 VISION DIVINE ‘STREAM OF
CONSCIOUSNESS’(METAL BLADE RECORDS) The Italian band VISION DIVINE released 2 albums in the past, making this new album ‘Stream of consciousness’ their 3rd CD so far. The past year a lot of changes in their line-up took place (such as the departure of their lead singer Fabio Lione), with the result that only the founder of the band, Olaf Thorsen (LABYRINTH guitarist) is an original member now. Nevertheless, they found some good replacements, such as the new lead singer Michele Luppi, a highly skilled and talented musician (graduated in ’98 from VIT in LA). This guy is a true discovery in the Rock/Metal scene, because he is blessed with a superb voice and his voice blew me away after hearing the first few seconds. I am quite sure this guy is gonna sing on a lot more records in the future, because he is an absolute talented (and gifted) man with the voice of a God! Not only there’s a new lead singer and a few other new members, but also the music sounds much more powerful than before and I guess you can say that VISION DIVINE’s new CD is an absolute masterpiece. It’s by far their best record so far and the CD may be seen as a new classic that should be put next to LABYRINTH’s ‘Return to heaven denied’ and RHAPSODY’s ‘Dawn of victory’. Yes, this is one of those records where you say, I want to hear more and more after hearing it the first time. The album itself is a conceptrecord, which is divided in 14 chapters. The music is a high class mixture of Melodic Progressive Metal, Melodic Hardrock and Italo Power Metal, a bit like a mix between KAMELOT, TIME MACHINE and LABYRINTH circa ‘Return to heaven denied’. The songs are quite diverse, uptempo, midtempo, fast Power Metal, calmer Melodic Rock and pure Progressive Metal. The sound/production is perfect and basically this album is from the first few seconds of the intro “Scream of unconsciousness” until the very end (which is in this case an emotional AORish ballad titled “Identities”) a Melodic Masterpiece which should be picked up any Rock/Metal fan, no matter if you’re into AOR, Progmetal, Neo-Classical or Power Metal, this CD is one of those must-have records! Absolute highlights are “Colours of my word” (superb Melodic Prog/Power Metal), “Versions of the same” (lovely catchy uptempo melodic rockchorus can be heard in this tune) and “Shades” (fantastic uptempo Power Metal), but of course the full album is classic stuff! The album will be released on the 3rd of May, so it will take some time before it is officially released, but now you know that VISION DIVINE’s 3rd CD is a masterpiece! (Points: 9.3 out of 10) JETTISON EDDY ‘TRIPPIN ON TIME’ (NUERRA RECORDS) Most notable fact while playing this record and reading the liner notes is without a doubt the fact that Mr. KEITH OLSEN produced the album! Unbelievable, but finally the man is back as a producer, because this is the first time I see his name popping up on a CD. This leads me to believe that all those 80s Major Label Melodic Rock producers have vanished, because guys like Keith Olsen produced ‘classics’ some 20 years ago. Man, this guy produced classic records by PREVIEW, FIONA, RICK SPRINGFIELD, SAMMY HAGAR and is now doomed to produce some undergound acts. Anyway, it is good to see his name as producer again on an album by a band called JETTISON EDDY. This US band is playign a sort of groovy 70s orientated Bluesy hardrockstyle that fits somewhere between BADLANDS, BAD COMPANY, GREAT WHITE and old TESLA, with a stronger Rock feel instead of Hardrock. Some songs rocks quite good, like “Long break”, “Trippin on time”, “Walk with me”, “Tonight we run” (great song) and “Save me”. The vocals are very melodic and the guitarsound is groovy, very different than all the Nu-Breed stuff you usually get to hear from the USA or the Gothic/Power Metal stuff from Europe, as this is a retro-rock sounding band. More info at: http://www.nuerra.com (Points: 7.5 out of 10) RAW ‘FIRST’ (MTM CLASSIX/SUBURBAN) MTM CLASSIX continues with their Swedish Melodic Rock saga, because RAW’s first CD ‘First’ from the mid 1990s has been re-released by MTM and the label added 2 bonustracks. Musically this is more of the same kind of typical late 80s Scandi Melodic Rock with the clear similarities to a DALTON, a DAVINCI, a TREAT, etc. etc. Songs like “Ran out of love” (uptempo), “Don’t tell me lies” (strong midtempo semi AOR-ballad, JOHN WAITE/JOHN PARR/DAN LUCAS influenced), “Why stop” (this is so 80s fun over-the-top Melodic Rock) and “Too hot to handle” (strong melodic rocker, WHITE LION written all over) are all catchy little melodic rockers, but I would not call this a classic. Nevertheless, if you enjoy Scandi melodic rock you may want to add this one to your collection. (Points: 7.5 out of 10) SYLVAN ‘X-RAYED’ (POINT MUSIC) The German Neo-Prog band SYLVAN returns with yet another new CD. The album is titled ‘X-rayed’ and it is quite remarkable that the band continues developing their own style. They started as a typical Neo-Progressive Rockband, but through the years and especially on the previous and now on the new CD ‘X-rayed’ the band has created an own style, which is a bit comparable to a rougher unpolished JADIS, so peaceful melodic progressive pop/rock with a slight modern touch, a bit the same thing MARILLION has been doing after FISH left, but still with an own identity. The new album contains 68 minutes of quality music, performed during 10 tracks, some quite lengthy, and a few shorter tracks. I have to say that some tracks are also a bit leaning towards Alternative Rock (a la RADIOHEAD) such as on “Through my eyes”, but the album still can be seen as a Prog related work. If you enjoyed the previous SYLVAN CD, you will definitely love this record too, because it contains some great typical SYLVAN tunes like “So easy”, “Belated gift”, “Given – used – forgotten” and “This world is not for me”. Check out their website at: http://www.sylvan.de and e-mail them at: mail@sylvan.de (Points: 8.0 out of 10) SAINT ‘IN THE BATTLE’ (ARMOR RECORDS) The legendary American band SAINT just finished recording a new CD, and now it has been released on the American True Metal label ARMOR RECORDS. Musically it seems nothing has changed, because SAINT is playing pure 1980s US Melodic Metal as if it was 1985! There are 9 songs on the CD and the fan of True Metal will definitely love this record. Opener “In the battle” is not the strongest song on offer here, because the really sensational Melodic Metal pieces can be found in the shape of uptempo classic 80s Melodic Heavy Metal tracks like “Here we are”, “Sacrifice”, “Ryders” (fantastic, a bit like TWISTED TOWER DIRE) and “When”. This is prime-time 1980s US Metal, and if bands like MANOWAR, ARMORED SAINT, WARRIOR and early 80s JUDAS PRIEST (“Acid rain/Full armor”) are your kind of Metal, then do check out the new SAINT CD. More info at: http://www.saintsite.com (Points: 8.0 out of 10)  JERRY KELLY ‘SOMEBODY
