 SNOWBLIND ‘SNOWBLIND’(MAJESTIC ROCK RECORDS/BERTUS) This is one of those underrated classics from the 1980s, which finally gets a decent re-issue onto CD. MAJESTIC ROCK RECORDS did a very good job in releasing this CD, filled with the original 8 tracks from the 1980s released album and as bonus, 4 live recorded tracks during one of the legendary ‘BBC Sessions of The Friday Rock Show’ of TOMMY VANCE. Also the extensive liner notes, with pictures and notes is very nice to read. If you never heard of SNOWBLIND, then this CD is the perfect moment to get to hear their classy 80s record. Musically SNOWBLIND was playing a mix of Pomprock, AOR and Symphonic Rock, not too far away from MAGNUM circa ‘On a storyteller’s night’. Songs like “Walk the line”, “Chasing the dragon” (a classic!), “Sierra”, “Now is the hour” and “Hold on” are instant winners for fans of classic MAGNUM, ALASKA, ASIA and that sort of British 80s era Symphonic AOR Melodic Rock. It’s a pity SNOWBLIND managed to release only one record, but the good news is that it’s now available on CD! (Points: 8.8 out of 10)  DOKKEN ‘HELL TO PAY’
(TNT/SANCTUARY/SUBURBAN)DOKKEN is back with a new CD, but just like their previous 4 albums it’s again nowhere near the classics of their 80s releases. Nevertheless, the new DOKKEN album ‘Hell to pay’ is definitely the best album they made ever since the DON DOKKEN solo release. Don has always been the leader of the band, and through the years a lot of times the line-up changed, and so we are now looking at only Don and drummer Mick brown as original members, because the guitarist (John Levin) and bassist (Barry Sparks) are new members. Musically DOKKEN grabs a bit back to the 1980s Melodic Hardrocksound which made them so popular, such as on the uptempo rockers “Don’t bring me down” and “Prozac nation”. Still if you listen to the old DOKKEN records and you hear classics like “In my dreams”, “Dream warrriors” and “Breakin’ the chains”, then this ‘Hell to pay’ has actually nothing to offer, because the DOKKEN sound has changed a lot. Don’s voice sounds dark and moody, nothing like the strong melodic voice he had in the 80s, and the music is groovier and also darker, while most of the songs don’t have those catchy memorable hooks and choruses the 80s DOKKEN sound did have. Therefore this will be just another DOKKEN record that will be forgotten in the near future, and so we have to wait for another new album of the band that might be a return, but haven’t we been waiting for more than 14 years for such a record! Man, I wish DOKKEN would really make a record a la ‘Back for the attack’, because that’s by far one of the absolute highlights of the 1980s Melodic Hardrocksound! I guess that will never happen again, because for over a decade now Don has been making average dark depressive hardrock, with only a few really good songs on his studio CDs (such as the great slow melodic rocksongs “Better off before”, “I surrender” and “Still i’m sad” on his new CD). I am not saying it’s a bad record, because it will still get a respectable rating, but we all know that DOKKEN can do so much better... (Points: 8.0 out of 10) FUNNY MONEY 'BACK AGAIN' (PERRIS RECORDS) The US Partyrockband FUNNY MONEY, formed around 3 KIX members (among vocalist Steve Whiteman) returns with a new CD titled 'Back again'. Musically KIX and now FUNNY MONEY never changed their style, so we can once again enjoy the Partyrock'n'roll sound we are all familiar with of Steve and co. The CD has a slight Southern touch, due to the fact that the producer this time was none-other than RODNEY MILLS (LYNYRD SKYNYRD, 38 SPECIAL, JOURNEY). In total we can find 15 tracks, of which the last 5 are live recordings. Musically this is prime-time back to basics rock'n'roll with a Party Hardrock approach, like a mix between THE STONES and CRUE, with some AC/DC meets KISS beats as well. The best songs are "Wrapped around you", "Horny little angel", "I felt everything" and "Owe it all to you". Fans of KIX/FUNNY MONEY are gonna love this new CD of FUNNY MONEY, which has been released on PERRIS RECORDS. (Points: 8.0 out of 10) VARIOUS ARTISTS 'HOLLYWOOD HAIRSPRAY 3' (PERRIS RECORDS) Volume 3 of the 'Hollywood Hairspray' series has been released to the public, and of course once again PERRIS RECORDS is proud to bring us some of the hottest new Glam and Hardrockbands in the underground scene. Some of the 17 included bands are already signed to PERRIS RECORDS, and even managed to release an album (or two), but also some bands are basically still in the demo scene, so therefore this is a very nice compilation CD to check out, especially if you're into 80s orientated Glam/Hardrock. Recommended bands are NINETEEN 88, CRASHDIET, SCHROEDER, CRAZY LIXX, MAD MARGRITT and even a new TIGERTAILZ song! Fans of 80s Glamrock must buy this compilation asap! (Points: 8.0 out of 10) STAMPEDE QUEEN ‘A NIGHT AT THE COCKFIGHTS’ (PERRIS RECORDS) RAW DIRTY GOOD OLD ROCK’N’ROLL!!! This is what STAMPEDE QUEEN is playing, with influences from AC/DC, KISS and GUNS’N’ROSES, this is the real deal, like Rock’n’roll used to sound, sleazy, raw, dirty and mean! The CD contains 14 very strong uptempo rockers that all have memorable singable choruses, and highlights are “Never turn your back on rock ‘n’ roll”, “Woman in a fast car”, “Sunshine Annie”, “Animal love” and “Stampede queen”. Check it out if you like your rock’n’roll dirty, sleazy and raw, like it was back in the day! (Points: 7.9 out of 10)  MACHINEGUN KELLY ‘WHITE LINE
