COLD TRUTH ‘COLD TRUTH
(INDEPENDENT)
COLD TRUTH hail from Nashville, and unlike any other band
in that region (or in fact the whole of the USA), they
play Bluesy (Hard) Rock in the style of FREE, BAD
COMPANY... The band has a very good soulful lead singer
(guitarist Thane Shearon), who sounds like Paul Rodgers,
Glenn Hughes and Steve Overland. There are 10 tracks on
their independent CD, which has a rather good production.
This is definitely quality music, and especially the
beginning reveals some good Bluesy Melodic Rock material
in the shape of “Break of a new day”, “In
her groove” and “Pocket full of pearls”.
On the other hand, at one point the CD gets a bit too
bluesy and therefore I hope next time the band throws in
some more variation and rocks a little more as well,
because they surely prove with this album they are a
quality band that is capable bringing some really good
music. Fans of BAD COMPANY and FREE should check out this
band a.s.a.p. at: http://www.coldtruth.net and e-mail them at: ColdTruth@comcast.net
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
AHRCANA
‘INTO
THE PROPHECY’
(STEELBORN RECORDS/ROCK INC./BERTUS)
Out of Italy comes AHRCANA and they play typical fast
Italo Power Metal in the style of LABYRINTH, RHAPSODY,
VISION DIVINE... There are 8 songs on their debut CD (not
counting the short intro) and it all sounds very well,
although nothing new is presented here. Songs like
“The travel”, “Gates to realm” and
“In the village” are typical Italian Power
Metal tracks, which means fast and melodic. Also quite
nice is the ballad “We’ll reborn” which
shows a very melodic (almost AOR) side of the band.
Although it’s not as good as the other well-known
bands in this genre, still this AHRCANA is recommended to
fans of LABYRINTH and RHAPSODY.
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 DUKE JUPITER
‘I/WHITE KNUCKLE RIDE/THE BAND PLAYED ON’
(INDEPENDENT)
The legendary band DUKE JUPITER, on whom we did a big
story in one of our Strutter’zine-the past’
issues, recently re-issued 2 of their albums onto CD, as
well as releasing a best of CD. In total we have now 3
DUKE JUPITER CDs. The first one is a re-issue of their
‘1’ album, which was originally released in the
very early 80s. The album wasn’t as good as the
following records, but still had some highlights in the
shape of “Don’t you look at me like that”
(beautiful AOR ballad) and the 70s Rocker “Sugar
blues”, but most of this album sounded like a mix
between Rock&Roll and Southern Rock, not unlike THE
OUTLAWS, MOLLY HATCHET, LYNYRD SKYNYRD... This re-issue
comes with a few bonustracks, so interesting for the DUKE
JUPITER fans to check out.
I
would rather recommend the band’s strongest album
‘White knuckle ride’, which saw them moving
into a Classic AOR format a la VAN ZANT, SURVIVOR, 38
SPECIAL... yet with raw lead vocals a la HUEY LEWIS. This
combination set them apart from other bands in this
genre, and gained them an own sound, which nevertheless
attracted the AOR fans. Songs like “She’s so
hot”, “Rescue me”, “Don’t turn
your back”, “A woman like you” and
“Me and Michelle” (the best DUKE JUPITER song
ever written, HIGH CLASS AOR!) are unforgettable and make
this album a definite AOR Classic!
The
third CD DUKE JUPITER released is the best of ‘The
band played on...twenty years of Duke Jupiterwas released
10 years ago, so the band is now 30 years playing as DUKE
JUPITER! ’, which The best of CD contains a bit of
everything, so you get to hear a variety of styles, from
70s Pop/Rock, Westcoast, Southern Rock to classy 80s
AOR/Melodic Rock. That last style is also DUKE JUPITER at
their very best, so the best songs are “The band
played on”, “I’m available”,
“Don’t you look at me like that” and
“I want to love you”. So we have 3 good CDs, of
which ‘White knuckle ride’ is DUKE
JUPITER’s strongest record! Let’s hope also
their other albums will be re-issued, because they have
released a few more great AOR albums in the 80s, and who
knows we’ll even see some new material of the band!
More info at: http://www.dukejupiter.com
(Points:
‘1’ – 7, ‘White knuckle ride’
– 8,5 and ‘The band played on...’ –
7,5)
KILLER
‘BROKEN
SILENCE’ (MAUSOLEUM RECORDS)
A few years ago the albums the Belgian band KILLER
released in the 80s were re-issued onto CD, and now in
the year 2003 the band has released a complete new CD.
The music has changed, because the MOTORHEADish Metal of
the 80s has been replaced by typical Euro Metal of
today’s format. It’s a pity the lead vocals of
guitarist Shorty are still present, because I always
found him the weakest link in KILLER. However, the music
has improved a lot, because with the addition of a
keyboardplayer, the band is now playing fast uptempo
Melodic Power Metal with a strong PRETTY MAIDS orientated
sound. This can clearly be heard on great songs like
“Broken silence”, “Time machine”,
“Only the strong survive”, “A matter of
time” and “Lethal virus”. The album takes
up to 71 minutes and really surprised me, because it is a
strong Euro Melodic Metal release, but the only negative
point with KILLER remains, which is the lead vocal part
which still is quite average and reminding a lot of LEMMY
from MOTORHEAD. Nevertheless, this CD is an improvement
for one of Belgium’s most well-known Metal acts
ever!