ELSE’S DREAM’(AORCHIVES/DAK) We can go back a long time in history when we are talking about DAKOTA, because they were actually formed out of the ashes of the JERRY KELLY BAND. Although this band can trace us even further back to the early 1970s when a band called THE BUOYS scored big time here in The Netherlands, because their Classic “Give up your guns” went to the top of the Dutch charts and is still played each year, with a notable placing in every top 100 of all times chart being published by almost every TV or Radiostation here in Holland each year, so they made it bigger than it’s successor DAKOTA. Nevertheless, 2 THE BUOYS members went onto forming a new band called JERRY KELLY BAND, a band that basically continued the sound of THE BUOYS, yet with a rockier approach, and a strong AOR touch here and there. The band consisted of course of guitarist/vocalist Jerry Hludzik and guitarist/vocalist Bill Kelly whom both switched vocal duties on the LP they released way back in the late 1970s. The album was titled ‘Somebody else’s dream’ and it now has been re-issued onto CD after more than 25 years being only available on LP. It’s not the best DAKOTA record, but still it features some awesome AOR Classics like “Settle down”, “Magic”, “Changes” (boy, what an amazing song that was, pure LE ROUX!) and “You can be”. Besides, the album sounded like LE ROUX and FRANKE AND THE KNOCKOUTS, yet this was long before those acts did release records, so JERRY KELLY was ahead of their time. Another remarkable fact is the bassist of the band, because his name was PETER CETERA, is this that guy who sang with CHICAGO or someone with the same name, I honestly don’t know! Anyway, this is for it’s time a great classic 70s AOR/Westcoast record that clearly fits in between other releases at that same time (TOTO, TOUCH, SPY, AIRBORBE, AIRPLAY, HEAD EAST etc.), but the best was still to come. You can buy the CD through: http://www.aorchives.com and go the DAKOTA website at: http://www.dakota.damall.com (Points: 8.0 out of 10)  DAKOTA ‘DAKOTA’
(AORCHIVES/DAK)In 1980 DAKOTA released it’s debut LP, a few years after releasing the JERRY KELLY record, which was actually the DAKOTA debut, but as DAKOTA they released their first LP in 1980. 24 years later it has been re-issued on CD and you can clearly hear that on this album AOR was winning it from the midwestern-US Westcoast-sound (THE EAGLES/PLAYER), because this album rocked! The CD re-issue contains 11 tracks, including 2 unreleased bonustracks, such as the superb “Give love another try”, lovely early 80s uptempo AOR rock, which can also be found on the classic SYNCH record (please re-issue this album if anyone is actually listening to me!). The bonustracks are a bunch of superb SURVIVOR/JOURNEY orientated early 80s AOR masterpieces (“The higher you rise” and “Give love another try), but we are here to talk about the 9 original LP track on this re-issue. These are all classic pieces of relaxing early 80s AOR/Rock in the LE ROUX/FRANKE AND THE KNOCKOUTS style, with as true winners here “If it takes all night” (the harmonyvocals at the end leave you breathless or speechless for that matter!), “Possession”, “Lady”, “Restless” and “Crazy love”. Not as good as the following ‘Runaway’ record, but still a true AOR Classic, so get yourself a copy of this CD through: http://www.aorchives.com and go the DAKOTA website at: http://www.dakota.damall.com (Points: 9.0 out of 10)  DAKOTA ‘RUNAWAY’
(AORCHIVES/DAK)It was 20 years later, but it took so much time to finally give this underrated AOR Classic a decent re-issue onto CD. ‘Runaway’ was the 2nd LP of the band DAKOTA, released in the last week of July 1984, it could have been a big seller, especially because it was released on the mighty MCA Records, who scored big time with NIGHT RANGER around that period. Unfortunately the same label was also known for screwing things up, because man this label did AOR Classic releases all the time back in 1983/1984, such as THE AUTOMATIX, PREVIEW, WRABIT, WHITE SISTER and ofcourse FORTUNE (although the band had a top 10 single!) etc, but none of these records sold big-time due to the incredible lack of promotion. Unfortunately also the ‘Runaway’ album of DAKOTA suffered from the poor MCA promotion, and therefore it didn’t become huge. However, here in Europe the AOR fans loved the record and all those years they had to listen to their old LP, which by the way had a great sound (thanks to producer Danny Seraphine and mixer Humberto Gatica), but it had to wait until now before an official CD release appeared on the horizon. Well here it is, ‘Runaway’ on CD, and I can easily say that all AOR fans will be pleased, because this re-issue sounds awesome, completely remastered it now sounds updated and as classic as ever! This is the AOR I love so much, perfect polished early 1980s AOR with excellent harmonyvocals, catchy choruses and hooks all over the place, still packed in a great Rocksound with as much space for the keys and guitar needed. It basically still sounds perfect, although the actual recordings took place 20 years ago, so this is music that lasts forever and ever! This is AOR at it’s very best, sitting right next to the likes of FRANKE AND THE KNOCKOUTS, THE AUTOMATIX, PREVIEW, LE ROUX, TOTO and that type of relaxing 1983/1984-US AOR/Radiorock which was so popular back then in The States, but died very quickly in the years to follow. This DAKOTA record fits perfectly that type of AOR I like so much, because each song is a winner. This CD contains the 9 original album tracks, with the addition of 2 unreleased bonustracks and a radio spot. This radiospot is pretty cool, as it uses the titletrack of this CD for a National Runaway raise fonds. Most notable thing on this DAKOTA record is that Bill Kelly sings most of the songs and this man had a voice of a God, he could sing like the best, a pure AOR vocalist, a shame he didn’t sang on the following DAKOTA records, although on the new DAKOTA CD ‘Deep 6’ we can hear him again fortunately. Anyway, highlights are hard to pick, because every song is a winner here, especially “Runaway”, “Tonight could last forever” (pure TOTO), “When the rebel comes home” (LE ROUX), “Love won’t last”, “Into the night” (the ultimate midtempo AOR song), “Angry men” and the ballads “If only I’d known it” and “Heroes”. Oopss, I mentioned all songs, except “Over and over”, which was and still is the only song that wasn’t sensational, probably because of the sax which should not have been there. The bonustracks on this awesome re-issue are “Believin” (awesome uptempo AOR rocker, re-recorded on a later album, but still it can not beat the version from SYNCH) and “More love” (a grower I think, not as good as the original LP tracks). Well, there you have it, an ultimate AOR Classic which I miss so much these days, because bring out a new AOR record and it just can not beat any of these early 1980s releases. I prefer any early 80s JOURNEY, SURVIVOR, FRANKE AND THE KNOCKOUTS, PREVIEW, DAKOTA etc. etc. than those standard releases from nowadays, but there are exceptions, because recently we had SPIN GALLERY, a band that comes close, especially their song “Standing tall” is probably gonna be the AOR SONG OF 2004 and of course last year PRIDE OF LIONS, JIM JIDHED and some others came up with excellent releases, but DAKOTA’s ‘Runaway’ will never be forgotten. If you don’t own it, then get yourself asap a copy of this awesome re-issue at: http://www.aorchives.com and go the DAKOTA website at: http://www.dakota.damall.com (Points: 9.5 out of 10)  DAKOTA ‘LOST TRACKS/THE