OFFSIDE’(PERRIS RECORDS) PERRIS RECORDS is one of the few labels releasing pure late 80s/early 90s Glam/Party/Sleazy Hardrock of a decent level. Most of their releases are quite good, and highly recommended to fans of the 1980-1992 LA Metalscene (a la bands like LA GUNS, GUNS’N’ROSES, MOTLEY CRUE, WASP etc.). The Swedish band MACHINEGUN KELLY released an album in 1995, which has now been re-released by PERRIS RECORDS. The band was fronted by the NASTY IDOLS singers, and musically this album contained pure late 80s LA Glam/Sleaze Hardrock like a mix between CRUE, LA GUNS and GUNS’N’ROSES. Fans of this kinda style, with mostly uptempo dirty raw rock’n’roll songs (with AC/DC beat and Axl. Rose type of vocals) will love songs like “Hell suicide”, “White line offside”, “Crackhouse” and “Strange kind of love”. Recommended to fans of late 80s LA Sleaze/Glam-Metal! (Points: 7.9 out of 10)  SWITCHBLADE ‘WITCHBLADE
SERENADE’(PERRIS RECORDS) Out of Denmark comes SWITCHBLADE, another typical late 80s orientated Sleazy Hardrock/Metalact on PERRIS RECORDS. The dirty mean rock’n’roll (with 70s touch) is clearly in the style of CIRCUS OF POWER, JUNKYARD, THE FOUR HORSEMEN, KINGS OF THE SUN... 11 songs are included, and all together they make up a good deal of Biker Rock. If you’re a fan of this simple straight-forward guitar orientated Biker Rock’n’roll you will love songs like “Switchblade serenade”, “Back up”, “Smokin stacks” and “Down N dirty”. Check it out if you’re a Biker Hardrockfan! (Points: 7.6 out of 10)  EMPIRE ‘LEECHES’
(PERRIS RECORDS)I have heard a lot of bands called EMPIRE in the past, but this new Perris Records signed act is unfamiliar for me. This EMPIRE is settled in Baltimore, Maryland, USA and they play a sort of melodic hardrock, even with some AOR/Rock influences (38 SPECIAL), but their singer is definitely a different case, because he has some sort sense of humor (a la DAVID LEE ROTH, ALICE COOPER etc.), which makes the general sound of the band different than most other bands. Still there are some nice hooks and sounds to be heard on this CD, and overall you can call it a good Melodic Hardrockalbum, yet with an own wicked approach sometimes. Highlights are “Leeches” (uptempo melodic rocker), “American wet dream” (back to the 70s Rock, a la STARZ/PRISM), “Are you there for love” (a great semi melodic rockballad), “The pressure” (very much like BLUE OYSTER CULT’s “Don’t fear the reaper”, with very good vocals actually) and “You’re right son” (another good semi-ballad). Concluded, a nice album after all, quite diverse sometimes and really different than the standard melodic hardrockstuff (think VAN HALEN meets BLUE OYSTER CULT), so check it out if you’re starting to become interested. (Points: 7.9 out of 10) DAWNSIGHT ‘A RED SUN RISING’ (INDEPENDENT) Out of Germany comes DAWNSIGHT, a band playing pure Power Metal in the style of ICED EARTH, BLIND GUARDIAN, IRON MAIDEN, yet with an own approach. Instrumental it all sounds terrific, but vocally it doesn’t sound as strong as mentioned acts, because singer Daniel Marz has a slight accent and sometimes sounds like a Punk singer (!) when he is singing faster (something Paul Di’anno also did in his MAIDEN days!). Nevertheless, the music is quite nice on their mini-CD ‘A red sun rising’, with such strong Power Metal tracks like “Drowning tears” and “Farewell, my friend”. Check it out if you’re a fan of MAIDEN and BLIND GUARDIAN. More info at: http://www.dawnsight.de (Points: 7.7 out of 10) TRAPPED ‘THE ENCHANTED CHAMBER’ (TRAPPED MUSIC) TRAPPED comes out of Sweden, but they sound like a German band doing a RHAPSODY kinda happy Power Metalstyle. This is definitely not some sort of attack on the band, no way, because I think TRAPPED sounds very sensational and is ready for a label deal! 6 songs are included on their mini-CD ‘Thre enchanted chamber’, and although some might call this a very standard Italo kinda Power Metalact, I can assure you that TRAPPED is definitely better than the hundreds of Italo Power Metalbands out there! Instrumental they sound very impressive, vocally it’s quite raw sometimes (in the old Teutonic German Metalstyle on a few songs), while most of the songs contain very catchy memorable choruses. A song like “The curse part 2: Return of the werewolf” is a deadringer for fans of RHAPSODY, fast, bombastic and very melodic! Other highlights are “Red rose part 2” (a fantastic fast Melodic Power Metal song like SONATA ARCTICA meets LABYRINTH circa ‘Return to heaven denied’, a very impressive song with superstrong chorus!) and “The curse part 1: Curse of the werewolf” (more fast RHAPSODY stuff for ya!). This TRAPPED is highly recommended to RHAPSODY and all Italo Power Metal fans! More info at: