This is a high quality band from Colorado and they released their CD 'Color of space' on Fossil Records, the American progressive rocklabel, back in 1999, so the album is a few years old, but that doesn't matter for the music, because SINGULARITY is playing very impressive 70s orientated Progressive/Pomprock. The album contains 6 tracks, but still has a playing length of about 55 minutes, so the songs are quite long which is not unusual for a progressive rockband.

Opener "Ripple in time" is a fantastic uptempo 80s orientated Progressive AOR/Pomp with some catchy hooks and a lovely melodic memorable chorus. The short instrumental prog song "Mars direct" follows. "Ebb and flow" is a great 70s progressive rocker with very nice keyboardwork, while the song reminds me of early SAGA. A little bit calmer is the following track "Who we are", but it's in the same style, so another great progressive rocker, this time not unlike RUSH.

Next track "Strange attraction" is yet another great progressive rocker with very nice keys again. The best track however is closing track "Lenses", fantastic neo-prog a la JADIS. The start with such lovely keyboards is very promising and happily, the whole song is just great, a total must for fans of neo-prog, especially because the song has a playing length of almost 16 minutes! This SINGULARITY is highly recommended to every fan of (neo)- progressive rock. Website: http://www.singularitymusic.com

Rating: 8,5/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

Another great release on Fossil Records from the year 1999, but as it was not featured by us before, here is the review of the only (?) CD of the FRANKLIN-NEUMANN PROJECT. This project consists of multi-instrumentalists Gary W. Franklin and Bill Neumann. The CD starts very good with the song "Symphony of man", a great melodic rocker that is split in 4 parts actually. The song reminds me a bit of TRIUMPH. Up next is the great AOR ballad "Forever in your eyes", a song a la JOURNEY.

I was less moved by the rest of the CD, but still it is enjoyable to listen to. It's somewhere a cross between Progressive and Melodic Rock, with as best songs "I can see forever" and "Machinery of the Gods". The second part of the CD also contains a lot of instrumental moments, and although the best can be found at the beginning of the CD, this is still a good CD that offers quality melodic rock. Website: http://fnp.homepage.com

Rating: 8/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

This is a high quality instrumental melodic rock release from the American guitarist ROD LASCHANSKY. Rod is an excellent guitarplayer and most of the included songs on his debut CD are very pleasant to listen to. The best songs are the uptempo melodic rockers "City girl" and "Inside out" and the midtempo AOR/Melodic rockers "You can run", "The land of near and far" (best song) and "NYC, NY". There are also a couple bluesier songs on the album, but that gives this album a good variation in music style. For the most part however, this is a recommended release to fans of instrumental melodic hard rock. More info at: http://www.fossilrecords.net

Rating: 8/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

I know a few bands called ANTARES, but I didn't know this German band, formed around keyboardplayer/guitarist Claus Neide. Their CD 'Out of sight' is a nice 80s inspired calm mainstream progressive pop/rockrecord. Sometimes the saxophone disturbs the music, but often it is a pleasure to listen to the calm music of ANTARES, which is comparable to CAMEL at times. The best songs are "Stay away", "Closer" and "You know". Don't expect something rockin', instead this is a calm CD that will give you some relaxing moments while listening. More info at: http://www.fossilrecords.net

Rating: 7/10 by Gabor Kleinbloesem)(Review

THIRD VOICE from Pittsburgh consists of 2 members, vocalist Jeff Kearney and multi-instrumentalist Jason Pirone. They released this fantastic CD 'Reflections' back in 1998, but it's the first time I heard the album and because it is such a damn good record here's a review. Musically THIRD VOICE is playing a very melodic style that fits somewhere between AOR and Neo-prog. The songs are really excellent, the melodic lead vocals are very good and the choruses of the songs are memorable, so everything is ok with this release, except for one thing. The production isn't so big, but that's not so important, the real complaints I have are about the drums, because you can clearly hear that they used a drumcomputer instead of a real drumsound.

