 PRIDE OF LIONS ‘PRIDE OF
LIONS’
(FRONTIERS RECORDS/BERTUS)
The 10th of November 2003 is the official date for the
release of the debut CD of the new band PRIDE OF LIONS.
This band was formed by
vocalist/guitarist/keyboardplayer/songwriter JIM PETERIK,
who is best known as being part of one of the best AOR
bands ever: SURVIVOR! Now we move on to the year 2003
where the man has found himself a new band, in which we
can further find a relatively unknown person called TOBY
HITCHCOCK, who (co-) sings on all the songs. This young
guy is a discovery by Jim, and if you listen to the
man’s voice you understand why Toby is being praised
by Jim as a new talent, because his voice is incredible,
right up there with such untouchable AOR singers like
BOBBY KIMBALL, DENNIS DEYOUNG, FREDDY CURCI, FERGIE
FREDERIKSEN, FRANKE PREVITE etc. This guy has such a
fantastic voice, and without a doubt, PRIDE OF LIONS
looks set to have a very promising future, as this album
is earthshaking! One of the best AOR albums ever will
always be the SURVIVOR 1984 record ‘Vital
signs’, but almost 20 years later one of it’s
original members has released a record under the name of
PRIDE OF LIONS, and after listening to the album he
created, it became clear to me that this new CD has all
the ingredients of becoming a Classic AOR record, almost
as good as that SURVIVOR record from 1984.
Everything sounds perfect on this CD, coming across like
a mix between a rockin’ TOTO, SURVIVOR, LE ROUX and
70s KANSAS, so this is pure AOR with even some Pomprock
here and there. Although most of the lead vocals are
handled by newcomer Toby Hitchcock, also Jim Peterik
himself sings a few duets with Toby, and this sounds
really excellent, because the two have got very different
voices. Jim’s voice is sounding like JIMI JAMISON,
while Toby is just a SUPERB mix between BOBBY KIMBALL and
DENNIS DEYOUNG, so you just can’t get a better
singer for this type of AOR than Toby! It’s truly
amazing how good this guy can sing, but also the included
songs are from the highest level you can reach when it
comes to pure AOR. With 12 included tracks and a playing
time of more than 62 minutes, you definitely get value
for your money, especially because the album leaves you
impressed from the moment it starts until the very last
seconds. This is the ULTIMATE AOR HEAVEN album everyone
has waited for since the days of SURVIVOR, JOURNEY,
ALIAS, SIGNAL etc. has passed, otherwise said: the best
AOR album since like 1989 or something. From start to
finish, this album offers you prime-time AOR at it’s
very best, so the fans of the genre know what to do when
this album comes out. In the meantime, let’s talk
about the songs here, as they are ALL sensational!
The album starts with “It’s criminal”, a
superb high class uptempo AOR rocker with perfect hooks,
choruses, vocals and classy guitar riff all throughout
the song. Next track “Gone” is a great midtempo
AOR song, while “Interrupted melody” is a very
nice calmer AOR ballad like DENNIS DEYOUNG made when he
was part of STYX. One of my favourite tracks here is
“Sound of home”, a terrific Classic uptempo
SURVIVOR AOR rocker with hooks all over the place! The
only song that wasn’t sensational (the other 11 all
are!) is the calmer duet ballad “Prideland”
that reminds me of JOURNEY. Somehow the second part of
the CD lifts this CD up to even higher places, maybe the
highest AOR quality ever recorded! It starts off with
“Unbreakable”, a powerful midtempo AOR rocker
with a touch of “Eye of the tiger”. “First
time around the sun” is a laid-back semi-AOR ballad
like the early 1980s, not unlike TOTO, LE ROUX and FRANKE
AND THE KNOCKOUTS. The following 3 tracks are maybe the
BEST AOR songs made since the 1980s! First there is
“Turn to me”, a HIGH CLASS uptempo AOR rocker
like a mix between SURVIVOR and LE ROUX, pure early 1980s
with a great guitarsolo during the last 2 minutes of the
song. Next up is “Madness of love”, a very
impressive soon-to-be-classic strong epic semi-AOR
ballad/rocker like 70s KANSAS, so even a bit proggy and
lengthy, yet with very powerful vocals! Then comes
another incredible song, namely “Love is on the
rocks”, this is SUPERB PURE POMPROCK a la LE
ROUX’s ‘So fired up’, what an amazing big
sounding chorus this song has! The calmer AOR ballad
“Last safe place” has some very emotional
vocals, and sounds a bit like ALIAS. One of my absolute
favourites on the CD is closing track “Music and
me”, as this song has it all to become a winner
amongst AOR fans. It starts off with some great SURVIVOR
keys, before taking up the acoustic guitar intro (like
KANSAS) with Jim Peterik singing, but then suddenly comes
the chorus and then it’s like AOR HEAVEN with
beautiful vocals by Toby. This chorus of the last song
will never get out of your head once you’ve heard
it, and together with “Love is on the rocks”,
these are 2 absolute highlights, but actually the whole
CD is a highlight.
What more can I say then the fact that JIM PETERIK has
finally reached the highest level of AOR songwriting,
almost as good as SURVIVOR’s ‘Vital
signs’. In other words, this PRIDE OF LIONS is going
to be THE BEST ALBUM OF 2003!!!
(Points:
9.9 out of 10)
 DREAMTIDE ‘DREAMS FOR THE
DARING’
(FRONTIERS RECORDS/BERTUS)
‘Dreams for the daring’ is the 2nd CD of the
German band DREAMTIDE, and musically nothing has changed,
so again we can hear big time Melodic (Heavy) Rock in the
style of FAIR WARNING, the forerunner of DREAMTIDE,
although this album sounds a bit heavier here and there.
The album has a very big sound/production, with excellent
vocals and a lot of lovely classy melodic rocksongs. In
fact, I think this new album is even better than the
debut ‘Here comes the flood’. Absolute
highlights on the new DREAMTIDE CD are such fantastic
catchy uptempo melodic rockers like “Live and let
live” and “Land without justice”, the
beautiful midtempo melodic rockers (in the style of FAIR
WARNING) “I’ll be moving on”,
“Eden” and “Out there” (best song)
and the superb semi-AOR ballad “All of my
dreams” that even takes us into SURVIVOR territory.
The CD has a playing time of 77 minutes, including 3
alternative mixed versions of 3 songs from the album, so
this is without a doubt a recommended CD to fans of high
class European Melodic Rock!