http://www.trapped-metal.cjb.net and e-mail them at: trappedmetal@hotmail.com (Points: 8.2 out of 10) DORIAN GRAY 'FREE SPIRIT' (HEADLESS RECORDS) The German band DORIAN GRAY was formed back in 1991, and for the past 13 years they have been releasing on and off albums, musically always focused on Melodic Hard/Heavy Rock. The new CD however is completely instrumental, and basically concentrated around bandleader/guitarist ANDY ROCH. He has combined classical music with hardrock, and although this idea is not really original (MALMSTEEN and many others have done this as well in the past), the result is very impressive, because Andy can definitely play the guitar very well. The CD 'Free spirit' contains 20 songs, most of them around 2/3 minutes, and for a fan of instrumental guitar orientated music quite a must to have. It all sounds very professional, and I can really recommend it to you, so go check it out at: http://www.andy-roch.de and e-mail at: andy.roch@freenet.de (Points: 8.3 out of 10) SKYWARD 'GUARDIAN' (INDEPENDENT) Here's another quality band from Finland. They are called SKYWARD and their mini-CD is titled 'Guardian'. The band has a good female lead singer (Sanna) and musically/instrumental everything sounds pretty much perfect. They play a sort of Melodic Gothic Metal style, like AFTER FOREVER/NIGHTWISH, but then without the big bombastic keyboardsound. While listening to impressive songs like "Untold", "Guardian" and "Vaya con diablo" (very strong uptempo Melodic Power Metal), I can easily say that this SKYWARD is a highly recommended band, and it wouldn't surprise me if they someday get themselves a good recorddeal. For now, more info on SKYWARD at: http://www.skyward.biz and e-mail them at: villeevil@hotmail.com (Points: 8.5 out of 10) FULLSTACK 'VILLA NO18' (JABBA MUSIC) FULLSTACK is a German band, and their latest mini-CD starts very weird, with a sort of modern Nu-Metal kinda song, but happily what follows is much better. Next song "Show me your sunrise" for example is a very nice uptempo Melodic Heavy Rocker a la AXXIS. "Addiction" follows and is a bit depressing, but the uptempo rocker "Is this me?" is then again much better. The CD has it's ups and downs, and is not really constant in approach. This might be caused a bit by the lead singer, who has a typical 90s kinda voice (depressing and a bit grungy), but musically it's typical Melodic Heavy Rock. Anyway, check out this band for yourself at: http://www.fullstack.de and e-mail them at: info@fullstack.de (Points: 7.2 out of 10) LA GUNS 'RIPS THE COVERS OFF' (MASCOT RECORDS) LA GUNS exist now for about 16 years, and all this time they continued releasing albums, and they never changed their style that much. Musically they were a melting pot of 80s Glam/Sleaze, 70s Glitter Hardrock and some Metal guitars thrown in for good measure, while the band itself adopted a Punk attitude. This made them quite popular, and back in the mid 80s it was TRACII GUNS (bandleader/ original founder of LA GUNS) who decided to leave AXL ROSE alone with GUNS'N' ROSES and start his own band, the LA GUNS. Although they never reached the success of GNR, Tracii managed to book some success with LA GUNS. It's quite amazing to see Tracii didn't play on this 'new' LA GUNS album, but happily lead singer PHIL LEWIS (ex-GIRL) is still present, and this LA GUNS CD is filled with covers, mostly classic 70s Rock/Hardrocksongs and actually they are all covered very well. Covers included are among others, SAXON ("Wheels of steel"), AEROSMITH (""Nobody's fault"), FOGHAT ("I just want to make love to you"), QUEEN ("Tie your mother down"), ROSE TATTOO ("Rock and roll outlaw"), ANGEL CITY ("Marseilles), LED ZEPPELIN ("Custard pie"). The nicest thing is the selection of covers, because they are different than most other bands, so this is a recommended CD to not only the LA GUNS fans, but also it's great tribute to the classic 70s Rock/Hardrock! (Points: 8.3 out of 10) JASMINE CAIN ‘THE INSIDE’ (INDEPENDENT) I don’t know if she is related to JONATHAN CAIN, but she can surely make some good old Rock’n’roll, yet with a modern approach. The Melodic Poprock of JASMINE CAIN sounds like a mix between early PAT BENATAR, DARBY MILLS and ALANIS MORISETTE. Jasmine sings, plays bass and (co-) writes all of her songs, of which 11 are included on her debut (?) CD ‘The inside’. She has a great raw voice, and the Rock is quite tough sometimes, which is a good thing of course. Highlights are the Melodic heavy Poprockers “The inside”, “I want my money back”, “Not gonna turn back” and “Landshark”. Check it out for yourself at: http://www.jasminecain.com (Points: 7.9 out of 10) BUNNY BRENEL ‘LA ZOO REVISITED’ (MASCOT RECORDS) This LA ZOO project is based around some very well-known musicians like guitarists VIVIAN CAMPBELL (DIO, DEF LEPPARD), RAY GOMEZ, Organplayer Brian Auger and drummer VIRGIL DONATI, while leader of the project is bassist BUNNY BRENEL. The album they recorded was originally only released in the US in the late 90s, but has now been re-released (and partly re-recorded, with the addition of a bonustrack) in Europe through MASCOT