Nevertheless, that doesn't mean you should avoid THIRD VOICE, because the album they released almost 4 years ago is still a fantastic release with some beautiful melodic songs. My favourite songs are the midtempo progressive rockers "Reflections", "Mission of time", "Mystery" and "How it ends" and "From where you stand" (best song, a very good progressive AOR song with a super melodic chorus, a bit like SHOTGUN SYMPHONY and FAITH NATION). I don't know if the band is working on new material, but if they add some real drums and give their songs a bigger production, then THIRD VOICE is definitely one of the best newcomers in the progressive rockscene. More info at: http://www.fossilrecords.net

Rating: 8/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

I don't have much info on STEALING THE FIRE, but what I do know is that their 1999 release 'Hot ice…' is a very impressive record. The band is a threesome, with a good female singer called Saff Edve. There are only 7 tracks on the CD and 4 of them are instrumental, but that doesn't mean that Saff doesn't sing, because on the 3 vocal tracks she sings. Besides, those songs together have a playing time of about 35 minutes, so there's enough to enjoy if you're not keen on instrumental work. The CD has a huge sound and musically STEALING THE FIRE is playing pure Neo-prog. Opener "Stormwing" is the first instrumental (great musicianship by the way), but next track "Sirius rising" features the vocals of Saff, and is a great Neo-prog rocker a la TRACY HITCHING and LANDMARQ, with some excellent keyboard and guitarplay. In the same style are the 2 other vocal songs "Unknowing angel" and "Spitfire eros" (great heavy keys!), excellent high-class Neo-prog! If you liked the last LANDMARQ record, with TRACY HITCHINGS singing, then you will love this STEAL THE FIRE just as well. More info at: http://www.fossilrecords.net

Rating: 8/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

This is a perfect soundtrack to a movie actually, because although classified as progressive rock, this is instrumental epic calm progressive pop/rock. It's actually hard to place, because the 10 songs are more or less perfectly suitable for background music in a movie and not really music where you pick a few favourite tracks and play often. Although in the beginning, it's a pleasure to listen to NAILED GOD (especially the song "Chase, after the storm"), towards the end it gets a little boring. Only recommended if you're into instrumental soundtrack music with some progressive rock influences. More info at: http://www.fossilrecords.net

Rating: 6,5/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

The brothers Jim and Tim Reindel are the 2 musicians behind the REINDEL recordings. This band has released 3 great progressive melodic rockalbums, where Tim is playing drums and keys, while Jim sings and plays guitars, bass and keys. These are 3 high quality releases, and the best CD is definitely 'Mind probe' which is the band's latest recording. 'The dominant theme' from 1999 is their least album, because this is an experimental and mostly instrumental release with not too many highlights, primarily the nice Neo-prog tune "Vanity and ego". 'Mere mortals' from this year is much better, as this CD contains many high quality (Neo) Progressive Rocksongs (a bit like 80s RUSH and TWELFTH NIGHT).

Best songs on 'Mere mortals' are "Mere mortals" (very good melodic progressive rock, a la 80s UK acts, with lovely keyboard and vocalwork), "Taku he" (great Neo-prog), "Ezekiel" (good instrumental Neo-prog) and "Winds of change" (great uptempo progressive rocker). Also in 2001, REINDEL released it's best effort so far, namely the CD 'Mind probe'. This CD contains the best song REINDEL recorded, namely the titletrack "Mind probe". This is a fantastic Neo-prog song with superb keyboard, guitarwork and melodic vocals, while the song itself is divided in 8 different parts, just a dream for every fan of Classic Neo-prog (a la MARILLION, IQ, PENDRAGON). I wish REINDEL could make more songs like that one, because this very long song contains all the aspects a classic progressive rockfan demands!

The rest of the CD follows the same route taken on the previous albums of REINDEL, so nice quality progressive rock with a lot of instrumental parts, although towards the end, the songs are a bit more straight ahead Hard rock orientated (such as "Rockslide"). Nevertheless, REINDEL is a quality band, recommended to fans of progressive rock. More info at: http://www.fossilrecords.net

Rating: 8/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

A year ago I reviewed the fantastic CD of THE TRADE, a pure 80s AOR project of multi-instrumentalist ED JAMES. Now FOSSIL RECORDS has released the same CD under a new name, SECRET TREATIES, with the addition of a bonustrack. Here's that review once again, so if you missed it the first time it was published, here is another chance to get to know this awesome record, only under a new name. In many ways this is a brilliant piece of classy 80s AOR in the style of STAN BUSH, PHIL VINCENT, THE LADDER, BIG MOUTH… The wonderful thing about this record is that ED JAMES did everything on his own (all the instruments, vocals, the production and also all the songs were written and recorded by Ed), so I guess you can say that this is already impressive.

