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GHOST
MACHINERY
‘HAUNTING REMAINS’ (SOUND RIOT RECORDS/ROCK INC) We are heading to Finland once again where we can find the band GHOST MACHINERY, a band with a typical European Melodic Neo-Classical Power Metalsound. I can easily say that this is a quality CD, but on the other hand absolutely nothing new is brought on this disc, as we can hear some very cliché type of Power Metal, which we already heard of so many other Finnish bands (STRATOVARIUS, THUNDERSTONE and SONATA ARTICA). Also the band’s lead singer (guitarist Pete Ahonen) is not a really strong vocalist, but happily the songs do sound quite catchy sometimes. The production is also quite good, polishing things up a lot during the choruses, which makes this band sound better than they might be if they had recorded the album in a small cheap studio. Anyway, I am not saying this is a bad CD, because it is in fact a very strong Melodic (Power) Metal record, but on the other hand there are a lot of strong comparisons to the mentioned bands. Nevertheless, the fan of such bands will appreciate GHOST MACHINERY a lot, because in the shape of “Blinded eyes” (fast uptempo Power Metal), “Temples of Gold” (midtempo melodic rocker), “Evil within” (fast a la THUNDERSTONE), “Down in flames” (catchy 80s uptempo melodic rocker, big keys a la 80s EUROPE) and “Shadows” (midtempo EDGUYish melodic metal), they bring us good strong catchy material. There’s also a good cover of one of the best songs from the 1980s (GARY MOORE’s “Out in the fields”). Concluded, a good typical European sounding Melodic Metal record, but not as sensational as SONATA or STRATO, maybe on a future record… (Points: 8.2 out of 10) GUTTURAL ‘CROSS WORDS WITH US’ (STEELBORN RECORDS/ROCK INC.) In a time when Melodic Power Metal is very popular and many new bands are signed, there are clearly some average bands slipping through and one of them is the French band GUTTURAL. Although their CD was mastered by SASCHA PAETH, there is not a single song ever reaching the high level of KAMELOT or RHAPSODY. The vocals are not good and the songs are quite boring. Not any of the 7 included songs make an impression and I am sorry to say that this is a band that should have practice a lot more before going into the studio and record a full-length CD. Maybe in the future they will come up with something better, but for now this is a very average release that will go unnoticed I’m afraid. (Points: 6.6 out of 10) ANGER ‘THE BLISS’ (ARMAGEDDON MUSIC/ROCK INC) Most of the CD’s on which TOMMY NEWTON appears as a producer are quite good and True Hardrock/Metal, but this time he produced an album of a band called ANGER, whom are playing Nu-Metal. They are not always pure Nu-Metal, but I don’t think this is of any interest for the classic metalfans. The band comes out of Portugal, and opener “Feel my anger” is way too much SLIPKNOT sounding. Happily, like I said it isn’t Nu-Metal all the way, because the more melodic approach of songs like “Iced”, “Say what you wanna” and “Innersight” show that the band is capable in bringing a mix of Modern Metal and Melodic Heavy Rock melodies. However, after a few spins the band is unsure wether to follow a pure Nu-Metal style a la KORN and SLIPKNOT, or a more traditional Metalstyle. On this CD the Nu-Metal is pushed forwards and therefore the rating is quite low. (Points: 6.0 out of 10) TEARABYTE ‘GLOOM FACTORY’ (ESCAPI NEW MEDIA/ROCK INC) It’s like we’re back in 1988 when in the San Francisco Bay Area Thrash Metal is the most popular musicstyle. Bands like TESTAMENT, MEGADETH and METALLICA must have influenced the American band TEARABYTE a lot, because their CD is filled with this kind of late 80s Bay Area Thrash Metal. In the beginning you can laugh about it and it sounds very nice for a Thrash band, but after a while it gets very average and towards the end it starts sounding worse and worse, with as absolutely disaster the 30 minutes counting hidden track. Only recommended to absolute die-hard Thrash Metalfreaks, whom count bands like EXODUS, TESTAMENT, OVERKILL etc to their favourite acts! (Points: 6.9 out of 10) DARK HORIZON ‘DARK LIGHT’S SHADES’ (NORTHWIND RECORDS/ROCK INC) ‘Dark light’s shades’ is the new album of the Italian band DARK HORIZON. The album was mastered by SASCHA PAETH (KAMELOT, AINA, RHAPSODY), and although it has that typical Italo Happy Power Metalsound, somehow this DARK HORIZON is bringing things better than most other Italo Power Metalbands. I am not saying it is as good as LABYRINTH, RHAPSODY or VISION DIVINE, but nevertheless this new album of the band is definitely a high quality record in this genre. The band sounds like the perfect cross between AXXIS and KAMELOT, and between the 10 included songs there are a quite a lot memorable tracks, such as the fantastic KAMELOTish fast uptempo Melodic Power Metal piece “Master of the bright sea”, the midtempo “Victim of changes”, “The oath” (semi-ballad) and “The glory” (strong pure European Melodic Metal). Concluded, this is a highly recommended album to fans of KAMELOT, AXXIS, LABYRINTH… (Points: 8.7 out of 10) MELIAH RAGE ‘BARELY HUMAN’ (ESCAPI NEW MEDIA/ROCK INC) The American band MELIAH RAGE released in the late 80s a couple of pure Bay Area Thrash Metalalbum, which were in the style of TESTAMENT, MEGADETH, old METALLICA etc. Now some 15 years later they return with a new CD titled ‘Barely human’. Musically the band has slightly changed, although there are still some pure Thrash metalsongs on their record, such as “Invincible”, the band changes from tempo from time to time, and with the midtempo “Ungodly” they proof they can also make some great Melodic Heavy Rock/Metal instead of raw aggressive Thrash Metal. Other highlights between the 9 included are “Wrong place, right time” and “Hell song”. Recommended if you’re into 90s METALLICA, MEGADETH, DEATH ANGEL… (Points: 7.9 out of 10) IRONHEART ‘ARCHIVES’ (IRONHEART/LISTEN RECORDS) It’s clearly back to 1988 when listening to the CD of the UK based band IRONHEART. This is not a big surprise, if you consider the fact that IRONHEART’s recordings also took place in that year, so we actually are dealing here with a re-issue onto CD of a 1988 recorded album. Like I said this is a typical 1988 sounding record, although it doesn’t sound dated at all. Musically we are listening to strong Melodic Hardrock, which reminds me a bit of HEAVY PETTIN’, TOBRUK, ROX, TORINO, DOKKEN and MADISON. Most of the 5 songs included songs are uptempo melodic rockers, with as highlights “Running away” (catchy song) and “Last chance” (classy 80s Hardrocksound!). Concluded, a must-have for fans of 80s Hardrock! More info at: http://www.ironheart-rocks.com (Points: 8.3 out of 10)
It’s about 10 years ago since I reviewed the ‘No bed of roses’ CD of the English band IF ONLY, which was released on LONG ISLAND RECORDS. Now we are in the year 2004 and a new CD of IF ONLY material has been released. I remember it very well how amazing it sounded to me back when I heard it the first time. Also this new CD of IF ONLY contains such high class Melodic Rock. A bunch of songs already appeared on the ‘No bed of roses’ release, but all 17 songs on this CD are still unreleased, because these are all original live, demo, BBC Sessions and LP versions from 1989-1990 with the amazing JACKIE BODIMEAD on vocals instead of Tina Egan who sang on the ‘No bed of roses’ CD. The first 5 songs of ‘Destiny’ can not even be found in a re-recorded version on the IF ONLY CD ‘No bed of roses’, so this is definitely a very interesting release. It’s also a good introduction to this amazing band, which never got big back in the late 80s/early 90s, although their music was of a very high level. Their material was even better at times than similar bands such as VIXEN, WITNESS and HEART. The band featured the superb female lead singer JACKIE BODIMEAD, who sang in GIRLSCHOOL for a while. Her voice belongs to one of the best in Female Fronted Rock history (!!!) and the 17 songs on this CD showcase once more how sensational IF ONLY sounded some 15 years ago. It’s almost unbelievable they didn’t had their breakthrough in the USA back then, because the music was just so perfect classy 80s AOR/Melodic Rock. Songs like “Destiny”, “Voices of the heart”, “Hearts on the line” and “Change of heart” are instant AOR Classics, all taken from 1989/1990 demos, while the rest is slightly heavier Melodic Rock in the big time VIXEN/LAOS style, with such fantastic songs like “Ghost of you”, “Rock and a hard place”, “All over” and “Forever my love” (much better than the STEVE THOMSON version), all taken from the original LP version. While listening to this CD, it becomes clear that this IF ONLY proves once again how many unknown high quality bands were out there back in the 1980s. It’s a good thing to see this material being released on CD, because it truly deserves to be heard by many more people than the few who bought the LONG ISLAND RECORDS CD from a decade ago. Let’s hope this amazing band will also reform sometime in the near