 NEIL DANIELS ‘IRON
MAIDEN – THE ULTIMATE UNAUTHORIZED HISTORY OF THE BEAST BOOK’ (VOYAGEUR
PRESS)
In the past we reviewed several books of author NEIL DANIELS, including the JUDAS PRIEST and JOURNEY books and now Neil strikes back with another vengeance, because he has written the ultimate book on IRON MAIDEN. Much has been written about the greatest Metalband of all times, but not as good and certainly not in so much detail as this new book by Neil. He got a little help from established co-writers, such as MARTIN POPOFF and IAN CHRISTE, of whom we have also reviewed quite a lot books. As the subtitle reveals, this is an unauthorized book, but for the content that does not matter, because it is a must-have book for the IRON MAIDEN fans anyway. One reason to get the hardcover version and not some sorta PDF file version is the fact that the looks of the book is quite impressive, basically in typical IRON MAIDEN style. The book is filled with lots of color pictures of the band, pics of rare tickets, T-Shirts, ads and posters, reviews on every album and a superb listing of all tour dates IRON MAIDEN has done since they started in the late 1970s. It's actually a chronically written book that tells the complete story of the band, from their early PAUL D'IANNO days, straight through the glorious 1980s BRUCE DICKINSON triumphant period, the 1990s downfall with BLAZE BAYLEY fronting the band and the powerful comeback with Bruce again, which of course is still going strong and probably will remain so for the future. Although no interviews took place with any of the IRON MAIDEN members, Neil was able to gather all kinds of interesting from all over the world. Interesting quotes are taken from every possible media source, such as magazines, fanzines, newspapers and websites. What sets this book apart from the usual biographies is the visual aspect, because with so many great rare pictures and that amazing list of all the IRON MAIDEN tourdates (going all the way back to 1976!), it is definitely something appealing for the eyes. The frontcover is classic IRON MAIDEN style, owing thanks to DEREK RIGGS, who did the artwork for a few classic IRON MAIDEN records. During the 1970s it was all about releasing a new studio-album at least every year, but for IRON MAIDEN and most other bands in the modern age of rock and roll, it is all about touring, making movie-documentaries and releasing books, because who really remembers any of the recent new studio-albums of the legendary bands out there. Although this concerns an unauthorized book, the IRON MAIDEN fans will absolutely not care about that little fact, because this 'The ultimate unauthorized history of the beast' book might well be the best MAIDEN book ever written! More at: www.neildaniels.com (Points: 8.6 out of 10)
It is a coincidence that I get to review 2 LED ZEPPELIN based books within a short period, but this JON BREAM written book about LED ZEPPELIN was actually already published a few years ago. Just like the recent DENNY SOMACH ‘Get the Led Out - How Led Zeppelin became the biggest band in the world', also Jon's book tells the story from the start until the recent days, with as difference that this book is featuring a lot more excellent rare pictures of the band and its merchandise. Not that much new information can be read here, which is also not that surprising, because already 30 years have passed since the band gave up the ghost. But as already mentioned, the pictures in this book are definitely making this book a must-have for any Classic Rockfan out there. For a publishing company it is quite easy to release a book about a band like LED ZEPPELIN, because in the end you know that it will sell a lot and despite many times these are not really legendary books, in this case, JON BREAM delivers a really impressive piece of work. His efforts can be read and seen on 287 pages, also featuring contributions Charles Shaar Murray, William S. Borroughs, Jim DeRogatis, Greg Kot, Barney Hoskyns, Jaan Uhelski, Robert Mateu and more. Jon is a music critic for the Minneapolis Star Tribune and best known for writing the 1984 paperback ‘Prince: Inside the Purple Reign’. Compared to the other books written about big rockbands (AC/DC, IRON MAIDEN, AEROSMITH…) published on VOYAGEUR PRESS, it is clear that they all follow a sort of same format, where we get to read a story told in words and in combination with rare pictures, show tickets, ads, posters and other visual stuff. This makes it a very colorful adventure, which teaches you about the massive impact this band had in the 1970s. Of course the band has in recent years seen a major renewed interest from all over the world, so an excellent book like this should easily reach many people. (Points: 8.5 out of 10) PHIL SUTCLIFFE ‘AC/DC – HIGH VOLTAGE ROCK’N’ROLL – THE ULTIMATE ILLUSTRATED HISTORY BOOK’ (VOYAGEUR PRESS) There are countless books written about AC/DC, so this ‘High Voltage Rock ‘N’ Roll: The Ultimate Illustrated History’ is certainly not the very first, but that does not matter once you hold this book in your hands. It already starts when you look at the frontcover, because it features guitarist ANGUS YOUNG performing his typical stage moves while lying on his back and the cool thing about it is the fact that you can actually spin the 7” inch like circle at the front, which makes Angus doing the move visually! Of course this is a great introduction to a rather impressive book. The book itself is not just a typical biography with an endless string of words, but thankfully it is a great mixture of words and pictures, because that is what is likewise the most interesting thing about this book by author Phil Sutcliffe. 