Secondly, the songs are also very sensational, so in other words this CD is a must for the fans of pure AOR. The best songs are the fantastic uptempo 80s AOR rockers "Perfect world", "Best laid plans", "Black and white" (PRISM style) and "Windows". These 4 songs are totally awesome pure AOR in the style of THE LADDER, PHIL VINCENT and ARC ANGEL. They all feature catchy choruses and lovely harmonyvocals, and are a total must for fans of 80s AOR. Some other good tracks include the uptempo melodic poprockers "She's come undone", "Just the facts", "Where is love?" and "Don't follow me" (again lovely harmonies) that all sound like MICHAEL MORALES' debut CD from the 80s mixed with some early RICK SPRINGFIELD. The only songs that didn't grab my attention were the rockers "Rudy" and "The face on Mars" (90s orientated).

The only track I haven't mentioned yet is the slower tempo AOR based tune "Smoke and mirrors" (a bit like FAKE ID) that is a nice little tune. This CD is a total must for those of you who like the PHIL VINCENT records and anyone into 80s AOR rock. More info at: http://www.fossilrecords.net

Rating: 9/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

Vocalist/Guitarist/Keyboardplayer FRANCO LA MAGNA from Canada released this CD last year. Musically it is quite a strange adventure, because especially the first couple of tracks are hard to define. "Raising caine" and "Cydonia mensae" are strange rocksongs, not bad or anything, but just a bit weird. Happily, the rest of the CD is more straightforward and actually towards the end, the CD starts to become quite interesting. Songs like "Red blood" (good midtempo AOR), "Godz" (great instrumental prog), "With you again" (good semi AOR ballad a la BON JOVI!), "Save it" (great uptempo 80s AOR rocker) and closing track "Tornado dreams" (big midtempo progressive AOR) are very nice to listen to. After a strange start, this CD has still enough enjoyable moments to offer fans of Progressive Rock/AOR. More info at: http://www.fossilrecords.net

Rating: 7,5/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

'The progressive perspective' is a compilation of the albums THE ORION SYNDROME released the past 15 years. Although musically the band fits somewhere between Sympho and AOR, not all songs they've made in the past will be appealing to fans of those genres, because most of the tunes from their 1987 recording 'Space traveller' are quite poppy and also the latest release (from last year) 'Encounter with infinity' is not that impressive. On the other hand, the songs taken from their 1993 release 'Spacetime' are very good. These are the very good Sympho-AOR song "Waves of time" (like THE TRADE, PHIL VINCENT, and ASIA/JOHN WETTON) and the great uptempo Sympho-AOR rocker "Hourglass" (with excellent melodic guitarplay, keys and very nice harmonies). Those two songs are quite impressive and show THE ORION SYNDROME at their very best.

The songs from their last CD are less interesting, except for the great Neo-prog/AOR song "Meteor storm" which is very 80s orientated (a la GTR). The songs from 1987 are very Pop orientated and only "Acid rain" is a notable track, this 10-minute counting midtempo Sympho/Neo-prog song is very melodic and is a great song. Many ups and downs on the compilation CD of THE ORION SYNDROME, but fans of lighter Sympho will probably find a lot of interesting songs on this album. More info at: http://www.fossilrecords.net

Rating: 7/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

PROSPECT is a band from Slovenija, and as far as I know, the only other Melodic Rockband from that country was SHANK ROCK, although that band was very commercial sounding (a la EUROPE, BON JOVI). This PROSPECT is playing melodic heavy rock with some progressive influences. Most of the songs are uptempo and in the same style, so if you like one, you'll love them all. The band also has clearly been influenced by 80s acts and comparisons to QUEENSRYCHE and DREAM THEATHER are easy to make at times, but the Hard Rock of PROSPECT is sounding a lot more straight-ahead. Also the use of keyboards is making the music of PROSPECT very melodic. My favourite tracks are "Running away" (uptempo melodic rocker a la PINK CREAM 69) and the melodic rockballad "Silent screamer". This band sounds very professional, so check them out at: http://www.prospect-music.com and e-mail them at: contact@prospect-music.com

