteller”
and the new band XING (CROSSING) who perform the song
“Wondering man”. XING is also one of the few
bands on MTM to play pure Progressive Metal, while most
of the songs included here are Melodic Rock/AOR. Anyway,
if you are not able to buy all MTM releases, then this is
an interesting compilation release for you to check out.
(Points:
- )
 MAGO DE OZ ‘GAIA’
(LOCOMOTIVE MUSIC/ROCK INC./BERTUS)
The legendary Spanish band MAGO DE OZ returns with a
complete new studioalbum and after listening to it a
couple of times it became clear to me that this is a
superb album. The band is without a doubt one of
Spain’s most important bands, as they sell millions
in their own country, and also influence hundreds of new
upcoming bands (as you might have noticed, we reviewed
lots of new Spanish bands the past few years), and with
their latest masterpiece ‘Gaia’ they are ready
to attack the rest of the world. The album
‘Gaia’ is again featuring the high class
musicianship of MAGO DE OZ, which is a sort of Folk
Medieval Melodic Rock/Metal with soaring melodies,
actually a ‘true’ own style this band has
created which will appeal to fans of all sorts of Rock
and Metal. The 11-minutes counting opener
“Gaia” sets the spirit for the rest of the
album, which is fantastic epic Melodic Folk-Rock/Metal
with a strong chorus and lots of nice instrumental
passages (both calmer and harder with the instruments
Violin, Flute, Guitars and Keys). The CD continues in
this style, and therefore ‘Gaia’ may be seen as
the best MAGO DE OZ album so far. Other highlights
include “La Conquista” (uptempo melodic
rocker), “Alma” (uptempo melodic rocker),
“El arbol de la noche triste” (beautiful
melodies, midtempo AOR), “El atrapasuenos”
(Melodic Metal with lots of Folk and even Indian
influences), the melodic rockballad “Si te vas”
and “Van a rodar cabezas” (superb melodic power
metal with aor/prog chorus). It’s not so strange the
band launched the song “La costa del silencio”
as the first single (which is already huge in Spain),
because this song has a very high sing-a-long level.
Concluded, I can highly recommend this fantastic new MAGO
DE OZ album, and then I mean not only to the Spanish
readers, but also non-Spanish speaking people must check
out this awesome release!
(Points:
9.5 out of 10)
LA
GUNS ‘GOLDEN
BULLETS’ (MAUSOLEUM RECORDS)
LA GUNS were formed 20 years ago by guitarist Tracii
Guns, who also joined AXL ROSE for a short period in the
early stages of the band’s career and was actually
co-founder of GUNS’N’ROSES, but from 1985 he
concentrated on his own band LA GUNS, with whom he
managed to release about 10 records (including live and
best of). LA GUNS has had their fifteen minutes of fame
in the late 80s/early 90s, when their type of Sleazy
Hardrock became MTV’s next big trend to promote. Now
in 2003 the band makes another comeback with this best of
release on MAUSOLEUM RECORDS. It’s not a real best
of, because most tracks were either re-recorded, taken
from different live and best of albums or the odd cover
(the GUNS’N’ROSES song “My
Michelle”). Nevertheless, you can clearly hear that
the band never did change their musicstyle, and so it was
always based on Sleazy Punky Hardrock with as highlights
tracks like “Sex action”, “One more
reason”, “Never enough”, “Over the
edge”, “Slap in the face”, “Wheels of
fire”, “Electric gypsy” and “Kiss my
love goodbye”. It’s strange the band’s
best song (the wonderful ballad “Crystal eyes”)
isn’t included, but probably due to the fact this
compilation CD is showing the band’s best Rockers.
Although most of the songs have been released on various
other compilations of the band, this CD is still
interesting for the die-hard LA GUNS fan!
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 DOOMSWORD ‘LET BATTLE
COMMENCE’ (DRAGONHEART/SPV/BERTUS)
‘Let battle commence’ is the third CD of this
Italian Doom Metal band. It’s a concept CD about the
first English Viking era, and about the conquest of the
city of York (Jorvik) by the Danish army of Ivarr the
Boneless in the year 866 a. C. If there’s one band
that can say they play true Epic Heavy Metal, then it
must be this DOOMSWORD. They are a perfect mix between
CANDLEMASS and MANOWAR, and with those lyrics about the
ancient Vikings they are starting to become true MANOWAR
warriors. 7 long songs are included, with a total playing
length of 52 minutes. Most of the tracks are in the same
style, which is mostly slowtempo or midtempo melodic (yes
it is!) Doom Metal, with as highlights “The
siege”, “Woden’s reign” and
“Blood eagle”. Fans of KRUX, CANDLEMASS,
MANOWAR, CIRITH UNGOL, SOLITUDE AETORNUS etc. should buy
this DOOMSWORD without hesitation.