224 pages filled with pictures taken of the band and its members, portraying almost 40 years of AC/DC! It is quite incredible how popular AC/DC really is, considering the fact they have been playing the exact same music and power chords ever since they started in 1973. Never change a winning team! Nevertheless, AC/DC did have its ups and downs, especially during the 1970s and 1980s, with as most important piece of the puzzle, the change of lead singer right before their major selling album ‘Back in black’. Like the title of the book already indicates, this is an illustrated book, because the majority of the content contains pictures of the band, their merchandise and memorabilia from album covers, show tickets, backstage passes, rare picture discs, programs, posters, etc. etc. Even the DAVE EVANS era gets covered, although the BON SCOTT years are however showing that AC/DC was at their absolute peak. Nevertheless, they are still going strong with BRIAN JOHNSON up front, so AC/DC has almost always been a major stadium band. Back to the book, which is a nice journey through the years, it contains in-depth reviews of every single album of the band, done by several rock journalists. The afterword was done by JOE ELLIOT from DEF LEPPARD and all together this book feels like “the museum you want to visit over and over again”, because it features so much visually to see for the eyes and along with the story and quotes, it is a must-have for any AC/DC fan. However, aren’t we all AC/DC fans? So, actually everyone should get this book asap! (Points: 8.3 out of 10) EDGE ‘HEAVEN KNOWS’ (ESCAPE MUSIC) It just never stops! Sweden keeps on delivering quality bands in basically every genre and especially since H.E.A.T. and THE POODLES made it big over there a few years ago, there has been a massive amount of new bands in the Melodic Rockgenre, not seen since the 1980s. EDGE happens to be one of them and they released their debut ‘Heaven knows’ on ESCAPE MUSIC. Production is great, the music sounds very catchy and both instrumentally and vocally speaking, it all sounds perfect, but please be aware that everything is done by the numbers and countless other Scandi bands have done this 80s Melodic Rockstyle before. I am not going to mention all the similar bands here, because I think you’ll get the picture what this album sounds like, because from start to finish this is the closest thing to cliché tingled Swedish/Scandi Melodic Rock one can get. Not saying it is bad what we get to hear, but only interesting if you are already familiar with all the stronger acts from Sweden in this genre (read: TALK OF THE TOWN, H.E.A.T…, ALIEN, TREAT, DAVINCI, DALTON…), because it is otherwise pointless to check out this EDGE first before you ever heard the real Swedish Melodic Rock classics. Most interesting song is “Get over it”, which is a duet with a really great female singer called MARTINA EDOFF. She sounds like ROBIN BECK and after some research I found out that she toured the world as backupsinger for DR. ALBAN (!!!) and was the co-founder of a band later would become THE POODLES. However, she is currently working on a new solo-album, which will rock, so that might be interesting to follow closely in the near future. Anyway, as far as this EDGE, it will please the fans of mentioned bands, but don’t expect anything new here… (Points: 7.9 out of 10)
Formed all the way back in 1987, this Iowa, USA based band VADUZ has already released 2 independent albums 25 years ago, but somehow those have never reached my office. However, just recently they reformed after they had split in 1993 and now a full new album is released. It is titled ‘Better days’ and basically this is US Arena Melodic Hardrock of the 1980s at it’s very best. Despite all the changes in the music climate the past 2 decades, VADUZ is making music that sounds like a great mixture between FIREHOUSE, NELSON, BILOXI, DANGER DANGER and DOKKEN, so big sounding good-time Melodic Hardrock with flashy guitars, clean vocalwork, catchy hooks and memorable melodic choruses. The result could have actually been much better if they had added a bunch more tunes, because with a playing time of only 35 minutes, this is a rather short album. Nevertheless, especially during the ballads “Thy kingdom come”, “Faces in the storm” and “On my way” and the uptempo melodic rocker “I saw the light again”, we can hear the best 80s US Melodic Hardrock since the classic days of FIREHOUSE, NELSON, BILOXI, etc. etc. The vocal delivery of singer BRIAN WADE is amazing during “Faces in the storm” and the piano-led Power AOR ballad “Thy kingdom come”, while instrumental you have the top-of-the-bill here and there, although as already mentioned, the short playing length and also the fact a few songs sounded a bit average (“Lowdown blues”) do not make this a real classic in the genre. I would rate them in the same league as the more obscure bands KNOW ILLUSION, BILOXI, BLUE RUIN and such, so the insiders then know that VADUZ is a really interesting band to check out. I do feel however that they can deliver an even stronger effort in the future, but for now, this is nevertheless a highly recommended album to fans of mentioned bands. 80s US Melodic Hardrock at it’s best! Check out the video of their best song at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-gTvXoQjRU&feature=player_embedded and for more info go to: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Vaduz/336535826439543 (Points: 8.4 out of 10) BILLY SHERWOOD ‘THE ART OF SURVIVAL’ (INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT) The career of the American multi-instrumentalist BILLY SHERWOOD goes back to the mid 1980s when he released a rather great typical 80s AOR/Poprock album with the band LODGIC and just a few years later an album with Progressive Rockband WORLD TRADE. At the age of 25 in 1990 however he had his fifteen minutes of fame, because he was about to join YES, but at the last moment the original line-up of that band stood in the way for him to be on board full-time with them, so eventually he appeared as a side-musician on the YES album ‘Union’. However, the next few years saw him joining YES after all and also recording several albums throughout the 1990s with them. Meanwhile he continued recording solo-albums and other projects (such as CIRCA) and the latest solo-album is ‘The art of survival’. Without a doubt, this is a very impressive