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 MERCURY RAIN ‘DARK WATERS’
(INDEPENDENT)
Out of England comes MERCURY RAIN, a very strong Gothic
Power Metal act which plays in the style of HEADLINE,
NIGHTWISH and LANA LANE. The band has a strong female
singer (Sonia Porzier), and their debut CD ‘Dark
waters’ has a strong big sound, while the artwork
also indicates that we have to deal here with a
professional quality band. The highlights on the disc are
such great Melodic Gothic Prog/Power Metal pieces like
“Broella”, “The chosen one” and
“The city of Ys”. This is a great unsigned band
from the UK, so if you like female fronted Prog/Power
Metal, then please do check out MERCURY RAIN, as you will
not be dissappointed! More info at: http://www.mercuryrain.com and e-mail them at: info@mercuryrain.com
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
THEODORE
ZIRAS ‘VIRTUAL
VIRTUOSITY’ (SECRET PORT RECORDS)
The Greek guitarist Theodore Ziras released a CD some
time ago, and now his 2nd CD has been released on SECRET
PORT RECORDS. Musically it is a continuation of his first
record, which means high class instrumental Neo-Classical
Melodic Progressive Metal. The CD clocks 45 minutes, and
from start to finish this is quality instrumental
Neo-Classical Metal, and the most striking fact is that
Theodore did everything on his own (guitars, bass, drums,
keys, production etc.), so this is an one-man act and
it’s very impressive. All fans of Vai, Satriani,
Malmsteen, Kuprij... must check out his CD a.s.a.p.! More
info at: http://www.theodoreziras.com and e-mail him at: tziras@hotmail.com
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
METAMORPHOSIS ‘AFTER ALL THESE
YEARS’ (GALILEO RECORDS)
This project formed around
vocalist/keyboardplayer/drummer Jean-Pierre Schenk took
20 months to complete, but the result is very impressive,
as the album ‘After all these years’ is an
excellent high quality (calmer) Neo-Prog album that fits
somewhere between JADIS, FAF, PENDRAGON and early
MARILLION. Songs like “After all these years”,
“New lords”, “Eyes on the clock”,
“Another day” and “Not far from
heaven” are very good Neo-Prog songs. With a playing
time of 65 minutes, this CD is a pleasure to listen to
for over an hour, and deserves attention from all the
fans of Neo-Progressive Rock. METAMOPRHOSIS is already
working on the follow-up to this album, so the future
will bring us more of this interesting project.
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
DEEP
THOUGHT ‘SOMEWHERE
IN THE DARK’ (GALILEO RECORDS)
Here’s another interesting Swiss Neo-Progressive
Rockalbum. The band is called DEEP THOUGHT, and after 10
years of existence they have managed to release a
full-length CD. The 72 minutes of ‘Somewhere in the
dark’ are filled with lovely high quality classy
Neo-Prog a la IQ, JADIS, early MARILLION, ENCHANT... The
included 9 songs are quite long in playing length (around
10 minutes), of which the highlights are
“Clock” (many great keys, a la CLEPSYDRA),
“Shadows of the past” (catchy, a la ASIA),
“Driving” (very strong midtempo Prog Melodic
Rock), “Morphios” (pure ENCHANT) and
“Ice” (very good chorus, with keyboardsolo).
Without a doubt, this CD is a must for Neo-Prog fans!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 STEELWIND ‘JAWHOOK’
(INDEPENDENT)
The Texas based band STEELWIND returns with a new CD, and
also a slight change in style, and after listening a few
times to the 2nd CD ‘Jawhook’ I can conclude
the band has improved a lot. This new CD is clearly
better than their debut, not only the general sound and
production is better, but the included 10 songs are much
stronger and also very diverse in style and tempo. This
CD is quite an adventure which combines elements of AOR,
Melodic Rock, Neo-Progressive Rock, Sympho and even
Pomprock into an exciting catchy rockstyle. The CD starts
with a ballad, which is quite a surprise, but the
particular song “Still in love with you” is a
great 80s Power AOR ballad in the best tradition of REO
SPEEDWAGON, BOSTON, JOURNEY, STYX...
Up
next is the titletrack “Jawhook”, a good
midtempo Neo-Progressive/Pomprocker with great
keyboardwork, not unlike IQ. The following 4 songs are my
favourites of the whole CD. First up is the catchy
uptempo classy Christian AOR rocker “My flesh”
(a la IDLE CURE, WHITE HEART) with it’s very strong
melodic chorus. Then comes the SUPERB pure early 80s AOR
HEAVEN semi-ballad “When you were here”, a song
with beautiful harmonies and in general reminding me of
FRANKE AND THE KNOCKOUTS, WRABIT, SUGARCREEK, SURVIVOR
and late SWEET COMFORT BAND/early ALLIES. This is the way
AOR sounded in the 80s and songs like “When you were
here” are not made often anymore, so if you purchase
this CD, which you must do, then first listen to this
beautiful song!
Anyway,
the band is quite diverse, as next track “The
dream” is big Neo-Prog a la KAYAK and KANSAS.
“I believe in miracles” follows, and is an
awesome midtempo AOR tune with a big chorus, reminding me
of classy REO SPEEDWAGON and BOSTON. “Running out of
time” and “When the father tells the son”
are the only songs that weren’t that sensational, as
these are just nice uptempo
AOR/Melodic Rocker in the style of the band’s debut
CD. The remaining songs are the calmer AOR ballad
“Home at last” and the excellent relaxing semi
AOR/Prog Ballad “For all days” (a la FOR ABSENT
FRIENDS). So basically what we have here is a very
interesting mixture of Neo-Prog, Pomp and 80s AOR, and
all together it sounds very impressive and the 10
included songs are of a very high level, so all I can say
to you is that you should purchase this CD a.s.a.p. When
you buy this record, expect it to be played on your
stereo a lot of times! More info at: http://www.steelwind.net and e-mail them at: STEELWIND7@sbcglobal.net
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
HOLY
MARTYR ‘HATRED
AND WARLUST’ (INDEPENDENT)
Out of Italy comes HOLY MARTYR, and their 6-track CD
‘Hatred and warlust’ is a nice Power Thrash
Metal album in the style of ICED EARTH. The production of
the CD is not that good, and also it’s pity the band
moves sometimes a bit too much in the Thrash Metal style.