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
DARK
AT DAWN
‘OF DECAY AND DESIRE’
(AFM RECORDS/ROCK INC./BERTUS)
I can not deny that this is a high quality release,
because instrumental it sounds perfect, the songs are
also very good, and the mastering by Mika Jussila at
Finnvox Studios in Helsinki makes this CD sound huge. But
the problem with DARK AT DAWN are the vocals, because
these are growls actually, even worse than LEMMY at a bad
day. I understand the band doesn’t want to sound
like another STRATOVARIUS or NIGHTWISH, but now they are
definitely not interesting, because vocalist Thorsten
Kohlrausch is completely out of place here. DARK AT DAWN
is making typical European Melodic Power Metal, but with
those growls they sound a bit out of the ordinary.
Nevertheless, it doesn’t mean you should completely
avoid this record, because it still brings you quality
music in the shape of songs like “Forever”,
“Weltenbrand” (catchy!),
“Soultitude”, “The 5th horseman” and
“Fair well”. If only the band would use clean
vocals instead of these growls, then it would all sound
much better. Anyway, I still think many people might
enjoy this, because it is different than all other bands,
but I would rather hear some cleaner vocals.
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
BETRAYER ‘RUSTED
ICONS’ (INDEPENDENT)
Out of Canada comes BETRAYER, a pure 80s Metal sounding
band. They remind me a bit of MEGADETH here and there,
but less aggressive, although the guitarwork is sometimes
quite raw, but also at times very impressive (such as the
solo on opener “Descendants of death”). Somehow
it also reminds me of STORMWITCH, but I might be the only
one to hear this comparison. They have a real
demo/independent sound, but that’s not a big
problem, because their songs are good anyway. Somehow
when listening to the record it just hits me everytime
that they sound just so 80s, so if anyone asks me to name
a band that plays pure 80s US Power/Thrash Metal, then
this BETRAYER could easily be mentioned. The strongest
point here are the guitarsolo’s (!), because
guitarist JEFF KLINGBEIL can easily play all the guitar
chords, he’s definitely the most notable member of
the 3, because singer Norm Michaud is better at the bass
than as a singer. Anyway, if you’re fed up with
today’s Metal styles (Power, Progressive, Gothic and
Nu), then go for BETRAYER to hear a pure 80s sound.
Recommended
tracks are “Descendants of death”,
“Tribulation”, “Waiting” and
“Wretched ways”. More info at: http://www.betrayer.ca and e-mail them at: shop@betrayer.ca
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
ALBERZAKH
‘THE
QUEEN’ (DEMO)
More 80s Melodic Metal comes in the shape of ALBERZAKH, a
band from Brazil with a 4-track demo CDR titled ‘The
queen’. Musically ok, but vocally not really
impressive. The first song “Live or die” is
nothing special, but next track “The God that I have
behind my eyes” and also titletrack “The
queen” (best song, strong melodies) are much better,
pure 80s MAIDEN orientated. Still the vocals are really
not good enough to convince me and that’s why I hope
the band does switch from lead singer in order to come up
with a stronger release in the future. More info at: http://www.alberzakh.hpg.com.br and e-mail them at: alberzakh@grupos.com.br
(Points:
7.0 out of 10)
TANKER
‘CLOSE
TO US’ (INDEPENDENT)
Although the production and sound quality of the CD of
TANKER is not really good, the included music is quite
interesting, as this is a mix of pure 80s Melodic Heavy
Rock and Metal, ending up sounding like a typical German
band (read: MAD MAX, WARLOCK, STORMWITCH). Interesting
fact is that TANKER has a male (guitarist Peter) and
female singer (Cathy), and with me prefering the female
singer it’s a pity she didn’t sang all the
time, because her voice is very good. Nevertheless, she
can be heard lots of times, such as on the great uptempo
melodic heavy rockers “Runaway” (catchy),
“Night time enemy” and “Secret for
you”, and the great semi-ballad “Don’t say
goodbye”. A good band definitely, but the real
discovery here is the female singer who is quite
excellent, although also guitarist Peter is playing his
instrument very well. More info on this band from the
Czech Republic can be found at: http://www.mp3.com/tanker
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
THREADLINE ‘UNDEFINED’
(BLOODBOUGHT RECORDS)
Here’s another Nu-Breed Melodic Poprockband from the
USA. It seems like every new US/Canadian Rockband is
trying to make this kind of music, just to become the
next SUM 41, MATCHBOX 20, FUEL or whatever they are
called. THREADLINE from Winnipeg, Canada however is more
melodic than mentioned bands. Their songs are very strong
and remind me a lot of the earlier reviewed and much
praised 40FT RINGO and also HAREM SCAREM/RUBBER and
WALTHAM. In other words, this band is another soon-to-be
much talked about band in the world of modern day