album that basically is featuring the classic Symphonic/Progressive Rock music for which Billy has been known for. The fact that Billy did everything on his own here shows his enormous talent. TREVOR RABIN and JEFF CANATA are similar multi-instrumentalists, but Billy has got his own way of telling us all these beautiful stories through his music and the words he sing. Definitely a must-have album if you’re familiar with the full-blown sound of 90s YES, WORLD TRADE and Billy’s previous solo-material. More info at: http://www.billysherwood.com/ (Points: 8.3 out of 10) CIRCA ‘AND SO ON’ (INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT) The band CIRCA is formed around ex-YES members (keyboardplayer TONY KAYE and basist/vocalist BILLY SHERWOOD) and current YES member (drummer ALAN WHITE), so it is safe to say that their music will most certainly entertain the YES fans out there. They have already released a couple of albums and ‘And so on’ is the latest record from the YES related supergroup. If you’re familiar with YES and I guess that most of you are of course, then you will understand what to expect here. I do have to say that I lost my interest in YES recently, because somehow that band has now reached the stage of boredom, but that has to deal with the fact that whenever JON ANDERSON is singing, he is making each second of the band sound exactly the same and it seems like the band had it’s best moments when either TREVOR RABIN or BILLY SHERWOOD were part of the team. Anyway, with CIRCA there is a great more interesting alternative, because their album ‘And so on’ is the kinda record YES is not able to create anymore. Better than YES and hopefully we will also be able to catch them live at some point in the future. Check out all at: www.circahq.com (Points: 8.3 out of 10)
Now here we have a very sensational new progband from the UK. JADE VINE are coming out of London and are making their debut with ‘Nothing can hide from light’, which happens to be an exceptionally superb album. Producer/Songwriter/Guitarist DANIEL CAVANAGH of ANATHEMA co-produced the album and I must admit that this first JADE VINE album might become one of 2013’s finest progreleases. This album just feels so good, because everything sounds picture perfect, both instrumentally and vocally speaking, with a clear focus on keen melodies. The band does remind me a bit of ENCHANT and that in my book is a huge compliment. Songs like “Anticipation”, “Lost it all” and “Take me under” are Melodic Progrock masterpieces that will please any fan of PORCUPINE TREE, ENCHANT, ANATHEMA, SPOCK’S BEARD, NEAL MORSE, etc. etc. The album closes nicely with the more fun uptempo piece “Say it, sell it”, which has some similarities to IT BITES. If there’s one genre in this universe that keeps surprising us, then it is definitely Progrock and with JADE VINE we have another major winner! Hopefully they will become as huge as the mentioned acts, so we can enjoy much more of them in the future! In the meantime, check them out at: www.jadevinetheband.com (Points: 8.9 out of 10)
Although in her own country Australia, KATE MILLER-HEIDKE is quite well-known, in the rest of the world she is sadly not a common name yet. Her 3rd album ‘Nightflight’ was released in 2012 and I have to say that after listening to so many female fronted singer/songwriter/pop/rock releases the past few years, it always surprises me that there are still undiscovered pearls out there, because that is what this ‘Nightflight’ basically is. Kate has an incredible vocal range, while her music is actually quite diverse, because it contains influences from Jazz, Classical Music, Celtic/Folk and Alternative Rock, all spread throughout the 11 included Singer/Songwriter style tracks of this album of Kate. A few of the tracks can even be considered as potential classics, because they are really sounding that excellent. A song like “Sarah” for example is a superb piece of modern day Melodic Electronic Poprock, as if KATE BUSH and PAT BENATAR joined FLEETWOOD MAC in the late 1970s to create a sound that would be adopted decades later by acts like FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE and BAT FOR LASHES. Basically, this song “Sarah” should have been massive worldwide, because you just can’t get any more perfect than that nowadays in the female fronted pop/rock area. However, as mentioned, there is a lot of variety going on here, with a great mixture of laid-back/calmer singer-songwriter folk orientated pieces (“Ride this feeling”, “Nightflight”, “Fire and iron”, etc.) and more rockier pieces, such as “The tiger inside will eat the child” (LUBA/DALBELLOish), “I’ll change your mind” (smooth a la WEBB SISTERS/THE PIERCES) and the 80s U2ish guitar tingled “Beautiful darling”. Definitely something you don’t want to miss and I think it’s more a matter of when Kate will have her big break, because eventually she will one day become massive outside Australia as well. Check her out at: http://www.katemillerheidke.com/ (Points: 8.7 out of 10) MATTEO PLINI ‘WONDERFUL TRAGEDY’ (DEMO CDR/ITALY IMPORT) Out of Italy comes singer/songwriter MATTEO PLINI, who sent me a 4-song demo-CDR titled ‘Wonderful tragedy’. The titletrack “Wonderful tragedy” is a rather catchy fun uptempo melodic poprock/aor piece that sounds a bit like BRYAN ADAMS, yet vocally there is a slight accent to be heard. Somehow, Matteo sounds much better during the laid-back “Ordinary hero”, which is sounding like the calmer singer/songwriter pieces STAN BUSH did in the 1990s. Despite only 4 songs and a rather short playing time, we can conclude that Matteo is on his way to become a bright hope for the future of Italian singer/songwriter aor/poprock. It’s a good start, but he’s still very young and there is a lot to develop for him I think the next few years, so who knows in 5 years or so, a full-length official record will show us an improved MATTEO PLINI. In the meantime, check out his music at: http://www.facebook.com/MattPlini (Points: 7.8 out of 10) NEW LUNGS ‘LANTERNS’ (INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT) The band NEW LUNGS is coming out of Nebraska, USA and ‘Lanterns’ is their first EP since they started back in 2010. The music is very 1990s inspired, combining elements of Alternative Rock and Powerpop. 