Rating: 8/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

The US label FOSSIL RECORDS has released a lot of quality Progressive Rock and Instrumental Guitar Rockalbums, and this compilation disc features some of their best Progressive Rockbands. 10 tracks are included and it gives you a really good idea what this label is releasing. Bands like DEFYANCE, JEFFREY RYAN SMOOTS, CERAFIM, INNER RESONANCE and THIRD VOICE are all high quality Progressive Rockbands, and they are all featured with one of their songs from their released CDs. This is a good start if you want to start purchasing material from FOSSIL RECORDS. More info at: http://www.fossilrecords.net

Rating: - (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

Besides a Progressive Rock compilation, FOSSIL RECORDS has also released a compilation with some of the best songs of their signed Instrumental bands/artists. This compilation features outstanding Instrumental Melodic HardRock/Heavy Rock from acts like PROJECT ALCAZAR (recently signed on LION MUSIC), INNER RESONANCE, ROD LASCHANZKY, REINDEL, ECSTASY IN NUMBERS and many more. A must for fans of Instrumental Hardrock based around the guitar. More info at: http://www.fossilrecords.net

Rating: - (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

Multi-instrumentalist HUGO FLORES comes with a good release, filled with both Instrumental Music and Vocal tracks that sound like a mixture between AOR/Melodic Rock and Progressive Rock. Everything is playedvery well, but the vocals are not overly impressive but not so bad that you would stop playing the CD. No, this is a good melodic CD that is a pleasure to listen to. Standout tracks are "Mistaken Gods" (uptempo melodic rocker), "Fading beauty" (great Progressive AOR, heavy guitarplay), "Where the wind goes" (Instrumental Prog, excellent guitarplay), "The system" (another great Instrumental Progressive song, now with excellent keyboardwork) and "Train to Infinity" (best song, great Progressive AOR). Hugo proves he can do a lot on his own, but I think a co-operation with some outsiders regarding his vocals and also the songwriting would make Hugo's music much more interesting. More info at: http://www.fossilrecords.net

Rating: 7,5/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

WASTE LAGOON is a Norwegian band and they have released their debut CD 'Shadow chaser' on the US label FOSSIL RECORDS. Musically they play quality Progressive (Hard) Rock (without keyboards!). Their music sounds pretty good, like a mix between 70s RUSH and the last SAGA album. The songs are rather short if you compare them to most other Progressive Rockbands, but happily the songs of WASTE LAGOON are still quite progressive and melodic at the same time. My favourite tracks are "Acid rain", "Shadow chaser", "Rabbits", "Quite a story", "Two different worlds" (best song) and "The beauty of it all". Most of the included 14 tracks are in the same rockin' Progressive style. Check out WASTE LAGOON at: http://www.lagoon.no

Rating: 7,5/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

ECSTASY IN NUMBERS is a 3-piece instrumental outfit and their CD 'Spellbound' sounds quite relaxing. Most of the numbers are calmer melodic progressive rock orientated, with sometimes a bluesy or groovy touch. The guitarplay reminds me of STEVE LUKATHER. The best songs are the rockers "Cruisin'", "I'm not a vampire anymore and "Rush hour" and the calmer "Hangtime". Recommended to Instrumental freaks! More info at: http://www.fossilrecords.net

Rating: 7,5/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

'Between day and night' is a high quality release and a total must for fans of Neo-prog. The CD contains 10 songs, of which about 6 songs feature the good female lead vocals of Marysa Mardini. Opener "Comes the night" is an excellent instrumental uptempo melodic Neo-prog rocker. Next track "Abracadabra" features the female lead vocals and is great Neoprog, with some lovely keyboardwork of John Alarcon, who together with his brother James (guitarist) are the leaders of SYNTHOLOGY. The CD continues in this Neo-prog style, with both instrumental and vocal tracks. The best songs are "Between day and night" (great female fronted Neoprog, a la TRACY HITCHINGS), "Curtain call" (polished ballad) and the instrumental slow melodic rocker "Living in dreamland". SYNTHOLOGY is a very good band, a must for fans of Neoprog. More info at: http://www.fossilrecords.net