However, instrumental it all sounds pretty good, with as
highlights “Under siege”, “Son of a
king” and “Metallian”. Fans of ICED EARTH
and also Thrash Metal fans should check out this HOLY
MARTYR, an Italian band that doesn’t play the
typical clean Power Metal we usually get to hear from
Italian bands, because they are a Power Thrash Metal band
with a raw edge. More info at: http://www.holy-martyr.com and e-mail them at: holymartyr@tiscali.it
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
 JACK STARR’S
GUARDIANS OF THE FLAME ‘UNDER A SAVAGE
SKY’
(CULT METAL CLASSICS)
Guitarist JACK STARR released 4 solo-CDs in the 1980s,
and also was an original member of VIRGIN STEELE, with
whom he recorded their first 2 albums, which were
recently re-issued onto CD. Jack also recorded an album
as STRIDER and BURNING STARR, but those were Melodic
Rockalbums in the BON JOVI/EUROPE style. His real roots
are settled in typical 80s US Melodic Metal which can
clearly be heard on the new CD of JACK STARR, yes, you
read it well! ‘Under a savage sky’ is a
complete new CD of JACK STARR, with Jack on guitar and on
lead vocals the long-time-lost-but-now-found lead singer
SHMOULIK AVIGAL (who sang on records by PICTURE,
HAMMERHEAD, THE RODS, HORIZON).
This
CD is from start to finish high class 80s US Melodic
Metal and will attract fans of the early VIRGIN STEELE
records and of course JACK STARR fans. Especially opener
“The flame that never dies” recalls of fond
memories of the 80s classic US Metal style. Other
highlights on the new CD are “Cry for dawn”,
“I stand alone” and “Masters of
fate”. This is an album that will attract all 80s
Metal freaks! Also very impressive is the booklet, which
comes with beautiful artwork and extensive liner notes,
written bu Jack himself. The CD has been released on the
Greek label CULT METAL CLASSICS, whom already released 11
CDs so far, which I hope to do a label special on soon.
In the meantime, more info at: http://www.cultmetalclassics.com
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
BATTLELORE
‘SWORD’S
SONG’ (NAPALM RECORDS)
BATTLELORE comes out of Finland, and ‘Sword’s
song’ is their 2nd CD. The band is playing Melodic
Power Metal, with excellent (clean) female lead vocals
(by singer Kaisa Jouhki) and (unfortunate) aggressive
(raging) male lead vocals (by singer Patrik Mennander).
Instrumental it all sounds perfect and some of the songs
are also quite impressive, but almost every song is
disturbed by the growls of the male singer, and so I can
only recommend this band to people who like the mixture
of clean female and aggressive male vocals. I hope in the
future the band will focus on the female vocals, because
she (Kaisa) has a very good strong voice, and then we
will have another high quality act in the NIGHTWISH,
WITHIN TEMPTATION and AFTER FOREVER style. Nevertheless,
the CD still gets a good rating, because instrumental it
is of a very high level, and should not be left unheard
by Metalfans.
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
HOWARD
BAILEY
‘CONTOURS’ (QUADRASONIC RECORDINGS)
5 years ago I reviewed the CD ‘Speechless’,
although I can’t remember it that well, but anyway,
HOWARD BAILEY from Canada has a new CD out called
‘Contours’. The CD is filled with nice
instrumental music, which is nice poprock, although later
on the CD I heard some very strange sounds (House???)!
Anyway, this CD is not really heavy or rocking, but more
a laid-back instrumental poprock record, and I therefore
ask you to check it out for yourself at: http://mindlink.net/BuriedBone and e-mail at: sonic@oberon.ark.com
(Points:
6.5 out of 10)
 ZAR ‘HARD TO THE
BEAT’
(MTM MUSIC/SURBURBAN)
7 years ago the German band released it’s latest CD
titled ‘Holy rhythm of nature’, not their
strongest album, as it was a slight departure from their
melodic rocksound. However, it’s 2003 and ZAR has
finally released their 5th CD ‘Hard to the
beat’, which is a return to their melodic rocksound.
Leader Tommy Clauss (guitars) is surrounded by the very
good lead singer Andre Sauber and drummer Lars Nippa. The
album starts very promising, with a great big midtempo
melodic rocker called “Cryin’ for love” (a
la JADED HEART) and especially the 2nd track is high
class stuff. “Never so alone” is a superb
classy 80s midtempo AOR tune in the best American
tradition. Sadly, these are the 2 strongest songs on the
album, because what follows are a bunch of nice melodic
rockers (“Hundred rivers”, “Perfect
day” and “Visions of you”), good bluesy
melodic rockballads a la WHITESNAKE, HUGHES/TURNER
(“Waiting for the storm” and “Why
don’t you talk to me”) and a few average songs
(“Hard to the beat”, “Evolution”,
“Living for the city” and
“Schizophrenia”), so nowhere as sensational as
the impressive first 2 tracks. However, it’s still a
nice solid melodic hardrockalbum that is well played and
has some highlights here and there, though it could have
been much better.
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 BOB CATLEY ‘WHEN EMPIRES
BURN’
(FRONTIERS RECORDS/BERTUS)
BOB CATLEY returns with probably his strongest effort so
far, his 4th CD ‘When empires burn’, which
musically grabs back to the classy Symphonic Melodic
(Hard) Rocksound of the 80s MAGNUM album ‘On a
storyteller’s night’ with a hint of TEN here
and there to give it an updated approach. The material is
on and off uptempo and midtempo, with as highlights
“Gonna live forever” (strong chorus),
“I’ll be your fool” (pure 80s sound, big
keys and catchy chorus), “Every beat of my
heart” (AOR!), “This is the day” (huge
midtempo rocker) and “When empires burn”
(classy MAGNUM stuff). From start to finish, this is high
class (Symphonic) Melodic (Hard) Rock at it’s very
best, with catchy songs and impressive vocal
arrangements, all packed in a big sound which will keep
you busy for almost an hour!