RECORDS. The music is instrumental, and a mix of Blues, Rock and Jazz/Fusion. Of course instrumental everything sounds perfect, with great guitar and basswork. Especially songs like “Maybe tuesday”, “Led boots” and “LA Zoo” are great pieces of instrumental classic rock to check out. Fans of any of the mentioned bands might want to check out this release. (Points: 8.0 out of 10) PAR LINDH AND BJORN JOHANSSON ‘DREAMSONGS’ (CRIMSONIC RECORDS) Long before the ‘Lord of the Rings – the movie’ there already was a sort of tribute to Tolkien’s work in the shape of the ‘Bilbo’ release of the Swedish keyboard (and drummer) wizzard PAR LINDH and guitarist/bassist BJORN JOHANSSON back in 1996, and now they also have a tribute to the Lord of the Rings out on CD. This completely instrumental album is the perfect progressive rock soundtrack to the Tolkien classic book, which is on this CD divided into 10 songs. From start to finish this is high class instrumental Progressive Rock the way it should sound, with calmer and bombastic moments, and of course brilliant keyboard and guitarwork all the time. Even ROINE STOLT (from FLOWER KINGS) makes a gues appearance here, so this is definitely a highly recommended progressive rock masterpiece! More info at: http://www.parlindh.com (Points: 8.6 out of 10) SCHENKER PATTISON SUMMIT ‘THE ENDLESS JAM’ (MASCOT RECORDS) Guitarist MICHAEL SCHENKER is of course the man behind MSG and also used to be in UFO, but lately he prefers to release solo-records or in this case, doing a project with lead singer DAVEY PATTISON (GAMMA). Other members on the SCHENKER PATTISON release are drummer Aynsley Dunbar (JOURNEY, UFO, STARSHIP) and bassist Gunter Nezhoda (PAT TRAVERS). Together they recorded a nice collection of 60s/70s classic (hard) rocksongs like “Hey Joe”, “A whiter shade of pale”, “I got the fire” and “Voyager”. Recommended to SCHENKER die-hard fans and the people who want to hear cover versions of unforgettable classic rocksongs might want to check out this release asap! (Points: 7.9 out of 10) GEORGE LYNCH ‘FURIOUS GEORGE’ (MASCOT RECORDS) Guitarplayer GEORGE LYNCH is of course known for his fantastic guitarwork on the 5 80s DOKKEN albums, but after he left them (and joined them once again in the mid 90s on 2 more albums) he also started his own bands (LYNCH MOB) and released a few solo-albums, of which ‘Furious George’ is the latest release. The CD features besides George on guitar some other musicians, such as lead singer KELLY KEELING. Kelly has got this amazing voice, sounding like a perfect cross between DAVID COVERDALE and SAMMY HAGAR, while his voice can also sound very bluesy, like on this record. The music is pure Blues Hardrock with that classic 70s Rock approach, but that’s not such a coincidence, because included are 12 covers of classic late 60s/early 70s rocksongs, such as “Stormbringer” (DEEP PURPLE), “All along the watchtower” (JIMI HENDRIX), “Space station #5” (MONTROSE) and countless others. This is a very good tribute by GEORGE LYNCH and KELLY KEELING to the period of time when Hardrock music started to develop. (Points: 8.4 out of 10) REVENGE ‘STICKED TO YOUR BACK’ (NASTY PRODUCTIONS/WAGRAM MUSIC) The French band REVENGE returns with a new CD titled ‘Sticked to your back’. Musically it’s in the same direction as their previous album, so again we can hear good quality 80s orientated Melodic Hard/Heavy Rock/Metal in a typical German style (ACCEPT/STEELER/VICTORY). 12 songs are included, and songs like “Under pressure”, “Eat me”, “Set my heart on fire” and “Heavy Metal Rock’n’roll” are all strong uptempo melodic heavy rocksongs in the best 80s spirit. Recommended to fans of that typical guitar orientated Melodic Heavy Rock/Metalsound. (Points: 8.0 out of 10)  HOURGLASS
‘SUBCONSCIOUS’ (INDEPENDENT)Here we have something sensational from the US state of Utah. The band is called HOURGLASS and they play high quality Progressive Rock/Metal like a perfect mix between ENCHANT (the songstructures), KANSAS (the harmonyvocals and melodies), DREAM THEATER (instrumental) and SYMPHONY X (Sometimes the heaviness). Their 2nd CD ‘Subconscious’ has been released independently, but everything looks and sounds very professional. The CD has a playing time of 80 minutes, and not only instrumental it sounds perfect, the production is also impressive and very important are the vocals, because that’s the factor that makes or breaks a band. I can inform you that HOURGLASS features an excellent singer called Cody Walker, a man with truly a superb voice. Like I said instrumental it all sounds very impressive (keys, guitars, drums, bass) and it surely is as good as DREAM THEATER at some points, so you can easily call a very sensational band. ‘Subconscious’ is a sort of concept-album, with 13 songs included in total, but actually the CD is divided in 5 parts. Anyway, opener “The hammer’s strike” is definitely a fantastic start, a superb progressive rock/metal song that captures everything you wish to hear in a high class prog rock/metalsong, so thumbs up for HOURGLASS! Other highlights are the ENCHANTish “Altered state”, “Silent