future, because the talents of singer JACKIE BODIMEAD, guitarist Martin Chaisson (ex-UFO) and former MORITZ members Ian Edwards (bass), Greg Hart (guitars/songwriter), Andy Stewarton (keyboards) and Andy Elphick (drums) combined showed an amazing band called IF ONLY, which is highly recommended to basically any AOR/Melodic Rockfan! And do not compare this release to the LONG ISLAND released CD, because on this CD we can hear the amazing JACKIE BODIMEAD, which is definitely sounding a lot better. More info at: http://www.outlawrecordings.net (Points: 9.1 out of 10) ZELLO ‘FIRST CHAPTER, SECOND VERSE’ (LION MUSIC/BERTUS) From out of nowhere comes a new ZELLO album. This Swedish band (formed around guitarist JANNE STARK) released an album some 8 years ago, which I never heard unfortunately, but I can inform you that this album will take you by surprise, because this is by far the best LION MUSIC release in a long time. This year LION MUSIC didn’t release many album that really could be classified as sensational, but with ZELLO they have a true winner on their hands. Musically ZELLO is playing a mix of 70s Progressive Rock, Pomprock and 80s AOR, ending up sounding a lot like KANSAS in their heydays. Songs like “1”, “2”, “8” and “10” are awesome high quality Progressive Pomprocksongs, with big keys, excellent vocals, nice violin and guitarwork and this is all combined in a big sound, so what more do you want! This is definitely a highly recommended album to any music fan, but especially people who like KANSAS and TRIUMPH. (Points: 8.8 out of 10) GASKIN
‘END OF THE WORLD/NO WAY
OUT’ GASKIN was one of those legendary bands from the NWOBHM scene in the early 80s. The band’s musical style was clearly more melodic than the rest of the bands, akin more to a cross between PRAYING MANTIS, TRIUMPH, THIN LIZZY and RUSH. The band featured the fantastic lead singer (and guitarist/songwriter and bandleader!) PAUL GASKIN, who had a great melodic voice (Canadian style, a la Rick Santers/Gil Moore). The band released 2 albums in their short career, and it’s unbelievable that we has to wait so long to hear anything of Paul after GASKIN, because it was not until this re-issue on CD (back in 1996) he appeared somewhere on CD. Not long after this re-issue, which by the way contains both GASKIN albums from the early 80s, he managed to release a new CD titled ‘Stand or fall’, which sounded a lot like PRAYING MANTIS. However, after that CD release it became once again quiet. Anyway, this 1996 re-issue contains both original albums of GASKIN, 20 songs in total. Musically early 80s Melodic Hardrock, with some very strong melodies. Highlights from ‘End of the world’ (1981) are “Sweet dream maker”, “Despiser”, “Lonely man” and “Handful of reasons” (a superb 7 minutes counting epic classic rocker!), while the best tracks of ‘No way out’ are “Just like a movie star”, “Say your last word and “Ready for love” (pure SANTERS!!!). Without a doubt, this is a very underrated band, which deserves to be heard and this CD contains all of their early 80s material, so grab yourself a copy if you haven’t got it. You can buy a CD through: http://www.cherryred.co.uk (Points: 8.6 out of 10)
It is now almost 20 years ago when the legendary one-off AOR classic of the band FORTUNE was released. Although it contained a HUGE US hitsingle titled “Stacy”, the album went unnoticed by many people, which is still a big shame, because this was one of the best albums released in the 1980s! Right from the start this was an AOR monster, up there with the best of SURVIVOR and JOURNEY. The sound was huge, and especially that first track “Thrill of it all” is one of the best songs of all times! You can bet I was excited about the fact this album was finally being re-issued onto CD. For almost 20 years this album was only available on LP, and very hard to get as well, so this CD release makes a lot of sense. The album is basically one of the must-have releases in any AOR collection. It is almost unbelievable only one album was released under the moniker FORTUNE, because the qualities of the musicians are from a very high level. The 10 original songs are all instant AOR Classics, and to hear them now for the first time on CD is of course a pleasure. A few of the bandmembers went on releasing 5 albums as HARLAN CAGE between 1996 and 2004, but this FORTUNE classic from 1985 is clearly their best effort. The re-issue does not only contain the 10 original remastered songs of that 1985 classic, but as a bonus you’ll get 3 unreleased FORTUNE tracks. These are “Home free”, “Breakin’ down the door” and “Heart of stone”, all 3 great AOR songs. However, our main focus are the 10 original tracks, which sound better than ever now on CD. Songs like “Thrill of it all”, “Dearborn station”, “Deep in the heart”, “Out on the streets” and “Smoke from a gun” are such superb AOR rockers, which will never be beaten. Only records by JOURNEY and SURVIVOR beat this FORTUNE classic, so all I can say if you don’t own the original album, better get yourself a copy a.s.a.p.! But if you do own the LP, then you also need to get a copy of this album, because this new CD release is so much better. Concluded, every reader of our magazine needs to buy this CD, especially since this CD release might be the last release from keyboardplayer Roger Scott Craig (the HARLAN CAGE/FORTUNE bandleader. Better get your copy through: http://www.fortunecd.com (Points: 9.6 out of 10) MYTHRA ‘DEATH AND DESTINY’ (BRITISH STEEL/CHERRY RED RECORDS) Now we are heading into obscurity with the band MYTHRA. This typical NWOBHM band was only able to release a handful of singles and demos back in 1979-1981, with even a stunning 20,000 copies selling single in 1979! Anyway, they were about to release an album in 1980, but that never happened, until 18 years later this CD was released. Musically MYTHRA were ahead of their time, with fast melodic metal music, including lots of tempo changes, sounding like a cross between RUSH, ANGEL WITCH and MAIDEN. The band featured a great lead singer (Vince High) and while listening to the 13 included songs it’s almost unbelievable why this band didn’t become as big as MAIDEN or at least up there with the likes of TYGERS OF PAN TANG and RAVEN, because what we can hear on this CD is from a very high level. Nevertheless, this 1998 released CD gives a good view of the band’s material, which was from start to finish high quality melodic hardrock/metal. Highlights are “At least they tried”, “The death of a loved one”, “The age of machine”, “Overlord”, “Blue acid” (a bit like THIN LIZZY) and “U.F.O.”, all fantastic songs with memorable melodies (vocally and guitarsound). (Points: 8.6 out of 10) THE WATCH ‘VACUUM’ (LIZARD RECORDS) This is what I would call one of those perfect Progressive Rockalbums in the best traditional 70s style, owing a lot to 1970s Peter Gabriel fronted GENESIS. The band has got all it takes to become one of the best Progressive Rockbands ever to come out of the south of Europe. THE WATCH are coming out of Italy, and ‘Vacuum’ is their 2nd CD so far. From start to finish, this is high quality Progressive Rock, with excellent instrumental passages (keys/guitars) and very impressive lead vocalwork by Simone Rossetti, who sounds a lot like PETER GABRIEL. Songs like “Damage mode”, “Wonderland” and “Shining bald heads” belong to some of the best pure Progressive Rock I have heard in a along time. I already mentioned GENESIS, but need to add again that THE WATCH is reaching almost the same level as the legendary 70s albums of GENESIS, so I think you’ll get the picture by now that this THE WATCH is a must-have release if you’re a fan of classic 70s Progressive Rock. Then do check out their site at: http://www.thewatch.it (Points: 8.8 out of 10)
ANTI-DEPRESSIVE DELIVERY
‘FEEL MELT RELEASE ESCAPE’ Out of Norway comes the band ANTI-DEPRESSIVE DELIVERY, who deliver a good quality album filled with a mix of Progressive Rock (70s style) and slightly modern Progressive Metal. The band sounds a bit like a cross between THE FLOWER KINGS, EVERGREY and FATES WARNING. Combining experimental structures and modern guitarsounds with strong melodies and clean vocals. This is one of those releases that will be loved by fans of PAIN OF SALVATION, yet this is more cleaner progressive rock/metal with a stronger 70s kinda approach. 9 songs are included, of which the best are “End of days”, “Penny is a slut machine” and “Bones and money”. The songs are quite lengthy, very progressive sometimes, but in the end this is clearly another impressive high quality release, which is recommended to fans of challenging progressive rock/metal. (Points: 8.2 out of 10) HOVLAND ‘RISE UP’ (DUNAMIS RECORDS) From out of nowhere comes HOVLAND, a band from the US state of Washington. Their CD ‘Rise up’ is filled with high quality 80s orientated AOR/Melodic Hardrock. The band has a fantastic female lead singer (Shannon Howland), who shares the vocal duties with her husband (?) Mark Hovland. He has a voice a la JAMES CHRISTIAN and BENNY MARDONES, yet not that strong. What strikes me most is the fact that they truly play classic 80s AOR/Melodic Rock, without forgetting the catchy hooks, melodic choruses and straight-ahead keyboard/guitar orientated Rocksound, which was made big in the 80s by thousands of bands. They sing about the Lord, and therefore should be called a Christian Rockband, but I think any AOR fan is gonna love this, because comparisons to JOURNEY, SURVIVOR, HEART or FOREIGNER can also be make. However, maybe the best comparisons are Christian AOR bands like PETRA, FIGHTER, CINDY CRUSE, CONNIE SCOTT, ALLIES, SWEET COMFORT BAND, very early MARGARETH BECKER, etc. This is really very strong catchy pure AOR, with as highlights “This is love”, “Desire” (very very 80s sounding!!!) and “”. The girl really has an amazing voice and it’s unbelievable she hasn’t been discovered earlier, but happily I can now recommend anyone to check out HOVLAND. The only negative comment is that there are more ballads than rockers on the CD, and sometimes the lyrics are a bit too Christian orientated (Holy/Jesus/You are my lord/I love you lord), but nevertheless what we get to hear is quality music. You can find their site at: http://www.hovlandrocks.com and e-mail them at: hovland@my180.net (Points: 8.2 out of 10)