5 tracks are included and opener “The house that I grew up in” is a very 90s Altrocker all the way, so a little less interesting. However, next track “Concrete” is much much better, because this is a catchy uptempo 90s Melodic College Powerpop gem in the style of THE POSIES, WEEZER and MATTHEW SWEET. Here we can hear a catchy hookladen sound that features some beautiful harmonyvocals and a memorable chorus. From the other 3 songs, “Euro” even offers a nice proggy twist, so NEW LUNGS is definitely an interesting band, despite the somewhat average start of their first EP. Let’s see what the future will bring for this exciting new band from the heartland of America. Check out more at: http://newlungs.bandcamp.com/music (Points: 8.0 out of 10) ANNIE KEATING ‘FOR KEEPS’ (GRAPEVINE MUSIC/HEMIFRAN) ‘For keeps’ is already the 5th album of New York based singer/songwriter ANNIE KEATING, but the first one I get to hear and review. Musically speaking it is in the typical singer-songwriter department, with clear influences from classic Americana, a little Folk, a bluesy touch and quite a bit of Country. Thankfully most of the songs get a little more rocky and the final result is actually a very nice album that will probably please the fans of the somewhat older Altcountry-Rockstyle of artists like NEIL YOUNG, WILLIE NELSON and BONNIE RAITT. “Take only what you can carry”, “Leap of faith” and “All gone” are quite enjoyable tracks. Annie’s vocals are quite raw and mostly moving into a lower octave, as she doesn’t have the voice of an angel, but for quite a lot people that makes someone like her more interesting than the polished Billboard acts. There’s some calmer material as well (such as the beautiful “River Clyde”), but most of the time there is a real band kinda rocking approach, which is not that strange if you see the massive list of musicians whom collaborated with Annie on this CD. “Let it come” is definitely one of the songs that show a complete different side of Annie, because this song goes for a funky style. Anyway, I think it’s best to check it out for yourself at: http://www.anniekeating.com (Points: 8.0 out of 10) EASTWICK ‘A MOMENT FROM NOW’ (UNION DISTRIBUTION/HEMIFRAN) Not much info on this great Swedish band called EASTWICK, but from what I can tell you is that it concerns a foursome, featuring 3 male musicians, who play guitar, banjo and fiddle and a female musician on cello. So there is no full-blown band to be heard here, as the drums, bass and electric guitars are missing, but in this case it doesn’t mind, because what this EASTWICK is doing is quite phenomenal and very sensational. The clean vocals of singer JENS GANMAN are quite superb and so are the harmonyvocals, which combined with a good ear for a catchy hook and a melodic chorus is making EASTWICK almost a Melodic Pop/Rock band, but then played in an Irish Folk and/or Americana style. Besides a bunch of original tunes, the band also covers legendary songs by AEROSMITH, BON JOVI and several others. You will never be able to listen to the original versions of “Dude (looks like a lady)” and “You give love a bad name” again after you hear the incredible remakes of EASTWICK. ‘A moment from now’ is a very pleasant record that will please any music fan I guess, because this is real music of a very high level. Check out all info on the band at: http://www.myspace.com/thebandamericana and http://www.eastwick.se/English/Start.html (Points: 8.4 out of 10) ROSEMARY’S GARDEN ‘ROYAL FLUSH’ (MELLOW BOY RECORDS/HEMIFRAN) ‘Royal flush’ is the 2nd album of the LA based band ROSEMARY’S GARDEN, whom are combining all kinds of Classic Rock and Sleazy/Punksounds from the Sunset Strip’s glorious past, although it is damn close to let’s say a mix of DEAD BOYS, QUIREBOYS, THE STOOGES, SOCIAL DISTORTION and NEW YORK DOLLS. If you’re familiar with such dirty mean punky raw rock and roll, you will easily accept that the lead vocals are basically outta tune. However that is what real Rock and Roll is all about I guess and fans of mentioned bands will therefore probably love this band as well. More info at: www.facebook.com/Rosemarys-Garden (Points: 7.4 out of 10) ANDREW STRONG ‘THE COMMITMENTS YEARS AND BEYOND – LIVE’ (DIXIEFROG RECORDS/HEMIFRAN) It’s all about Soul on this live-album of the Irish singer ANDREW STRONG, who is best known as being part of the original cast of the cult movie THE COMMITMENTS from 20 years ago. Meanwhile he already has had a successful solo career, of which this new live-CD is a fine example of what this man is able to do on stage. It features a lot of Soul Classics and also a few more rockier tunes, such as JIMI HENDRIX’s “Free” and STEPPENWOLF’s “Born to be wild”, on which Andrew shows he is a really great Rocksinger too (a la PAUL RODGERS/GLENN HUGHES). Perhaps a full-blown rockalbum with original songs would be more interesting, because Andrew is definitely a great vocalist, but a full-length Soulalbum is a little too much for the average Rockfan I think. Anyway, more info on this talented singer at: http://www.andrewstrong.com/ (Points: -) THE PLASTIC PALS ‘TURN THE TIDE’ (POLYTHENE RECORDS/HEMIFRAN) Out of Sweden comes the band THE PLASTIC PALS, a rockband which combines Heartland Rock, College Rock, Westcoast, Powerpop and a touch of Country. They already released a couple of albums in the past, but ‘Turn the tide’ is my first adventure through their journey. I must say that it sounds pretty good actually and opener “All the way” reminds me so much of the legendary American band TOMMY TUTONE, if anyone remembers those guys!?! Anyway, 13 tracks are included and we get to hear a lot of nice tunes here that balance somewhere between radiofriendly melodic American orientated Powerpop of the early 80s and late 80s/early 90s Alt/College-Rock (THE