LAST STANDING MAN’ (AORCHIVES/DAK) The final album of DAKOTA that has been re-released here is the 1986 album ‘Lost tracks’ together with the mid 1990s release ‘Last standing man’ (both seperately released on ESCAPE MUSIC some years ago). This double-CD offers original DAKOTA 26 tracks, and although both discs have been released already on CD, it still is a very nice collection of some classic recent DAKOTA classic AOR tunes, because these albums are pure AOR. Favourites on these 2 discs are definitely “Heaven or hell”, “Remember me”, “Believin’”, “These eyes”, “Cross that line” (an unreleased track), “Hot nights”, “Struggles with the heart”, “The last standing man” (the best DAKOTA song since 1984!), “Findin’ you tonight”, “Little heartbreaker”, “This voice” and “Over in a minute”. A true DAKOTA fan must get this this record, because it contains 5 new unreleased tracks, but I have to inform you that most of the songs have already been released on the ESCAPE MUSIC DAKOTA releases from a few years ago. Nevertheless, this is another nice collectable CD from one of the most underrated bands ever! You can buy the CD through: http://www.aorchives.com and go the DAKOTA website at: http://www.dakota.damall.com (Points: 8.5 out of 10) CELESTIAL DREAM ‘A NEW DAWN’ (INDEPENDENT) Out of France comes this 3-piece band, and they sent me a quality 5 track demo CDR. The band is playing instrumental Neo-Classical Progressive/Power Metal and they do it quite well, although you will always wonder how it will sound if there were vocals included. Anyway, songs like “A new dawn”, “The missing one” and “My eden” are pretty good instrumental Prog/Power Metal pieces (SONATA ARCTICA influences). The band shows they are able to play their instruments quite well and their demo cdr is a good start, maybe next time vocals? Check out the band at: http://perso.wanadoo.fr/celestial-dream and e-mail at: thomas.nestolat@wanadoo.fr (Points: 7.5 out of 10) IRONSWORD ‘IRONSWORD’ (THE MISKATONIC FOUNDATION) So this Portuguese band is playing True Heavy Metal, but they are not in the same league as MANOWAR and MAJESTY, although they do show they are talented enough. Unfortunately their lead singer is not strong enough to make an impression, and their CD sounds more like a demo (thin drumsound, very underground 80s kinda sound), but for fans of True Underground 80sish True Metal/Power Metal (with some Thrash Metal influences) it might be interesting, although nothing sensational happens here. Anyway, with songtitles like “King of all kings”, “March on”, “Call of doom”, “Burning metal” and “Into the arena” this is definitely something MANOWAR fans need to check out and they can do that at: http://www.ironsword.net and e-mail them at: tann@ironsword.net (Points: 7.0 out of 10) ZARPA ‘INFIERNO’ (KHARTAGO RECORDS) ZARPA may be seen as the Godfathers of Spanish/Latin Hardrock/Metal, as the band started in the mid 1970s, and recorded 4 albums between 1978 and 1986, all of whom are well respected records in the underground scene. ZARPA was one of the first Spanish hardrock/metalbands, which was followed up in the 1980s with OBUS, MURO and BARON ROJO. Musically they played your typical 80s Hardrock, not unlike Y & T. Anyway, the band reformed more or less a few years ago, and ‘Infierno’ is their 2nd comeback CD, this time on the German label KHARTAGO RECORDS, whom released their new CD, with the addition of 6 bonustracks from their 1980s albums, so with a playing length of 60+ minutes a recommended piece to anyone into Spanish melodic hardrock/metal. The band still sounds if it was 1982 or something, and some might say it sounds dated, but this is actually very interesting to hear a band really performing a sort of early 80s NWOBHM kinda approach, but also with some 80s American Hardrock influences (Y&T, KEEL, WASP) and even AOR/Melodic Rock songs (the 4 unreleased bonustracks from 1986). Actually the band has an own style, and between the 16 tracks included here I would like to add the following songs as the absolute highlights: “Fantasmas del pasado”, “Viena”, “Quien eres tu”, “Llega el castigador” and “Herederos de un imperio” (bonustrack from 1985 record, a fantastic song, this is what TIERRA SANTA clearly influenced, same kind of sound!). Concluded, a great band, I better go hunting and find their first 4 records. The CD is available through http://www.karthagorecords.de (Points: 8.0 out of 10) VARIOUS ARTISTS ‘LIBERTY’N’JUSTICE-WELCOME TO THE REVOLUTION’ (3 CHORD RECORDS) I don’t have much info on this new Christian Rockproject, but what I do know is that some very well-known vocalists appear on this record. It’s also great to see that finally the Christian Rockscene is getting back to their 80s AOR/Melodic Rock approach, because around the mid 1990s the whole Christian AOR/Melodic Hardrockscene died after having delivered so many wonderful albums between 1984 and 1994, with as absolute highlights albums by SWEET COMFORT BAND, ALLIES, STRYPER, NOUVEAUX, SURE CONVICTION, PETRA, MASTEDON and actually many many more... The past 5-10 years however I didn’t hear a single Christian band playing decent Rock/Metal music, all turning Alternative/Nu-Metal. Now there’s a new Christian Rockproject which musically grabs back to that glorious 80s sound, so big time Melodic Rock (well most of the time). Singers that appear on this CD are MICHAEL SWEET, LOU GRAMM, MITCH MALLOY, KEN TAMPLIN, HARRY HESS, ROBERT FLEISCHMAN, JEFF FENHOLT and many more. In total 18 tracks are included and of course lyrically this is all based on stories in the Bible. Although there are also some Nu/Alternative-orientated songs included here (such as JAMIE ROWE’s “Noise”), the main focus is AOR/Melodic Hardrock. Opener “Blind man’s bluff” is definitely the strongest song here, with a stunning MICHAEL SWEET on vocals, this is a fantastic midtempo Melodic Hardrocksong with a very strong chorus. Jamie Rowe’s “Noise” is not interesting at all, as this is Alternative Rock, so nothing like his glorious GUARDIAN days. Then comes LOU GRAMM and it’s really a tragic the man suffered from a terrible disease a few years ago, because it unfortunately affected his voice. Lou always had one of the best voices in the world, a voice of a God, but due to the disease his voice changed and he doesn’t sound like Lou Gramm anymore, a real pity that something like this happened to such a wonderful guy, but still it’s encouraging to see him perform on a song here, and actually it sounds pretty good as “Shed my skin” is a nice AOR ballad in the old FOREIGNER style. Surprisingly then comes a SURVIVOR cover “Rebel son”, which is done by the ONE BAD PIG singer, nicely done, but of course nowhere near this classic AOR track. MITCH MALLOY follows with a nice calmer AOR rocker (a la JOHN WAITE) titled “Only heaven knows”. KEN TAMPLIN is up next with “One word”, a ncie typical TAMPLIN Melodic Hardrocksong. BOB CARLISLE is featured with a soft Popballad titled “Do you know” (where are the days he sang truly wonderful AOR with SWEET COMFORT BAND and ALLIES!). The HAREM SCAREM song “Change comes around” features besides Harry Hess also Mike Roe of a band called THE 77s, and of course this HS classic remains to be an excellent uptempo melodic rocker (although this time without harmonyvocals!). Scott Wenzel from WHITE CROSS has totally