The ‘Inside DVD’ series are becoming very interesting, because a lot of bands are being featured in this growing catalogue. Most of the time it concerns here classic 70s British Rockbands, and RAINBOW is clearly one of the bands to be featured in the ‘Inside’ DVD series. It’s only a pity it concerns here the pre-JOE LYNN TURNER/GRAHAM BONETT period, so it’s not a full review of all their work, but just the 70s DIO period. The start of the DVD is mainly focused around guitarist RITCHIE BLACKMORE, who of course was the former DEEP PURPLE guitarist and formed RAINBOW when he left that legendary band. With RAINBOW he did manage to score some big hits, but that happened after he had replaced lead singer RONNIE JAMES DIO. This was of course a very strange move, because Dio was and still is one of the greatest Rock singers on this planet. Anyway, the DVD is situated around the DIO period between 1975-1979. The first 20 minutes are only about the individual Ritchie Blackmore, with once again (just like on the other DVDs in the series) the Rock experts (including among others the likes of Neil Murray and Dougie White) giving their comments on this highly talented guitarist. Halfway the DVD, which only has a playing time of 55 minutes, the reviewers are giving their comments on the DIO featured RAINBOW albums. Of course it becomes clear their favourite album is ‘Rainbow rising’, but their in-depth reviews are very interesting to hear and watch what they think of all 1970s RAINBOW albums. It really gives you a good view of the big influence RAINBOW had with their records from the early years. Nevertheless, I am also a fan of their later more commercial records with Joe Lynn Turner on vocals, and that part should have been reviewed as well. Nevertheless, the additional footage is mostly taken from the same concert RAINBOW gave in the 1970s, so not that much variation, and therefore this ‘Inside’ DVD review is so far the least, although of course on the other hand there is not much footage of RAINBOW with DIO as singer, so that should be another point to make. So in the end this is a must-have release for the DIO/RAINBOW fans, but for the all-round musicfan maybe the other DVDs in the ‘Inside’series are perhaps more interesting to get. (Points: 8.0 out of 10)
This ‘Inside’ DVD of BLACK SABBATH is a more full discography reviewed one, although the DVD is not completely focusing on any particular album of BLACK SABBATH, but more based on the change in styles, the switches of lead singer and bandleader/guitarist TONY IOMMI, who is also featured in the DVD itself. This is the first DVD to feature an individual member of the reviewed band, although most of the time throughout the DVD the reviewers (such as Tommy Vance, Dougie White and Neil Murray) are giving their comments on BLACK SABBATH. Like the title predicts, the reviewed period concerns 1970-1992, so 22 years of BLACK SABBATH. Although only 3 singers are discussed, we all know that the band survived a lot more singers through the years, with GLENN HUGHES and IAN GILLAN as most important people not being discussed on this DVD. On the other hand, both sang on only 1 album, so focusing on long-term singers is more interesting I think, and that’s what they did on this DVD. The reviewers are mostly talking about some of the band’s highlights (songs like “Paranoid”, “War pigs” and “Heaven and hell”) and of course the singers, with OZZY OSBOURNE as most important discussed person of the whole DVD. Some reviewers agree that BLACK SABBATH without OZZY is impossible, although they certainly show their love for RONNIE JAMES DIO as lead singer as well. Least discussed is TONY MARTIN, who did an excellent job on the late 80s BLACK SABBATH records, but is completely overshadowed by the 2 previous singers (OZZY and DIO). Anyway, it’s a pity not every single album is being reviewed, because that could have easily made this DVD a 2-hours spanning event. Instead they focus on guitarist Tony, lead singer Ozzy, Dio and Tony and the best songs of the band. In addition there’s some nice footage of all singers being used between the comments. This all makes this 60 minutes counting DVD a recommended piece to all the BLACK SABBATH and OZZY fans out there! (Points: 8.5 out of 10) CRIMSON ALTAR ‘THE GHOST SHIP SAILS’ (PROMO CDR) It doesn’t happen too often nowadays that a new Melodic Metalband comes out of London, but CRIMSON ALTAR is an exception to the rule. This female fronted band is playing 80s influenced Melodic Metal, and they do it quite well, although they were formed only a year ago. Lead singer Judy has a good voice, although she needs to improve a little more in the future to keep up with all those other female fronted bands. However, the main difference with most of the other more Gothic orientated Metalbands out there at the moment is that CRIMSON ALTAR is more focusing on classy 80s melodic metal, with as highlights on their album the songs “Sick of shadows” and “Falling”, but also clear BLACK SABBATH influenced Doom Metal are included (such as “My dark rose bleeds” and “Burnt by the snow”), but these songs are slightly weaker than the more straight-forward tunes. Check it out for yourself at: http://www.crimsonaltar.com and e-mail them at: theband@crimsonaltar.com (Points: 7.9 out of 10) JUST OFFSHORE ‘JUST OFFSHORE’ (POWER VOLTAGE RECORDS) The JUST OFFSHORE project is formed around American keyboardplayer RUSS MATE, who released a full-length CD filled with instrumental keyboard/synthesizer based music, which should be compared to the likes of RICK WAKEMAN, MIKE OLDFIELD, JEAN MICHAEL JARRE, VANGELIS and TANGERINE DREAM. It’s hard to label this kind of music, because it takes the best of instrumental sounds from New Age, progressive Rock, Ambient and Electronica. The best way to describe it is that the CD takes you on a journey into another dimension. It gives you a very relaxed feeling, and the melodies Russ is creating on his keyboard are very impressive, so in the end this is a much-recommended CD to especially the fans of mentioned musicians. More info can be found at: http://www.powervoltagerecords.com or http://www.justoff.com (Points: 8.0 out of 10) VINDEX ‘RISE UP!’ (DEMO CDR) This is a band from Slovakia, and they play typical European Melodic Heavy Rock/Metal, with a focus on strong melodies and 80s inspired guitarwork. Slight comparisons can be made to a SINNER, EDGUY, PINK CREAM’69, although vocally it could sound better, but the harmonyvocals during the catchy choruses are making that up. Highlights are uptempo melodic heavy rock/metalsongs like “2”, “3” (in this midtempo song the lead singer sounds much better, mainly because he sings calmer here) and “5” (best song, very strong faster melodic power metal piece a la DOMINE). Nice band to check out at: http://www.vindex.sk (Points: 7.8 out of 10) A.B.E.A. ‘DREAM OF SUICIDE’(INDEPENDENT) A 4-track mini-CD titled ‘Dream of suicide’ by a Turkish band called A.B.E.A. is being put into the audio CD driver of my computer on a rainy cold November day, and the bigger the surprise is that this independent released album is a very strong impressive Melodic Progressive Metal release. A.B.E.A. can musically be compared to MAGNITUDE 9 or VANDENPLAS, and actually sometimes they even reach that high level. The band has a very strong lead singer called Gokhan Bulut, who sounds a bit like MARK BOALS. The 4 long songs on their demo sound quite huge, with thanks to the big sounding production. Highlights are the songs “Gathering the sunlight” and “Green river” (a superb song, which has all it takes to become an absolute winner for the Progressive Melodic Metalfans, a bit also sounding like RING OF FIRE). Without a doubt, this band has potential to become better known in Western Europe, which they truly deserve, because they sound very impressive. If only all the Turkish people who live in Holland and Germany would buy this album, this band could become big, but facing the truth I am still very positive about this band, which might get noticed soon by some of the labels here. More info at: http://www.theabea.com and e-mail them at: the_abea@yahoo.com (Points: 8.5 out of 10) LIGHTSPEED ‘WAVES’ (ADVANCE PROMO CD) After a break of some 8 years, the Canadian band LIGHTSPEED returns with the release of their 3rd CD ‘Waves, which features a guest appearance of JIM GILMOUR of SAGA. Musically not that much has changed, although you will not find many uptempo rockers here, and also less AOR/Sympho orientated material, which is a pity. However, on the other hand it’s still a good calmer relaxing semi-progressive rockrecord, which has definite influences from the 1970s, but the best comparison has got to be ASIA (with John Payne on vocals). 