POSIES). Vocally it’s not always convincing, but the energy of the band makes that up big time. SPRINGSTEEN meets THIN LIZZY is also a possible description sometimes, such as during the song “Cards”, but overall THE PLASTIC PALS has a sort of own sound. Definitely a band to catch live when they’re in town. Check them out at: http://www.facebook.com/theplasticpals (Points: 8.0 out of 10) FLOATSTONE ‘MEET FLOATSTONE’ (HEMIFRAN) “I want you” is a song on the album of Belgian singer/songwriter FLOATSTONE and despite the fact that probably nobody knows this song, the Dutch/Belgian readers will probably recognize it if I inform you that this concerns a cover of the legendary song by the band DE KREUNERS, which was originally called “Ik wil je”. FLOATSTONE’s version is stripped, slow and acoustic, so interesting to check out. However, there are 10 more songs included on the CD and these are all originals of the musician himself. Musically speaking it is singer/songwriter music with a rather dark depressing approach (JOHN CASH, TOM WAITS, KRIS KRISTOFFERSON). Nevertheless, that isn’t a problem at all, because it is done quite well and if this is the direction you feel very comfortable with, then do check out this talented musician from Belgium at: http://www.floatstone.be (Points: 7.7 out of 10) ARTHUR LEE LAND ‘CRACKED OPEN’ (PERFECT GROOVE RECORDS/HEMIFRAN) Out of Lyons, Colorado, USA (the entry to the Rocky Mountains!) comes singer-songwriter ARTHUR LEE LAND, who released his debut album about 10 years ago. That first album ‘Lessons of the heart’ was recorded at the legendary PAISLEY PARK STUDIOS of PRINCE. Another album followed a few years later, but then it became quiet around Arthur due to health issues. Now a new album has been released in the shape of ‘Cracked open’, on which he is accompanied by his wife CAROL LEE and producer AARON SHIER, while backing vocals were provided by the well-known singer-songwriters BETH NIELSEN CHAPMAN and LEIGH NASH. The result is a strong diverse album that sounds as American as you want it to be, because there is a nice mixture of Country, Bluegrass Americana, Westcoast and Folk to be heard here. The only negative remark is that drum samples instead of real drums were used (gives it an electro touch), but thankfully Arthur has got a fantastic voice that makes it a pleasure to listen to the whole album without pushing the “next” button on the remote control. The songs are quite uplifting and cheerful, with even a couple of tunes that go into a sorta POCO kinda Westcoast direction and even THE HOOTERS and THE CALL similarities pop up, yet always with the singer-songwriter approach as we know it from artists like ANDREW BIRD, M. WARD, PATRICK WATSON… The songs are very melodic and could well be loved by the open-minded AOR/Westcoast fans as well, just listen to such a strong catchy tune like “Hawthorne tree” that even sounds like something GREG GUIDRY or RICHARD MARX might have recorded if they had taken a slight folky direction. Definitely a highly recommended album and a musician we urgently need to see live on stage here in Europe! More at: http://www.arthurleeland.com/ (Points: 8.3 out of 10) JEFF PEVAR ’FROM THE CORE’ (PET PEEV MUSIC/HEMIFRAN) This must have been a dream come true for musician JEFF PEVAR, who was able to record a 3-hour session inside the caves of the Oregon Caves National Monument. The caves are millions of years old, so recording something in there is quite challenging and ‘From the core’ is the result. It is an instrumental album that could well be seen as a World Music affair with the use of countless instruments, mostly played by Jeff himself. There is however one vocal song, namely “River of dreams”, which was written by JON ANDERSON of YES, who also sings on the song. Without a doubt, this is the most interesting song on the album, because this is a beautiful song that features some amazing lead- and harmonyvocals by one of the most legendary singers of all times. For this song alone, every fan of Jon should get hold of this rather unique CD that was recorded inside the place we call Earth. Check out more at: www.pevar.com (Points: 8.0 out of 10) BLONDE BLUES ‘ENVISION NU BLUES’ (INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT) CINDY ADAMS is the name of the female singer of the BLONDE BLUES, a band from North Carolina, USA playing good old fashioned heavy Bluesrock. BONNIE RAIT comes up in my mind upon hearing this band’s CD ‘Envision Nu Blues’, but it’s CINDY ADAMS who really steals the show here, sounding like a mix between JANIS JOPLIN and GRACE SLICK. The music is Blues as we have known it for over a century now, so really with a slow backbeat and a soulful approach. It’s done very well, especially for an independent record and anyone who likes their blues to feature an amazing female singer should llok no further, because BLONDE BLUES fullfills their needs. Check out all at: www.blondeblues.net (Points: 8.0 out of 10)
Now this is an incredible story, because American singer-songwriter WENDY FLOWER was part of a sister-duo called WENDY AND BONNIE, whom released an album in 1969, but disappeared from the face of the earth after it’s release. Now 44 (!!!) years later there is a new album of Wendy and it is quite remarkable that it is actually quite a strong album, because she never recorded anything during the 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s! Anyway, on this ‘comeback’ album ‘New’, she got help from several musicians, such as producer Adam Rossi (LUCE, MEGAN SLANKARD, BRAD WOLFE), the late TRISH KEENAN and JAMES CARGILL, both of the band BROADCAST, Gawain Mathews (MICKEY HART BAND, BEN LEE), Ezra Lipp (SEAN HAYES), Paul Olguin (MARY WELLS, BOB WEIR, Savannah Jo Lack (ALANIS MORISSETTE, ROD STEWART), Joe Cohen (THOMAS DOLBY) and PAUL FREEMAN, who wrote a bunch of the material. The result is a very strong album that captures a sound like typical late 1960s singer-songwriter, yet also has something in common with the current Indie-Pop sound, although the breezy Jazzy Fusion-Westcoast