Rating: 8/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

American guitarist Denis Traffe released his solo-debut CD a couple of years ago, but it's a pity if we wouldn't discuss it over here, because 'Modern rock guitar volume 1' is filled with some excellent instrumental melodic rock. There are 15 songs on the CD, and the only average songs are the two vocal songs ("You don't have to pretend" and "The storm") in which he sounds like RICK RAY. The other 13 tracks are very nice instrumental 80s typed melodic rock/aor songs. The best songs are "Driven", "Countdown", "Mighty flesh vehicles", "Territories", "Winter passage" and "90210", all great fun 80s inspired instrumental uptempo melodic rockers. This CD is perfectly suitable to just put on and rock on! Denis released this CD in 1999, so I don't know if he has done anything since the release, but fans of instrumental melodic (hard) rock need to check out this album a.s.a.p. More info at: http://www.fossilrecords.net

Rating: 8/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

PROJECT FINSTER consists of Sonny Parlin and Michael Gargiulo. Their CD 'Twisted pair' was released earlier this year and is an excellent instrumental album. There are 12 songs on the CD and most of them are in the same style. They play very good progressive melodic heavy rock, with some very good guitarplay. My favourite tracks are "Mars 4", "Manual recount", "Manatee journey", "Dilly-O" and the bonustrack "Bluegrass jiggy". This is a must for fans of instrumental quality melodic hardrock. More info at: http://www.fossilrecords.net

Rating: 8/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

INNER RESONANCE features Peter Orullian on vocals and keys and Jeffrey Ryan Smoots on guitar, bass, keyboards and drums. Jeffrey's solo-CD has also been reviewed by us, and got a good review because it was filled with some good melodic rock. Now this project of Jeffrey is a bit more progressive orientated than his solo-CD. This is partly due to the lead vocals of Peter who has a similar voice to Geoff Tate (QUEENSRYCHE). Musically it is a bit reminding of the old QUEENSRYCHE, while being more melodic in approach. There are 10 tracks on the CD with a playing time of almost one-hour. Best tracks to me are "Solar wind" (nice uptempo melodic rocker) and "Desire to believe" (with it's very melodic guitarsound). Most of all this CD is a very much-recommended CD if you're into Progressive Melodic Hard Rock (a bit like ZEELION, only without the AOR influences). The vocalist is sounding so much like Geoff Tate, that you can't ignore this band if you're a QUEENSRYCHE fan. This band would not be out of place as a future Limb Music Recordlabel release. Get all the info on their website at: http://www.iresonance.com

Rating: 8/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

I have always been a huge fan of Jeff Scott Soto's but lately the man has become somewhat lame on his recent releases, yet on the Boogie Knights covers album his voice actually sounds full of life and exciting again and I get the overall feeling that he is getting tired of singing the same old rock material over and over again, let's face it, that's what he's best known for and he's bound to get a little lost in musical direction, who wouldn't after 20 years in the business? Evidence of this can be heard on the last Talisman album "Truth" which seemed to lack the balls and fiery power of their previous albums, having said that "Truth" did have in it's paws the classic 'Angel/Devil' and the mainstream radio friendly 'Heaven's Got Another Hero' as well as a stirring cover of Queen's 'Let Me Entertain You', but Soto will never be Freddy.

It seems as if life (excuse the pun) has burst back into the band with this new release (the bands sixth studio outing not including the live material and the Humanimal II release) and sees the group going under the rather uninspiring moniker of Humanimal, why the drop of their actual trade mark Talisman house hold name is beyond me, but I guess some label somewhere obviously still has the name rights to the name, but I'm curious because Z Records are bigger than AOR Heaven who released "Truth" to the European market, so I would have thought it would have been easy to use the Talisman moniker since the other label didn't do justice to the "Truth" release promotion wise..

Anyway enough of the who what and where's of past, it's the music right now that counts and as I mentioned earlier the fire seems to have relit the bands energy and the songs have a stronger fresh vibe with Soto really giving his voice a big push and he sounds as if he means it again, thus the first two songs 'R U 4 Real' and 'Again 2 B Found' get the wheels in motion and burst into classic Talisman territory, track two is a full on rocker which steals the crown from right under Europe's arses as Sweden's best melodic rock band, my only gripes with this song is even though it's fantastic, the club sounding drum samples at the beginning and throughout the song may give a groove to the song but totally ruins the overall feel, however the big bass vibe makes up for this.Yes the band are experimental on this song, but this could have been a really killer song, had it not been for the horrible drum sound, what were you thinking of guys? Perhaps I should call this song Boogie Metal, lol !