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
 BRIAN MCDONALD PROJECT ’VOYAGE’
(ATENZIA RECORDS/BERTUS)
Multi-instrumentalist BRIAN MCDONALD has released only 2
albums in his musical career, ‘Desperate
business’ in the 1980s and ‘Wind it up’ in
the 1990s, so ‘Voyage’ is his third album and I
can easily say that this new record is his strongest
release so far. ‘Voyage’ is totally different
than anything the man has done in the past, because it
introduces an updated approach of late 70s/early 80s
classic AOR/Pomprock, not unlike STYX, KANSAS, LE ROUX,
ARC ANGEL, AVIARY and also ROBBY VALENTINE. There are
also hints of classic BOSTON, NIGHT RANGER and DEF
LEPPARD, all mixed up in a HUGE AOR/Melodic
Pomprocksound! The album counts 13 tracks and has a
playing length of 66 minutes, so enough to keep you busy
for a while. The album starts with the fantastic big
uptempo 80s AOR rocker “Intimate”, which sounds
like classic 80s NIGHT RANGER, with great keys, hooks and
vocals. Up next is the late 70s type of midtempo
Pomprocker “Where you are, where I am”, a song
reminding of STYX, ZON, ROADMASTER, AVIARY, KANSAS,
TOUCH...
Then
comes one of my favourite tracks, the wonderful “In
the shadows of angels”, which is pure 80s AOR/Pomp
with lovely keyboardwork (a la JOURNEY, SURVIVOR), and a
chorus that sounds like pure LE ROUX (‘So fired
up’), an incredible tune that will be loved by fans
of Classic 80s AOR/Pomp. “Phoenix rising”
follows, and is a nice midtempo AOR/Melodic Rocker with
many harmonyvocals. Back to a classy 80s sound with the
great semi AOR ballad “The night you said
goodbye”, which sounds like NIGHT RANGER and DAMN
YANKEES. The titletrack “Voyage” has again
superb AOR keys and is basically a very strong midtempo
AOR tune like SURVIVOR meets ARC ANGEL. “Patriot
games” is a good uptempo AOR/Melodic Rocker with a
message (read the lyrics!). More excellent keyboardwork
can be heard on “Out of time”, a Classic 80s
AOR song. The calmer Radio AOR ballad “Between
heaven and heart” is up next and could’ve been
on an 80s CHICAGO or TOTO album. The DEF LEPPARDish
harmonyvocals of Brian’s earlier records aren’t
completely vanished on this new album, because the big
midtempo AOR/Melodic Rocker “Normandy” has
LEPPARD written all over!
“Legend”
is a very impressive song, as it is a long epic tune that
is almost pure Progressive Rock, yet with a melodic rock
touch (a la KAYAK). “In a world made for you”
picks up the melodic rockound again, and is very much
like classic BOSTON. The album closes with the
semi-acoustic “Unfinished bridges”, which is
the only weaker song. Concluded, this is another very
strong release by ATENZIA RECORDS, the Swedish label that
already brought us fantastic releases by ACT, JIM JIDHED,
CANNATA/ARC ANGEL, HARLAN CAGE, 101 SOUTH and are
expected to release many more great albums in the future.
In the meantime, this album is a total must if you want
to hear how high quality AOR/Pomprock sounds like in the
year 2003!
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
 CRYSTAL BLUE ‘DETOUR’
(MTM MUSIC/SURBURBAN)
About 10 years ago the Swedish Melodic Rock band CRYSTAL
BLUE released 2 good records in the typical Scandi
Melodic Rockstyle (TREAT, EUROPE, DAVINCI, DALTON), but
after the release of ‘Caught in the game’,
their 2nd CD in 1994, it became very quiet around the
band, with only a THIN LIZZY TRIBUTE song recorded in
1995. Now, in the year 2003 CRYSTAL BLUE has risen from
the ashes and they have released without a doubt their
best record to date, namely the fantastic
‘Detour’ CD on MTM MUSIC. This album is clearly
a very strong and impressive record that can be labelled
as one of the best Swedish AOR/Melodic Rock releases this
year. The album is filled with classy hooky typical 80s
Scandi AOR/Melodic Rock a la ALIEN, DAVINCI, TREAT,
STREET TALK...
The band has a
new lead singer called Thomas Lasser, who also plays
keys, and I must admit that this guy is giving CRYSTAL
BLUE a positive touch, as his voice is really fantastic,
sounding like a younger version of JOEY TEMPEST. The
included 11 songs are all great and capture the classy
AOR/Melodic Rocksound so many young new Swedish bands
brought us back in the late 80s, after EUROPE and
MALMSTEEN had opened the doors for them. This CD has many
highlights, such as the classy uptempo AOR/Melodic
Rockers (a la ALIEN) “Damage”, “Back on
track”, “Believe me” (very catchy!) and
“Never say surrender” (best song, pure classic
80s AOR a la AVIATOR), but also the midtempo AOR tunes
“Someone” and “This is the time”, as
well as the beautiful (semi) AOR ballads “Move
on” (very strong chorus, pure DAVINCI/TREAT),
“You and I” and the JOURNEY inspired calmer
closing track “Sylvia” (on this song you can
hear how well Thomas can sing, what a voice!). The
conclusion is simple here, if you like AOR/Melodic Rock,
then get this record a.s.a.p.!