aor/melodic rockfanatics if their catchy songs are
interesting for them. Well, let me revail to you that I
think THREADLINE is good enough for the average melodic
rockfan, as the included 12 songs are catchy melodic
poprockers with a strong modern twist. This band could
easily be on ATENZIA RECORDS, as they are currently
heavily promoting such acts. Best songs are the catchy
uptempo melodic rockers “Blind”, “Fall
short”, “Passed me by” (the band
doesn’t know it, but this is pure RICK SPRINGFIELD
1981 era, yet a bit more updated catchy poprock),
“Too far” and “Face value”. Although
it’s a short album (36 minutes), it still contains
12 tracks and is highly recommended to fans of HAREM
SCAREM and 40FT RINGO. More info can be found at: http://www.bloodboughtrecords.com and e-mail them at: marc@bloodboughtrecords.com
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
ORPHAN
PROJECT
‘ORPHAN FOUND’ (INDEPENDENT)
The American band ORPHAN PROJECT is the brainchild of
vocalist SHANE LANKFORD. Their debut CD ‘Orphan
found’ is a very impressive typical American
Progressive Rockalbum with influences from DREAM THEATER,
STYX, KANSAS, JOURNEY etc. I hear clear similarities to
ENCHANT sometimes, so this is more polished Prog. Rock
with beautiful melodies here and there. The songs are
quite long in length, and so the 12 included tracks take
us through a journey that’s called ‘Orphan
found’. The lyrics are about the difficulties
growing up as an orphan, and Shane can tell the story
because he was an orphan himself. Anyway, once again I
have to say that this is a very high quality record that
could have been released on a label like INSIDE OUT
MUSIC. Shane’s vocals sound a bit dark (and even
depressive sometimes), but the music is pure Progressive
Rock. Highlights are “Discovering new
surroundings”, “Chosen”, “Encircling
arms of the father”, “Orphan found” and
“Gazing down on golden streets”. More info can
be found at: http://www.orphanfound.com and e-mail them at: tom@orphanfound.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
NAIKAKU
NO WA ‘WHEEL
OF FORTUNE’ ( LIVE FREAK)
This band is coming out of Japan, and their CD
‘Wheel of fortune’ is filled with quality
instrumental Progressive Rock, with influences from RUSH,
but also some poppier elements can be heard. The band is
actually a duo, consisting of bassist/keyboardplayer
Satoshi Kobayashi and drummer Norimitsu Endo. Together
they have created a quality CD with a big production, and
musically good Progressive Rock. Fans of instrumental
Progrock can easily purchase this CD. More info at: http://www.freiheit.co.jp/naikakunowa/index.english.html and e-mail at: arc-liveclub@muc.biglobe.ne.jp
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
LOS
ASESINOS DEL PENTAGRAMA ‘DEMO’ (DEMO
CDR)
This is a band from Panama, and they play pure 80s Metal.
Only 2 songs are included, opener “Hellmachine”
which is not really impressive, but second track
“Evil rites” is quite a good Melodic Metaltune.
I think a future longer CD (R) will tell us more about
this band. For now, e-mail them at: losasesinosdelpentagrama@hotmail.com
(Points:
7.0 out of 10)
SOL
LAGARTO ‘BARBARELLA’
(INDEPENDENT)
Out of Brazil comes SOL LAGARTO, a band inspired by the
likes of ROLLING STONES and BLACK CROWES. They sing in
the Portuguese language, and 6 tracks are included on
their CD. If you like this kind of Funky Groovy
Rock’n’roll with raw vocals then SOL LAGARTO
might be interesting, but I found only the song
“Quieres saber” interesting, as the rest is
just too much based on THE ROLLING STONES. If you want to
check out this band, go to: http://www.sollagarto.com and e-mail at: sollagarto@hotmail.com
(Points:
6.5 out of 10)
LORI
LEE
‘NO ROAD TOO LONG’ (INDEPENDENT)
This could’ve been a very interesting release, as we
see some familiar names popping up here and there, such
as the late VAN STEPHENSON mentioned between the song
credits, while guitarist HENRY PAUL produced the CD, and
DAVE ROBBINS played keys. Unfortunately this is not an
AOR record, not even a Rockrecord, because LORI LEE moves
into Country/Middle Of The Road music, with also some
traces of acoustic tingled Westcoast-Rock. These light
rockers are also the best songs, such as the rocker
“Heartache waitin to happen”, “Kinda close
to my heart” (soft midtempo AOR), “Slow
motion” (remember LISA HARTMAN?),
“Somebody” and the ballad “Dont it feel
good”, all sounding a bit like a softer version of
JAIME KYLE. Not a bad record, but just not rocking enough
for the average AOR/Rockfan, although a few songs tend to
be interesting for the fan of female fronted AOR/Rock. A
pity, because the girl looks pretty good and is also able
to sing well, not unlike SHANIA TWAIN, which is also the
best musical comparison I can make here. If only it could
rock a little more, with some electric guitar and more
upbeat songs, then this would be much more interesting.