11 songs are included, with a total playing time of 60 minutes. Like I already said before, there are not much uptempo rockers here, because most of the material moves in a sort of slowtempo or acoustic tingled semi progressive-rockstyle. I guess things change after 8 years, but still if you’re keen on more modern (but 70s influenced) progressive rock (like a less experimental SPOCK’S BEARD meets 90s ASIA) you’re gonna love this new LIGHTSPEED album, which has it’s highlights in the songs “Waves of emotion”, “Bridges” (one of the very few real rock orientated songs) and “Razor’s edge”. More info at: http://www.lightspeed.com (Points: 8.0 out of 10)
Although RTZ was a quality band, with one good release somewhere in the early 90s and later a release on MTM Music, the band never really impressed me. They sounded like a weaker version of BOSTON and 38 SPECIAL, and I am afraid this new double-CD also will not entirely make it among the AOR fans. Here and there, we can hear some nice AOR tingled tunes like “Rise above it all”, “Rock the night” (pure 80s Pomprocker a la LE ROUX/SUGARCREEK), “Power of love”, Show me” (a la STYX) and “Winners and losers”, all from CD 1, which contains unreleased RTZ material from before their debut release. In fact, track 7 to 11 of CD 1 are actually a bit in the classic 80s ORION AOR style, so kind of very interesting. CD 2 is the European release of the album BRAD DELP and BARRY GOUDREAU released last year, and this album was nothing more than just an average pop/rockalbum. I am not saying this is a bad release, because the die-hard RTZ/BOSTON fans are gonna like it probably, but do not expect anything close to 70s classic BOSTON or ORION. With the exception of 5 songs on CD 1, which are very much like ORION, the whole package is musically more along the lines of the recent BOSTON and 38 SPECIAL releases, so standard pop/rock with a slight modern radio touch. The 2 CDs together are nice to own, but I think FRONTIERS has done much better releases this year! On the other hand, if you think 5 songs are worthy enough to purchase this 2-CD set, then go ahead, because the 5 mentioned songs of CD 1 are more or less a must-have for 80s AOR freaks! (Points: 8.2 out of 10) MIKE TRAMP
‘SONGS I LEFT
BEHIND’ (FRONTIERS RECORDS/BERTUS)
Ever since MIKE TRAMP quite WHITE LION, I was unsure wether to appreciate his change of styles (FREAKS OF NATURE and solo stuff) or be unhappy with the fact WHITE LION was never going to happen again. Let’s face the truth here, WHITE LION will always be the best thing Mike has ever done, making big ballsy 80s Arena Melodic Hardrock like a mix between SCORPIONS and DOKKEN. But the 90s and nowadays, Mike is not interested in making that kind of music anymore (I think he should shake hands with Jon Bon Jovi!), and instead is continue releasing solo records, of which ‘Songs I left behind’ is the latest CD of MIKE TRAMP. 16 tracks are included, and like the title says, these are all unreleased songs, which musically goes in the same style as most of his other solo releases, so we get to hear nice uptempo melodic poprock with catchy melodies and actually it sounds very radio-ready. It has the kind of singer-songwriter feeling so many other artists capture, so do not compare this with WHITE LION. It’s more sounding like a rocked up Westcoast-Rocksound, which at times sound quite good, especially during songs like “Do it while you can”, “Over and out”, “Show me” and “I’ll be there”. It’s of course a pity a reunion of WHITE LION will never happen, but on the other hand Mike’s solo releases aren’t bad either. Recommended to fans of BRYAN ADAMS, BON JOVI, BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, NEIL YOUNG, TOM PETTY, RICK SPRINGFIELD… (Points: 8.0 out of 10) INFINITY’S CALL ‘LIGHT IN THE DARK’ (ROCK WERK RECORDS) Without a doubt, this is a high quality record, although some might say nothing new is brought here, but who cares if the featured material on a CD sounds just great! INFINITY’S CALL is coming out of Germany and they play Melodic Hardrock, and actually they do it really impressive at times. 13 songs are included, with some high quality musicianship, good vocalwork (a la STEVE GRIMMETT of LIONSHEART/GRIM REAPER) and a strong big sounding production, this CD is definitely one of the better releases in the independent Melodic Hardrockscene. Most of the songs are uptempo, with as highlights “Light in the dark” (a fantastic hard-hitting 80s type of uptempo Melodic Hardrock like a mix between DOKKEN, SCORPIONS and Swedish RECKLESS), “Slave of pain” (midtempo piece), “Dance with the fire” (a challenging fast uptempo Melodic Metal piece, with awesome keyboardwork, and a strong hook, besides the catchy chorus) and “Fantasy” (like 80s MAGNUM epic melodic hardrock). Like I said in the beginning of this review, the CD might sound like just another typical Melodic Hardrockalbum, there is no way you can deny the fact this is quality stuff, which is not far away from bands like SHAKRA and LIONSHEART. More info can be found at: http://www.infinityscall.de and e-mail them at: philipp.zanella@gmx.de (Points: 8.3 out of 10)
One of the surprises last year was the debut album of MASTERPLAN, which was a very strong Melodic Heavy Rock/Metal record. It was maybe the best record JORN LANDE had sung on in his career, so the expectations for the 2nd CD of MASTERPLAN are quite high. The official full-length release will be early next year, but in the meantime AFM Records released a sneak-preview in the shape of this mini-CD, which is titled ‘Back for my life’. The album contains 6 tracks, and a multimedia part, so it is without a doubt a highly recommended mini-CD to the fans of the band, whom are pleased with 3 non-album tracks. The best song is the superb midtempo Progressive Metalsong “Killing in time”, on which Jorn’s vocals are amazing, sounding like a cross between DAVID COVERDALE and STEVE WALSH. Also quite impressive is the uptempo “Crimson rider”, while the remaining tracks are the midtempo pieces “Back for my life” and “Love is a rock”, the instrumental version of the non-album track “Killing in time” and the album version of the titletrack of this mini-CD. Although the full-length CD of MASTERPLAN might be released very soon, everyone should check out this release first, because it contains some great non-album material, such as the superb “Killing in time”. (Points: 8.5 out of 10) FROZEN TEARS ‘METAL HURRICANE’ (STEELHEART RECORDS) There are many Metal releases done these days, and of course a lot of them will be overlooked. I am afraid the new FROZEN TEARS will be one of those overlooked releases, because it just isn’t as good as all the other releases (MASTERPLAN, NOCTURNAL RITES, NOSTRADAMEUS etc) in this genre. Besides, the band’s lead singer screams his way (sounding very forced) to the choruses in each song, which gets quite annoying towards the end. That’s a real pity, because he proves he is able to sing well (more melodic) instead of the endless screaming. The screaming parts should be left to experienced bands (PRIMAL FEAR, ACCEPT, PRIEST), because it now sounds a bit average. The production and sound quality are of course very good, and also instrumental we can enjoy typical Euro melodic metal. The problem though is that the lead vocals are not strong enough and also I could not find any real sensational song. Does this mean this is a bad CD? No, it’s still interesting for die-hard Metalfans, but I hope a future CD will bring some better songs and hopefully the band’s lead singer then knows how to sing the way he is supposed to sing. (Points: 7.2 out of 10)