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
KROKUS
‘ROUND
13’ (ANGEL AIR RECORDS)
I have always been a big fan of KROKUS, but when original
lead singer MARC STORACE left the band and in came new
singer Carl Sentance I had my doubts if this would bring
back the classic KROKUS sound. The band released with
Carl a few albums, of which ‘Round 13’ was
released by ANGEL AIR RECORDS. The album had a high class
production by TONY PLATT and musically it was typical
KROKUS/AC/DC riff orientated Hardrock, but definitely not
as good as classy KROKUS. Especially the opener
“Heya” was a bit too simple to make it an
interesting tune, but happily the rest of the CD is
sometimes good old KROKUS Hardrock with mostly
sing-a-long songs such as “Money back”,
“Break free”, “Witchhunt” and
“Wild times”. On the other hand, there are also
plenty of weaker tunes on the album, such as “Guitar
rules”, “Suck my guitar”, “Blood
comes easy” and the afforementioned
“Heya”. Anyway, the band brought back MARC
STORACE on their new CD which was released earlier this
year, but the CD still hasn’t had an official
release over here, although it went to number 1 in
Switzerland! Check out this KROKUS CD from 1999 if you
want to hear someone else singing, but I rather prefer
the MARC STORACE era KROKUS.
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
SAXON
‘LIVE
AT DONINGTON 1980’ (ANGEL AIR RECORDS)
Donington’s ‘Monsters Of Rock 1980 was a great
happening and also a very interesting one, as it featured
as line-up the following bands: RAINBOW, JUDAS PRIEST,
SCORPIONS, APRIL WINE, RIOT, TOUCH (this was incredible,
because in 1979 they released their only album, a Classic
in AOR/Pomp history and they were put on a festival
consisting of only Metal bands, I would be very
interested in a hearing how that sounded!) and of course
SAXON! SAXON’s live recording has been released by
ANGEL AIR RECORDS, so you can hear how it all went down
there, and I must say that later live recordings/concerts
of SAXON sounded better, but that’s easy to
understand, because SAXON had just started back then.
Anyway, the crowd loved the band already and so the 9
songs they played were received very well. Any SAXON fan
must own this, as this is a unique performance of a
Classic Hardrockband at a legendary festival!
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
ZHORN ‘Z COMES
FIRST’
(GENERATION RECORDS/GERMUSICA/SUBURBAN)
Former LANFEAR member STEFAN ZOERNER (keys, vocalist,
songwriter) has joined forces with LANFEAR producer ANDY
HORN (multi-instrumentalist) and together this German duo
has released a CD under the moniker ZHORN. The CD is
titled ‘Z comes first’ and contains high
quality music. It is a mixture of various rock and metal
styles, with melodic rockers, prog. metal songs and even
neo-prog material, so a very diverse exciting album.
Stefan’s vocals remind me of SAVATAGE and ALICE
COOPER, and like I said the music takes us in various
directions, but always very melodic and also with lots of
keyboards. Opener “Z” is a great uptempo 80s
sounding happy uptempo AOR/Neo-Prog rocker like a mix
between TERRA NOVA and PALLAS. The following 2 songs
(“Of swords and kissed” and “Tuned for
misery”) are both good strong uptempo melodic
rockers with keys, a bit like ROBBY VALENTINE, yet with
rawer vocals. A completely (good) change of direction is
“White blanket”, a Prog/Power Metal inspired
midtempo song like EVERGREY, so a bit darker than the
rest of the CD. “Sitha’s dance” follows in
a more SAVATAGE/CIRCLE 2 CIRCLE mood, but the best songs
can be found towards at the end of the CD in the shape of
“Man of 2,000 words” (catchy typical 80s German
uptempo melodic rocker), “What I feel today”
(great semi-ballad), “Not enough” (Good semi
melodic Progmetal, like a heavier ACT) and closing track
“At the end of a day” (good semi-ballad).
Concluded, a very diverse album that might attract fans
of both AOR/Melodic Rock and Progressive Metal, as it
fits somewhere between with even something for the
Neo-Prog fan! More info at: http://www.generation-records.de
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
UDO
‘NAILED
TO METAL...THE COMPLETE HISTORY’
(AFM RECORDS/ROCK INC./BERTUS)
After the audio CD of UDO, live in Russia, there’s
the DVD that also features the particular concert, but
happily includes much more! The DVD spans around 255
minutes (!) and contains besides the concert, also
videos, behind the scenes and previously unreleased audio
tracks, so this is definitely worth your money. Only
negative point to add here is that the menu is hard to
reach after watching one of the parts on the DVD, but
apart from that this is the perfect DVD like we would
always like to see when watching a DVD. The videos of the
early UDO days are very nice to watch, and although Udo
Dirkschneider is best known for his time with ACCEPT, on
this DVD we can find only UDO related material. Through
the years he recorded quite a few albums, and the videos
and live concert are the living proof the man can also
make good stuff without being in ACCEPT. Anyway, if you
enjoy true Metal and are a long-time ACCEPT/UDO fan, this
DVD is without a doubt a must to own!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
SHINING
FORCE
‘SHINING FORCE’ (BLOODBOUGHT RECORDS)
The American band SHINING FORCE return with a new CD
release. The new CD contains 15 tracks, with a total
running time of 68 minutes! The production is not so
good, but apparantly the band will redo the CD soon, so
then we can expect a bigger sound. Nevertheless, the CD
is filled with high class 80s US Metal, in a way we have
heard from bands like WARLORD, VILLIAN, BLACK KNIGHT,
WARRIOR, ELIXIR, so this is pure 80s Underground Metal,
with strong rhythms, big guitars and melodic
hooks/choruses, typical American, but 80s and not
anything here is related to the digusting Nu-Metal scene
currently in the US. It is awesome to receive a CD like
this and hear that there are still American bands playing
this typical 80s US sound. The Greek label CULT METAL
CLASSICS should hear this, because they release on and
off releases like this, but in the US SHINING FORCE is
signed to the label BLOODBOUGHT RECORDS. Anyway, the band
is actually a White Metal band, but musically they remind
me of a cross between MANOWAR, DIO, WARLORD and
HAMMERFALL. Although there are 15 tracks on the CD, there
aren’t any weak tracks included. Highlights are
“Come quikly” (fantastic song!), “Shining
force”, “Holy nation” (MANOWARish) and
“Exodus”. Everyone who is into 80s US Metal
should check out this band, but let’s hope the new
version of the CD (which should be out very soon) will
indeed see an improvement on the production/sound
quality, because it now sounds very much like an
independent/demo CDR and to be honest, these guys deserve
much better. If they only had the equipment of a MANOWAR
or DIO, then it would sound really big. Anyway, for more
info go to: http://www.eternityministry.org and e-mail them at: marc@bloodboughtrecords.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 OUTLAND ‘DIFFERENT
WORLDS’ (AVALON/MARQUEE JAPAN)
We’re moving onto the USA, to California to be
exact, where we can find a new act called OUTLAND. Guess
what, these guys play awesome pure 80s AOR with
references to SURVIVOR, JOURNEY, BIG MOUTH, AVIATOR,
VISION 180, 80s NIGHT RANGER etc. These days it seems
like new bands in the US pop up here and there playing
this smooth classic 80s AOR-Rock sound, but OUTLAND can
easily be seen as one of the best new acts in this
returning genre in the USA. The band consists of 2
members, vocalist/guitarist/keyboardplayer JEFF PRENTICE
(who was a member of the METAL BLADE signed PREDATOR who
released some pure US Metal albums in the 1980s) and
bassist/guitarist/keyboardplayer ROB NISHIDA (member of
2000 WEEDS). Together this duo has released an awesome
pure AOR album under the moniker OUTLAND. Somehow the
band has released it’s CD through AVALON/MARQUEE, a
big Japanese label, and I must say that this sounds HUGE!