Anyway, more info at: http://www.lorileeonline.net
(Points:
7.0 out of 10)
THE
ETERNAL ‘DEMO’
(DEMO)
Hailed as one of the first Australian Doom Metalbands out
of Australia, which I totally agree with, comes THE
ETERNAL out of the ashes of the Melbourne based band
CRYPTAL DARKNESS. Their 5-track Demo CD takes us into the
Doom Metal journey of THE ETERNAL. The vocals are not
pure Doom, but more Gothic orientated. Nevertheless, the
music is slow and pure Doom Metal, with still some great
clean melodic choruses, such as on the strong opener
“A cruel misfortune”. The second track
“The eternal” is less interesting, as this song
features more Black orientated growls. Happily, next
track “Down” is much better, a good HIM
orientated song. Closing track is “All hope
lost”, a semi-instrumental song with really
Dark/Black Metal orientated vocals, so less interesting
again. Not as good as KRUX, CANDLEMASS or DOOMSWORD, but
still interesting to check out if you’re a Doom
Metal freak. More info at: http://clik.to/theeternal and e-mail at: the-eternal@blackguild.com
(Points:
7.0 out of 10)
SETH ‘BEHIND THE GREEN
DOOR’ (DEMO CDR)
The American band SETH is playing pure 80s US Metal, so
raw vocals, a big guitarsound and not too many clean
melodies, but cool anyway to hear, especially since many
of the new Metalbands in the US play Nu-Metal and SETH
definitely doesn’t belong to these false Metal
freaks. Best songs on their demo are “Reap what you
sow” and the pure 80s orientated “Demons”.
It sounds a bit like RACER X, so check it out at: http://www.thesethbandrocks.com and e-mail at: SETHmanagmnt@AOL.com
(Points:
7.0 out of 10)
MOTHER
‘SPRING
2003 DEMO’ (DEMO CDR)
Out of Seattle comes MOTHER, a Rockband that doesn’t
have anything to do with the city’s Grunge scene
(happily!), but is playing a 70s/80s orientated
Rockstyle. There’s nothing AOR or Metal orientated
stuff on this disc, just plain Rock. Opener
“PowderKeg” is a nice fun rocker, but the other
song “Salutations” is a weird piece of work.
Anyway, check it out for yourself at: http://www.motherband.com and e-mail at: info@motherband.com
(Points:
6.0 out of 10)
ACVILA
‘DEMO’
(DEMO)
Unfortunately I lost all the information on this band,
but I can inform you that this band is playing some sort
of rockstyle and they have a very good female singer who
is able to sing very well. The songs of the band are also
melodic, but still rocking, updated for today’s
radio but just catchy enough for the fans of female
fronted melodic poprock. The production of the CD is very
impressive, and if you don’t mind the foreign
language (don’t know which language actually?) you
can hear some good modern female fronted rock here in
songs like “Nu vreau”, “Dulci
cuvinte” and “Tu nu stii”. More info at: http://www.acvila.go.ro
(Points:
6.5 out of 10)
PUSH
‘PUSHING
RED BUTTONS’ (INDEPENDENT)
Another band called PUSH, this one comes out of New York.
Their CD ‘Pushing red buttons’ is the
band’s second CD, which is filled with early 80s
quirky poprock, not unlike a cross between THE TUBES and
DONNIE IRIS. 12 tracks are included, and it’s a pity
I don’t have much background info on this band, but
I remember a guy called KASIM SULTON from the 1980s, and
he also appears on this record as a bassplayer. Anyone
with info if this is the same musician from the 1980s
(who played on several records) please mail me, but
musically PUSH isn’t that interesting, unless
you’re a big fan of retro quirky Poprock. More info
at: http://www.pushingredbuttons.com and e-mail at: red@pushingredbuttons.com
(Points:
6.0 out of 10)
OAKSENHAM
‘WODEN’S
EVE LIVE’ (CADENCE MUSIC CENTER)
After we have had the band ARTSRUNI from Armenia, it is
time to talk about another quality band from this
country. The band is called OAKSENHAM, and their CDR
‘Woden’s eve live’ is a high quality
instrumental challenge in the world of Progressive Rock.
Similiraties that come to mind when hearing OAKSENHAM are
bands like FOCUS, CAMEL, YES, IQ, KAYAK, GENTLE GIANT,
KING CRIMSON, PINK FLOYD... This is definitely a band
with skilled musicians that do know how to make good
quality instrumental Progressive Rock. You don’t
just pick favourite tracks, because the whole album needs
to be played from start to finish, so from “The way
back home” to “Gaudeamus igitur” to get to
notice how good this really is. People looking for a real
quality instrumental Progrockalbum need to check out this
release. Especially the fact that they come from Armenia
should gain interest among all musicfans and press in
Western Europe, as not many Armenian bands/artists (read:
none) are known over here. So go to their site at: http://www.oaksenham.am and e-mail them at: cadence@arminco.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
JOHN
ANGELINA’S AMEN ‘LIVE AT THE THEATERCAFE
MUNICH’
(LONG ROAD RECORDS)
In
the past JOHN ANGELINA’S AMEN from Germany released
some good melodic rockalbums, but this Live Acoustic
maxi-CD is definitely not a rockalbum. This is an
unplugged acoustic performance the band gave in Munich
last year. Although it received much praise, I hope the
band will rock again on a future CD, because the
unplugged versions of “Unconditional love” and
“Long road” sound almost like middle of the
road/westcoast type of music, and all we want to do is
rock a little, but for an unplugged CD it’s alright
for you to check out. More info at: http://www.amen-music.com
(Points:
6.5 out of 10)
ABSOLUTE
ZERO ‘CRASHING
ICONS’ (DEMO)
What do I need to say about this band? They play
something really wicked, very hard to categorise and
absolutely nothing of interest for any of our readers.