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
 HAREM SCAREM ‘THE EARLY
YEARS’
(FRONTIERS RECORDS/BERTUS)
In 1991 the Canadian band HAREM SCAREM released their AOR
Classic debut, which is still seen as their best album,
although their follow-up ‘Mood swings’ is also
a near-classic, but that debut had such a beautiful pure
AOR approach it will never be beat by any new record of
the band. On the other hand, this ‘new’ HAREM
SCAREM album comes dangerously close, as it contains 16
songs, including the band’s original demo CD from
1989/1990 which led the band to sign a record deal with
WARNER BROS back in the early 90s. CDRs have been
circulating the world the past 10 years, but now there is
an official CD release of this ultra-rare material, and
so everyone can now hear many more Classic AOR songs by
HAREM SCAREM in the style of their glorious debut. Just
listen to wonderful uptempo AOR pieces like “Looking
back”, “One step at a time”, “One of
the wounded”, “Last time”,
“You’re the one”, “Out of love”,
‘Staying away”, “All over again” etc.
etc. and you’ll hear how good HAREM SCAREM once
sounded. Even with this record, it still comes to mind
that the band’s classic debut ‘Harem
scarem’ from 1991 remains their best release, but
this ‘new’ CD captures a bit of the same
Classic AOR spirit of that 1991 album, so AOR fans should
purchase this album as soon as it is released on May the
26th!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 STORYTELLER ‘ONLY THE STRONG
SURVIVE’ (ROADTOOTH RECORDS)
Back in the
1980s Los Angeles was the place to be, it was the mecca
for Hardrockbands, basically every band emerged from
there, resulting in a typical ‘Hair-Metal’
sound which so many bands played. Unfortunately the
Grunge movement destroyed the whole scene, and only a few
bands here and there hold on to their roots. The past few
years it has been very quiet and I guess you can say the
LA scene is completely dead, but there are always
exceptions to the rule, and STORYTELLER is one of them.
Do not confuse this band with the other American AOR band
or the Finish Power Metal band with the same names.
Anyway, this LA settled act is playing classy 80s LA
Hardrock/Poser Metal with a strong Melodic Rock approach.
The first song
“Save me” is a nice simple Hardrock tune that
could’ve easily been on a RATT, LA GUNS or KEEL
record from the 80s. Much better are the following 2
songs, the classy uptempo melodic rockers “Come
on” and “Live my life” (catchy chorus!).
Next track “Looser” and also “Young
America” are just a nice midtempo groovy melodic
rockers. “Question you” is a clear 80s
AOR/Melodic Rock based tune, very classy sound with a
strong 1987 BON JOVI approach, definitely one of the
strongest songs here. In the same style as previous
mentioned track is the uptempo melodic rocker
“Naked”, which also has a catchy singable
chorus. The last 3 songs are “She’s gone”
(nice melodic rocker a la TRIXTER-), “Don’t
leave” (nice semi AOR ballad a la REO SPEEDWAGON)
and “Can’t stop rock’n’roll”
(nice Hardrock a la LA GUNS). If KIVEL RECORDS hears this
band, then there’s a chance they get signed to that
American retro Melodic Rocklabel, because they fit
perfectly next to bands like ADRIAN GALE, TOUR DE FORCE,
BARON... For now, more info on the Californian
STORYTELLER, go to: http://www.storytelleronline.net and e-mail them at: musician411@yahoo.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
GUTTER
SIRENS ‘MEMORY
ANALYSIS’ (SHARK RECORDS)
GUTTER SIRENS is a Polish band, signed to the German
label SHARK RECORDS, whom recently released the
band’s album ‘Memory analysis’. The CD
contains 11 tracks, and is a fairly well-produced melodic
Prog/Power Metal album with a strong European approach,
very much like SONATA ARCTICA, STRATOVARIUS, LABYRINTH...
Maybe it’s not from such a high level as mentioned
bands, still GUTTER SIRENS is a recommended band if you
like this kind of Prog/Power Metal. The band has a very
good lead singer called Doman, while there’s a lot
of interesting keyboardwork to be heard, played by Alex.
The highlights on the CD are “Chameleon”,
“Appearances”, “Diamond tear” and
“Tears in dragon’s eyes”. Good record by
this new Polish band, and recommended to fans of SONATA
ARCTICA, THUNDERSTONE...
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 ARMOR OF GOD ‘2 FACE
REALITY’ (INDEPENDENT)
This is quite a surprise from the USA, because ARMOR OF
GOD is playing Classic 80s orientated Female Fronted
AOR/Melodic Rock of a very high level, and they remind me
of VXN and TANTRUM!!! Never thought I was gonna mention
such legendary obscure bands from the early 80s in a
review of a new CD, because ‘2 face reality’ by
the Alabama based band ARMOR OF GOD is ideed reminding of
the classy early 80s AOR/Melodic Rocksound, complete with
the melodic choruses and lead and harmonyvocals, and also
the spacy keyboards here and there. The guitarsound is
very 80s and most striking fact is the help the band got
from David Huff, a legendary producer who is very
well-known in the 80s Christian Rock/Metal scene, and he
mastered the album ‘2 face reality’.