of the California Sunshien State can be heard during a lot of songs (just listen to the fantastic song “One last dream” and ”Child’s play”). Wendy’s vocals are still very strong and the music is really beautiful and quite enjoyable to listen to. 13 songs are included in total and as already mentioned before, there is definitely some diversity going on here as well, because a song like “In the attic” is almost pure Gothic/Doom like BLUE OYSTER CULT and especially COVEN did around 1969, while “Kindness of strangers” is one of the absolute highlights here, because not only this song rocks a little more, it also has a sorta 70s AOR/Classic Rock kinda approach, somehow reminding me of 70s HEART. It gets even rockier during the hidden closing track “Long night”. This record is a big surprise and if only Wendy would have recorded more music between 1969 and 2013, we might have called her new album the 30th record in her discography, but I am afraid this is just her 2nd album. However, it is never too late to start fresh and ‘New’ is definitely a great way to introduce yourself to the world again. Check out all on Wendy at: http://wendyflower.com/ (Points: 8.4 out of 10) JUDE JOHNSTONE ‘SHATTER’ (BOJAK RECORDS/HEMIFRAN) American singer/songwriter JUDE JOHNSTONE from L.A. has already released 5 solo-records, worked with and wrote for such legendary musicians like the late CLARENCE CLEMONS, EMMYLOU HARRIS, BONNIE RAITT, BETTE MIDLER and TRISHA YEARWOOD. Now she returns with her 6th solo-album ‘Shatter’, a very strong album that showcases Jude’s talent as a singer too, because she has a fantastic voice. It is a very diverse album that contains influences from various genres, such as singer-songwriter (“Girl afraid”), but also some Jazzy shuffle (“When a fool” and “Touchdown Jesus”) and even a Pop/MOR/AOR semi-ballad “When does love get easier” (pretty good), while the absolute highlight is the amazing “Alcohol”, which features superb vocals lead vocals. A very nice introduction to a very talented and underrated female singer/songwriter called JUDE JOHNSTONE. Check her out at: http://judejohnstone.com/ (Points: 8.2 out of 10) STANDING OVATION ‘THE ANTIKYTHERA MECHANISM’ (INVERSE RECORDS/FINLAND IMPORT) The band STANDING OVATION is coming out of Finland, was formed in 2006 and they were kind enough to sent me their debut album ‘The Antikythera Mechanism’. Musically speaking we are heading into Progressive Metal here, yet leaning towards the experimental theatrical side of life, because the vocals seem quite outta-control. A song like “Hey Ho!” for example sounds like a mix between THE DARKNESS and Progressive Metal! The band is able to go for the more clean melodic progmetal direction a few times, such as during the titletrack, but the somewhat awakward way of singing is not making it possible to compare or recommend them to fans of the THRESHOLD/PAGAN’S MIND type of Progmetal. Instead, this STANDING OVATION chooses to go for a very experimental theatrical, almost operatic direction that might appeal to people into SAVATAGE for example, only then on this very first record the band does not reach such a high level. Production is very good and instrumental the band shows they are doing a bloody good job, but somehow one has to get used to the exceptional vocalwork. Hear for yourself at: http://www.standingovationband.com/ (Points: 7.7 out of 10) BARBARIAN TWINS ‘HOUSE OF ILL FAME’ (BARBAR SOUNDS/RAPID RECORDS/NORWAY IMPORT/TSM PROMOTIONS) Out of Norway comes BARBARIAN TWINS, a band with a retro rock/classic rock/hardrocksound that is dangerously close to the sound of legendary 80s bands like QUIREBOYS, HANOI ROCKS and LA GUNS. Not entirely sure if this is a good or a bad thing, but anyway, BARBARIAN TWINS are perhaps live on stage better than on record, because their 2nd album ‘House of ill fame’ is not always making a huge impact I’m afraid. This is mainly due to the somewhat rough vocals of band leader BARD ANDERSSON, who also plays guitars, bass, keys and wrote all the tracks. He reminds me a bit of MICHAEL MONROE and I am sure there are enough people out there who are into this sleazy raw way of singing, but it does not sound strong enough to keep the interest from start to finish of a full-length CD. The 2 highlights of the CD are the 70s ish melodic rockers “Free your mind” and “So sad you’re gone” that both got a bit of STARZ and TEAZE influences, but the other 6 songs are the kinda Rock and Roll which made HANOI ROCKS turn into superstars at some point during the music history. Anyway, not bad at all, but you need to get used to the vocalwork… More at: www.barbariantwins.com (Points: 7.4 out of 10) NAKED LUNCH ‘ALL IS FEVER’ (TAPETE RECORDS/SONIC RENDEZVOUS) Formed all the way back in 1991, the Austrian band NAKED LUNCH sounds very fresh and quite British on their new record ‘All is fever’. In fact, if you’re a mix of the current Indie meets New Wave retro 1980s influenced Electronic Pop/Rocksound of most new British/European bands, then you will like this as well. I do have to inform you though that the band is playing quite safe on their new album, so no real surprises can be heard. For example a song like “The sun” could easily become a huge hit, because it is a rather catchy tune (a la THE FIXX/ULTRAVOX/WHITE LIES) and that is perhaps also the only negative thing one can mention about NAKED LUNCH. A lot of the songs are very slow (close to boredom a few times) and sounding as polished as COLDPLAY. If there’s something we do not need in this world, then it is another safe ‘national radio ready’ band. We have to wait until the song “41” before the band comes up with a strong melancholic semi-rocker that breaks the safe barrier, as this song reminds me a bit of THE SMITHS and makes you forget about the COLDPLAYish material of the rest of the album. Not saying that there’s anything weak on this album, because ‘All is fever’ is a rather good record, with a strong performance from one of Austria’s finest bands in music history. It’s just that, apart from the 2 mentioned tracks, there isn’t much exciting happening. Nevertheless, check it out for yourself at: http://www.tapeterecords.de/artists/naked-lunch/ and see the video of the album’s highlight “The sun” at” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MaSmsFcPBA (Points: 8.0 out of 10) THE SOFT HILLS ‘CHROMATISMS’ (TAPETE RECORDS/SONIC RENDEZVOUS) It’s the vocals of lead singer Garret Hoba of THE SOFT HILLS that is making them sound better and more interesting than the countless other bands in the Indie/Folk/Pop/Rockgenre. He has a great certain kinda tone in his voice that feels very natural and melodic. In a way, he sounds like a classic US AOR/Melodic Rocksinger (sorta reminding me of JIMMY DAVIS), but the music of THE SOFT HILLS is more akin to 1960s/1970s Psychedelic Rock meets Indiepop, like a mix between THE BYRDS, TAME IMPALE, MIDLAKE and FLEET FOXES. 