ABSOLUTE ZERO are playing a wicked and weird mixture of
Jazz, Folk, Prog, Pop and some sort of Alternative Rock.
The 4 songs on their demo are very lengthy and are
sometimes just outrageous, absolutely without any
structures. This is just too complex for me, and I think
none of the readers will find something of interest in
here, so only interesting for the people who don’t
visit my site too often, to get a glimpse from what we
normally do not review here. Check it out for yourself
at: http://www.absolute-zero.net and e-mail at: absolutezero@absolute-zero.net
(Points:
-)
WILD
HORSES ‘DEAD
AHEAD’ (Z RECORDS)
The latest release on Z RECORDS comes from a band called
WILD HORSES. This band is formed around some well-known
musicians, as the line-up features vocalist John Levesque
(SHOUT), guitarist Rick Steier (KINGDOM COME, WARRANT),
bassist Jeff Pilson (DOKKEN, WAR AND PEACE) and drummer
James Kottak (KINGDOM COME, WARRANT, SCORPIONS). The
performed music is from a high level of course, and also
the production is quite excellent, but on the other hand
the 11 included songs are not really sensational, a bit
standard groovy Melodic Hardrock with influences from
WHITESNAKE, THIN LIZZY, LED ZEPPELIN and TYKETTO. Vocals
reminding of BRUCE DICKINSON and some very raw guitarwork
makes this CD however a winner to fans of 70s influenced
Melodic Hardrock. The best songs are “Vancouver
mover” (bluesy Melodic Hardrock, like BAD COMPANY
meets WHITESNAKE), “Rebel road” (very strong
melodic rockballad a la TANGIER) and “Asphalt ribbon
fever” (uptempo melodic hardrock). A good quality
CD, but not the best Z release this year, because that
will probably be the new FINAL FRONTIER.
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 BATTLEROAR ‘BATTLEROAR’
(BLACK LOTUS/ROCK INC./BERTUS)
Out of Greece comes BATTLEROAR, a band playing pure 80s
orientated US Power Metal, like a mix between MANOWAR,
SYRIS and WARLORD. Their CD contains 9 tracks, and it
sounds quite impressive actually. It’s unbelievable
how Europe is divided in bringing all sorts of Metal
genres, because in Greece it’s the Melodic 80s US
Power Metal that rules, but if we go over to Italy
it’s bombastic fast Power Metal and high in the
North Gothic Metal is the leading Metal genre, while in
Germany they like to bang on pure Heavy Metal with a high
sing-a-long level. All the genres have one thing in
common, and that’s bringing out quality Metal and
not the false Metalstyle currently being very popular in
the US (Nu-Metal). BATTLEROAR’s CD is a pleasure to
listen to, because it is from start to finish high
quality Melodic Metal, with as highlights
“Swordbrothers”, “Mourning sword”,
“Battleroar” (best song, a bit like TWISTED
TOWER DIRE) and “Egyptian doom”. Fans of
Medieaval Metal can easily purchase this awesome CD of
BATTLEROAR!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
US
‘EAMON’S
DAY’ (INDEPENDENT)
The Dutch Progrockband US returns with a new CD. Only 5
songs are included, but as they are quite lengthy, the CD
still has a playing time of almost 70 minutes! The music
performed here is 70s Progressive Rock like early
GENESIS, YES, although the vocals are a bit 60s
orientated. Sometimes the band reminds me of PLACKBAND,
only US are better. The 5 musicians are capable of
bringing some excellent instrumental parts in their
music, which is just pure Progrock with the keys and
guitars. If you enjoy typical Dutch/British Progressive
Rock, you will love this, as it is of a high level what
we hear here. Most notable track on the CD is definitely
the 28 minutes counting “Life in progress”.