The re-issue of this legendary classic 1979 Pomprock record was done 6 years ago on RENAISSANCE RECORDS, but recently the US label revamped itself on the web under the new moniker of CD THEN. So, their older re-issues are available again, and therefore you can find a bunch of their reviews on our pages again. The 1979 classic debut album of NEW ENGLAND is a very much overlooked and underrated classic, which should have been much bigger back in the late 1970s. The fantastic production by PAUL STANLEY from KISS, who at that time was number 1 worldwide, and the fact that the original release of the first NEW ENGLAND was through MCA RECORDS should have been enough to make this album a big hit. However, things went slightly different, and despite some minor chart success, the album became a cult favourite among the AOR/Pomprock collectors in Europe. Anyway, looking back some 25 years later, this album still sounds fresh and the re-issue on CD gives the album a new dimension, while retaining the classic sound it had on the original record. The album was filled with superb catchy uptempo melodic pomprocksongs, such as “Hello, hello, hello”, “Don’t ever wanna lose ya”, “The last show”, “P.U.N.K.” (here they sound like a much better version of the overrated CHEAP TRICK), “Nothing to fear” and “Alone tonight”, but also wonderful epic semi-ballads (a la QUEEN/SPY) like “Shall I run away” and “Turn out the light”. Without a doubt, this is one of those classic albums everybody needs own, and you can now buy the CD once again through: www.cdthen.net (Points: 8.9 out of 10)
Going back another 24 years in time, with a solo-record ofmulti-instrumentalist KERRY LIVGREN (ex-KANSAS), who gathered a bunch of well-known musicians around him to record a solo-album titled ‘Seeds of change’. The album was re-issued onto CD by RENAISSANCE RECORDS sometime ago, but now available again. Musically it is typical early 80s AOR/Pomprock based, kinda like 80s PETRA, SWEET COMFORT BAND, LE ROUX, TOTO etc. Instrumental everything sounds very impressive, but vocally Kerry was able to use the amazing voices of such singers like RONNIE JAMES DIO (2 songs), JEFF POLLARD (of LE ROUX), DAVID PACK and STEVE WALSH (of KANSAS). This re-issue on CD doesn’t contain any extra tracks, so it’s a pity only the 7 original songs are included, which makes this CD very short in playing length, but there’s an extra in the shape of a 21 minutes counting interview, so in the end it has some interesting new stuff for the fans. Besides, the CD has of course a much better sound than the original LP, which makes it a pleasure to listen to such wonderful tracks like “Just one way” (TOTO meets LE ROUX), “How can you live” (typical early 80s AOR with an amazing STEVE WALSH) and the 2 DIO sung tracks “Mask of the great deceiver” and “To live for the king”. Concluded, a recommended piece to all collectors of 80s AOR/Pomprock, although there are some weaker songs on the album (“Whiskey seed” and “Down to the core”) and overall this is not a classic album, but still interesting for die-hard fans of DIO, KANSAS and LE ROUX! The CD is available through: www.cdthen.net (Points: 8.3 out of 10)
The US band SPIDER released 2 albums at the start of the 1980s, and both are really awesome classy aor/poprock like so many female fronted acts did in that period, all following the footsteps taken by PAT BENATAR in 1979. The songs were uplifting, catchy uptempo rockers with nice biting guitarwork, flashy keyboardwork, tight drums and of course strong female vocals (by singer AMANDA BLUE). This CD re-issue contains both albums, which sums it up to 20 tracks. Unfortunately no bonustracks are included, but for anyone who wants to hear good old classic fun early 80s catchy aor/poprock this is a much-recommended CD. Songs like “New romance”, “Everything is alright”, “Crossfire”, “Little darlin’”, “Change” (JOHN WAITE also recorded an awesome version of this song), “Between the lines’ and “Go and run” are instant unforgettable classics. The band changed their name soon after the release of the 2nd album ‘Between the lines’ and managed to release another album under the moniker SHANGHAI in 1982 I believe. I hope this album will also be re-issued someday soon, because that’s also a great album, although a bit more quirky hi-tech orientated than this melodic poprock/aor affair of SPIDER. The female keyboardplayer HOLLY KNIGHT went on becoming a very successful songwriter in the USA. However, it all started almost 25 years with 2 great female fronted poprock classics (although the first one is much better and rockier), which are a must to hear to anyone who likes the early work of PAT BENATAR. The CD is available through: www.cdthen.net (Points: 8.4 out of 10) MADE OF IRON ‘MADE OF IRON’ (SONIC AGE RECORDS/ROCK INC) Greece is a country where 80s orientated Melodic (Power) Metal is very popular, with bands like MAIDEN, ICED EARTH, BLIND GUARDIAN and MANOWAR topping the album charts regularly. It’s no wonder so many new bands from Greece pop up here and there, and some are able to release a proper full-length CD. There are also quite a few labels coming out of Greece, and SONIC AGE RECORDS is one of the latest, and they have released a bunch of albums by mostly Greek bands. MADE OF IRON is a band playing the good old fashioned 80s melodic metal style, with strong influences of MAIDEN and MANOWAR. Although some might say that it sounds like yet another cliché Metal record, the album is actually quite strong and should be put in the same level as a band like HEIR APPARENT or TWISTED TOWER DIRE. Songs like “Made of iron” (a superb song with flashy guitarwork!), “Peace in flames”, the 9 minutes counting epic “King of all kings” and “Gates to purgatory” are very strong classy 80s influenced uptempo Melodic Metalsongs with strong choruses. The vocals are also good, although not sensational. Production could be better, but I think the fan of True Metal is gonna love this band a lot! (Points: 8.2 out of 10) OVERLORDE
‘RETURN OF THE SNOW
GIANT’ The Greek band OVERLORDE is the next one to release a full-length CD on the new label SONIC AGE RECORDS. Also OVERLORDE is playing 80s influenced Melodic Metal, but different than MADE OF IRON, because they also carry influences from the early 80s NWOBHM (TOKYO BLADE), but once again they also borrow a lot of early IRON MAIDEN in a positive way. OVERLORDE is better than MADE OF IRON, because they have an excellent lead singer and the 13 included songs are overall sounding better. Songs like “Hell hath no fury”, “When he comes”, “Blackness” and “Tarpped ny magic” are great pieces of classic 80s Melodic Metal like a mix between MAIDEN, HEIR APPARENT, FATES WARNING and very very early QUEENSRYCHE (a la their mini-EP). Like I said most of the songs are quite good, although not every single tune is sensational, but die-hard Metalfans should definitely have a listen to the CD of OVERLORDE. (Points: 8.3 out of 10)
19 songs can be found on the CD ‘707/The second album’, which was released several years ago, but now available again. Although the band’s third release ‘Mega force’ was a classic, and recently re-issued onto CD by MTM Music, maybe their first 2 records are the real classics. Both the first and second album were re-issued onto CD by RENAISSANCE RECORDS (which is now called CD THEN). Without a doubt, this CD is an absolute must-have for any fan of classic 80s AOR, because the featured songs are almost all classics in the style of FOREIGNER, SPYS, SURVIVOR, TOTO, LE ROUX… This is the way Classic AOR sounded and I really must admit that this kind of stuff was and still is some of the best real pure AOR ever recorded. Songs like “Live with the girl”, “I could be good for you”, “City life”, “Live without her”, “Strings around my heart” and “You who needs to know” are superb uptempo AOR rockers, while also emotional ballads like “One way highway” and “Whole lot better” should not be forgotten. It’s unbelievable 707 only had a minor hitsingle back then, because some of the songs featured here are as good as hitsingles by similar acts like REO SPEEDWAGON and JOURNEY back in 1980/1981. Concluded, a must-have for basically any Rockfan! The CD is available through: www.cdthen.net (Points: 9.2 out of 10)
The late 1970s and early 1980s were a very active period for Punk and Oi! Bands in the UK. Many new bands emerged from Great Britain, and the most successful band (SEX PISTOLS) was probably the weakest band, because there were so many other much better acts, such as THE BOYS, THE CLASH, THE DAMNED, THE DEAD BOYS, BLITZ and also THE BUSINESS. This band was not really a Punkband, because they were a so called Oi! Punkband, and this particular style was slightly different than the standard Punkstuff. The big difference is the fact that the lyrics are mostly about the pub and is usually associated with Football Hooligans. The music is simple, but very catchy sometimes, with strong sing-a-long choruses. THE BUSINESS were very popular in the Oi! Scene, and released a bunch of albums between the early 80s and the present days. The collection released on the Oi/Punk label CAPTAIN OI! RECORDS is a very impressive collection of the best songs of THE BUSINESS, mostly from the classic early 80s period, when Oi music was at their peak. Songs like “Harry May” (a true classic in the Oi! genre!), “Drinking and driving”, “Hurry up Harry” (SHAM 69 cover), “Saturdays heroes”, “Product” and “Get out of my house” are all instant winners in the Punk/Oi! genre. Some songs even remind me of the first classic Glamalbum of WRATHCHILD (UK), and I am pretty sure Hardrock/Metalfans will like THE BUSINESS too, because they are clearly different than most of the Punkbands. I hope I can review some of the band’s regular releases as well in the near future. In the meantime, this CD is available through http://www.captainoi.com (Points: 8.5 out of 10)