suffering” and “Farewell”. Without a doubt, this is a highly recommended band to the progressive rock/metalfans, so go check out their site at: http://www.hourglassband.com and e-mail them at: hourglass@hourglassband.com (Points: 9.1 out of 10) TORME ‘BACK TO BABYLON’ (CHERRY RED RECORDS) Last month I reviewed the re-issue of the rare 1987 TYGERS OF PAN TANG album ‘Burning in the shade’, which was released back in the 1980s on ZEBRA RECORDS. This same label also released an album by BERNIE TORME back in 1985, which has now also been re-issued onto CD through CHERRY RED RECORDS. The album features besides guitarist Bernie Torme, also later LA GUNS (and early GIRL) shouter Phil Lewis, who did a great job as always. Musically this was typical 1980s Hardrock, somewhere between LA GUNS, DEF LEPPARD and GIRL, with some really strong straight-ahead melodic hardrockers like “All around the world”, “Star”, “Here I go” and “Arabia”. A fine re-issue with some extensive liner notes, lyrics and 3 bonustracks as well, so basically a must-have for both BERNIE TORME and LA GUNS/GIRL fans! (Points: 8.0 out of 10) DORO ‘LET LOVE RAIN ON ME’ (AFM RECORDS) DORO PESCH returns with a new CD-single ‘Let love rain on me’. This calm ballad is featured in 3 versions on this CD-single (or is it a mini-CD, because 6 tracks are included in total, with the addition of the videotrack “Unholy love”). In the past DORO recorded some German ballads, but this time the versions of this new ballad are in English, French and Spanish. The 4th song is DORO’s version of the JUDAS PRIEST classic “Breaking the law”, which starts very calm (acoustic), but during the original guitarsolo it gets uptempo and rocky, with a lot of classical musical instruments replacing the electric guitar. All songs by the way are performed with an orchestra, and there are only acoustic guitars to be heard, don’t expect any Hardrock/Metal on this CD. Anyway, the final 2 songs are “I rule the ruins” (uptempo rocker) and the calm ballad “Rare diamonds”. Concluded, this is not the DORO we used to know, but a clear attempt in scoring some hits in Europe, which might just happen, but I truly hope the new full-length CD will see DORO truly rocking again like in her old WARLOCK days. For now, check out this new mini-CD/CD-single! (Points: 8.0 out of 10)  BITTERSWEET ‘LOADED UP’
(RETROSPECT RECORDS)In the late 1980s there were a lot of new bands from the East Coast of the US playing a sort of typical Mainstream melodic hardrock/partyrocksound. Some of them enjoyed a lot of success (SKID ROW, WARRANT, WINGER, TESLA, DAMN YANKEES, FIREHOUSE, WHITE LION, SLAUGHTER etc.), but thousands of good quality bands in this genre never made it that big and BITTERSWEET was definitely one of those bands that never reached the big fame of similar bands I just mentioned. Nevertheless, there is now a CD available with 20 of their songs, as recorded between 1988 and 1992, now completely remastered and released on CD with the title ‘Loaded up’. Between the 20 songs we can find typical American 80s Melodic Hardrock like “Like the wind”, “Living in America”, “Spread your wings”, “Wild ones”, “Paradise” (awesome uptempo AOR/Melodic Rocker, very fun pure 80s song!) and “Falling for your love”, but also beautiful WARRANTish ballads like the fantastic “Love fade away” (could have been huge in the US back in 89!) and “Take a stand”. The best song however is the superb semi midtempo AOR ballad “Down to the wire” which is in the same class as a SHY, and has a really amazing chorus, which all AOR fans will love instantly! Concluded, this is a must-have 2-CD set if you enjoy that late 80s Arena Melodic Mainstream US Hardrocksound of bands like FIREHOUSE, WARRANT, DAMN YANKEES, NELSON, SLAUGHTER, DANGER DANGER, POISON etc. etc. You can buy the CD (and hear samples) through: http://www.retrospectrecords.com (Points: 8.5 out of 10)  GRAND ILLUSION ‘ORDINARY JUST
WON’T DO’(ESCAPE MUSIC) The Swedish AOR band GRAND ILLUSION returns with the new CD ‘Ordinary just won’t do’, which basically continues the style created on their earlier records. This time TOMMY HANSEN (TNT, PRETTY MAIDS, HELLOWEEN) took care of the production and gave GRAND ILLUSION a slightly rockier sound. It’s not the band’s best release, because I still think their previous album ‘View from the top’ is an AOR classic, but also the new CD has some sensational moments, which may be seen as AOR Classic material, such as the uptempo AOR rockers “Devil’s advocate” and “Back to yesterday”, the midtempo AOR of “New beginning” and “And this is why”, the beautiful smi AOR ballad “Heaven or hell” (radio ready if you ask me) and the album’s finest track can be found in the shape of “When you were mine”. This last mentioned song is by far the best GRAND ILLUSION ever, because this is a classic AOR song with the perfect hooks, keys and killer chorus you’re wishing to hear in an AOR tune! Despite a few weaker songs (“The best is yet to come”, “Gone for good”, “1982” and “Love lies buried”, this new GRAND ILLUSION is still an easy target for the fans of 80s AOR in the style of the 1st URBAN TALE, TALK OF THE