Progrockfans should go to: http://www.the-music-of-us.com and e-mail them at: info@the-music-of-us.nl
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
 TYGERS OF PAN TANG
‘VISIONS FROM THE CATHOUSE DVD’
(ANGEL AIR RECORDS)
It’s the year 2003 and TYGERS OF PAN TANG has made
another comeback. I believe this is their 4th comeback or
so, but this is a really good comeback! Their latest
studio-CD was a very weak effort, but they got rid off
their singer Tony Liddel and instead hired a great new
lead singer called Richie Wicks. He is able to sing the
classics of the Tygers quite well, while the new material
which is currently being recorded as we speak is showing
us an improvement in the band’s musical taste. Of
course Richie will never be able to reach the fantastic
vocal talent of the 2nd vocalist of the Tygers (Jon
Deverill), but nevertheless, he can sing quite good and
therefore the new studio-CD (to be released later this
year) is something we can look forward to. In the
meantime, this DVD called ‘Visions from the
cathouse’ is a very interesting DVD to check out, as
it features a concert the band did not that long ago with
the new lead singer. The band made a nice collection of
old and new songs, from the first period (1979-1983) and
the current period (1999-2003), with the addition of 2
covers (the Tygers classic “Love potion no9”
and TED NUGENT’s “Cat scratch fever”).
Most notbale fact is that 4 completely new songs were
played during this concert, so it is very interesting to
check out if you’re a dedicated fan of the band.
Between the songs of the concert, there is some video
footage of the band in the studio, where they are
recording their new CD (which is also titled
‘Visions from the cathouse’ I believe). Those 4
newly played songs are “Bad bad kitty”,
“Cybernation”, “Running man” and
“Deja Vu”, but still the older tracks are
showcasing the band’s finest moments (“Lonely
at the top”, “Paris by air”, “Take
it”, “Hellbound” and “Don’t stop
by”). The DVD also contains a very nice interview
with the only original member (Robb Weir) and it’s
funny to see that at one point (in 1985) there was a
line-up of TYGERS OF PAN TANG that didn’t include
any of the members of today’s line-up, which is
quite bizarre and unique for a rock’n’roll
band. Anyway, another extra is the video clip of the song
“Mystical”, which has been re-recorded with the
new singer as well. So there you have it, a very
impressive DVD of one of the first (and still surviving)
bands from the NWOBHM scene!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 CRYSTAL BALL ‘HELLVETIA’
(NUCLEAR BLAST RECORDS)
The Swiss band CRYSTAL BALL was formed in 1995 and have
built up a big reputation in the Hardrock/Metalscene. It
seems like 2003 is the year of the new albums of some of
Switzerland’s best known acts, because after the new
albums by KROKUS, SHAKRA, GOTTHARD, it is now time for
the 4th CD of CRYSTAL BALL. Musically the band is still
playing high class strong and tough Melodic Hard/Heavy
Rock with influences from bands like VICTORY and PRETTY
MAIDS. The sound is big and the songs are catchy and
really rocking. If you enjoyed the new SHAKRA album,
you’re gonna love this new CRYSTAL BALL album as
well. 12 tracks are included on ‘Hellvetia’,
and the absolute highlights are “Forever and
eternally” (sounds like a mix between WHITE LION and
HELLOWEEN), “My life” (super strong midtempo
melodic rocker), “Last dance” (very catchy
uptempo melodic rocker, big harmonyvocals during chorus),
“Want it all” (very strong uptempo Melodic
Power Metal), “Pictures of love” (HUGE midtempo
Melodic Rock), “One day at a time” (sing-a-long
together big midtempo Melodic Hardrock, like BONFIRE
meets VICTORY) and “Bird on a wire” (fantastic
uptempo melodic hardrock). Concluded, CRYSTAL BALL did it
again, releasing an excellent Melodic Hard/Heavy
Rockalbum that should attract both Melodic Hardrock and
Power Metalfans! ‘Helvetia’ is their finest
release so far and is even better than the new SHAKRA, so
this is the best Swiss record of 2003, officially
released on the 3rd of November...
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
RICOCHET
‘RICOCHET’
(INDEPENDENT)
I don’t have much info on the band RICOCHET, but
what I do know is that they play good typical German
Melodic Hard/Heavy Rock a la VICTORY, SINNER... 13 songs
are included on their same titled CD, which was released
last year. Highlights include such good melodic heavy
rockers like “Paradise”, “We will
survive”, “Guitar heroes”, “Listen to
your heart” and “In your eyes”. Only the
vocals could sound a bit better, but in general speaking
we have a good melodic hardrockalbum
with this RICOCHET. You can buy a copy of the CD at
TARGET RECORDS: http://www.targetrecords.de
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
FORTRESS
‘HANDS
IN THE TILL’ (CDR)
20+ years ago there was this US band called FORTRESS, and
they played like so many other North-American bands
typical Midwestern US Melodic Rock/AOR/Pomprock. They
managed to release only 1 LP back in 81. Now 22 years
later original bassist CHARLIE SOUZA has put out an
official CDR copy of the album, which was actually
released on the major label ATLANTIC RECORDS back then.