12 tracks are included, and favourites would be such high
class uptempo AOR rockers like “Valerie”,
“One more night”, “Mary Anne”,
“Love cries” (awesome STAGE DOLLS cover),
“Strong enough” (DRIVE SHE SAID at their very
best), “Lost in your love” (Japanese
bonustrack, very strong uptempo AOR rocker a la RED DAWN)
and “Different worlds”. The production is very
good and so are the 12 tracks, which features excellent
musicianship, so big hooks, catchy choruses and very
melodic lead and harmonyvocals! Without a doubt, this CD
is A TOTAL MUST FOR AOR FANS! Check out more at: http://www.outlandmusic.com and e-mail them at: outlandmusic@earthlink.net
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
SEVEN
ANGELS
‘THE SECOND FLOOR’ (MEGAHARD RECORDS)
Out of Brazil comes SEVEN ANGELS, a female fronted Euro
Power Metal styled act that plays in the style of
LABYRINTH, RHAPSODY, ANGRA etc. It’s very melodic,
fast, with lots of keyboards and guitars, and actually
very catchy. Lead singer Debora Serri has an acceptable
voice (although it sounds forced at times), but it’s
definitely not as good as LANA LANE for example. However,
the 10 tracks on their CD ‘The second floor’
sounds very good, with a crystal clear production, making
SEVEN ANGELS a high quality band. Highlights on the CD
are “Revelation”, “The second floor”,
“Purify” (best song), “From hills and
woods” and “Mask of sadness”. Fans of LANA
LANE, RHAPSODY and co. Can easily check out this great
Brazilian act, more info at: http://www.sevenangels.com.br and e-mail them at: sevenangels@sevenangels.com.br
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 ADAGIO ‘UNDERWORLD’
(NTS RECORDS/ROCK INC./BERTUS)
The Progressive Metalband ADAGIO return with a new CD
titled ‘Underworld’. The album takes the band
in a slightly different direction, however the main style
here is Progressive Metal. The band has added Classical
influences here and there and came up with some
interesting song structures. The complex Progressive
Metal of ADAGIO is still very melodic and highly
interesting for the fans of ‘real’ high quality
music. Opener “Next profundis” is a fantastic
start of the CD, because this is a pure SYMPHONY X
soundalike tune with great melodies, excellent guitar and
keyboardwork, with even a keyboard/piano-break that
sounds like a classical piece by JOHN WILLIAMS (!). The
production is big and so are the included 8 long songs,
which in total give this CD a running time of more than
60 minutes. Besides the opener, other highlights include
“Introitus/Solvet saeclum in favilla”,
“Chosen” (quite superb!) and
“Underworld” (big classical music influences).
Concluded, a must for fans of Bombastic Melodic
Neo-Classical Progressive Metal like a mix between
SYMPHONY X, early ROYAL HUNT, SAVATAGE and JOHN WILLIAMS
(the classical music performer).
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
 MICHAEL RIESENBECK ‘SHOUTING
SILENCE’ (INDEPENDENT)
Out of Holland comes guitarist/drummer/songwriter MICHAEL
RIESENBECK, who spent a few years creating this CD.
‘Shouting silence’ is finally out and without a
doubt, it’s a great high quality AOR album that
features a lot of well-known musicians/singers, such as
PHIL VINCENT, Tony O’Hara (PRAYING MANTIS), ED
JAMES, Kimmo Blom (URBAN TALE), Jeff Pilson (DOKKEN), LEC
ZORN and many others. The included music is like I said
pure 80s orientated AOR, with catchy hooks and memorable
choruses. 11 songs are included, of which thre absolute
highlights are “Dreams for tomorrow” (SUPERB
PERFECT MIDTEMPO AOR, lovely chorus!), “Call to
glory” (fantastic uptempo AOR), “Meant to
be” (with a terrific unknown singer Lars Safsund,
song is lovely midtempo AOR), “Telling lies”
(classy PHIL VINCENT tune), “Two hearts”
(wonderful big midtempo AOR, like SURVIVOR) and
“Heart of stone” (great uptempo AOR with
Brazilian lead singer Guilherme Indianwest Oliviera). The
CD is similar in style to TOTO, MECCA, GIANT, JOURNEY,
PHIL VINCENT, so fans of good quality 80s AOR should
check this out a.s.a.p.! More info at: http://www.michaelriesenbeck.com and e-mail at: m.riesenbeck@net.hcc.nl
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
F5
‘DAWN
OF A NEW AGE’ (INDEPENDENT)
Out of Florida comes F5, a duo consisting of
guitarist/keyboardplayer Chris Rifkin and female lead
singer Leann Serao. Their CD ‘Dawn of a new
age’ has a really big sound/production, while the
included music has an own identity, combining New Age
music with pure Progressive/Power Metal, somewhere a
cross between ENIGMA, SYMPHONY X, DREAM THEATER and LANA
LANE! The best songs are “Inspired kingdom”
(very much like LANA LANE), “The silence”
(semi-ballad), “It’s all in your mind”
(great melodic Prog. Metal) and “Come into the
light” (fantastic fast uptempo Melodic Power Metal,
European style, like LANA LANE meets LABYRINTH).
It’s definitely a quality CD, but still it’s
very different from all the other Prog/Power Metal
releases we usually review, as this CD captures a lot of
New Age influences as well. However, the musicianship and
the excellent vocals of Leann are very impressive, and
here and there there’s some superb music done. More
info can be found at: http://www.mindspring.com/~ninja/f5/html and e-mail them at: ninja@mindspring.com or cyberstorm316@yahoo.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 ACERO ‘PASADO
PRESENTE’ (DEMO CDR)
Out of Costa Rica comes ACERO, one of the first bands I
review that comes from that Latin America country. Their
CD is titled ‘Pasado presente’ and to my big
surprise it is a very sensational album. The band is
singing in Spanish, and they play Melodic Heavy
Rock/Metal, a bit like TIERRA SANTA, RATA BLANCA and
SARATOGA. The production is quite good and most of the
songs are very impressive. The band has a very good lead
singer and instrumental it sounds very tight and mostly
straight-ahead. Like I just said, most of the tracks are
uptempo melodic heavy rockers, with as highlights
“Libertad”, “El rey del rock and
roll” and “Reencarnación”, but also very
good are the epic midtempo MAIDEN influenced pieces like
“Dos lunas negras” and “Luces en el
Cielo”. Concluded, this is a great band from Costa
Rica, for more info go to: http://www.grupoacero.com
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 INFINITE DREAMS ‘TOUCH MY
SKIN’ (TTS MEDIA MUSIC)
Out of Switzerland comes INFINITE DREAMS, of whom we
reviewed a CD-single sometime ago, but let’s talk
about their first full-length CD ‘Touch my
skin’. This is a fantastic female fronted
AOR/Melodic Rockalbum that calls memories of LAOS, VIXEN,
WITNESS, HEAT, ALYSON AVENUE, SCARLETT, COASTLINE, early
TONE NORUM, DANTE FOX etc. etc. In other words, this is
your typical big production polished female fronted AOR
record with catchy memorable choruses, clean
vocals/harmonyvocals and a fun upbeat melodic rock
message. The CD contains 12 tracks and the 48 minutes of
playing time is bringing you from the start until the end
high quality AOR/Melodic Rock in the best 80s tradition!