GBH were together with EXPLOITED one of the first bands to play Hardcore Metal, which was a mix of Metal (MOTORHEAD) and Punk (RAMONES). Eventually Thrash-Metal would evolve out of the Hardcore-Metal, with SLAYER being the best example of a band who were influenced by GBH. However, GBH was influenced by MOTORHEAD, which could clearly be heard on their debut album ‘City baby attacked by rats’. This album from 1982 was recently re-issued by CAPTAIN OI! RECORDS, and it showcased how it all started some 22 years ago. Songs like “Sick boy”, “Timebomb”, “Slut”, “No survivors” and the absolute classic “City baby attacked by rats” are all songs that were the starting point for fast Hardcore Metal with gang-vocals. Without a doubt, this band was very important for not only Hardcore, but also Thrash-Metal. The story continued on ‘City baby’s revenge’, which is reviewed below. In the meantime, this CD is highly recommended to fans of MOTORHEAD, EXPLOITED and SLAYER. The re-issue comes along with 6 additional bonustracks. You can get a copy through: http://www.captainoi.com (Points: 8.2 out of 10)
Although people think all Punkbands sound the same, there are some very clear different genres within the Punkgenre. There’s the Oi! with it’s sing-a-long short simple tunes (THE BUSINESS/BLITZ), the pure Punk (early THE CLASH, SEX PISTOLS), fast Hardcore (EXPLOITED, GBH), Poppunk with it’s catchy hooks and melodic choruses (THE BOYS) and you had bands that played their own kind of Punk, which they mixed with other genres (Reggea and New Wave). The band PETER AND THE TEST TUBE BABIES is a legendary band in the Punkgenre, and they were definitely one of the better Punkbands. Actually they did not play Punk at all, because they had a guitarsound similar to THE CURE and U2, with only the choruses and vocals that sounded like a Punkband. The band mixed the genres of Punk and New Wave very well, which can best be heard on their best album ‘The mating sounds of South American frogs’ from 1983, which has been re-issued onto CD by CAPTAIN OI! RECORDS 2 years ago, with the addition of 9 bonustracks. Songs like “One night stand”, “The jinx”, “Let’s burn” and “Blown out again” are all very good uptempo New Waveish Punkrockers with some great guitarwork (in the best CURE/U2 style). This band truly had a sound of it’s own, and they are still active. Without a single doubt, I can say that PETER AND THE TEST TUBE BABIES were so much better than anything SEX PISTOLS ever created, but sadly they never got big credit for their work, although in the underground scene the band has always been very popular. They showed there is a clear link going from Poprock, New Wave right into Punk, and in the end it’s all rock and roll! You can get a copy of the CD through: http://www.captainoi.com (Points: 8.6 out of 10)
ABRASIVE WHEELS from Leeds, UK were one of many Oi! bands at the end of the 70s/early 80s releasing a bunch of singles and albums throughout the 1980s. Most of the songs were fast, and very easy sing-a-long with. They were definitely one of the better bands in this genre, because their songs were very catchy, especially this CD’s opener “Army song”, a classic tune in the Oi!/Punk genre. This CD by the way is a collection of all the singles they released through the years, mostly from the early 80s area. Songs like “Army song” and “Burn ‘em down” are very fast sing-a-long shouters, which would do well in either the army or in a soccer stadium. The band’s later material was quite different, with the band even going into a straight-forward Melodic Rock orientated style on such songs like “Christianne”, “The prisoner” and “Banner of hope”, which are all great songs by the way, but clearly showing a very different ABRASIVE WHEELS than on the early records. I think the mixture showcased on this CD is proving that this was one of the better bands in the genre. Although “Army song” is their best song, a real Oi! Punk Classic, some of their best material (read: melodic rocksongs) was released on their later albums, of which about 6 tracks are included on this compilation CD. More info at: http://www.captainoi.com (Points: 8.5 out of 10) RED FLAG 77 ’STOP THE WORLD’ (CAPTAIN OI! RECORDS) Out of Ipswich, UK comes a new band called RED FLAG’77, and they play a pure late 70s catchy Punkstyle, which actually sounds very good. Right from the start (opener “Stop the world”) it is clear that this is a great old style Punkband, so they choose for catchy memorable choruses in their short tunes, while the guitarsound really has that old classic guitar riff sound, which the old Punk, Metal and Glambands also had back in the early 80s. Happily, the whole CD continues in this style, so we can enjoy from start to finish this catchy melodic punkalbum, which has it’s highlights in the shape of “Stop the world”, “Time has been called”, “Drinking on my own” and “Cold wind”. Without a doubt, a must-have for anyone looking for new bands playing old style Oi!/Punk. You can get a copy of the CD through: http://www.captainoi.com (Points: 8.3 out of 10) VARIOUS
ARTISTS ‘GIVE US MOORE –
GARY MOORE TRIBUTE’ Wow, this is the first time I see a Tribute to GARY MOORE, well, wasn’t it about time to do one? Anyway, LION MUSIC released the tribute and it’s always the question whether it contributes to the original versions. In this case that’s impossible, because GARY MOORE recorded so many classics, and sadly a few of them have been covered quite badly on this tribute CD, such as “Parisienne walkways” (MATTSSON) and “Empty rooms” (STAR QUEEN). Also DOMAIN’s version of “Over the hills and far away” is forgettable due to the fact NIGHTWISH had a huge hit with their version. IRON MASK does a better job at their attempt of covering “Out in the fields”, one of the best rockers from the 1980s. And so there are about 12 more bands covering GARY MOORE songs, and most of them focus on Gary’s older material. Maybe it’s because I am a huge fan of anything GARY MOORE released before ‘After the war’, so I would rather not hear any cover versions of these classics, but I am not really impressed with this release. The problem is you always want to hear the original versions once again after hearing a weaker version of it. Only interesting for die-hard GARY MOORE fans or not? (Points: 7.7 out of 10)
Mr. JEFF SCOTT SOTO has done a lot in his career, and we should never forget his fantastic side-project HUMAN CLAY, together with multi-instrumentalist MARCEL JACOB. Both are also the main forces behind TALISMAN, but in the mid 1990s they also put out 2 releases under the moniker HUMAN CLAY. Musically it was not very different from TALISMAN, because also the HUMAN CLAY albums were filled with high class Melodic Rock. Both albums have now been re-released as a 2-CD set in the ROCK TREASURES series of GMR MUSIC. In total there are 25 tracks included, and anyone who doesn’t own a HUMAN CLAY album should get hold of this new release a.s.a.p., because songs like “Golden years”, “Outside lookin’ in”, “Without you”, “Don’t look back” and “Vows in stone” (a superb song with one of the best Soto choruses ever!) are all fantastic pieces of melodic rock in it’s best Soto tradition. All the mentioned songs are from the debut, because that’s definitely a much better album than the other record ‘U4IA’, but nevertheless both albums are a must-have for any SOTO fan! More info at: http://www.gmrmusic.se (Points: 8.8 out of 10)
FRONTIERS releases another DVD, and this time it’s a masterpiece, because the BRAZEN ABBOT DVD has a wonderful construction. The featured songs are all taken from various performances from BRAZEN and band did in Bulgaria recently. Performed songs are taken from his 4 releases so far, and a few RAINBOW covers (“I surrender”, “Stone cold” and “Can’t let you go”), which were all sung by Mr. JOE LYNN TURNER, who of course also sang the original versions, and I am quite sure there will never be a RAINBOW concert (not even speaking of Joe then singing these songs). So, these 3 RAINBOW classics are a pleasure to watch perform in such an excellent performance, because Guitarist Nikolo Kotzev (the leader of BRAZEN ABBOT) is almost as good Ritchie Blackmore. Anyway, the good thing about the DVD is that in between the 12 featured songs there are comments of (ex-) members of the band and also by Nikolo himself. There’s a lot of rare footage included as well, making this an almost 2 hours counting DVD experience, which is also available as a Live-CD, so concluded it is highly recommended to every hardrockfan out there! (Points: 9.0 out of 10)