TOWN and SHY. (Points: 8.7 out of 10) BEHOLDER ‘LETHAL INJECTION’ (DRAGONHEART RECORDS) ‘Lethal injection’ is the third CD of the Italian Power Metalband BEHOLDER, and although the CD starts a bit average, later on the CD we can hear some great songs. The main problem with BEHOLDER is the fact they have a weak male singer and a strong female singer, so in the future it would be a wise thing to let the girl sing all the songs and continue write songs in the style of this new album’s highlights, which can all be found towards the end of ‘Lethal injection’. I am talking about the fantastic songs “Stay” (great uptempo melodic rocker), “Lay down the law” (faster uptempo melodic power metal) and “Lethal injection” (fast power metal). These 3 songs are very impressive and show BEHOLDER at their very best, so more songs in this style on a future release would be very interesting, also because on these songs the female singer really shows she is the best singer. Her name is Leanan Sidhe by the way, and I find it unbelievable she doesn’t sing much more, but who knows in the future that will happen. Now the band has two sides, with average songs like “No religion”, “Blackout of mind” and “Daydream” and sensational songs like mentioned before, but nevertheless it’s a quality CD to check out if you’re a Power Metal fan! (Points: 8.1 out of 10) ALASKA ‘ALIVE DVD’ (MAJESTIC ROCK RECORDS) The 2nd DVD of MAJESTIC ROCK RECORDS is from the legendary UK band ALASKA, a band formed around none-other than guitarist BERNIE MARSDEN (WHITESNAKE) and keyboard wizzard DON AIREY. This band released a few albums in the 1980s and even a video, which has now been digitally remastered and released on DVD through MAJESTIC ROCK RECORDS. It’s definitely nice to watch such rare shows like this one from ALASKA, which was recorded at the Roundhouse in London back in 1986. 18 years later it still sounds great, and it shows that ALASKA was a great band that could have been much bigger. They played classic melodic rock like a mix between ASIA, UFO and MAGNUM, focused on strong hooks, catchy choruses and many keys during each song. 12 songs were played that night and this DVD looks and sounds very good, especially considering the fact that we are now almost 20 years later. Songs like “I really want to know”, “Can’t let go”, “Headlines” and “The pack” are classy melodic rocksongs, and with such a strong line-up (Marsden/Airey) you possibly can’t go wrong. This is definitely a DVD to check out if you’re a fan of classy 80s Melodic Rock (the British way!). Only pity is that there aren’t any bonus items included, so only the concert, which is happily a great gig. I believe more ALASKA is on it’s way on MAJESTIC ROCK RECORDS... (Points: 8.4 out of 10) BLACK HILL ‘NASTY NIGHTS’ (RETROSPECT RECORDS) Classic late 80s Glamrock/Sleazy Hardrock can be heard on the CD of BLACK HILL, a band straight out of Italy. They sound like a cross between 1987 GUNS’N’ROSES and 1989 MOTLEY CRUE, so tough Hardrock with a Sleazy attitude. Most of the songs are straight-ahead and if you’re a fan of mentioned bands, then you’re gonna love BLACK HILL, because they are really awesome. 7 songs are included, of which the best songs are “Traffic light”, “Fat love” and “Rock and roll”. Definitely a must-have band for the Glam/Hardrockfans among us! You can buy the CD (and hear samples) through: http://www.retrospectrecords.com (Points: 8.0 out of 10) BLACKJACKS ‘AMERICAN INDEPENDENTS’ (RETROSPECT RECORDS) 21 songs are on the CD of BLACKJACKS, a band out of Boston playing a pure 1980s Alternative Rockstyle, like a mix between THE KNACK and THE CULT, with some influences of bands like NEW ORDER and THE CURE here and there. It’s definitely quality stuff what we get to hear, but like I said before only interesting if you’re into 80s type of Alternative Rock/New Wave, although most of the songs are uptempo poprockers actually (“Dead flowers” even sounds like DONNIE IRIS!). It’s more the vocals, the lyrics and the guitar stripped STONES kinda approach that makes this band more sound like an 80s Alternative Rockband. You can buy the CD (and hear samples) through: http://www.retrospectrecords.com (Points: 7.4 out of 10) PAUL BETTENCOURT ‘ME’ (RETROSPECT RECORDS) Paul Bettencourt is the brother of Nuno, who found fame and fortune with EXTREME. His brother played in the 1980s in the band FLESH, also toured with EXTREME in 1998 and has now his first solo-CD out. Paul’s music is quite calm, but definitely good aor/poprock, not too far away from GLEN BURTNIK on great songs like “I’m so sorry”, “Isn’t it funny”, “How do we live” and “God will”. Paul has a good voice, and the songs all have a strong modern approach (mostly acoustic guitars), basically a sort of radio-ready modern Poprock with strong melodies. Fans of GLEN BURTNIK and recent RICK SPRINGFIELD are gonna love this! Some of the songs also have a strong EXTREME “More than words” approach (like “Always”), so I think you know by now how this CD sounds like. You can buy the CD (and hear samples) through: http://www.retrospectrecords.com (Points: 7.8 out of 10) JOKERZ WYLDE ‘FUCKIN’ YOU UP...LIVE!!’ (RETROSPECT RECORDS) It’s a pity the sound quality is very weak, because musically JOKERS WYLDE was one of those typical late 1980s LA Metal sounding bands. Comparisons to WASP, RATT and LA GUNS are quite obvious, with such great songs like “She wants action”, “Slow down” and “Take these chains from me”. The sad fact on JOKERS WYLDE is that guitarist Wade Goucher died at a very young age of cancer, and this is one of his few recordings with him playing the guitar in a band from the late 1980s. So don’t mind the bad sound quality, but just listen to a talented band that never got an official release until now, with this live CD release. You can buy the CD (and hear samples) through: http://www.retrospectrecords.com (Points: 7.7 out of 10) OK PANIC ‘DEAFINITION’ (RETROSPECT RECORDS) OK PANIC is one of those new bands that tries out a new sort of Rockstyle with a strong late 60s/70s Retro Rock approach, kinda like THE STROKES and JET, who also draw their influences from bands like THE WHO and AC/DC. It’s good to see this kind of Rock back in the charts again, and I can easily inform you that OK PANIC has the skills in becoming the next THE STROKES or JET for that matter. Nevermind the wrong bandname, because with such rockers like “Tear me up”, “Poor man” and “Here lies” this band has got a strong own kind of Rocksound, which may easily become huge with some good promotion. You can buy the CD (and hear samples) through: http://www.retrospectrecords.com (Points: 8.0 out of 10) STEPHEN SHAW ‘GOOD TIMES’ (RETROSPECT RECORDS) Guitarist STEPHEN SHAW played in the bands ROCK CANDY and BITTERSWEET in the 1980s, with whom he released some great typical 80s Melodic Hardrock music. Now he has a solo-CD out, which contains besides Stephen’s classy guitarwork also basic good 70s orientated Bluesy/Groovy Hardrock with strong LED ZEPPELIN influences, with the attitude of AEROSMITH. Just listen to the song “Good times” and you hear that ZEP vibe. So, this is definitely different than his earlier recordings, but still very interesting if you like this sort of bluesy/groovy LED ZEPPELIN/TESLA orientated Rock/Hardrock. Then better check out great songs like “Good times”, “Junkyard Ballerina” and “Let go”. You can buy the CD (and hear samples) through: http://www.retrospectrecords.com (Points: 8.1 out of 10) SUPERZERO ‘ATTACK OF THE AIR MONKEYS/HOGWASH’ (RETROSPECT RECORDS) Out of Boston comes SUPERZERO, a band with 2 CDs out on RETROSPECT RECORDS. Musically it’s a sort of mix of 70s Retro hardrock, Bluesy Rock, Biker Rock and some modern Hardrock, basically it is groovy guitar orientated in the style of MONSTER MAGNET with sometimes also similarities to WALTHAM and even some KISS (70s GENE SIMMONS era) influences (just listen to the opener “Bus driver” from their ‘Attack of the air monkeys’ CD). Each CD has about 15 songs, so enough to enjoy here and with such great songs like “Pop stars” (very strong rocker), “Either or”, “Sore Losers”, “Can't Have It All”, “Boarding pass”, “Hammer” and “Doom's Day Inn”, this is a band to watch out for, because their songs are radio-ready and still rocking as well! Although the Melodic Hard/Poprock of SUPERZERO has a modern approach, the songs are all very catchy and even interesting for the average Melodic Rockfan! You can buy the CD (and hear samples) through: http://www.retrospectrecords.com (Points: 8.1 out of 10) TOMMY DEMPSEY ’FIVE SONGS’ (RETROSPECT RECORDS) Lead singer TOMMY DEMPSEY is currently a member of the band SUPERZERO, but back in the 1980s he fronted the fantastic AOR band IN THE PINK, whom later got a CD release as SUNSHINE JIVE (their song “When You Love Someone” is still deep inside my head, what a classic AOR song that was!). Anyway, Tommy also has a mini-solo-CD out, with 5 songs included like the title says. The music is acoustic calm pop/rock, which doesn’t come to a succesfull result after listening to the 15 minutes counting CD. You can buy the CD (and hear samples) through: http://www.retrospectrecords.com (Points: 8.0 out of 10) AGNOSIA 'THE INNER CONFLICT' (INDEPENDENT) AGNOSIA comes out of Athens, and they have released an independent demo CD, which contains 4 songs. Musically we are listening to a mix of Progressive, Doom and Power Metal, and actually it sounds pretty good. The band has a good strong singer, while especially the song "Broken memories" is a very nice Melodic Progressive Metalsong. Tha band sounds like a mix between CANDLEMASS, ICED EARTH and EVERGREY, only not of such a high level, but still nice to check out at: http://www.agnosia.tk and e-mail them at: agnosia@mailbox.gr (Points: 7.7 out of 10) CAERI BORMEITH ‘FLORA’ (DEMO CDR) This is a French band, and they play a mix of Gothic, Doom and Death-Metal. What they are doing sounds good, but I have a hard time with the growls of the singers. Sometimes they have clean vocals and then it sounds good, but overall they are too much mixing their Doom/Gothic with Death/Black-Metal growls. There’s also some progressive metal to be heard, such as on the album’s best song “PIA” (an instrumental piece), but most of the