Man, this band sounds great, and I can really say that
their record sounds very impressive and is highly
recommended to all AOR/Melodic Rockfans! The songs are
very catchy, with as highlights the midtempo melodic
rocker “Bad devotion” and the uptempo AOR
rockers “Touch my skin”,
“Irresistible”, “Falling” and
“Lost in your arms”, while also the fantastic
melodic rockballad “Everything has an end”
needs to be mentioned here. Concluded, this is a HIGHLY
RECOMMENDED album to everyone that likes classy
AOR/Melodic Rock, especially if you like the recent stuff
of bands like BROKE’N’BLUE, ALYSON AVENUE,
COASTLINE... More info at: http://www.infinitedreams.ch and e-mail them at: mail@infinitedreams.ch
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
ATTRACTION
65 ‘ATTRACTION
65’ (ATENZIA RECORDS)
ATTRACTION 65 is one of the new signings on the Swedish
label ATENZIA RECORDS, and it seems that so far the label
has been putting out nothing but quality release, because
also this CD is quite strong. The band is formed around
the BLUE TEARS members Gregg Fulkerson (vocals/guitar)
and bassist Michael Spears (who also worked with BILLY
FALCON). BLUE TEARS was a classy melodic rock outfit that
put out a wanted record in the late 80s on MCA Records,
but that’s all behind us now, because ATTRACTION 65
sounds quite modern and will probably be called nu-breed
for all the wrong reasons, because they are more leaning
towards Melodic Rock. However, nobody can deny that they
sound modern, but still they are different than all those
MTV-wannabees. I would rather call them a great mix
between BON JOVI (their last couple of records),
today’s DEF LEPPARD (they surely look a lot like
them!) and U2 (when they make poprockmusic!), melodic and
modern at the same time, and a great band to start if you
want to get into a more Nu-Breed orientated rockstyle.
The CD holds 11 tracks, and with a great production, this
is surely a quality release. If we have a look at the
songs, I can mention that “Storm in my heart”
and “Swept away” are pure BON JOVI tingled
semi-ballads, fantastic songs by the way, and with big
promotion huge hitsingles! The main feature remains to be
Melodic Rock, but also with some modern steps sometimes
(“Roll on”), but mostly a mix of both worlds,
sounding updated, but still catchy. Totally different
than BLUE TEARS, but still quite good, with as absolute
highlights the strong melodic rockers “Call my
name”, “Believe” and “In another
life”. Some songs have a strong modern approach, but
always a melodic chorus that keeps it interesting for the
fans of aor/melodic rock. Another quality release on
ATENZIA RECORDS, I look forward to their other releases!
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
KALEDON ‘CHAPTER 2: THE
KING’S RESCUE’
(STEELBORN RECORDS/ROCK INC./BERTUS)
The Italian band KALEDON returns with a new CD, another
epic based story, part 2 of the legend of the forgotten
reign. Th artwork and production is quite good, but the
music is a bit too standard to really convince, so the 74
minutes of the album are getting a bit too long towards
the end. Occasionally, the band performs some good
typical Italo Power Metal tunes, like “The new
kingdom”, “Shadow of Azrael”, “New
soldiers for a new army” etc, but when things slow
down and the band just performs epic Prog Metal it
becomes clear that the band isn’t that impressive.
It’s not bad what we get to hear, but we’ve
heard it a lot of times before and also much better. The
comparison to LABYRINTH is easy to make, but those guys
have just released a superb classic Power Metal record,
and KALEDON is just a nice rip-off, so why go for a
weaker copy if you can hear something new of the original
band! Again I’m not saying this is a bad record, but
it’s just not at the same level of bands like
LABYRINTH, RHAPSODY, WONDERLAND or even SKYLARK.
It’s just a standard safe release, so-called Italo
Power Metal by the numbers! Only recommended to die-hard
Italo Power Metal freaks!
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 AIRBORN
‘D-GENERATION’
(REMEDY RECORDS/ROCK INC./BERTUS)
It has not been that long ago since the Italian Melodic
Power Metalband AIRBORN released their official debut CD
‘Against the world’. Now the band has returned
with a new stronger release titled
‘D-Generation’, an album that can easily be
mentioned together with German bands like IRON SAVIOR,
HELLOWEEN, GAMMA RAY... The CD was again produced by IRON
SAVIOR leader Piet Sielck, who did a fantastic job,
making this CD a true winner for fans of typical
Euro/German melodic Power Metal. The band is focused on
BIG CHORUSES with lots of Harmonyvocals, which you can
clearly hear on the first 3 (fantastic) uptempo melodic
power metal tracks “Survivor”, “Cosmic
rebels” (which is also featured as videoclip) and
“Extraterrestrial life”. This is typical German
Hardrock/Metal orientated, because bands like IRON SAVIOR
and HELLOWEEN are famous for their ‘catchy’
tunes, but such big harmonyvocals/choruses can also be
heard on the 80s records of VICTORY and DEF LEPPARD, only
AIRBORN’s songs are faster and heavier, but in
general this is what makes such bands popular and if
AIRBORN gets a lot of promotion (which they deserve!),
then this record might attract fans of similar bands
(HELLOWEEN/GAMMA RAY), but also VICTORY/SHAKRA fans, as
this AIRBORN CD is super melodic and is recommended to
all Hardrock/Metal fans! No matter what subgenre
you’re into, so in other words, this is a high
quality record! Besides the already mentioned tracks,
also tracks like “Dominators”,
“Firestorm” and “Crystal skulls” can
be seen as the highlights. Without a doubt, this record
is much better than the band’s debut and I can
highly recommend it to both Power Metal and Melodic
Hard/Heavy Rockfans!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
SONIQ
THEATER ‘THE
THIRD EYE’ (INDEPENDENT)
Multi-talented ALFRED MUELLER returns with a new CD
release titled ‘The third eye’. The album
contains another 60 minutes of high quality instrumental
Neo-Progressive Rockmusic, just like his previous
records. Alfred himself is still unbelievable, as
he’s doing everything on his own, instruments and
production. The music is like I said of a very high
level, and basically perfect to hear as background music
for an exciting movie. 12 songs are included, and
especially the keyboardwork is quite fabulous, every
Neo-Prog fan will agree with me. Anyway, check out this
German guy at: http://www.soniqtheater.de and e-mail them at: andromadeus@12move.de
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
FURY ‘ALARMS/HEAR NO
EVIL’ (DEMO CDR)
The UK based band FURY sent me a 2-track CDR. Musically
it is back to basic N.W.O.B.H.M. orientated music, which
is pretty interesting, as there aren’t any bands