lost his way, because his song “Rise” is Nu-Metal! ROBERT FLEISCHMAN then again presents us a nice calmer semi AOR ballad “The lord’s prayer”. Moving on with 2 songs by PETRA members, “It’s about love” (great uptempo melodic rocker) and “Bargain bin” (terrible Nu-Rap-Rock). The following 3 songs are not interesting as they feature unknown artists and are also modern Pop/Alternative orientated songs. BRIDE’s singer Dale Thompson is featured with a nice uptempo melodic heavy rocker (with ZEPPELIN/DEEP PURPLE influences) titled “Cain 2 Abel”. We haven’t heard much from WHITE HEART lately, and I am afraid this new song featuring Rick Florian is a bit too modern (with rap vocals as well) for my taste. The final track “Foolish child” is of course very interesting as it features JEFF FENHOLT on vocals. He sang with BLACK SABBATH for a very short while (not on an album release), but he is best known as the superb lead singer on the JOSHUA classic ‘Surrender’, one of the best 80s records with spectacular songs. Anyway, on this song Jeff performs, but he doesn’t sound anything like on that JOSHUA record. He sounds quite average some 18 years later, maybe the age thing? Anyway,. The song itself is also just a nice calmer melodic poprocker, but nothing too special. Well, the CD started with the best song, and from the rest there are ups and sadly many downs as well. Most of the stuff is Melodic Rock orientated, so anyone longing back to Christian Melodic Rock need to check this out, but also if you’re a fan of any of the mentioned artists, so you can hear something new of them. Check it out for yourself at: http://www.3chordrecords.net (Points: - ) THE PORTION ‘OUT OF MY THOUGHTS CONTROL’ (INDEPENDENT) 2 tracks are on the CD of the Finnish band THE PORTION. The titletrack is a good short 80s influenced uptempo melodic poprocker with a nice guitarsolo, kinda like JOHN WAITE circa 1982, yet vocally with an accent. The other song is the campfire acoustic ballad “Little piece of love”. Check out the band at: http://www.theportion.com (Points: 7.0 out of 10) MIRACLE ‘SOLDIERS OF LIGHT’ (DEMO CDR) Out of Brazil comes MIRACLE, a band playing 80s influenced keyboard/vocal dominated AOR/Melodic Heavy Rock, a bit like EUROPE and NARNIA. Actually this is a Christian Rockband, and they sent me their 3-track demo CDR ‘Soldiers of light’. The demo starts very promising with the fantastic uptempo AOR/Melodic Heavy Rocker “From the beginning, to the end”, a song with strong hooks, a catchy chorus, nice pure 80s keys and a fantastic guitarsolo. Their guitarplayer Felipe Vieia shows that he is able to play the guitar very well, but unfortunately this can only be heard in the guitarsolo’s, and that’s a pity, because those solo’s show that he’s very good in playing the guitar. Anyway, the other 2 songs on the demo are “Something to say” (uptempo melodic rocker) and “Soldiers of light” (faster Power-Sympho Metal). Concluded, a nice demo, and if they are able to go into a big studio with a big producer, then I think we have something special here with MIRACLE. Check out their site at: http://www.miraclemetal.com and e-mail them at: miraclemetal@ig.com.br (Points: 8.0 out of 10) SOHO ‘DEMO 2003’ (DEMO CDR) Out of France comes SOHO, and they play Melodic Hardrock, with some influences from other styles as well. Opener “Thunder in the night” is clearly the best song, a good straight-ahead uptempo Melodic Hardrocksong a la FISC, while the other 2 songs (“Last chance baby” and “In throught of time” are a bit experimental and groovy. Check out the band for yourself at: http://www.groupe.soho.free.fr (Points: 7.0 out of 10) LAST PROPHECY ‘SHADOWS OF THE PAST’ (INDEPENDENT) This is an official independent CD from a great quality band from France called LAST PROPHECY, not to be confused with the same named Spanish Power Metalband by the way. Anyway, this French LAST PROPHECY is playing pure 80s Melodic Metal and they do it very very well actually, somewhere in the style of DOMINE, MAIDEN (they even do a cover of their heroes), PRETTY MAIDS, yet a bit more melodic at times. Most of the 10 included songs are straight-ahead, while the CD itself has a powerful sound and in total it has a playing time of 60 minutes. Instrumental everything sounds very impressive, and also lead singer Luke Bernard has a very good strong voice, so in general this is a highly recommended band. Highlights on their CD ‘Shadows of the past’ are “Out of shadows” (uptempo melodic hard/heavy rock), “The dark hall” (epic midtempo Melodic Metal, opener “Sarkhandu” and “Forbidden dream”. I can easily recommend this great band to all fans of classic 80s Melodic Hard/Heavy Rock/Metal, and last thing I need to mention here is that this CD is actually dating back to 1995 (!), but still sounds very fresh and sensational, and therefore I decided to give it another push, also because only 1000 copies have been pressed of the CD, and there are still 200 CDs waiting to be sold through wildwildsteph@worldonline.fr (Points: 8.0 out of 10) MICHAEL HUGHES PROJECT ‘ODDS’N’ENDS’ (INDEPENDENT) Multi-instrumentalist MICHAEL HUGHES out of New Hampshire, USA sent me his latest disc, which is the compilation CD ‘Odds’n’ends’, which is actually a sort of best of from Michael’s previous 3 releases. Musically it’s a mix of 80s Rock and pure AOR. Not all the songs are convincing, because songs like “Red river’s”, “True love”, “No more obsession”, “Doing 99” and “One night” are pretty average rockers. Happily, on the other hand we can also find good pure AOR material on this compilation, such as the AOR rockers “Broken heart”, “Can I”, “Not your love”, “Doubt the love” and “Take care” that all sound a bit like PHIL VINCENT. Check it out for yourself at: http://www.mhpmusic.com and e-mail Michael at: mhughes@mhpmusic.com (Points: 7.5 out of 10) BULLETT ‘CHINESE DEMOCRAZY’ (INDEPENDENT) Out of Finland comes another band called BULLETT, and they play a sort of Sleazy/Glam Hardrock style, very 80s indeed. 3 songs on their demo, and all 3 are uptempo rockers (a la HANOI ROCKS, SMACK). Best songs are the catchy “Renegade child” and “Shake your world” (melodic rock orientated). Check it out for youself at: http://www.bullettrocks.com and e-mail them at: info@bullettrocks.com (Points: 7.5 out of 10) DREAGGAN ‘GOOD BYE BASTARDS’ (INDEPENDENT) The French band DREAGGAN returns with a new CD release. The band is playing 80s Metal with some very raw vocals. There are 6 tracks on their latest disc ‘Good bye bastards’. Instrumental it all sounds pretty good, but vocally you have to take notice here that it sounds very raw (MOTORHEAD/METALLICA style). In other words this is not your typical clean vocal melodic metal, but more raw Hardrock/Metal the 80s way, like a mix between ACCEPT and MOTORHEAD. Check it if you’re starting to become interested at: http://www.dreaggan.fr.st and e-mail them at: Dreaggan@aol.com (Points: 7.0 out of 10) MIKE PARR ‘A LITTLE FAITH’ (BFP RECORDS) Canadian MIKE PARR is best known as a member of EMPIRE and SONS OF RILEY, but he now also has a solo record out (actually released in 2002), which is filled with a mix of 80s Rock, Bluesrock and Alternative Rock. Check out good rockers like “Dreamin’”, “A little faith” and “My friend”. More info at: http://www.mikeparr.net (Points: 7.0 out of 10)  ZINATRA ‘ROCKUMENTARY