10 tracks are included and without a doubt, one does not find a single weak track here, because you are slowly dreaming away into the world of THE SOFT HILLS that somehow sounds like the perfect soundtrack to an American movie that is settled in the wide fields of their extensive “Heartland” states. Songs like “Riding high”, “Dear Mr. Moonlight” and the Psychedelic Rocker “Mighty river” are the perfect examples how that sounds like at best! Check for yourself at: http://thesofthills.com/ (Points: 8.4 out of 10)
The first record of the Seattle, USA based band WALKING PAPERS starts with a rather calm almost FLEET FOXESish Folk/Indie-Pop kinda track titled “Already dead” that features however lead vocals in the style of THE DOORS/THE CULT, so you start to wonder if they are pulling our leg here. And indeed, because when the 2nd track “The whole world’s watching” kicks in, we are heading into Classic Hardrock that combines the spirit of 70s Classic Rock with the vibe of 90s Alternative Rock. Heavy Bluesrock could also be a way to describe this LED ZEPPELIN meets THE BLACK KEYS kinda rocker. One way or the other, WALKING PAPERS is definitely a Rockband and when you check the liner notes and learn about the involved musicians, it all starts to make sense. WALKING PAPERS is actually a duo, formed around ex-SCREAMING TREES drummer BARRETT MARTIN and vocalist/guitarist JEFF ANGELL (THE MISSIONARY POSITION), while additional musicians include bassist DUFF MCKAGAN of GUNS’N’ROSES and PEARL JAM guitarist MIKE MCCREADY. All together this smells like an ‘almost Seattle’ supergroup, with a sound however that is owing more to Classic Rock than the 90s Seattle scene ever was. On the other hand, SCREAMING TREES were not doing things that differently almost 20 years ago, so I guess you can say that real Rock and Roll will never die. Anyway, this is a strong debut record that will be loved by all Classic Rockfans out there. Not a classic album I’m afraid, but still good enough to play every now and then. More at: http://www.barrettmartin.com/index.php?page=the-walking-papers/ (Points: 8.3 out of 10)
Out of Australia comes the extremely talented singer/songwriter SARAH BLASKO, who recently released a wonderful new album titled ‘I awake’. It’s already her 5th album and right from the start, which was back in 2004, she has been very succesfull in her home country of Australia. Her music is really beautiful laid-back singer/songwriter, backed up by the piano a lot of times, but also with a full band. The album was not only recorded in Sweden, but also Swedish musicians helped Sarah and without a doubt, the final result is quite sensational. This sounds like one of the strongest female fronted singer-songwriter releases in a long time. Here and there, the material sounds quite massive and bombastic, which is partly thanks to the assistance of the Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra. Sarah’s voice is of an exceptional level and as already mentioned, the featured music impresses so much. Of course it is easy to mentioned a lot of similar female artists, such as KATE BUSH, TORI AMOS, MARTHA WAINWRIGHT, FIONA APPLE, etc. etc. but Sarah has an own identity, which comes completely alive when listening to a brilliant song like “Bury this”, although actually any of the 12 included tracks is of a incredible high level, making this a must-have for any fan of the female fronted singer-songwriter pop/rockstyle. More info at: http://www.sarahblasko.com/ (Points: 8.7 out of 10) BROTHER APE ‘FORCE MAJEURE’ (PROGRESS RECORDS) ‘Force Majeure’ is already the 6th album of the Swedish band and I have to say that it does sound very melodic and is less based on instrumental passages this time. 10 songs are included on the new album and it is clear that the material is more song based, with as most radiofriendly tune the almost folky poprocker “Doing just fine”. However, BROTHER APE is at their best when they play song based Progrock in the style of RUSH and IT BITES, such as during the lovely “Distinction” and “Life”. The vocalwork sounds exceptionally well, instrumental it is pretty much close to perfection, so all together this is definitely making BROTHER APE one of the better Neo-Progbands active at the moment. If you like JADIS, ENCHANT, IT BITES and such song based melodies driven progrock, then make sure to check out BROTHER APE’s excellent new album ‘Force majeure’. More at: http://www.brotherape.com/ (Points: 8.4 out of 10) ALAN JARVIS ‘FOREVER’ (INDEPENDENT/CANADA IMPORT) Out of London, Ontario, Canada comes singer/songwriter ALAN JARVIS and he sent me his debut CD ‘Forever’, which musically grabs back to the 1970s/1980s contemporary MOR/Pop sound. There’s a bit of AOR/Westcoast to be heard, such as during the uptempo “Getting over you” that has some similarities to DENNIS DE YOUNG, but most of the time, the music goes directly into the direction of PHIL COLLINS, CHRISTOPHER CROSS, KENNY LOGGINS, ROBBIE DUPREE and even ART GARFUNKEL and Sir CLIFF RICHARD come to mind here and there. However, I do feel that if you listen to for example the new PLAYER record or a STEVE PERRY solo record, this ALAN JARVIS record is pretty much following a similar path, so absolute die-hard AOR fanatics who don’t mind a poppy approach, they will always find something of interest on this album. Some more rockers however wouldn’t have hurt the diversity on the album, because now it is all very ballad orientated. Nevertheless, the performance is quite good and fans of 70s Pop/Westcoast will definitely like this album by Alan a lot. He did everything on his own and this makes it even more appealing, although as mentioned, some more uptempo and rock orientated pieces could make it more interesting. Check out more info on Alan at: http://www.squishymusic.com/ (Points: 7.8 out of 10)