Anyway, the sound is quite good and it’s also very
nice to hear that FORTRESS played quality melodic rock in
the style of AXE, FOREIGNER, JOURNEY, REO SPEEDWAGON,
STEEPLECHASE... Highlights on the album were such classy
melodic rockers like “Hands in the till”,
“How do I exist”, “Comin’ after
you”, “Let’s do it again”,
“Mystery” (awesome, like AXE!) and “Carry
me back”. A must for fans of that typical classy
early US Radiorocksound. It’s only out as CDR I
believe, but check out the following site for more info: http://www.charliesouza.com , while you can buy a
copy of the CDR at TARGET RECORDS: http://www.targetrecords.de
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
IRRWISCH
‘TIME
WILL TELL’ (CHESTWOOD MUSIC)
The Swiss Progressive Rockband IRRWISCH has been making
records for 25+ years now I believe, and last year they
released their latest CD ‘Time will tell’. The
album continues the style of the earlier records, so
calmer epic ballad orientated Prog Rock. It’s
sometimes pretty soft, but it’s still quality music
with also good vocalwork and some very nice songs here
and there. Highlights are “Cinderella”
(keyboard orientated semi-ballad), “Like a
rainbow” (catchy uptempo Sympho Rocker with nice
keys) and “Fata morgana”. If you are familiar
with IRRWISCH, you know what to expect. You can buy a
copy of the CD at TARGET RECORDS: http://www.targetrecords.de
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
PRESENCE
‘INSIDE’
(SMASH/ISLAND RECORDS)
It’s 10 years ago since this obscure release was
done by ISLAND RECORDS, but it is now again easier to
obtain as TARGET RECORDS has copies for sell. Therefore a
short review appears on our reviewspages. This US band
produced very 80s orientated Wave/Gothic influenced
Poprock, very much like early GLASS TIGER, THE OUTFIELD
and CUTTING CREW, so pure 80s with a strong Canadian
touch. 12 tracks were included, and although it
didn’t sound really rocking and was very soft
sometimes, there was some nice hi-tech Poprock included
like “Never”, “Revolve”, “An
ocean hill” and “Act of faith”. It also
reminds me of INXS, UK, SIMPLE MINDS and such bands
sometimes, with some DAVID BOWIE kinda vocals, so this is
borderline Poprock. Only recommended to the die-hards!
You can buy a copy of the CD at TARGET RECORDS: http://www.targetrecords.de
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
MIDNITE
CLUB ‘RUNNING
OUT OF LIES’ (ESCAPE MUSIC)
With the German band MIDNITE CLUB, the British label
ESCAPE MUSIC has got a typical German Melodic
Hardrockband on their label. MIDNITE CLUB is playing in
the style of JADED HEART, FRONTLINE, DOMAIN, BONFIRE,
DOKKEN, STEELER, CRAAFT, ZERO, ZENO, BOYSVOICE, EVIDENCE
ONE etc. etc. Their CD has a big sound and is almost as
good as mentioned bands. The band features former MR.
HATE members guitarist Stephan Seger and vocalist Carsten
Schulz (who also sang on records of DOMAIN and EVIDENCE
ONE), and also bassist Andy Keller of SCARLET ROSE.
Together they have recorded a great quality Melodic
Hardrockalbum. 11 songs are included and my favourites
would be great uptempo melodic rock stuff like “Neon
dreaming”, “Snakecharmer” and “Ticket
to silence” (pure FRONTLINE), the (semi-) ballads
“Morning rain” and “Thoughts away”
(hello BON JOVI) and the lovely big midtempo melodic
rocker “Running out of lies”. Concluded, a must
for fans of classy melodic rock like JADED HEART,
FRONTLINE, 80s BON JOVI, DANGER DANGER... Also check out
their site at: http://www.midniteclub.de
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
HOUSE
OF MIRRORS ‘SPIRIT
OF FREEDOM’ (CD SINGLE)
Unfortunately only one song on the new CD-single of one
of the most promising new bands from Finland. HOUSE OF
MIRRORS are back with a fantastic very catchy uptempo
AOR/Melodic Rocker titled “Spirit of freedom”.
The song has a lovely singable chorus that sticks in your
head after you’ve heard it just once, reminding of
the big 80s sounds of EUROPE, TREAT, SHY, TALISMAN,
AVIATOR... Everything sounds perfect, and together with a
crystal clear production and mastering at Finnvox studios
by Mika Jussila, this song is yet another addition to the
gowing song collection of HOUSE OF MIRRORS. Let’s
hope they will someday release a full-length CD, because
that would probably become one of the best releases from
Finland, as good as STRATOVARIUS and SONATA ARCTICA, only
more in the AOR style. More info at: http://www.house-of-mirrors.com and e-mail them at: info@house-of-mirrors.com
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
KILPI
‘SAHKONSINISTA
SINFONIAA’ (MTG)
This Finnish band features members of the band MACHINE
MEN, of whom we reviewed a fantastic high class demo
sometime ago. KILPI is another high quality band,
although they are somewhat different. Musically they move
in a typical Euro Power Metal style, which is very
melodic and reminding me of STRATOVARIUS, SONATA ARCTICA,
AVALANCH, TIERRA SANTA... yet the band sings in Finnish!