1+2’ (SNAKEBITE RECORDS/ROCK INC.) This is definitely a walk down on memory lane... Back in the late 80s as a young kid I loved ZINATRA, and together with a huge promotion campaign you could see them in almost TV-programme on the Dutch TV back in 1989, so they were pushed quite heavily. Although they reached some success in Holland, they never got as big as the band did get in several Southern American and Asian countries like Uruguay (where they scored a number 1 hitsingle with their song “Hero”) and Japan. Over there they were heroes, selling out venues and open air festivals. The band had only a short time of existence, from 1986 until 1992, releasing 2 album, which now have been re-released on CD, seperately or in a 2-CD set which looks very nice. It has been released on the SNAKEBITE RECORDS label, which also gave us the MENNEN and VANDALE releases. Now it’s time for ZINATRA, and musically this is prime-time fun 80s Melodic Rock in the style of TREAT, EUROPE, SHY, BON JOVI... These were the ‘Hair-Metal’ days or as ZINATRA called it ‘Happy metal’. I was a big fan of the band back then, and actually I still like their cheesy songs. Both albums come with a bunch of unreleased bonustracks, such as live stuff, demos and other rare material not released before. Songs like “Looking for love”, “Love or loneliness”, “Name of the game” and “Hard to explain” from the first album are all classy 80s uptempo catchy melodic rockers. I definitely prefer the band’s 2nd album ‘The great escape’, which saw the introduction of the talented ROBBY VALENTINE, who later became a superstar in Japan when he went solo, but at that time he had only played in the bands LINE (a superb Rotterdam based AOR/Pomprockband of whom only a 4-track mini record is available, although very hard to get, definitely something that should be re-issued onto CD!) and FIRST AVENUE (one of the best Dutch AOR bands ever, 2 releases, but none of them feature Robby, as he had already left before the band released an album). Anyway, on the 2nd ZINATRA record Robby entered the band and delivered some high class material in the shape of “Love never dies”, a beautiful ballad, “Unknown skies” (the heaviest ZINATRA song, a fast uptempo melodic heavy rocker) and the cheerful melodic rocker “Too blind to see”. Also PAUL LAINE (DANGER DANGER) delivered some songs for this 2nd and last ZINATRA album, namely the superb AOR ballad “Hold on” and the catchy uptempo melodic rockers “Two sides of love”, “Take it to the top” and “Only your heart”. Of course the best known song of this 2nd record of ZINATRA was the top-40 hitsingle “There she was”, which sounded very American, but failed to attack the chart over there. Due to the Grunge thing, ZINATRA split up, and each went their own way, with lead singer Joss Mennen forming MENNEN and of course ROBBY VALENTINE finding fame and fortune in Japan. It’s 10-15 years later, and both ZINATRA albums are available again on CD, together with 10 bonustracks, this is a nice package to check out, especially if you’re into classy 80s melodic rock. (Points: 8.5 out of 10)  LANA LANE ‘LOVE IS AN
ILLUSION –SPECIAL EDITION’(THINK THANK MEDIA RECORDS) It has been almost 10 years ago since LANA LANE released her debut CD ‘Love is an illusion’. A few years ERIK NORLANDER’s THINK THANK MEDIA label released a special edition 2-CD set, which featured the original 1995 version of ‘Love is an illusion’ and also a recent 1998 remixed version with 3 bonustracks. Together with an extensive booklet, with liner notes written by both Erik and Lana, this 2-CD set is definitely a must for every LANA LANE/ERIK NORLANDER fan. The CD itself marks the beginning of a career which has now been going on for 10 years and hopefully continues to do so in the future, because LANA LANE is surely the Queen of Rock and Metal nowadays... ‘Love is an illusion’ was the start and clearly more 80s AOR/Melodic Rock orientated than LANA LANE’s following albums. The songs were straighter, lighter and also very catchy (like a heavier version of VIXEN and HEART), and although some of LANA’s later albums were better, this album was definitely a fantastic record with some high class material. Highlights can be found in the shape of uptempo melodic rockers like “Love is an illusion”, “Through the fire” (superb!), “Through the rain” (a classic!) and “A night in the garden” (one of the added bonustracks). But also the semi AOR/Melodic Rockballads are classic pieces, such as “Cold outside”, “Dream burnin’ down” (written by PAUL SABU and STEVE PLUNKETT), “Faerie tale state of mind” and “Can’t find my way home” (beautiful song!). Concluded, this 2-CD set re-release of LANA LANE’s debut ‘Love is an illusion’ is definitely something that should be in the collection of every fan of Female Fronted Rock and/or AOR/Melodic Rock. More info can be found at: http://www.thetank.com (Points: 9.0 out of 10)  LANA LANE ‘CURIOUS GOODS
–SPECIAL EDITION’(THINK THANK MEDIA RECORDS) LANA LANE’s second effort ‘Curious goods’ also has been re-released in a special edition version, which includes the original 1996 version and a remixed 2002 version. The 2-CD set also has a large extensive booklet, with liner notes written by both Erik and Lana. The album itself had a more darker feel than their melodic rock debut. On ‘Curious goods’ you could clearly notice that the band was looking for the perfect style, which was found in a couple of the songs. These are also the best songs and instant LANA LANE classics, namely “Escher’s staircase”, “Symphony of angels” and “Take a breath”. Those are the songs that made (and still make) LANA LANE so special, as they are a perfect mix between AOR/Melodic Rock, Symphonic Rock and Progressive Metal, including beautiful lead vocals by Lana, big keyboardwork by Erik and superb catchy singable choruses. These 3 songs do belong to ‘the best of’ LANA LANE, and they can all be found on her 2nd CD ‘Curious goods’. The rest of the album is like I said before a little darker than the other LANA LANE album, which can be heard in songs like “Emerald city”, “Satyr’s home” and “Voices”, good songs, but not as good as most of the rest of LANA LANE’s repertoire. Nevertheless, this special edition 2-CD set is a must-have for the LANA LANE fan, although no additional bonustracks can be found here. More info can be found at: http://www.thetank.com (Points: 8.5 out of 10)  LANA LANE ‘GARDEN OF THE MOON
–SPECIAL EDITION’(THINK THANK MEDIA RECORDS) LANA LANE’s third album ‘Garden of the moon’ was clearly the first album that featured from start to finish the familiar LANA LANE sound as we know it today. The debut was a melodic rock/aor record, and the 2nd CD a darker progressive hardrockalbum, but with ‘Garden of the moon’ LANA LANE had created the perfect album that was the starting point of the LANA LANE sound, which was the perfect mix between melodic rock, symphonic rock and progressive metal. Also this album has been re-released in a special edition 2-CD set, which contains the original album, along with a 2nd CD that contains rare material, some new versions of LANA LANE songs, but also live and unreleased songs. The orignal album is of course a LANA LANE classic, because all 9 tracks are showcasing LANA LANE at her very best, with such fantastic songs like “Destination Roswell”, “Seasons”, “Under the olive tree” and “Evolution revolution”. The bonus CD contains an additional 10 songs, 65 minutes extra music in total! These are remixed and different versions of “Frankenstein unbound”, “Escher’s staircase”, “Seasons”, “Without you”, “Let heaven in”, “Evolution revolution” and “Reverie”, a live version of the classic “Symphony of angels” and 2 unreleased new songs (The DAVID BOWIE cover “This is not America” and “Leaving stardust”. Concluded, this special edition is another recommended piece to the LANA LANE fans, who are now pleased with a rapid growing catalogue of one of America’s finest female lead singers. More info can be found at: http://www.thetank.com (Points: 9.0 out of 10)  LANA LANE AND ERIK