songs suffer from the dark “death-Metalish” growls and depressive vocals. It’s not bad what we hear, but the band really needs to get some better singers next time, because now only instrumental it sounds impressive on the 6 long songs on their independent demo CDR ‘Flora’. More info at: http://www.caeribormeith.com and e-mail at: cibormeith@yahoo.fr (Points: 6.6 out of 10) GLAZWOLF ‘DEMO CDR’ (DEMO CDR) Out of France comes GLAZWOLF, a band that recorded a great high quality demo CDR. 4 songs are included, and musically this is classic 80s Melodic Hardrock (a la DOKKEN), only instrumental, so no vocals to be heard. It sounds pretty good and I wonder if in the near future vocals will be added, so then GLAZWOLF could become a very interesting band. For now, they are a great instrumental Melodic Hardrockband to check out at: http://www.glazwolf.free.fr and e-mail them at: midnight76@free.fr (Points: 7.9 out of 10) JOHN 5 ‘VERTIGO’ (CHRYSALIS RECORDS) JOHN 5 is an American guitarist who worked with MARILYN MANSON. Now he has a solo-CD out, which contains mainly instrumental Progressive metal, with awesome guitarwork, but sadly a drumbeat (industrial) backing it up, which basically kills the music sometimes. Nevertheless 13 songs are included and especially guitarfans will like this a lot. More info at: http://www.john5.com (Points: 6.9 out of 10) SAEKO ‘ABOVE HEAVEN BELOW HEAVEN’ (ARMAGEDDON MUSIC/ROCK INC.) What if a typical German melodic Power Metal band was fronted by a Japanese female lead singer? Well, then you would have something like this SAEKO, a female singer from Japan, who releases her debut (???) CD ‘Above heaven below heaven’ on a German label, together with a bunch of German musicians (such as ACCEPT guitarist Hermann Frank). SAEKO can sing very well (and she plays keys as well), and the 12 included songs are mostly very good fast Melodic Power Metal tunes, with as highlights “Sins for the Gods”, “Seek the light”, “Hands of might” and “Birthright”. At times she even sounds better than DORO, not unlike the good old WARLOCK days actually. This is a very much recommended female fronted metal record, which is a must-have for fans of WARLOCK, very early LEE AARON and PHANTOM BLUE. More info at: http://www.saeko.org (Points: 8.0 out of 10)  HARLAN CAGE ‘THE BEST OF’
(GYPSY ROCK RECORDS)It was such a pity to hear last year that HARLAN CAGE would stop releasing new albums in the future, because of the downloading problems. The US AOR band managed to release 4 CDs between 1994 and 2004, of which some were definitely AOR Classics in the best SURVIVOR style. Now there’s a best of CD available, which contains the best 16 songs HARLAN CAGE recorded, of which 3 are new unreleased bonustracks (these are the very heavy groovy BLACK SABBATHish “No turnin’ back”, the remake of the FORTUNE classic “Stacy”, which by the way went straight into the US Top 10 single charts back in 1985, and the third new song is “Hell is such a lonely place”). Anyway, if you own the previous 4 records of the band, these 3 new songs are a nice welcome, and if you don’t own any of the HARLAN CAGE releases, this best of CD is a must-have, because included are all the HARLAN CAGE classics, such as “Two ships in the night”, “Can’t tame the raven”, “One New York morning”, “Three nights runnin’”, “One naked kiss”, “Blow wind blow”, “Halfway home” and “Chinatown”. I can easily give this best CD a very high rating, because HARLAN CAGE were one of the best AOR bands from the past 10 years and we can only regret the end of this wonderful band. Happily soon also the FORTUNE classic from 1985 will be re-issued, so there’s something to look forward for the AOR fans, but still it is a sad day to say goodbye to this wonderful band with this best of CD, which you can buy at: http://www.harlancage.com and e-mail at: harlancage@harlancage.com (Points: 9.4 out of 10) MINE ‘MINE’ (MINE MUSIC) MINE is yet another high quality Progressive Metalband from the USA. They hail from the state of Wisconsin, a state which didn’t bring us many bands in the past, but MINE is definitely an exception, because their same titled debut CD is filled with very sensational Melodic Progressive Metal. The band has a strong lead singer (bassist Kase Villand) and the 11 included songs make up a 60 minutes counting of playing time. The band sounds like a mix between KAMELOT, LEATHERWOLF and SYMPHONY X, so typical American Prog/Power Metal with a lot of complex breaks, high pitched vocals, catchy melodies and impressive keyboard and (metalish) guitarwork. The production could have been better (now it has a strong independent sound), but happily the music is very good, with such strong Melodic Progmetalsongs like “Sharp”, “Empty space”, “Black and white”, “Black gemini” (best song, pure KAMELOT meets 80s QUEENSRYCHE) and “Rather burn”. Highly recommended to fans of mentioned Prog. Metalbands, then go to: http://www.minemusic.net or http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/mine and e-mail the band at: minemanagement@yahoo.com (Points: 8.2 out of 10) (All reviews by Gabor Kleinbloesem, except where noted) |