These samples pop up again on the poppy 'Find My Way Home', but the band strike home hard with mega brill rockers like 'Who Do U Think U R', 'Feel The Burn', the Eyes sounding 'Love's The Dominion' the commercial 'Turn Away', the AOR/Melodic 'Way 2 Deep' and they even get experimental on the technical and progressive 'Road 2 4giveness' which is crunchy and like a mellower Dream Theater. So overall this is not a bad album at all, the production is certainly allot better than the last album and the band sound well on form again, so despite a few major gips with those club sounding drum parts this is a great comeback for the band, and if you like their previous outings then you will love this.

Rating: 8/10 (Review by Nicky Baldrian)

"Toshi plays awesome guitar on these tunes. He will surely be the envy of any guitarist who hears his work!" quoted Marty Friedman recently, and Friedman is dead right, I could not believe my ears from the moment the brassy 'Tokushima' thundered out of my speakers to the fourteen minute super cool jazz/blues slamming 'After The Fix' jam to the final bail out of the gangster movie soundtrack of 'Krackhead' each song left me totally enthralled, ladies and gentleman this is the world's best guitar album since Joe Satriani's "Flying In A Blue Dream" record, the new messiah is born, this record is wild and heavy. The album has a stunning MASSIVE sound, you can hear all the instruments clearly and they all sound massive and extremely majestic throughout this disc which is expresses drama, tension, melody and technical expertise all played with great dexterity.

Produced by Toshi himself who has had stints with everybody's favourite melodic rock band Heaven's Edge and mastered by Leon Zervos who's work includes Aerosmith's "Nine Lives", and Dream Theater's "Falling Into Infinity"", one can expect the same high sound quality, so we are talking major league stuff here that out ranks the likes of Satch and Vai in one swift pick of the guitar neck. And not only is the sound fantastic but just take a look at who contributes to the album, one Tony MaCalpine can be heard on 'The Sheltering Sky' which is a lovely melodic composition. Tony also appears on the shred rocking '92 In The Shade', this piece contains a simple memorable melody which is very catchy and will have guitar fans wetting themselves. Interestingly though MaCalpine backs Toshi up by handling the keyboards on '92 In The Shade',

Another respected player Michael Angelo (Nitro/C4) can be heard in all his glory on 'Affair With A Stranger' and 'High Noon'. The former is very melodic with a mystical feel showing similarities to Jason Becker and Marty Friedman, whilst the latter is my favourite track on "Full On!" because it is a full on (excuse the pun) explosive but also simple hard rock solo with lots of interesting Satriani/Vai/Van Halen inspired finger-picked/chord -tapping complexities, note where the song suddenly stops, making you think it's all over, but keep listening as the song charges into a arpeggio flying finish. You can also hear lots of Jason Becker, Marty Friedman, Reb Beach and Michael Lee Firkins influences throughout the disc
such as on the cascading 'Custer's Last Groove' a fantastic tune which sticks in your head thanks to it's great multi-faceted guitar harmonies.

The album has a varied style which has class stuck all over it, check out haunting compositions such as the Shawn Lane/Eric Johnson flavoured 'Prelude To A Kiss' and 'Crimson Tides', which show diversity and maturity, whilst 'MaryJane Rottencrotch' takes the album a little more left field, so overall Toshi Iseda is the world's finest guitar player by far, whose style and technique on this record continues to intrigue the listener even after multitudious listens, "Full On!" is a hugely rewarding guitar-a-thon, don't be to suprised if you see Toshi on a future G3 tour!! Faith in guitar music has been restored, The new messiah has cometh! www.musicesq.com OR email : - OVERTOPREC@aol.com

Rating: 10 (Review by Nicky Baldrian)

Blending old school rock and metal with progressive elements and powerful soul-tinged, emotional, yet hard-edged vocals from Gary Hughes accompanied by Vinny Burn's formidable guitar-driven melodies, Ten have yet again pushed themselves to the limit and created a thunderous hard rock record, that gets better and better with each spin. Songs like the anthemic 'Glimmer Of Evil' and 'Strange Land' are very very good and squash the feeble tiresome attempts by other UK bands such as Contagious and Kick.