NORLANDER‘EUROPEAN TOUR 2003 SOUVENIR CD’ (THINK THANK MEDIA RECORDS) Last year LANA LANE and ERIK NORLANDER did a tour through Europe and I was one of the lucky ones to see this fantastic event, because the concerts of these 2 musicians from the USA are always a pleasure to watch. As a special souvenir to this tour there is now a limited European Tour 2003 souvenir CD available, which contains live, unreleased and some released songs of both Lana and Erik’s albums. The CD itself in it’s digipack format is of course a must for the fan of LANA LANE and ERIK NORLANDER, because it contains several unreleased Japanese bonustracks and live recorded songs, like “Escher’s staircase” (live in Japan, with our own ARJEN LUCASSEN on guitar!), “Autumn leaves”, “Phantom’s theme”, “No quarter”, “I believe in you” (JOHN WETTON song) and “The eight wonder” (a Don Schiff solo track). The CD also contains some released material from Lana and Erik’s 2003 albums ‘Project shangri-la’ and ‘Music machine’. The CD is pressed in a limited edition of only 2000 pieces, but for more info go to: http://www.thetank.com (Points: 8.0 out of 10)  LANA LANE ‘COVERS
COLLECTION’(THINK THANK MEDIA RECORDS) Through the years LANA LANE recorded several covers, and last year it was time to make full-length CD with only covers. The 11 included covers are songs from bands that influenced LANA LANE and ERIK NORLANDER, but also a song which was asked by a Japanese fan if they could do a cover of it (which is the AVIARY classic “Soaring”). Anyway, if we go through the covers included here on the CD we can mention as highlights the covers of KANSAS (“The wall”), LED ZEPPELIN (“Kashmir”), GIANT (“I’ll see you in my dreams”), SCORPIONS (“Still loving you”) and RAINBOW’s “Stargazer”. Of course LANA LANE’s versions are very impressive and give a whole new light to these male vocal classics. That’s also the reason why they didn’t record any female vocal songs, because covering a HEART song would probably bring nothing new, but doing these 11 male vocal covers is really something new and not done before. For more info go to: http://www.thetank.com (Points: 8.5 out of 10)  ERIK NORLANDER ‘MUSIC
MACHINE’(THINK THANK MEDIA RECORDS) In 2003 ERIK NORLANDER released a new solo-CD, which is probably also his finest solo effort so far, because ‘Music machine’ is a high quality concept record which basically sits in the Rock-Metal Opera Concept tradition of NOSTRADAMEUS, STAR ONE, AYREON, AVANTASIA etc. Erik invited an impressive guestlist, such as lead singers Kelly Keeling (BATON ROUGE), MARK BOALS, Robert Soeterboek (HIGHWAY CHILE) and Scott Kail, guitarists Buck Dharma, Peer Verschuren (VENGEANCE) and Neil Citron, drummers Vinny Appice, Gregg Bissonette and Virgil Donati and bassists Tony Franklin and Don Schiff. All together a very impressive list of talented musicians and without a doubt, this ‘Music machine’ is a superb concept record. Musically it is a mix of Melodic Hardrock and Progressive Metal, not too far away from AYREON and AINA. It’s a pleasure to listen to this 2-CD set and reading the fantasy story of Johnny America. The 2-CDs together have a playing length of almost 2 hours, so enough to enjoy here, especially songs like “Music machine”, “Turn me on”, ‘Heavy Metal symphony”, “Andromeda”, “One of the machines” and “The fire of change” (fantastic chorus) are all fantastic Melodic Hardrock meets Progressive Metal tunes with great lead vocals and classy synthesizers/hammonds. ‘Music machine’ was ERIK NORLANDER’s 3rd record and probably his best effort so far, as it is a highly recommended piece to the fans of Rock-Opera Concept records. More info can be found at: http://www.thetank.com (Points: 9.0 out of 10)  LANA LANE ‘BALLAD COLLECTION
– SPECIAL EDITION’(THINK THANK MEDIA RECORDS) The LANA LANE catalogue has been growing rapidly, and one of the special editions of her regular releases is the ‘Ballad collection’ which contains 2 CDs filled with in total 110 minutes of music. The 2-CD set is a nice collection of ballads, in total 24 tracks, of which some covers, but also a lot of unreleased LANA LANE material, so actually this 2-CD set is a sort of real LANA LANE album. Like the title reveals, this is a CD with strictly ballads, so no rockers can be found herem but LANA’s voice makes every song interesting and a pleasure to listen to, even though some covers are actually popsongs (ELO, TOM WAITS, SUPERTRAMP). But Lana’s vocals always work very well and are giving these songs a new dimension. Highlights are the beautiful ballads “Hands to heal”, “Nevermore”, “Ghost inside my bed”, “The river maid”, “Autumn leaves”, “Avalon”, “When time stood still” and “Across the universe”. This special edition is definitely a must for every LANA LANE fan, as not many songs can be found elsewhere than on these 2 CDs. For more info go to: http://www.thetank.com (Points: 8.5 out of 10)  PYRAMAZE ‘MELANCHOLY
BEAST’(NTS RECORDS/ROCK INC./BERTUS) PYRAMAZE is a new band from Denmark, but they also have 2 American musicians in their line-up, namely keyboardplayer Jonah Weingarten and the fantastic lead singer LANCE KING. Lance is of course best known as lead singer of BALANCE OF POWER, although he also sang on records by MATTSON, KING’S MACHINE, GEMINI and DEFIANCE. With a singer like Lance you can only head into a sensational area, and PYRAMAZE is indeed quite sensational on their debut CD ‘Melancholy beast’, which is filled with high class Melodic Progressive/Power Metal that sounds a bit like KAMELOT, with some more 80s US Power Metal influences (BALANCE OF POWER is also an easy comparison). 9 songs are on the CD, and of course the production is huge, Lance’s vocals are perfect and most of the songs are very impressive. Highlights are “Sleepy hollow”, “Melancholy beast”, “The journey” (very strong chorus, like BALANCE OF POWER ‘Perfect balance’) and “Legend”. People into BALANCE OF POWER, DEFIANCE, KAMELOT, MOB RULES, 80s QUEENSRCYHE, etc. will absolutely love this debut of PYRAMAZE definitely. The album is set for release late May, so you will have to wait a few more weeks before the album is officially released. (Points: 8.5 out of 10)  ANUBIS GATE ‘PURIFICATION’(LOCOMOTIVE MUSIC/ROCK INC.) ANUBIS GATE is a band from Denmark, and their debut CD ‘Purification’ has been released on the Spanish label LOCOMOTIVE MUSIC. Musically we have to deal here with mostly midtempo Melodic Power Metal, 80s US orientated, not unlike CRIMSON GLORY, QUEENSRYCHE, SYRIS... Unfortunately none of the 10 included songs is really sensational, as most songs continue in the same sort of sound, without getting noticed. It’s not that ANUBIS GATE is some sort of average band, because instrumental and even vocally it all sounds very impressive, but the included songs on their album fail to impress. It doesn’t matter if you listen to either “Hypernosis”, “Downward spiral” or “Discrowned”, it’s all nice but nothing spectacular. Only recommended to die-hard collector Metalfans! (Points: 7.5 out of 10)  WHITE SKULL ‘THE XII