The music of
ARMOR OF GOD is very sensational, and also has some
resemblance to a rocking HEART, but if you know VXN and
TANTRUM, then this CD is a total must for you! Most of
the songs are catchy uptempo melodic rockers, with as
highlights “Sacred invocation”, “Innocence
lost”, “Heaven or hell”, “Meaning of
love” and “Shadow of the cross”. I
can’t believe this CD is new, because the music is
so 80s AOR/Melodic Rock! Anyway, this CD is filled with
high quality stuff, so better check it out a.s.a.p.! The
band also released an album before ‘2 face
reality’, back in 1998 called ‘Out of
Egypt’, and although this is also a good melodic
rock affair, it isn’t as good as their latest record
‘2 face reality’. Check out ARMOR OF GOD at: http://www.armorofgod.com and the CD is available
at www.cdbaby.com
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
LUMINOS
‘SEIZE
THE DAY’ (MARKET SQUARE RECORDS)
LUMINOS is playing high quality melodic Neo-Progressive
Rock like only the British can produce it, with great
male and excellent female lead vocals, a solid
guitarsound and very strong melodies. There are 9 tracks
on their debut, and especially the beginning of the album
is quite enjoyable with such fine tracks like “Inner
self”, “A small boy, a bird in history”
and “It’s your turn to fly”. The band also
has some very calm tracks on offer here, but mainly we
have a good melodic prog rockband on our hands here,
highly recommended to fans of IQ, JADIS, KARNATAKA and
MOSTLY AUTUMN. More info at: http://www.marketsquarerecords.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 AUTOGRAPH ‘BUZZ’ (POINT
MUSIC)
AUTOGRAPH returns with the release of a ‘true’
comeback album. In the mid 1990s we welcomed the return
of the band, but back then it was more an unreleased
album being re-issued onto CD. Now however, we have
‘Buzz’, which is a complete new album of Steve
Plunkett and co. The band returns to the classy melodic
rocksound of their debut ‘Sign in please’,
although it’s nowhere as sensational as that Classic
album from 1984. Almost 20 years later, ‘Sign in
please’ is still AUTOGRAPH’s best and most
successfull record, with instant classic tunes like
“In the night”, “Send her to me”,
“All I’m gonna take”, “Friday”,
“Turn up the radio” etc. On the other hand,
‘Buzz’ is a real strong return. The first 2
songs (“Break a sweat” and “Shake the
tree”) are both good midtempo rockers a la
“Turn up the radio”, yet the chorus lacks a bit
here. From “She’s the reason” on, this
album really gets interesting and stays until the end
being a solid melodic rockalbum in the true AUTOGRAPH and
80s DEF LEPPARD tradition. Highlights are “Fed up
with bein’ down” (uptempo melodic rocker),
“That” (great semi melodic rockballad),
“Buzz” (catchy classy uptempo melodic rocker)
and “Heart raper” (fantastic midtempo melodic
rocker with a very impressive chorus, not too far away
from the band’s best songs “In the night”
and “Everytime I dream”. Concluded, this album
is completely following the style of their fantastic
debut ‘Sign in please’ from 1984, fans of that
record will be pleased a lot with ‘Buzz’.
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 VARIOUS ARTISTS
‘UNDRESSED/AN UNMASKED TRIBUTE TO KISS’ (POINT
MUSIC)
‘Unmasked’ is one of the least popular KISS
albums everyone thought, until we received a tribute to
that particular album. KISS released ‘Unmasked’
in 1980 and I still think it was an excellent album with
many catchy melodic rocksongs, maybe even better than
‘Dynasty’ from 1979 which caused a stir
worldwide. Anyway, ‘Unmasked’ contained
classics like “Shandi”, “What the makes
the world go round”, “Tomorrow” and
“Easy as it seems” (pure AOR!). This tribute
album contains 1 or 2 versions of the 11 tunes from
‘Unmasked’, performed by 14 different bands
from all over the world. Let me just pick out the best
ones here, which are DEMON DRIVE (the German band covers
“What makes the world go round”), PRETTY
SUICIDE (surprisingly excellent performance of
“Tomorrow”, this Female Fronted New York based
band has a fantastic early 80s classy melodic
poprocksound a la FIONA, LUBA, SHANDI, LISA PRICE...),
DRESSED TO THRILL (“Easy as it seems” is being
covered very well, good singer and nice keys here),
OLIVER MONROE (German singer performs a ballad version of
“Naked city”), Tommy Denander’s new band
TYKOON does an excellent version of “Easy as it
seems” and 3 KISS tunes are covered by SHAMELESS, of
which “Tomorrow” in an acoustic version.
Concluded, this is a very impressive Tribute, not only
the included cover versions (except the bands JENDZA and
THE GEMINUS SECT), but also the extensive liner notes
written in the booklet are very nice to read. This is a
recommended KISS ‘Unmasked’ tribute album,
probably the only KISS album of which the songs are never
covered or played by KISS or any other band, so a good
opportunity to check
it out!
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
THE
SHAMELESS
‘SUPER HARDCORE SHOW’ (POINT MUSIC)
The Glamrockband THE SHAMELESS returns with a new CD. The
album contains Live material and a few Covers, so not
really a new album, except for the song “She’s
not comin’ home”, an acoustic ballad. The
included Videotrack is very nice to watch, although the
soundquality is not really that good, but the audio CD
sounds very good. The live recordings are a pleasure to
listen to and for all fans of PRETTY BOY FLOYD, POISON
and MOTLEY CRUE, this band is a dream come true. The 3
previous studio-albums showed that this band was capable
of making quality Glamrock, and this Live-recording
proves that they can also bring the show live on stage.
Fans of classy 80s Party/Glamrock will dig songs like
“Shock the world”, “Steal the girlz”,
“Lonely nite in paradise” and “Queen 4 a
day”. Fans of this genre know what to do when they
see this new CD of THE SHAMELESS in front of them!
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
SABU
‘RESURFACED’
(POINT MUSIC)
I thought PAUL SABU was finally releasing a complete new
album, but the new SABU CD ‘Resurfaced’ is
nothing more than a 2-CD release containing 2 old records
of SABU. I forgot which albums, but not the man’s
strongest efforts, which will always be the 1984 KIDD
GLOVE record. Anyway, the included 2 CDs are filled with
nice (but not sensational) groovy Melodic Hardrock with
the raw vocals of Paul. With a total of 20 songs,
there’s enough to listen to. Highlights are
“End of an era”, “Cherie”, “Hold
on” and “If I’d never asked you to
dance”, which are the more AOR based tunes here.
Let’s hope PAUL SABU will record a ‘real’
new album soon and that it will be a CD in the style of
KIDD GLOVE, ONLY CHILD or SABU’s
‘Heartbreak’ album. Although the 2 CDs of
‘Resurfaced’ are not bad at all, it
doesn’t get sensational like his 80s records, but if
you enjoy raw melodic hardrock you might like this after
all!