'Strange Land' is a jolly rocker keeping the spirit of British rock alive. 'High Tide' is ballsy and pumps 'n' grinds with power and stirring guitar action from Mr.Burns. Gary's amazing vocals are laid over a bed of heavy hitting rock and pompy keyboards, which strike a chord with Rainbow influences. 'What About Me' is a magical big power ballad that deserves to blaze up the top 40, then we get the amazing 'Last Of The Lovers' which is a fantastic song with huge hooks, cranked up guitars and slammin' drums that radio should lap up.

I have to say that the production is very sharp and clear which adds to the enjoyment of the songs, thus '"Far Beyond The World" for this reason becomes Ten's best album since "In The Name Of The Rose" and could even be the albums sister, check out the Magnum-ish 'Outlawed And Notorious' where the catchy harmonies will leave you humming along long from the first play, and how about Vinny's tasty riffing during this piece, quite glorious, and maybe one of Ten's best songs. 'Scarlet And The Grey' is another high spirited rocker and 'Heart Like A Lion' prowls it's way through instantly memorable chorus lines and is a massive piece of melodic rock which has a spiritual edge to Gary's vocals that sound deep and chilling.

'Black Shadow' is a full on Ten rocker, and it's absolutely massive and will be a future crowd favourite in the live arena. Ten don't forget their AOR influences on the keyboard sprinkled 'Who Do You Want To Love', and lastly the title track is a driving melodic ballad that strikes heart and mind with Gary's swirling passionate heart warming vocals. "Far Beyond The World" was created to entertain as well as to provide material for thought. If you haven't been mesmerised by Ten yet, then there's every chance that this album will do it for you as it is a sure fire classic. Own it!

Rating: 9/10 (Review by Nicky Baldrian)

Wine Spirit are a great hard rock band in the Van Halen/Steelheart/Damn Yankees style and is a must buy for melodic metal fans! The first song 'Off My Head' purrs with high octane power riffs which continues on the totally fantastic 'Voyager', the chorus on this song is very Van Halen meets Racer X, Graham Bonnet, Dio, Badlands and Dokken with gigantic power riffing from II Conte who I have to say has a great style and can really shred with the best of them, this song is very memorable melodic metal.

II Conte and bassist El Guapo both handle the lead vocals and they both signed in a similar octave to Graham Bonnet and Steelheart's Mike Matijevic with hint of Dave Lee Roth. Thus the whole of "Bomb's Away" is a superb collection of melodic metal in the traditional '80's tradition so what you hear on all the songs are big, memorable hooks, soaring vocals and highly satisfying guitar patterns The whole band poses excellent virtuosity and voice, which is displayed throughout the 11 tracks.

Check out the Judas Priestish 'Tail Gunner', with soaring vocals and menacing Van Halen riffage. The band offer a mid to lower range performance on the very melodic 'R.A.W. Suite' which would have been at home on Ozzy's "No Rest For The Wicked" album whilst 'Freedom' is a soft ballad backed by a gentle acoustic refrain with superb vocal harmonising which reminds me of Dokken and Damn Yankees. The Van Halen/Damn Yankees/Y &T influences come into being again on the big infectious 'Wine Spirit' which is a cracking song with a big memorable chorus to singalong to.

'Short Hair Rocker' open up with a rather delightful "Spanish Fly" inspired ditty, then the hooks pour in and the song takes off into cock rock territory and again is Van Halen meets Steelheart and is quite a frantic song with great harmony vocals What's great about Wine Spirit is that the songs are full of life and hard to ignore, take 'Orangut-Angus' a tongue in cheek rocker with a grinding beat that makes you wanna punch your fist in the air, kind like Motley Crue meets Aerosmith and Extreme with a touch of Montrose.