SKULL’(FRONTIERS RECORDS/BERTUS) The Italian band WHITE SKULL returns with their 2nd CD on FRONTIERS RECORDS, and their 6th record in total I believe. Musically they play strong guitar riff orientated Power Metal that sounds like a mixture beteween GRAVE DIGGER, MANOWAR and RHAPSODY. Vocally the band’s lead singer, the Argentinian Gustavo Adrian Gabarro, has a very raw voice, which sometimes gets a bit boring, so I am afraid the band’s switch from a female to a male lead singer in 2001 was not a really good choice. Although the vocals are a bit average, the music is still good Power Metal, a bit US Metal orientated, and fast songs like “Top secret”, “Mothman prophecies”, “Last navigator”, “Power of blood” and “Perfect design” and the midtempo “The observers” are very good actually. Not one of the best releases on FRONTIERS RECORDS, but definitely one of their heavist releases ever! (Points: 8.0 out of 10)  LIONSHEART ‘ABYSS’(FRONTIERS RECORDS/BERTUS) In the early 1990s LIONSHEART released 2 CDs, and I remember it well that even MTV picked up some of the videos for rotation, but the past 10 years it has been quiet around STEVE GRIMMETT and co. until now, because FRONTIERS RECORDS is about to release the 3rd CD of the band titled ‘Abyss’. Musically it is strong 80s influenced Melodic Hardrock/Heavy Rock/Metal with of course the excellent vocals of former GRIM REAPER shouter Steve Grimmett (a la RONNIE JAMES DIO). While listening to the album, I can easily say that this is the best LIONSHEART record so far, a real strong album with impressive memorable songs. Highlights are opener “Screaming” (epic Melodic Metal song with strong chorus), “Nightmare” (uptempo Melodic Hardrock), “How can I tell you” (strong midtempo Melodic Heavy Rocker), the BLACK SABBATH ‘Mob rules’ are sounding midtempo “Save me” and “Witchcraft” (uptempo Melodic Hardrock. Concluded, a very strong comeback from one of the few remaining original classic hardrock/metalacts from the UK... (Points: 8.0 out of 10) GENIUS ‘EPISODE 2 – IN SEARCH OF THE LITTLE PRINCE’ (FRONTIERS RECORDS/BERTUS) Multi-instrumentalist Daniele Liverani (KHYMERA, EMPTY TREMOR) returns with part 2 of his ambitious project GENIUS - A ROCK OPERA. The list of lead singers appearing on this new GENIUS album is outstanding, because featured are the vocalists MARK BOALS (MALMSTEEN, RING OF FIRE), Daniel Gildenlow (PAIN OF SALVATION), Rob Tyrant (LABYRINTH), Russel Allen (SYMPHONY X), Edu Falaschi (ANGRA), Jeff Martin (RACER X), ERIC MARTIN (MR. BIG), Johnny Gioeli (AXEL RUDI PELL, HARDLINE), Live Kristine (THEATRE OF TRAGEDY), Philip Bynoe (RING OF FIRE, STEVE VAI) and Oliver Hartmann (AT VANCE, EMPTY TREMOR). With such a list of lead vocalists you possibly can’t go wrong, and indeed the second GENIUS is another winner for fans of bombastic Rock Opera Progressive/Melodic Metal with a touch of 70s Classic Hardrock in the style of AYREON, STAR ONE, NOSTRADAMEUS... 11 songs are included, and the CD itself has a playing length of a shocking 80 minutes! This is by far a high quality and much recommended CD, especially to fans of mentioned bands. The first 2 songs are very good, with Russel Allen on vocals in “He will die” (sounds like a mixture between RHAPSODY, RAINBOW and GLENN HUGHES) and Mark Boals and Edu Falaschi doing lead vocals in “Playing in their dreams” (a great semi-ballad). Other highlights are “Beware” (a great uptempo Melodic groovy Hardrocksong with Rob Tyrant on vocals, a bit like RAINBOW), “My dear son” (a great AOR ballad with Eric Martin on vocals), “All my fault” (a 10 minutes counting epic Power/Prog Metal song with Rob Tyrant, Mark Boals and Johnny Gioeli I believe), “Far away from here” (best song, a strong uptempo Melodic Metal song with classy GLENN HUGHES orientated vocals, but I don’t know who sings here!) and “To be free” (a Female Gothic Melodic Rockballad a la WITHIN TEMPTATION, with Liv Kristine on vocals of course). Concluded, a highly recommended Rock-Metal Opera once again from the Italian genius Daniel Liverani... (Points: 8.5 out of 10)  VANDEN PLAS ‘THE GOD THING -
SPECIAL EDITION’ (INSIDE OUT MUSIC/SUBURBAN) It’s now 7 years ago since VANDENPLAS released their 2nd album ‘The God thing’, their first concept album which almost blew away their debut ‘Colour temple’ from 1995. The debut contained good Melodic Hardrock/Metal, but ‘The God thing’ saw them move into a superb big Melodic Progressive Metal sound, reaching almost the DREAM THEATER level! This remastered special edition version contains the original 9 tracks, completely remastered and 2 new bonustracks, being a live version of “You fly” and the French version of “How many tears” (a song from their debut). This is by far one of the better Melodic Progressive Metal releases ever from Germany, with so many highlights, of which my favourites would be “Rainmaker” (uptempo melodic progmetal with a very strong chorus), “We’re not God” (big Melodic Progmetal), “Crown of thorns” (ballad) and closing track “You fly”. Just like most other special edition releases on INSIDE OUT, also this release has an extensive booklet with pictures/photos and newly written liner notes by the band’s fantastic lead vocalist Andy Kuntz. Without a doubt, this is a highly recommended CD, and if you are not familiar with the band, then do check out this release asap as this ‘The God thing’ is a true masterpiece in the Melodic Progmetalscene! (Points: 9.0 out of 10)  TILES ‘TILES - SPECIAL
EDITION’(INSIDE OUT MUSIC/SUBURBAN) The Detroit, USA based band TILES started about 10 years ago, and in this period they managed to release 4 full-length CDs, of which ‘Window dressing’ is their latest release which will be out on the 3rd of May. If we go back time, the band released their debut CD in 1994, and now 10 years later INSIDE OUT MUSIC has re-released this debut album, with the addition of 3 unreleased bonustracks, making this a 62 minutes counting Progressive Rock masterpiece. Also the band’s 2 other albums from the 1990s, ‘Fence the clear’ from 1997 and ‘Presents of mind’ from 1999 have been re-released in the INSIDE OUT MUSIC Special edition series. Thinking of it, it took the band 5 years to release a follow-up to their 1999’s release ‘Presents of mind’, but more about the new album can be read in our review of that 4th TILES album. Now we are looking at what could be one of the best TILES album, as their debut ‘Tiles’ was simply said a classy Progressive Rock masterpiece that can easily be mentioned alongside RUSH, YES, IQ and other Progrock dinosaurs. The CD starts off with 2 sensational uptempo Melodic Progressive Rockers titled “Analysis paralysis” and “Token pledge”, both reminding a lot of RUSH, also with strong melodic choruses and fantastic vocal work by singer Paul Rarick. Before the band released this CD, they had recorded a few demos and none-other than Mr. KISS GENE SIMMONS helped them further, and so we have to thank (a bit) Gene for his aknowledge. Anyway, other highlights on this excellent Progressive Rockalbum are “Dancing dogs” (uptempo Progrocker), “Scattergram” (fantastic midtempo AORish Progressive Melodic Rock) and “Supply and demand” (very strong Progressive Melodic Rocker, sounds like a mix between ENCHANT and RUSH, with a strong catchy AOR chorus). The 3 unreleased bonustracks (“Calling out”, “World sunset” and “Forging a new trend”) date back to 1990, but were recently mixed by TERRY BROWN (RUSH) and sound completely up to date, all 3 being very strong Melodic Progressive AOR/Pomprockers. Concluded, this album is a Progressive Rock masterpiece, and I believe this album was hard to get for some time, but now this special edition release should make this first TILES album an easy target for the Progressive Rockfans to get. (Points: 9.0 out of 10)  OVER THE EDGE FEATURING