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 KEN TAMPLIN AND FRIENDS
‘WAKE THE NATIONS’
(SONGHAUS MUSIC/NOW AND THEN RECORDS)
Singer/songwriter/guitarist KEN TAMPLIN has been
releasing music for more than 15 years, and in all those
years he never changed his music. From the start with
SHOUT, and later on his solo-albums and with the band
MAGDALLEN, the musicstyle has always been Christian
Melodic (Hard) Rock. Also his new album is following the
same style created on the SHOUT and TAMPLIN albums,
although here and there this album is slightly rockier.
The list of guest musicians is HUGE, including among
others MARTY FRIEDMAN, JEFF SCOTT SOTO, DOUG ALDRICH, KEE
MARCELLO, PETE LESPERANCE and many more famous musicians.
The
CD includes 18 tracks, and has a playing length of 80
minutes, and as a bonus the album includes a DVD, with 2
Full Videoclips and a Documentary on the making of those
videos. So, in total, this CD (and DVD) will give you
pleasure for about 2 hours! The material is a mixture of
midtempo and uptempo rockers. The best songs are the
uptempo rockers “The story of love” and “Falling
houses”, both also featured as Videoclips, and
midtempo (Bluesy) melodic rockers like “Cell phone
freaks”, “Peace on earth” and “Saints
and heroes”, and the bluesy melodic rockballad
“God in heaven” that reminds me a lot of GARY
HUGHES circa his 1993 solo record. It’s not a
sensational record, but nevertheless a recommended
melodic (hard) rockalbum with 2 hours of quality stuff,
and therefore I recommended to you this new CD of KEN
TAMPLIN!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
PRETTY
BOY FLOYD ‘LEATHER
BOYZ WITH ELECTRIC TOYZ’
(PERRIS RECORDS)
1989 WAS THE YEAR THE la Glamband PRETTY BOY FLOYD
released their ‘classic’ debut CD ‘Leather
boyz with electric toyz’, which is one of the best
Glamrockalbums ever. Unfortunately it didn’t get the
success it deserved, so the band split up. About 10 years
later, there was a great deal of response in favor of
that PRETTY BOY FLOYD record, which was held as a classic
in the Glamrockscene. The band reformed and released a
few new CDs, and this ‘Leather boyz with electric
toyz’ is a re-release of their classic 1989 album
with 5 bonustracks added. Although I am not a big
Glamrockfan, I still enjoy very much the songs of PRETTY
BOY FLOYD, especially excellent songs like “Set the
night on fire”, “Only the young”, “The
last kiss”, “Your mama won’t know”,
“48 hours” and “I wanna be with you”.
The 5 unreleased tracks are not as good as that classic
1989 record, but still interesting for the die-hard PBF
fans. Anyway, this CD is a good opportunity for me to say
that there was indeed also high quality Glamrock made in
the 1980s, because ‘Leather boyz with electric toyz’
is an instant classic, which may be placed next to MOTLEY
CRUE’s ‘Too fast for love’ and POISON’s
‘Look what the cat dragged in’. Hair-Metal
rules!
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
PRETTY
BOY FLOYD
‘VAULT 2’ (PERRIS RECORDS)
PRETTY BOY FLOYD will never make such a Classic Record as
their wonderful debut from 1989, but with ‘Vault 2’
they have come up with another interesting Glamrock
release. The album follows up ‘Vault 1’ from
last year, and the material included is quite diverse in
style and sound quality. There’s some Punk movement
here (“We’re a happy family”, “Million
miles away”), but also pure Glamrock (“Saturday
night in the USA” and “7 minutes in heaven”)
and even Heavy Metal (“No respect for the law”),
although mainly this is 80s Party/Glamrock like you would
expect from this band. The sound quality is not always
really perfect, but the PBF fans have something to enjoy
again.
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
WYZARD ‘KNIGHTS OF METAL’
(PERRIS RECORDS)
This album is being held high in the Underground scene,
but after hearing the 5 tracks of ‘Knights of Metal’
I am afraid not many Metalfans will really dig this
stuff. Surely, it’s good old 80s US Power Metal, but
the band has a weak lead singer, and the songs sound very
dated. WYZARD was a band from Texas and they released
their only record in 1984, and until last year people
paid 500 US Dollars for this 4-track mini-LP! Happily,
now PERRIS RECORDS have re-issued the album onto CD, with
the addition of a bonustrack, so I guess the true 80s US
Metalfreaks will purchase a copy of this CD a.s.a.p., but
I think it’s only interesting for fans of PRIEST and
early FATES WARNING, so lots of high pitched vocals, but
don’t expect anything sensational here!
(Points:
7.0 out of 10)
ROXX
GANG
‘HOT DAMN’ (PERRIS RECORDS)
I was never that excited about ROXX GANG, and I think
that will not change with their latest effort ‘Hot
damn’. The band is now playing Rockabilly like
Party-Rock, with lots of acoustic guitars and a Boogie
rhythm! Yeah, I really don’t know what to do with
this release. I guess fans of the band might be
interested in getting a copy, but further I have nothing
to say about this release, because it is so ‘damn’
wicked. Be aware, because it is very different from the
earlier releases of ROXX GANG.
(Points:
- )
KRISTY
KRASH MAJORS ‘FOR THOSE ABOUT TO SNIFF...’
(PERRIS RECORDS)
PRETTY BOY FLOYD guitarist Kristy Krash Majors recorded a
tribute album to THE RAMONES. He did everything on his
own, the instruments and vocals. There are 13 tracks
included, of which most interesting is the unreleased DEE
DEE RAMONE track “Sidewalk surfin’” on
which we can hear BARBARA RAMONE (Dee Dee’s wife) on
vocals. This is a nice tribute to THE RAMONES,
recommended to fans of PBF and RAMONES.