Although they don’t sound that original, the band LOVE ROULETTE from Gothenburg, Sweden is definitely doing something right on their first EP ‘Always forever heroes’, because it sounds damn catchy and modern, but still has the classic melodic rocksound in place. The 3-piece female fronted band is formed around Ludvig Haby - Guitars/Keys, Karoline Sjöström – Vocals and Johan Edberg – Drums and they deliver a great debut EP that consists of 5 tracks. Think of DELAIN, WITHIN TEMPTATION, XANDRIA, VISIONS OF ATLANTIS, WE ARE THE FALLEN and then even a bit more commercial, then you have this LOVE ROULETTE. Opener “Inseparable” is as catchy and as commercial as you can get and it wouldn’t surprise me if this song is all over the radio throughout 2013, because it is basically picture-perfect commercial melodic rock cheesiness, but who cares if it sounds so delicious as this! Anyway, it is clear that this band is able to create a massive hit and who knows we will be hearing much more of them in the future. Sweden and catchy tunes are a perfect match and in the case of LOVE ROULETTE we have another winner. The Electro-Hi-Tech influences are upfront here and there, so I wouldn’t compare them to aforementioned bands, but they do have the same catchy choruses and smooth female vocals as the last records of DELAIN, NEMESEA and WITHIN TEMPTATION. Check them out at: http://www.facebook.com/loverouletteswe (Points: 8.1 out of 10) ALCHEMY DIVINE ‘FATE’ (INDEPENDENT/ITALY IMPORT) ALCHEMY DIVINE is a female fronted band from Milan, Italy and they sent me their recently released full-length record ‘Fate’, which is their 3rd album so far. The band is playing Progressive Rock, but not so much focused on lengthy instrumental passages. They are clearly focused on song based progrock in the style of SAGA and RUSH, but then with female vocals. Everything seems to sound quite well here, although I feel that the band sounds even better live on stage, based on a youtube video clip I found while listening to their record (check https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Urn_RSfoyF8 ). Although the vocalwork is not as good as some of the other female fronted progbands out there (such as MOSTLY AUTUMN, KARNATAKA, LANE LANE and LANDMARQ), this ALCHEMY DIVINE is definitely an interesting band to closely monitor in the future. In the meantime, check them out at: http://www.alchemydivine.com/ (Points: 8.0 out of 10)
Young new bands are always filled with energy and enthousiasm, which could lead to bigger things in the future, because bands like THE KILLERS, KINGS OF LEON, MUMFORD AND SONS and countless others all started in small venues and playing in their own backyards. However, when they release an official full-length record and start touring abroad, then the ball starts to roll and in the case of YOUNG DREAMS from the Norwegian city of Bergen, we have a very interesting new band to keep our eyes open for in 2013. The band releases their debut with ‘Between places’ and I have to say that it sounds quite impressive, because the band mixes various influences from the music history. They are creating a mix between the sweet 1960s high pitched harmonyvocals of THE BEACH BOYS, 1980s British New Wave synths and throw in some experimental moves here and there, such as clear classical music pieces during the instrumental parts. Although not all of the 9 included tracks might leave a big mark on the music scene, the highlights on the album are certainly recommended to check out. It might sound strange and I might perhaps be the very first person to compare this band to the ALAN PARSONS PROJECT, but there’s one song on the album of YOUNG DREAMS that sounds dangerously close to that legendary band/project and that is the lengthy song “The girl that taught me to drink and fight”, which combines high pitched lead- and harmonyvocals with instrumental synth driven classical music themes and a big drumbeat (a la ULTRAVOX) backing it up. On the other hand, I would not be the first reviewer to also make comparisons to let’s say THE KILLERS here, because several songs also remind me of that band. However, besides the already mentioned “The girl that taught me to drink and fight”, other highlights include opener “Footprints” (a real BEACH BOYS type of song), “Wounded hearts forever” (massive 80s Synths here, pretty much close to DEPECHE MODE), the incredible catchy “Fog of war” (could become a massive hit!) and closing track “Young dreams”, which is a very nice radio-ready tune. Of course, this is just the start for this band and time will tell if we are looking at the finest band in Norwegian popmusic since the heydays of A-HA. In the meantime, check out more into on this band at: http://www.youngdreams.no (Points: 8.5 out of 10) (All reviews by Gabor Kleinbloesem except where noted) |
JON BREAM 'WHOLE LOTTA LED ZEPPELIN: THE ILLUSTRATED HISTORY BOOK' (VOYAGEUR
PRESS)
VADUZ ‘BETTER
DAYS’ (INDEPENDENT/TSM PROMOTIONS) 
JADE VINE
‘NOTHING CAN HIDE FROM LIGHT’ (INDEPENDENT/TSM PROMOTIONS)
KATE
MILLER-HEIDKE ‘NIGHTFLIGHT’ (1001/ONELOUDER ENTERTAINMENT/AUSTRALIA IMPORT)
WENDY FLOWER
‘NEW’ (ROMPYTOWN RECORDS/HEMIFRAN) 
WALKING PAPERS
‘WALKING PAPERS‘ (SUNYATA RECORDS/SONIC RENDEZVOUS) 
SARAH BLASKO ‘I
AWAKE’ (1001/LOUDER/UNIVERSAL MUSIC/AUSTRALIA IMPORT) 
LOVE ROULETTE
‘ALWAYS FORVER HEROES’ (INDEPENDENT/SWEDEN IMPORT) 
YOUNG DREAMS
‘BETWEEN PLACES’ (MODULAR RECORDINGS/DGR MUSIC)