Considering the fact that I have seen and reviewed most of the other INSIDE DVD releases of CLASSIC ROCK this year, I am safe to say that this URIAH HEEP INSIDE DVD is their best release so far. The DVD has a fantastic package, which definitely needs to be mentioned, as it gives a lot of extra value for your money when purchasing this DVD. There is a stunning booklet included inside the DVD, which holds together 50 (!) pages of liner notes, mostly comments on each and every song URIAH HEEP recorded on it’s 15 album releases between 1970 and 1980. These are the so-called KEN HENSLEY years, because the period after 1980, when Hensley left Heep, isn’t discussed here. The whole package includes 2 DVDs, with a total playing time of more than 130 minutes. The concept is of course like the other INSIDE DVD releases, so each album of HEEP is discussed by high profile reviewers and musicians, with even KEN HENSLEY and most (ex-) HEEP members giving his comments on each album and particular highlights of a certain HEEP album. Another positive note is the fact that the used footage is really rare, because the Byron (first singer DAVID BYRON) material, but also the Lawton (JOHN LAWTON, Heep’s 2nd singer) footage has not been available on DVD before. All this makes this 2-DVD set a total must for the HEEP fans, but I think any Rockfan should check out one of the most underrated bands in the scene. There is no doubt that a classic HEEP song like “July morning” should have been as huge as LED ZEPPELIN’s “Stairway to heaven” or DEEP PURPLE’s “Child in time”, because it basically is as good as those classics. Anyway, all I can mention is that this 2-DVD(+book) set of URIAH HEEP is a wonderful put together release by CLASSIC ROCK PRODUCTIONS. Let’s now hope for more releases in this style, because this DVD shows how good documentaries should be made! (Points: 9.4 out of 10)
PLATENS (Latin word for Bringer of Light ) is a new melodic rock/aor project of vocalist/multi-instrumentalist DARIO GRILLO, an talented Italian musician who has been the singer of the Italian Power Metalband THY MAJESTIE, with whom he released 2 excellent albums (The Lasting Power and Hastings 1066) and the EP ‘Echoes of War’ recently. Anyway, with PLATENS he is drifting away from the Power Metalsound of THY MAJESTIE, because what we hear on this record is pure 80s influenced AOR/Melodic Rock in the style of FAIR WARNING. The album was mastered by Mika Jussila at the famous Finnvox Studios in Helsinki, Finland (Stratovarius, Nightwish etc.), so you can bet the sound is good, although not as huge as Strato, Sonata or Nightwish. The album is definitely a great strong AOR/Melodic Rockalbum, with good vocals (a bit sounding like JOHN FARNHAM), but it’s always hard to call something new a pure sensation, so let’s keep it on the fact that this is a very good album, which is highly recommended to the AOR/Melodic Rockfans. Especially songs like “Here I am”, “Can feel it”, “Into the fire”, “Chasm of madness” and “Angel’s cry” are the typical catchy hookladen AOR rocksongs every fan of the genre will appreciate. There are also some similarities to AVIATOR, early FM, AIRKRAFT and such classy stuff here and there, which is a good thing. I think this is one of those albums you like a lot in the beginning, but on the other hand I think you have to play it a lot more to find out if it really is a very sensational record. What I would like to say here is that it is a very impressive debut CD, filled with potential AOR, maybe better than the recent BONRUD release on FRONTIERS RECORDS, and the fact that DARIO GRILLO did everything on his own is making this record even more impressive, so check it out if you’re a fan of the classy 80s AOR/Melodic Rocksound. (Points: 8.5 out of 10)
At the same day FRONTIERS releases the first PLATENS, another new one man’s AOR project is released to the public. This is the project MYSTERELL of multi-instrumentalist Torben Lysholm, who is best known as a member of the Danish Melodic Hardrockband PUSH, a band that was often called a WHITE LION clone. However, on the first MYSTERELL we get to hear pure 80s AOR, a bit like a mix between BRIAN MCDONALD, STAN BUSH, JIM JIDHED, ALIEN and MICHAEL MORALES, so definitely something else than PUSH. Torben did everything on his own, and he actually did a great job. 11 songs are included, and with a full-blown sound, this is an album which might sometimes be called ‘sensational’! Torben has a good voice (a la JIM JIDHED) and most of the songs are classy fresh 80s inspired AOR/Melodic Rocksongs in typical Scandi style. Opener “Don’t ever stop” is a typical midtempo piece, which sounds so much like classy MICHAEL MORALES, while next track “I belong to you” sounds like ALIEN. This CD is definitely a good trip down memory lane, because it is filled with quite a few great catchy hookladen AOR tunes, of which the highlights are “Don’t ever stop”, “I belong to you” and “Take me to the river”. Sadly I also need to inform you that not all songs convinced me, because songs like “Sing shot”, “There was you” and “Bring the house down” are quite average, so in the end I wouldn’t call this a real sensational album, but if you’re looking for a mix between MICHAEL MORALES, BRIAN MCDONALD, EXTREME (yeah some funky sounds can be heard as well) and ALIEN (Jim Jidhed) this might be interesting to check out, although the strong start of the album is not continued throughout the rest of the album. (Points: 8.2 out of 10) SILENT VOICES ‘INFERNAL’ (CRASH MUSIC/BERTUS) It seems like every record released in Europe is being mastered by Mika Jussila at Finnvox studios. Especially if a band comes out of Finland, the CD is almost always being mastered by Mika, and also the new album of the Finnish band SILENT VOICES has been mastered at the famous studios in Helsinki. Remarkable is the fact that the album has been released on a new (?) American label called CRASH MUSIC. The music is good strong Melodic Progressive/Power Metal a la VANDENPLAS. Opener “End of days” is a good start, because this progressive metalsong has a strong catchy chorus, although vocally it all could sound a bit stronger. Nevertheless, the comparison to VANDENPLAS is very clear sometimes, but then a few levels lower of course. If you’re interested in hearing a slightly weaker version of VANDENPLAS, then this SILENT VOICES is definitely recommended. On the other hand I must say the band isn’t just a poor man’s copy of VANDENPLAS, because they clearly can make good music, but to get into the higher league of SYMPHONY X and VANDENPLAS, something more must be offered on a CD. Nevertheless, die-hard Progmetalfreaks will like this CD I think, because it still is a quality release, which has it’s highlights in “End of days”, “On the wings of rage” and “Infernal mind” (the first 3 songs, because the rest is clearly weaker), but do not expect anything sensational as VANDENPLAS. (Points: 7.5 out of 10)
CHERRY RED RECORDS released a lot of NWOBHM compilation CDs a few years ago, and ‘Heavy Metal Records Singles Collection Volume 1’ is one of these releases. This CD contains 15 songs, performed by 6 bands. HANDSOME BEASTS is the only band to be featured with 5 tracks, while the other bands all have 2 songs on the CD. All of the bands play in the typical NWOBHM style, with here and there a band playing a slightly different style, such as the Boogie/Southern Rock influenced SPLIT BEAVER or the Blues influences which can be heard in DRAGSTER’s songs. Like the title says, these are all singles out of the NWOBHM movement, so unless you want to pay hundreds of pounds for the original 45”singles, this CD is highly recommended to anyone exploring the underground NWOBHM scene. More info at: http://www.cherryred.co.uk/ (Points: - )
19 tracks can be found on this compilation CD of CHERRY RED RECORDS. Except for the band DRAGONSLAYER (whom are featured with 3 songs), each of the other 8 bands are all featured with 2 songs. There is a big contrast between very well-known bands (JAGUAR, GIRLSCHOOL) and obscure pure underground bands (WHITE LIGHTNING, DRAGONSLAYER, STATIC etc.). On the other hand, while listening to the CD you can clearly hear that most of the bands played in the same style, and tracks by the lesser known bands were sometimes as good as bands that later went on to become bigger. It is very unique to find 2 songs of the band STATIC on this CD, because this band played a sold-out show in London along with the French band TRUST back in 1979 at the forefront of NWOBHM. The band also featured bassist Geoff Gillespie, who recently started his own label MAJESTIC ROCK RECORDS. For a fanatic NWOBHM fan, this CD is definitely a must-have! More info at: http://www.cherryred.co.uk/ (Points: - ) VALKIJA ‘AVENGERS OF STEEL’ (SONIC AGE RECORDS/ROCK INC) We’re back in Greece once again where we can find a band called VALKIJKA. They are playing 80s True Metal, and the album starts really well, with 2 great songs (“The last one” and “Hold on”), but sadly somewhere in the middle of the CD it goes a bit wrong, because the band’s lead singer is starting to scream, trying to sing a la ROB HALFORD, but completely fails in songs like “Sign of the hammer”, “Son of thunder” and “Steel avenger” that all sound like average PRIEST leftovers. Happily, the final track “Hatchet blade” proves the band is able to make great Melodic Metal, with good strong vocals and a great sound, so all I can say to the band is to continue making songs like the final track instead of putting so many average PRIEST intimidations on their CD. Because I don’t have much info on the band, I am not sure if we hear a female singer at the mic here, but overall I am not too impressed about this average PRIEST copy, so let’s hope the band learns to write more songs in their own style next time. (Points: 7.2 out of 10)