Check out also 'Damned Clockstrokes (You'd Better Get Off), the Queensryche inspired ballad 'Wasted Sunsets', 'Bass-tard' and the punchy 'Proud To Be Lord' Wine Spirit really kicks ass and is a CD that is worth every penny. www.perrisrecords.com

Rating: 8,5/10 (Review by Nicky Baldrian)

This band have seen it and done it all in their native country of Austria, how many bands can you think of that have had the honour of Toto's Steve Lukather co-writing with them? How many bands can claim to have supported the likes of Toto, David Bowie, Great White, Saga, Chroming Rose and even Slade etc? They even recorded a cover of the Whitesnake classic "Here I Go Again" for a European only rock cover CD called "Cover Me" King Size have twelve years of graft under their belts, yet they remain unsigned, what does a band have to do to chase after that deserved record deal?

Considering the climate hasn't been very healthy for melodic rock bands over the last 10 years, it's easy to get frustrated in this business especially if you are unsigned, so a big round of applause surly goes to King Size for sticking it out, and thus you can clearly observe their love for their craft which is very rare, how many bands out there do you know who have slugged it out for more this length of time and then split to either bad promotion or musical differences? They are a few and far between which is why I felt that it's high time King Size got some serious recognition. Led by singer guitarist Tom Proll, and featuring Wiff Enzenhofer (keys), Michi Beck (drums), Isabella Rozic (vocals), Klaus Niederhuber (Lead Vocals) and Borne Hennerbichler (Bass).

King Size have constantly been releasing material in the shape of "It's A Dirty Job" 1989, "No Message" 1992, "Timeless", 1994, "Rare Tracks" 1995, "Greatest And Latest" 1999, "Around And Around", 2000,"Rare Tracks 2" 2001 and various promotional videos, singles and live albums, this is usually the work of a signed band so why King Size have remained unsigned all these years is beyond me, if your a fan of any of the above bands then you will adore the dramatic anthemic quality King Size offer, they have great songs with memorable melody patterns and driving rhythms, which brings me back to the their "Around And Around" album which opens with a keyboard insturmental called 'Around' which leads us into the warm and friendly 'Machinery', what a good song this is, lead singer Klaus Niederhuber has a great towering voice that mixes Dream Theater's James LaBrie and ACT's Herman Saming with any of Toto's past and present singers, he then goes for more rockier moments on 'Winners And Loosers' which is fun punchy melodic rock, the guitars are strong and the production is very clear, this style is also layered out on 'A Song Is Born' a gloriously jumpy melodic piece with a great chorus to hum along to.

The ballad 'Could This Be Love' is as good as any ballad you may hear, gently sprinkled with keyboards and harmonising vocals the song builds into a lovely piece, at times though Niederhuber's vocals can get a little bit to sugary, but thankfully the music itself is very good as is on the next track which has an almost classical Vs pomp approach in the keyboards department, 'Love' is an instrumental song that you would find Robbie Valentine, The Light or Zeno recording and stirs up plenty of emotion that I can't help but enjoy. 'Rock 'N' Roll' is where the band go for the full keyboard drenched progressions soaked with gritty guitar work, this is 70's early 80's pomp rock and it's pretty good and doesn't even sound dated. The melodic title track is next and is a slightly heavier and darker piece.

The thing I like about King Size is that they are not afraid to pursue whatever ideas come to mind, thus each song is different and enjoyable in it's own light. One of my favourite tracks has to be 'Change Your Mind' because it simply attacks you with a glorious chorus and dynamic dramatic melodies, whilst 'Will We Ever Learn' is a must for AOR fans, just listen to those swirling emotion drenched vocals on this track which get even more dramatic on the huge ballad 'Isabel'. If you fail to enjoy the diversity of pleasures this album has to offer then you may as well be tone deaf or one of those people whose afraid to enjoy new music because it happens not to be signed or not by one of your favourite bands.

I will call this album a sensation, and why not? I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish, each song has it's on characteristic charms of delight, the songs are well crafted and professionally played and the production is super and deserves the rating I'm going to give it, just because it isn't by any of the big bands etc doesn't mean it deserves equal or more praise. "Around And Around" is a brilliant album, very organic and pure, wether their craft will cause and upward curve remains to be seen but for now King Size are steps ahead of the competition, and a deal is only around the corner, Inside Out music would be the perfect
label for this band!! Email : x-act@adis.at for more info

Rating: 8/10 (Review by Nicky Baldrian)