MICKEY THOMAS ‘SAME’ (FRONTIERS RECORDS/BERTUS) The 1990s have been a very quiet period around Mr. STARSHIP (although he actually joined them in 1979!), MICKEY THOMAS, but after many years of waiting, the man with the golden voice returns as the singer for a ‘project’ called OVER THE EDGE. I believe his latest real full-length CD was with STARSHIP in 1989, so 15 years passed by without a full-length recording featuring Mickey Thomas on vocals. But he has released an album, on which we can find 10 tracks, mostly written by outsiders such as Jack Blades (NIGHT RANGER), NEAL SCHON, JONATHAN CAIN, FREDDY CURCI and some lesser known names. Musicians whom appear on the CD include guitarists like NEAL SCHON, STEVE LUKATHER and RICHIE KOTZEN, but also the production (bass, keys, guitars) by Fabrizio V. Zee Grossi is notable, because this Italian multi-instrumentalist has done more Frontiers Records recently and he gave the pure AOR sound a strong updated approach, so the AOR on this disc doesn’t sound dated at all. In fact, if a band like THE RASMUS is massive, why not songs from this CD, because there are plenty catchy little numbers on this OVER THE EDGE CD. Anyway, like I said this is pure AOR, but with a modern approach, very radio ready if you ask me. Highlights can be found in the shape of the midtempo AOR songs “One world” (a la JOHN WAITE/STARSHIP), “Forest for the trees”, “Cover me” (very strong chorus and a great big guitar- wall-of-sound) and “Turn away”, and also “Thief” (classy uptempo AOR rocker like old BRYAN ADAMS, very catchy song). All together a great AOR comeback CD from MICKEY THOMAS, carrying the 80s spirit of STARSHIP, but with an updated sound, and his vocals are as classy as ever, so better get this record when it’s released on the 3rd of May. (Points: 8.5 out of 10)  VANDEN PLAS ‘FAR OFF GRACE -
SPECIAL EDITION’ (INSIDE OUT MUSIC/SUBURBAN) In 1999 the German Progressive Metalband VANDEN PLAS released their 3rd CD, which again proved that this was a fantastic band who were able to combine Progressive Metal with the strong melodies of Melodic Hardrock. ‘Far off grace’ was basically another perfect Melodic Progmetal record, and this special edition re-release contains an additional 2 unreleased bonustracks, namely the fantastic DOKKEN cover “Kiss of death” and the calmer ballad “Shape of my heart”, and also a live video of the song “Iodic rain”. If we have a look at the 9 original album tracks, I must say that it’s basically from start to finish high class stuff what we get to hear, with as absolute highlights “Far off grace” (lovely Melodic Progmetal), “Where is the man” (another classy piece of epic Progmetal), “Inside of your head” (this is one of those fantastic typical VANDEN PLAS anthems!) and “Fields of hope” (another true VANDEN PLAS classic!). Concluded, VANDEN PLAS belong to the very best in the Progmetalworld, and we now only have to wait for a new Progmetal masterpiece of this awesome band, but in the meantime check out the new special edition versions of their 2nd and 3rd album. (Points: 9.0 out of 10) DANIELE LIVERANI ‘DAILY TRAUMA’ (FRONTIERS RECORDS/BERTUS) The Italian multi-instrumentalist DANIEL LIVERANI is best known as the man behind GENIUS. He now also has a solo CD coming out, on which he almost does everything on his own (except for the drums, which was done by Dario Ciccioni). The CD is a great instrumental Progressive Metal meets Melodic Hardrockalbum, with very good guitar and keyboardwork by Daniele. It holds 18 tracks all together, and takes up to 75 minutes of quality instrumental music. Fans of instrumental Progmetal a la VINNIE MOORE will love such songs like “Kingdom gate” and “Dream league”, so if this is your kind of music then do check out this release asap! (Points: 8.0 out of 10)  TILES ‘FENCE THE CLEAR -
SPECIAL EDITION’ (INSIDE OUT MUSIC/SUBURBAN) The 2nd album of the American Progressive Rockband TILES was released in 1997, and just like their other 2 1990s records, also ‘Fence the clear’ has now been re-released, completed with 4 unreleased bonustracks. The album itself is another masterpiece in the Progressive Rockscene, akin a lot to RUSH of course, but still with an own identity and a sound which could come from any of the last 3 or 4 decades (!), so this is timeless Melodic Progressive Rock. Highlights on this 75 minutes counting journey through 14 tracks are the Progressive Rockers “Patterns”, “Beneath the surface”, “Changing the guard”, “Opportunity” (somehow their 1990 songs are capturing the best TILES sound, a very strong Pomprock orientated sound!) and “No failure”. 4 bonustracks are included, and this are the instrumentals “Splinters of truth” and “Ballad of the sacred cows”, a demo version of “No failure” from 1997 and a remixed version of an old 1990 track called “Opportunity”. Concluded, another must for the Progressive Rockfans if you don’t own it yet, although it is not as good as their debut CD... (Points: 8.5 out of 10)  TILES ‘PRESENTS OF MIND
- SPECIAL EDITION’ (INSIDE OUT MUSIC/SUBURBAN) The band TILES has created through the years an own kind of Progressive Rock, which sounds as original as bands like RUSH, ENCHANT, JADIS, ICE AGE, MARILLION and YES. Although the band’s debut is their best release, also the albums that followed contained some great material. ‘Presents of mind’ was their 3rd release, originally issued in 1999, and now re-released in a special edition package, which includes the 10 original remastered tracks and 2 unreleased bonustrack, and a video track. This album saw the band move into a more modern Progressive Rock sound, a bit like MARILLION on their last couple of albums and also very much like MAGELLAN, but still keeping their strong melodies. Highlights on ‘Presents of mind’ are “Static”, “Taking control” and “Reasonable doubt”, but sadly it’s the least interesting album of the 3 re-released now in a special edition. Their new release ‘Window dressing’ is definitely better than ‘Presents of mind’, but still their debut and also their 2nd CD are the best TILES records. Fans of the band will probably want to buy this interesting new special edition release of ‘Presents of mind’. (Points: 8.0 out of 10) (All reviews by Gabor Kleinbloesem, except where noted) |