CHELSEA was one of those legendary bands that had a large cult following, and their songs were so much better than anything SEX PISTOLS ever recorded. This ‘Punk Singles collection’ CD is a compilation of 23 songs CHELSEA recorded between 1977 and 1982, and without any doubts they had their own style, which was not pure Punk, but included also influences from 60s Rock (THE WHO/THE KINKS), early 80s British Poprock/Wave (THE JAM) and 70s Hardrock (AC/DC rhythm). Some songs should not even be called Punk, because they were just great Rocksongs (such as the fantastic “No one’s coming outside”). I really had a great time listening to so many great classy early 80s type of catchy Rocksongs, such as “What would you do”, “Urban kids”, “The loner”, “I’m on fire” (very catchy poprock), “Evacuate”, “How do you know” and “Years away”. CHELSEA really deserves a change to be heard by non-Punk fans, because they had really great Rocksongs to offer, and I think this compilation of all their singles is a good way to get started. You can get a copy of the CD through: http://www.captainoi.com (Points: 8.7 out of 10)
Out of Australia comes EYEFEAR, a band of whom we reviewed a demo sometime ago, but now they have their official debut CD on MASSACRE RECORDS. The album is of course a high quality release, and musically it is as expected very impressive Melodic Progressive Metal. There are also clear influences from both 80s US and European Melodic Metal, ending up sounding like a cross between FATES WARNING, MAIDEN and ANGRA. 10 songs are included, and the song “Dawn (a new beginning) While the world sleeps” is definitely the absolute highlight on the disc, because this is a terrific blend of Progressive and Power Metal, with some stunning melodies. The band’s lead singer sounds a lot like Tobias Sammet of EDGUY/AVANTASIA, although the music is much more Progressive Metal orientated. I think in the future EYEFEAR will be able to release much better releases, because this debut has a lot of good moments, but is not yet up there with the big boys in the genre. Nevertheless, you can clearly hear that EYEFEAR is a very interesting piece to check out if you’re a fan of quality Prog/Power Metal, because besides the already mentioned fantastic track “Dawn (a new beginning) While the world sleeps”, other highlights are “Altered visions”, “The script of sorrowed tales” and “Beyond the twilight”. This is a band to watch out for in the future, and I have the pleasure to recommend the debut CD of the band. (Points: 8.4 out of 10)
‘City baby’s revenge’ was the follow-up to their classic debut ‘City baby attacked by rats’, on which GBH created a style that became known as Hardcore/Motorpunk, a very heavy and fast mix of Metal and Punk, combining the elements of MOTORHEAD and RAMONES/SEX PISTOLS. This 2nd album by the way featured some more diverse material, so it’s wasn’t as straight-ahead as the 1st record, which definitely makes this album better, although the die-hard fans will always say the best GBH record is their first. Anyway, this re-issue on CD by CAPTAIN OI! RECORDS has a lot of bonustracks, because in total 22 tracks are included. Songs like “Drugs party in 526”, “Womb with a view”, “The forbidden zone”, “Faster and faster” and “Pins and needles” are GBH classics, and just maybe this 2nd album is better than ‘City baby attacked by rats’, mainly because it is better produced or should I say this one sounds more polished than the cult classic debut. Anyway, this CD is a must-have for fans of GBH, EXPLOITED and MOTORHEAD! More info at: http://www.captainoi.com (Points: 8.2 out of 10) GBH ’PUNK JUNKIES’ (CAPTAIN OI! RECORDS) Some 20 years after their legendary first couple of albums, the Hardcore Punk Metalband GBH returns with a full new CD titled ‘Punk junkies’ in the year 2004. Musically nothing has changed, and so from start to finish it’s again most of the time fast uptempo Hardcore meets Metal, with sing-a-long gang vocal choruses. The die-hard fans of the band are gonna love songs such as “Harmony”, “Tokyo after dark”, “Break the chains” and “Damn good time”. Nevertheless, this new album is not as strong as the band’s older records, which are still seen as classics in this genre. More info at: http://www.captainoi.com (Points: 7.7 out of 10)
One of many UK Punkbands who were very popular in the underground scene, but they also had their 15 minutes of fame in the early 80s, which resulted in some UK Top 40 charting singles and albums, and they even appeared a few times on ‘Top of the pops’ back in the late 70s. They had a major influence on many other bands, although I would not call UK SUBS the best Punkband of the late 70s/early 80s period. Nevertheless, this re-issue of their 2nd album from 1980 on CD has definitely some Punk highlights in the shape of “Rat race”, “Brand new age”, “Emotional blackmail”, “Dirty girls” and “Kicks”. Nevertheless, their debut from 1979, which has also been re-issued onto CD, is slightly better and also regarded as one of the classics in the Punkgenre. Anyway, UK SUBS fans will be delighted to hear that this CD has 10 bonustracks, of which the SANTANA/ZOMBIES cover “She’s not there” is the most remarkable. More info at: http://www.captainoi.com (Points: 8.1 out of 10)
In 1977 the band UK SUBS was formed and within 2 years they became very popular, resulting in some chart success in the UK, and the release of their debut ‘Another kind of blues’ gave them their shot to fame for a while. The album has now been re-issued onto CD, and besides the 17 original tracks, there are also about 9 unreleased bonustracks, which makes this a very interesting CD release of one of those late 70s classic Punk releases, because that’s what this album basically is. Maybe not as good as for example THE BOYS, UNDERTONES, DAMNED, DEAD BOYS, etc, still songs like “Tomorrows girls”, “World war”, “TV Blues” and “Stranglehold” are typical late 70s Punkrockers. Just like all the other releases on CAPTAIN OI! RECORDS, also this CD comes along with a nice looking booklet package, which holds together a bunch of handwritten liner notes and all the songlyrics. And like I said before, there are about 9 bonustracks, so with 26 tracks in total a must-have for the fans of this legendary band! .More info at: http://www.captainoi.com (Points: 8.2 out of 10) A big surprise from Northern Ireland, because singer/songwriter HARV (ex-DEN OF THIEVES) sent me a very sensational CD he released recently. It’s been a long time since I received a sensational independent AOR CD, but this CD from HARV is definitely a fantastic pure 80s influenced AOR/Melodic Rock record. It’s fun, it’s catchy, it’s melodic and above all, Harv is a superb lead singer, who reminds me of a cross between JOHN LAWTON (URIAH HEEP) and TONY MILLS (SHY). It is so important in the first place to have a good lead singer when performing such classy melodic music, and Harv is really a terrific singer, as good as mentioned singers. Secondly, the songs are also damn catchy, sounding like a cross between SHY and SURVIVOR, with some AVIATOR thrown in for good measure, so I think the AOR diehards among us are already starting to become very interested. 16 songs are included, and although the production is not as huge as the big 80s records, it’s still quite good for an independent release. Then the musicians whom are playing on the album are also quite good, so now having discussed the ins and outs about the CD and it’s included music, I am safe to say that any AOR fan is going to love this album from start to finish. Finally, we have a winner from the underground movement on our hands, and between the 16 songs we can find some near-AOR Classics, such as “Tugging at my heartstrings”, “Confusion”, “Invasion”, “Rock on through the night”, “On a wing and a prayer” and “Beating of a heart”. I am really glad to highly recommend this album to any AOR fan out there! At some points it is even better than the new PRIDE OF LIONS!!! I would bet my money on HARV if you’re looking for a new sensational record and with a playing time of almost 80 minutes definitely value for your money! More info can be found at: http://www.harv-1.com and e-mail him at: harv.1@ntlworld.com (Points: 8.9 out of 10) (All reviews by Gabor Kleinbloesem) |
FORTUNE
RAINBOW
BLACK
SABBATH 
RTZ
MASTERPLAN
NEW
ENGLAND 
KERRY
LIVGREN 
SPIDER
707
THE
BUSINESS 
GBH
PETER
AND THE TEST TUBE BABIES 
ABRASIVE
WHEELS 
HUMAN
CLAY 
BRAZEN
ABBOT 
URIAH
HEEP 
PLATENS
MYSTERELL
VARIOUS
ARTISTS 
VARIOUS
ARTISTS 
CHELSEA
EYEFEAR
GBH
UK
SUBS 
UK
SUBS 