playing this kind of music anymore in the UK. Although
the vocals aren’t that strong, the guitarwork is
phenomenal, by Chris Appleton. His guitarsolo (and riffs)
in the opening song “Alarms” is fantastic,
while the song itself sounds like a mix between MAIDEN,
THIN LIZZY and BLACK SABBATH, yet not at such a high
level, but it has a bit of the same feeling, very early
80s sounding. The other track “Hear no evil” is
a great semi-melodic rockballad, with again fabulous
guitarplaying. So, the vocals could be stronger, and with
a better production, it would have been much better,
nevertheless, you can clearly hear these guys are very
talented and with a bit of luck FURY is gonna bring more
interesting things in the near future. Check ‘em out
at: http://www.furyuk.com and e-mail at: mark_apps@yahoo.co.uk
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
SCHANDMAUL
‘HEXENKESSEL’
(F.A.M.E./ROCK INC/BERTUS)
I have never heard of this band, but it seems they have
made some records and they are very popular in their
homecountry Germany, but this is the first time I hear
some of their music. It’s quite different than what
we usually review, but on the other hand it can also be
labelled as Progressive Metal, so it fits in our format
definitely. The band has created an own sound, using
non-Metal instruments like an accordeon, violin, bagpipes
etc, giving it a medieval/folk touch. Without a doubt,
SCHANDMAUL is best comparable with MAGO DE OZ and
SKYCLAD, although the German lyrics make it sound
different from these bands. The CD
‘Hexenkessel’ is not a studio-record, but a
Live-CD and I surely enjoyed it from start to finish, as
it is a quality Live CD, good production and great
musicianships, very original indeed! Highlights are songs
like “Waldmar”, “Dein Anblick”,
“Die Goldene Kette”, “Walpurgisnacht”
and “Herren der Winde”. I can highly recommend
this CD to fans of MAGO DE OZ and to anyone who wants to
hear all original unique Progressive Metal with a strong
Folk/Medieval touch.
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 BLIND ALLEY ‘INFINITY
ENDS’ (INDEPENDENT)
Multi-instrumentalist MAGNUS OLSSON released 2 excellent
albums, namely as FORTUNE in 1990 with a fantastic AOR
record (a la LE ROUX/TOTO) and a single, and a few years
ago as BLIND ALLEY with a lovely Westcoast-AOR album
titled ‘On the way’ (a la BRETT WALKER’s
debut). Now we are in the year 2003 and the man has
finally released a new CD. The album is titled
‘Infinity ends’ and without a doubt, this is
one of the best AOR releases in a long time, as
everything seems to sound perfect, vocals, songs,
production, instrumental parts, basically a perfect AOR
CD! It’s very close to the last JIM JIDHED record,
only maybe even better, because from start to finish this
is prime-time pure 80s inspired AOR! The songs all
feature catchy hooks and killer memorable choruses, while
the vocals are superb (just like the previous recordings,
Magnus used 2 lead singers, namely Hans Dimberg and
Pierre Glans, but he also sings 2 songs alone!) and the
11 tracks have a big production. I can only say that this
is a very very very good record, so be sure to check this
album out a.s.a.p. Now back to the CD, which starts with
the high lcass uptempo AOR rocker “All figured
out” (very catchy). Next song “We still
belong” is prime-time midtempo AOR a la ALIAS
(“Waiting for love” style). “One
life” follows in a more pure Classic 80s US AOR
style, like a mix between LE ROUX, I-TEN and AVIATOR!!!
“S.O.S.” is up next, and this is a lovely semi
AOR ballad. The AOR HEAVEN stuff continues on the uptempo
AOR rockers “Shadow from my heart” and
“Here comes the heartache”. Things slow down on
“From now on”, a good calmer Radio-AOR ballad.
“Hunter” makes me think of DAKOTA, so classic
80s AOR again here! “Stay the night” is another
great semi AOR ballad, while “Payback time”
does again refer to Classic 80s AOR. The CD closes with
the semi AOR rocker “Wild rose”. I honestly
don’t know hwat more to say about this incredible
record! Anyone waiting for a real decent AOR record that
has nothing to do with today’s modern-rock style,
then go for this BLIND ALLEY! Especially recommended if
you dig stuff like DAKOTA, I-TEN, AVIATOR, LE ROUX...
More info at: www.mp3.com/blindalley and e-mail at: magnus.olsson@kanalen.org Check out the interview
for the latest news!
(Points:
9.5 out of 10)
 MOONLIGHT FEAR ‘GEMINIS’
(RED DRAGON RECORDS)
WOW! That’s what I said after hearing the first
couple of minutes of the CD of the Spanish band MOONLIGHT
FEAR. The band was formed only 3 years ago, and the
members are still very young, but their debut CD
‘Geminis’ sounds HUGE, as it is big time
Melodic Neo-Classical Euro Power Metal like a mix between
STRATOVARIUS, LABYRINTH and TIERRA SANTA, yet with
Spanish lyrics. The production is very impressive and so
are the 10 included songs, all very catchy and super
melodic! The lead vocals of singer Jose A. Diaz are
superb, and like I already said, the songs are very
sensational. Highlights include opener “La ultima
hora” (fast Euro Power Metal), “Nadie a tu
lado” (uptempo melodic rocker), “Hasta
siempre” (lovely!), “Antes de partir”
(beautiful 8-minutes counting AOR Ballad) and “Nuevo
destino” (HUGE, like SONATA ARCTICA). Concluded, a
terrific album of yet another new sensational Spanish
Power/Neo-Classical Melodic Metal band! More info at: http://www.reddragonrecords.com or http://www.moonlightfear.com (coming soon) and
e-mail them at: reddragon@skios.es or Moonlight_Fear@hotmail.com Soon an interview!
(Points:
9.5 out of 10)
SPELLBOUND
‘2002’
(DEMO CDR)
In the 1980s the Swedish band SPELLBOUND released a few
fantastic melodic hardrock releases, but somehow it
became very quiet around the band in the 90s, although a
CD was released, but last year the band recorded a new
demo, simply titled ‘2002’. The music is
slightly different than their 80s stuff, as it is very
groovy melodic hardrock, with a Blues influence here and
there, kinda like WHITESNAKE and HUGHES/TURNER PROJECT.
The vocals of Hans Froberg are however very good and very
melodic, and so are the songs. Opener
“Drowning” is slow and groovy, but still very
melodic. Next track “Psychonaut” is more
uptempo heavy rock, like the last XYZ. And closing track
“My poor brain” is a great slow melodic heavy
rocker. In general, this demo reminds me of the band
STREET LEGAL, so good quality bluesy melodic heavy rock,
nothing like their 80s stuff, but good enough for you to
check out at: http://www.spellbound.com and e-mail them at: spellbound@telia.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
GILLAN
‘LIVE
TOKYO, 23RD OCTOBER 1978’ (ANGEL AIR RECORDS)
ANGEL AIR RECORDS released quite a few live-CDs of
GILLAN, and ‘Live Tokyo...’ is one of them.