That’s not a problem at all, becuase now they remind
me a lot of the Spanish and Japanese Melodic Metalbands.
Actually it sounds very catchy, the Finnish language! The
songs and the sound of the whole CD is very impressive
and really excellent! Opener “Samaan aikaan
toisaalla” is a fantastic start, a very catchy
uptempo Melodic Metal piece with a strong chorus. The
musicianship is very tight throughout the whole CD and I
really love this band, and I think most of you will too,
as this is just very good stuff. Besides the excellent
opener, other highlights include “Nerokasta
ikavaa” (great uptempo pure 80s melodic rocker),
“Pahalle et kaanna selkaa” (fantastic catchy
uptempo melodic Power Metal, a la STRATOVARIUS),
“Villin vaaran kosto” (awesome midtempo
AOR/Melodic Rocker with big harmonyvocals) and
“Tahtien lapset” (best song, fantastic melodic
heavy rock). Concluded, this is a unique band, because I
never heard a band singing in the Finnish language, and
it sounds awesome! Without a doubt, this is a sensational
band, recommended to both AOR/Melodic Rockfans and Power
Metalfans! Check out their site at: http://www.kilpi.com and e-mail them at: kilpi@kilpi.com
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
FIREBALL
MINISTRY ‘THE
SECOND GREAT AWAKENING’
(NUCLEAR BLAST RECORDS)
This American band is basically ignoring all the current
trends and brings out a record that is filled with
typical 70s influenced Hard/Heavy Rock/Metal. Actually it
sounds pretty good! 12 songs are included on their 3rd CD
and musically they sound like a mix between 70s KISS,
THIN LIZZY and 70s BLACK SABBATH, with their
singer/guitarist Reverend James A. Rota sounding a lot
like OZZY OSBOURNE. Songs like “King”,
“Master of none”, “Flatline”,
“He who kills” and “Dark descend” are
actually very good melodic Hard/Heavy Rocksongs.
It’s hard to compare this band, because they play a
Hardrockstyle not played by many bands out there,
it’s groovy sometimes, but most of the time
straight-ahead and raw to the bone, like you would expect
from a 70s band, but this is a rather new band, so
actually quite interesting. Some people call it stoner
rock, but I think it’s just plain old 70s Hard/Heavy
Rock with a clear American Rock’n’roll
approach. Check it out if you want to hear some real
Retro-Rock stuff.
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
ERIC
MOORE AND THE GODZ ‘TWENTY FIVE MOORE YEARS’
(OUTLAW ENTERTAINMENT)
Does anyone remember the legendary US Rockband THE GODZ?
Well, if not I can tell you that they were quite popular
in the late 1970s (primarily in the USA) and were
labelled as KISS without make-up. Actually in the 1970s
they sounded more like ROLLING STONES/HANOI ROCKS, but
the 80s saw them moving into KISS territory, just listen
to the song “Criminal mind” and “Hey
you” (hello KISS!). Anyway, OUTLAW ENTERTAINMENT
released a retrospective of ERIC MOORE and THE GODZ. The
2-CD set includes songs recorded the past 25 years by
Eric and his band. I am not a big fan of the band, and
they go in the same list of other ‘average’
rockbands like AEROSMITH, STATUS QUO, BLUE OYSTER CULT,
THE GRATEFUL DEAD, HANOI ROCKS etc. etc. If you’re a
fan of the band, then you can easily purchase this 2-CD
set, just go to: http://www.outlawrecordings.com
(Points:
7.0 out of 10)
VARIOUS
ARTISTS ‘AOR
DREAMZONES’ (AOR DREAMZONES)
The other Dutch AOR website on the net, AOR DREAMZONES,
has released an interesting compilation CD. The CD
features 16 tracks, some unreleased, and some taken from
recent albums of the performing band or artist. Quite a
few bands have been reviewed here on the site as well,
and so this compilation is interesting to hear these
bands all together, bands like WILD WEST, DEFYANCE, KEN
TAMPLIN, SWEET CRYSTAL, TWO PIECE PUZZLE, NEXX, REQUIEM,
NAZCA and many more. Very interesting are the unreleased
tunes by the sensational female fronted AOR band
COASTLINE (soon out on VINNY RECORDS), HAVEN (a new song
called “Allies”, written by Jonathan Cain!!!),
WORLD STAGE (not unreleased, but only available on the US
release ‘The day America cried’) and the
unknown (for me) band DAVE VARLET (their song
“Totally, faithfully and deeply” is a catchy
semi AOR track like a mix between DAVE BALDWIN, TOTO and
FRANKE AND THE KNOCKOUTS, soon a review of their demo).
In general, this is a very nice compilation to check out
if you’re a fan of AOR/Melodic Rock. More info at: http://www.aordreamzones.com
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
(All
reviews by Gabor Kleinbloesem, except where noted)
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