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
VARIOUS
ARTISTS
‘HOLLYWOOD HAIRSPRAY 2’ (PERRIS RECORDS)
It seems like Hollywood is bringing back Hair-Metal on
the map again, just like the way it was in the 1980s,
because this compilation CD included 16 LA bands playing
80s LA style Glam/Party Hardrock. Some are well-known
(PBF, ENUFF’Z’NUFF, KEN TAMPLIN, JETBOY), but
there also a few new Underground acts. I would like to
inform you about the interesting acts on this CD, which
are FAHRENHEIT (their song “King of the night”
is classy 80s Hair-Metal), GRAYSON MANOR (“Enemey”
is a very good song), PARLOR TRIXX (“Step into my
parlor” is a very strong tight melodic rocker with
catchy harmonyvocals, a bit like RATT, FIREHOUSE, WHITE
LION), GRANDMA MOSES and SINN are both playing catchy 80s
Glam Metal a la CRUE, while SUPERGROUPIES’ song
“Runaround” is good 70s Rock a la STARZ. I hope
some of these bands will release a full-length CD
sometime in the future, maybe on PERRIS RECORDS, who
knows, we’ll have to keep our eyes open for it!
(Points:
- )
 RAZAMANAZ ‘RAZAMANAZ’
(PERRIS RECORDS)
This band’s story goes back 10 years ago, when
guitarist Michael Kelly Smith of BRITNY FOX formed the
band. They recorded quite a bit material, but it had to
wait until 2003 before it got officially released on CD,
and so we can now enjoy the sounds of this band. The CD
contains 15 tracks, and despite a few instrumentals, what
remains is a good 80s type of LA/Sleaze Metal record in
the vein of LA GUNS, BLACK AND BLUE and also KISS here
and there. Highlights are “Urgency”, “Feel
it”, “Tied up”, “Kicks” (catchy
70s Glamrock) and “In the dust” (catchy uptempo
melodic rocker), while the BRITNY FOX fans will totally
love a song like “Rock’n’roll outlaw”.
This CD is a good 80s LA Rock record that I can easily
recommend if you like any of the mentioned acts.
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
EIDOLON
‘SACRED
SHINE’ (PERRIS RECORDS)
This American band released a few CDs on METAL BLADE
RECORDS, which gave them some success in Europe. However,
the band also recorded 2 demos in 1994 and 1995, which
contained material never released on any of the CDs they
released. Happily, PERRIS RECORDS (the Glamrocklabel!)
released a CD filled with those 2 demos, and I must say
it sounds great, not only the songs, but also the
sound/production is of a very high level, so you can
easily call this new EIDOLON album a new CD. The music is
a bit more Progressive/80s US Power Metal orientated than
their other releases, and actually this might be their
best release so far! Like I said before, the production
is huge (especially for a demo!) and from the 11 included
tracks, the highlights are “Lost horizon”
(great slowtempo Progressive/Power Metal, classy 80s),
“Forbidden liar” (lovely complex Prog Metal,
QUEENSRYCHE in better days), “Shadows”
(fantastic classy 80s uptempo melodic metal) and “Silent
cries” (FATES WARNING cover). The last 4 tracks are
instrumental, but quite impressive ones! Concluded, this
is a recommended release to all fans of 80s US Prog/Power
Metal and of course if you like EIDOLON, although this CD
is more in the vein of old QUEENSRYCHE, FATES WARNING...
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 FAIRYLAND ‘OF WARS IN
OSYRHIA’
(NTS RECORDS)
This is a new French band, and their debut CD ‘Of
wars in Osyrhia’ is a superb high quality Bombastic
Melodic Power Metal record that leans a lot towards
RHAPSODY. Former HEAVENLY guitarist Anthony Parker and
ex-DARK MOOR lead singer Elisa C. Martin can both be
heard on this CD, and although some may see this as a
RHAPSODY clone, you can not deny that this is a very good
copy, because FAIRYLAND has some very strong songs on
their first records, and with a high class production
they are easily one of the better French bands at the
moment. The CD contains 11 tracks, of which my favourites
are “Ride with the sun”, “Fight for your
king”, “on the path to fury”, “The
fellowship”, “A dark omen” and “Of
wars in Osyrhia”. Without a doubt, this is a high
quality release, filled with excellent Power Metal like
RHAPSODY, with a touch of ‘LORD OF THE RINGS’
here and there, and excellent female lead vocals by
Elisa, with beautiful artwork and a superb production,
making this album a highly recommended release!
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
FINAL
REIGN ‘DESTINY’
(INDEPENDENT)
This
American band sent me their CD ‘Destiny’.
Instrumental it sounds pretty good, typical 80s Melodic
Metal. The main problem however is the average lead vocal
of guitarist Billy Winters. His voice just isn’t
good enough to make any of the songs sensational. With
better vocals, this would have been a much better CD, but
nevertheless, I must mention the best tracks, which are
“Take his hand”, “Crazy”, “Hey
Satan” and “Battle of Michael”. Maybe on a
next release, the band is able to include a real lead
singer in their line-up. More info at: http://www.finalreign.com
(Points: 6.5 out of 10)
WINDSEEKER
‘BREATH,
LIGHT AND HOPE’ (DEMO)
WINDSEEKER is an Italian band, and they play Prog/Power
Metal with a slightly different approach than some of the
other bands. There are 3 tracks on their CD, and
especially the first song “Destroyer” is an
example of how good classy Italo Power Metal should
sound, uptempo and melodic. The other 2 songs were
weaker, and then it became clear that lead singer Mauro
Gelsomini needs to improve himself on a future recording.
Check out this Italian band at: http://www.windseeker.it
(Points: 7.0 out of 10)
(All
reviews by Gabor Kleinbloesem, except where noted)
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