This CD is a nice mixture of GILLAN originals and DEEP
PURPLE tracks. Highlights are of course the DEEP PURPLE
tracks “Smoke on the water” and “Child in
time”, but also some of the GILLAN tracks are
performed quite well, such as “I’m your
man”, “Dead of the night” and “Tokyo
flight”. The sound quality is slightly better than
the other live-CD, reviewed below. The liner notes are an
excellent read while listening to this live-CD!
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
IAN
GILLAN BAND
‘LIVE YUBIN CHOKIN HALL, HIROSHIMA 1977’
(ANGEL AIR RECORDS)
The other GILLAN live-CD of ANGEL AIR RECORDS has also
interesting extensive liner notes, but the sound quality
of this CD is not that good. Nevertheless, this CD
features really rare material, as recorded live in Japan.
Especially DEEP PURPLE classics like “Woman from
Tokyo” and “Child in time”, and the
“Rock’n’roll medley” are a must for
the die-hard collectors. So these 2 live-CDs of GILLAN
are a must for dedicated fans, but don’t expect a
big sound, because what you get is really the
performance as it was back then, and not some sort of
overproduced record.
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
AL
ATKINS
‘HEAVY THOUGHT’ (MARKET SQUARE MUSIC)
Co-founder and former vocalist of JUDAS PRIEST, Al
Atkins, has released a solo-CD. The album has nothing to
do with JUDAS PRIEST, as it is actually focused on
Classic 70s/80s British Melodic Rock with some A.O.R.
influences here and there. Although Al’s vocals are
not really convincing (a la ALICE COOPER), we can live
with it while listening to the songs. Standout tracks
here are “Turn around”, “A void to
avoid” and “The deepest blue”. It’s a
pity a drummachine is being used, because it leaves you
with an empty feeling after listening to the CD, as in
how to qualify this record. Surely it’s Melodic Rock
like PRAYING MANTIS also makes, only vocally a bit weaker
and real drums are missing, so be aware when approaching
this disc, although I can inform you that there are some
really nice songs on the CD. More info at: http://www.marketsquarerecords.com
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
S.O.T.E.
‘TIME
TO END’ (MUSEA RECORDS)
This is a Dutch band, and ‘Time to end’ is
their 2nd CD. Musically they try to play Progressive Rock
in the style of RUSH and QUEENSRYCHE, but it doesn’t
sound convincing enough to make this album a must for
fans of those major bands. Songs like “The blandless
of being”, “Bitter” and “A different
sensation” are nice to listen to, but nowhere a
really high level is reached. This is just a standard
progrock CD that may be picked up by the die-hard
collectors of the genre, but don’t expect anything
as
sensational as SILENT EDGE or SUNCAGED here!
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
POOR
GENETIC MATERIAL ‘WINTER’S EDGE’ (QUIXOTE
MUSIC)
The German Progressive Rockband POOR GENETIC MATERIAL
returns with a new CD, and just like their previous
album, again we can hear the fantastic vocals of singer
Philip Griffiths. The music is slightly calmer than the
last record ‘Leap into fall’, and might be
called Artrock here and there, although I would rather
call is calmer melodic Progressive pop/rock like a mix
between JADIS, MARILLION and FOR ABSENT FRIENDS, with
exceptional fantastic lead vocals (Philip might be one of
German’s best singers at the moment!). Although
there are only 7 songs on the CD, still it has a playing
time of 53 minutes to please you with high quality
melodic music. Highlights are “Sharp bends sudden
crests”, “Whitescape” and
“Winter’s edge”. Maybe not as good as the
previous albums, still a must for fans of calmer
Progressive Pop/Rock!
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 JOSHUA ‘INTENSE
DEFENSE’
(BAD REPUTATION/ULFTONE MUSIC)
Guitarist JOSHUA PERAHIA is best known as the leader of
his band JOSHUA, with whom he released 3 albums in the
1980s. His song “Surrender” from the
‘Surrender’ LP is still an absolute Classic in
AOR/Melodic Rock, maybe one of the best songs of all
times!!! Anyway, JOSHUA also released a great album in
1988 titled ‘Intense defense’, although the
production was not really good, especially compared to
the fantastic ‘Surrender’ album from 2 years
earlier. Nevertheless, ‘Intense defense’ is an
awesome big time AOR/Melodic Rock record. On vocals we
can hear ROB ROCK (IMPELLITERRI/ AXEL RUDI PELL/DRIVER
etc.) and he does like always a terrific job, although
nobody will ever forget JOSHUA’s previous singer
JEFF FENHOLT, who was the man with the golden voice. 10
tracks can be found on ‘Intense defense’ and
from start to finish it’s in the same direction,
which is safely played pure 80s hookladen AOR/Melodic
Rock of a very high level. Most of the songs are uptempo
rockers, with occasionally a (semi) ballad to break the
tempo. However, JOSHUA is at their best during
the uptempo catchy melodic rockers, such as on instant
classics like “Only yesterday”, “Crying
out for love” (BEAUTIFUL!), “Tearing at my
heart”, “Don’t you know” (very
strong) and “Stand alone”. Actually, this album
is an AOR/Melodic Rock Classic, and I am afraid not many
people are aware of that fact, but the German label does
a great job with the re-release of JOSHUA’s third
album ‘Intense defense’. Only pity is that
there aren’t any unreleased bonustracks added, and
also the artwork is just plain facts (lyrics/info), so no
extensive liner notes here unfortunately, but still a
wanted AOR/Melodic Rock masterpiece!
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
 CRAAFT ‘CRAAFT’
(BAD REPUTATION/ULFTONE MUSIC)
Second re-release on ULFTONE MUSIC in their BAD
REPUTATION series is CRAAFT. This German band managed to
release 3 albums between 1986 and 1992, and their debut
is still an instant AOR/Melodic Rock Classic if you ask
me. Guitarist/vocalist KLAUS LULEY had previously sung in
the band TOKYO, before forming one of the top melodic
rockacts in Germany in the 1980s: CRAAFT! With this band
he recorded a superb debut album in 1986 (originally
released on EPIC/SONY!!!). This album has been
re-released by ULFTONE MUSIC, with the addition of a
complete Bonus CD that contains 16 unreleased demos from
1987. I need to add here though that most of the tracks
can also be heard in a different version on the original
debut album, so those demos are not really interesting,
although happily a few tracks are indeed unreleased songs
(such as “Highway”, “Takin’
away” and “High, high, high”). Back to the
original CD, we can mention that it showed CRAAFT at
their very best, uptempo rocking with catchy hooks and
melodic choruses all over the place! Highlights can be
found in the shape of “I wanna look in your
eyes”, “Breakin’ walls ain’t
easy”, “Don’t wanna wait no more”,
“Wasted years”, “Hold me” etc.
It’s a pity the band never reached the same success
of similar acts at that time did enjoy (EUROPE, BON JOVI,
DEF LEPPARD, WHITESNAKE, SCORPIONS), because this CD was
and still is an instant AOR/Melodic Rock Classic!
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
 DANGER DANGER ‘SCREW IT!’
(BAD REPUTATION/ULFTONE MUSIC)
In 1989 the US band DANGER DANGER released a Classic in
the AOR/Melodic Rockscene. Although the band had some
success, it didn’t turn out to be as big as BON JOVI
or EUROPE, and that’s really sad, because the album
was filled with instant hits for the US AOR/Melodic Rock
radio (just think of “One step from paradise”,
“Bang bang” or “Under the gun”).
Anyway, two years later DANGER DANGER released it’s
second album ‘Screw it!’, a much rougher
melodic hardrock affair with still many catchy tunes, and
some of them even turned out to become a hit in the UK
(“I still think about you”). Although it was
definitely not as good as their debut from 1989,
‘Screw it!’ was still a high quality melodic
hardrock affair with a fantastic production by Erwin
Musper in Hilversum, Holland (DEF LEPPARD also recorded
their ‘Hysteria’ classic over there), so
without a doubt, this album could have been huge, but was
sadly released at a time when Grunge emerged and
destroyed everything that looked or sounded like
‘Hair Metal’, so DANGER DANGER’s dream was
over and out. Happily, memories never fade away, and now
12 years later the German label ULFTONE MUSIC has
re-released the 2nd DANGER DANGER album, and added an
unreleased studio track (“Just what the doctor
ordered”) and a 2nd bonus CD called ‘Down and
dirty live’, which was an EP with 5 live recorded
tunes as released by CBS back in 1989. Fans of the band
can easily purchase this CD, as it features extensive
liner notes and some unreleased stuff. If we have a look
back at the included 14 original tracks, the absolute
highlights are such awesome uptempo melodic rockers like
“Monkey business”, “Beat the bullet”,
“Crazy nites” and “Don’t blame it on
love” (a superb catchy tune that BON JOVI wished
they had written!). The album also contained some fillers
like “Horny S.O.B.”, “Yeah! You want
it!”, “D.F.N.S.”, “Puppet show”,
“C’est Loupe” and “Ginger
snops”, but mainly this is a big time Melodic
Hardrock record that showed an angrier and rougher side
of DANGER DANGER.
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
BONFIRE
‘FREE’
(ADVANCED PROMO CD)
The legendary German band BONFIRE has sold over 4,5
million records worlwide, and in the 20 years they exist
now they managed to release 10 fantastic melodic
rockalbums. Now we are in the year 2003 and the band
returns with a new CD titled ‘Free’. The album
is unfortunately not as good as previous records, because
for the first time the band has changed their sound
dramatically to modern standards and that’s really a
pity, because we all know BONFIRE from being a true
melodic rockband holding on to their roots, so always
bringing you the best in real rock’n’roll! They
have made so many Classics (their ‘Fireworks’
record belongs to the best German releases ever!!!), and
now ‘Free’ is a new album that is bringing us a
modern BONFIRE. The opener “On and on” is one
of the absolute let-downs of the album, a very average
dark modern rocker with a horrible chorus that has
nothing to do with BONFIRE, I can not believe this is the
same band that brought us such fantastic records like
‘Don’t touch the light’, ‘Strike
10’, ‘Fuel to the flames’, ‘Point
blank’ and the unforgettable ‘Fireworks’.
A very
dissapointing start, but happily the following songs are
better, with the nice uptempo melodic (pop) rocker
“I would do anything 4 you”, which is followed
by a really good song called “What about love”,
the first real BONFIRE track, a strong semi-ballad. I
thought that maybe only the opener was a let-down, but
track “Rock’n’roll star” is even
worse, as this is a very experimental song with a
megaphone/industrial distorted voice all throughout the
song! Track 5 “Free” is a return to a pure
BONFIRE sound, as this is a very good big melodic
rockballad. “Preachers and whores” is a real
rocker, very 80s uptempo Hardrock like KROKUS, but again
nothing sensational here, just a simple plain rocker. The
CD continues with “Love can conquer all”, a
nice semi-ballad focused on today’s radio sound.
“Give a little love” is up next and is a boring
acoustic tingled Westcoast/Pop tune like THE EAGLES could
have written. Following track “September on my
mind” (tribute 9-11 song) is an average midtempo
rocker, while closing track “We will be
friends” is a typical ballad, quite a nice song
actually, towards the end a la SCORPIONS. I am still not
sure what happened to the band, why the big change in
style, because their last couple of albums definitely
showed progression and everything was set that the band
would release a Classic a la ‘Fireworks’, but
instead we get a very average modern sounding pop/rock
record that is a big step away from BONFIRE’s sound,
and I am not sure if the fans are gonna appreciate this!
Not the whole album is bad, because there are still some
good pure BONFIRE tracks on the album, but the general
feeling of the record is not like it was on any other
BONFIRE record from the past. The album will be released
in October, so keep your eyes on their official website
at: http://www.bonfire.de
(Points:
7.0 out of 10)
 EIDOLON ‘APOSTLES OF
DEFIANCE’
(METAL BLADE RECORDS)
The US Band EIDOLON returns with a new CD on METAL BLADE
RECORDS. The musicstyle hasn’t changed much, so
again a mix of Thrash and Power Metal. The production is
very impressive, but not all tracks are really
interesting, such as the first 2 tracks (“Scream
from within” and “Volcanic earth”), both
actually being pure Thrash songs. Happily, track 3
“Twisted morality” is much better, as this is a
fantastic midtempo Classic 80s US Power Metal song a la
FATES WARNING and CRIMSON GLORY. The darker modern
influenced “Demoralized” follows and it seems
like the band doesn’t know if they want to play a
melodic metal style or a darker raw modern metal style,
because following track “The test” is suddenly
fantastic 80s US Power Metal! It would be awesome if the
band could deliver a full-length album in this style, but
‘Apostles of defiance’ apparantly is more
taking something from both sides (Power and Thrash
Metal). Next track “The will to remain”
continues the high class Melodic Power Metal sound.
Sadly, “Apostles of defiance” is another Modern
Metal song with some Grunts (a la DIMMU BORGIR), but next
track “Pull the trigger” is a return to Classic
EIDOLON US Power Metal. Then we have reached the end with
the 10 minutes counting “Apathy for a dying
world”, a lovely epic Melodic Prog/Power Metal song
in the best US tradition, with some really awesome
vocals. Concluded, this album is a slight change in style
for EIDOLON, as they seem to bring in some new elements
(like Black/Death-grunts), but happily they have also
recorded some excellent Classic US Power Metal orientated
tracks on their new album, so without a doubt, I can
still recommend it to the fans of the band!
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
BALLISTIC ‘BALLISTIC’
(METAL BLADE RECORDS)
BALLISTIC is a new US band featuring musicians whom have
played True Metal for almost 25 years, recording with
bands like TENSION and JAG PANZER. Now they have a CD out
on METAL BLADE RECORDS, and although the first 2 tracks
are very much Speed/Thrash Metal orientated (a la AGENT
STEEL), track 3 “Watch me do it” reveals that
this band can also make high quality True Metal like a
mix between SAXON, DIO, JUDAS PRIEST MANOWAR and IRON
MAIDEN! Next track “Call to Armageddon”
continues in this Classic Metal style, with really big
riffs here and there, a True Metal song to headbang on!
Sometimes the band sounds like IRON MAIDEN on speed, but
totally avoiding the commercial aspect this Britain band
is going through at the moment, so no catchy melodies
here, but pure Underground Metal settled around big
guitar riffs. If only this album had been released 20
years ago, then Metal media would have been praising it
for being the ultimate True Metal record! Back to the CD,
other highlights are “Call me evil” (MAIDEN),
“Silent killer” (MANOWAR) and
“Undefeated” (very strong TRUE METAL HYMN!).
Fans of True Metal, with a slight Speed/Thrash influence,
will enjoy this release a lot!
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
SANITY ‘SANITY’
(DEMO 2003)
The Dutch band SANITY returns with a new demo CD. It
contains 4 tracks, but still has a playing time of 23
minutes. The production is very good, and although this
is just an advanced copy, it already shows the band has
improved compared to their last demo CDR. Opener “A
gathering of souls” starts like a pure AOR song (the
keys), but evolves into a great epic Progressive Metal
with lead singer Kees van Keulen taking an important part
as his vocals are very remarkable, singing both low and
high octaves and changing his voice several times during
the song. The song itself is a great uptempo Progressive/
Symphonic Melodic Rocker with also interesting
keyboardwork. Next track “Tributo to Shaffy” is
the much-praised tribute song to RAMSES SHAFFY, a famous
Dutch artist, and it could be this song that will gain
the band a breakthrough in Holland. Vocalist Kees sings
very low at the start of this song (a lot like
ZAPPACOSTA, if anyone remembers him!!!), but changes into
high pitched vocals towards the end of the tune, the song
itself being a nice unique polished melodic rocker with
elements of Pop, Gothic and Classical/Opera Music. The
third track “Together as one” is the first true
Progressive Metal song and actually I find SANITY
sounding at their best during such songs, as they seem to
do it perfect on this song, while some of the other songs
sound a bit forced. Anyway, closing track “Stolen
from Idols” is another good Progressive Metal song,
with clear 80s QUEENSRYCHE references. Concluded, this
album is definitely a big improvement compared to the
previous demo. The sound/production is very impressive,
and with 2 pure Prog Metal songs and 2 more polished
pop/rocksongs, this demo is interesting for a very wide
audience. For more info, go to: http://www.sanity.nl and e-mail them at: chris@sanity.nl
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
PATRICK
DECOSTE ‘ADVANCED
CD’ (DEMO CDR)
Guitarist PATRICK DECOSTE sent me a 6-track CDR, of what
will become his first CD later this year. It’s
instrumental music, mainly based around the acoustic
guitar, although the CD surely has some rockier moments.
However, the music is instrumental and it is performed at
a decent level. Fans of instrumental guitar music will
like this and as I am not too familiar with instrumental
music I will not compare Patrick to other musicians, but
take it from me that this is quality stuff. More info at:
http://www.mp3.com/patrickdecoste and e-mail them at: mp3_decoste@yahoo.com
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
BLISSED
‘WAKING
UP THE DEAD’ (KRR RECORDS)
BLISSED is a Canadian band and none other than ROBERT
SWEET from STRYPER is featured in the line-up here. But
please don’t expect anything as classy as STRYPER
did back in the 1980s, because Robert’s new band
BLISSED is a very modern sounding Hardrockband. Happily,
it’s not as Nu-Breed or Nu-Metal like most other
North American bands, because we can still quality it as
Hardrock, but nevertheless, this is not really the kind
of Rock that Europeans like, because sometimes it sounds
uninspired and without any melody. The production is on
the other hand very good, and although the start is not
really promising, because the first 3 tracks are really
nothing special, the rest of the CD is much better and
the CD develops turns out to be a good listen, which I
would highly recommend to fans of the modern HAREM
SCAREM/RUBBER sound. For example, track 4
“Firebelow” is more like it, as this uptempo
rocker has a good melodic chorus (although borrowed from
“All the young dudes”). Even the next track
“Hold me”, a great semi-ballad, is almost pure
melodic rock in 80s style, so BLISSED shows that they can
make interesting music. Other highlights include
“Losing you” (catchy uptempo melodic rocker,
slightly STRYPER style, also with better lead vocals than
on the other songs of the CD), “Come on in”
(midtempo fun melodic heavy rocker like last HAREM
SCAREM) and “Under my skin”. Definitely not as
good STRYPER once were, but still a solid modern
Hardrockband. More info at: http://www.blissed.biz
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
 PERFECT WORLD ‘PERFECT
WORLD’
(FRONTIERS RECORDS/BERTUS)
PERFECT WORLD is a new duo, consisting of lead singer
Kelly Hansen (HURRICANE, UNRULY CHILD) and
multi-instrumentalist Fabrizio V. Zee Grossi (who is
known for his recent help on the VERTIGO album, but best
known for working with ICE-T !!!, CYPRESS HILL !!! and
countless other non-rock musicians). Together they joined
forces with several other top-notch musicians (like
DOKKEN guitarist Alex De Rosso and MALMSTEEN/RAINBOW
drummer Adam Forgione). The production by Fabrizio is
very good, and although the 12 included tracks were
originally written (but never recorded) for female
singers like AMANDA MARSHALL, NATALIE IMBRUGLIA and
JENNIFER PAIGE, this album is a killer AOR record that
sounds like a slightly modern version of the AOR sound
MARK FREE had on his ‘Long way from love’ or
like the project FAKE ID. The songs are very powerful,
pure AOR orientated, and above all, it features excellent
lead vocals by Kelly Hansen. Although I loved the first
couple of HURRICANE records, it seems like this is some
of the best vocal work he has ever done, because he sings
with a lot of passion and quite soulful sometimes on this
record (a la FREDDY CURCI!), which is very important for
AOR music. Some songs are really excellent super strong
AOR, such as the lovely “Leaving lonely”,
“Out of bounds” (vocals are really outstanding
here), “I believe in you”, “Between you
and me”, “Someday soon” (lovely ballad)
and “You’ll be mine” (super strong AOR).
They described it as pop/rock a la DEF LEPPARD’s
‘X’ album, but this record of PERFECT WORLD is
so much stronger and better. There are no uptempo rockers
on the album, as most songs are midtempo or semi-ballad
orientated, but basically what you get is a very
impressive AOR record that is even radio-ready for
today’s top 40 format, so play some of these songs
and you’ll eventually turn them into major hits!
Anyway, I can only advise the AOR fans to check this
album out as soon as it is released on the 10th of
November.
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
(All
reviews by Gabor Kleinbloesem, except where noted)
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