This band caught me by surprise. I received a CD of this Norwegian AOR band a few days ago and the album leaves me very impressed after a few spins. In fact can I state that this band is one of the hot new AOR bands that will make their way to the top of the underground AOR scene in the next millennium.

Jens Hagli, the lead vocalist of MILLENNYA, has a wonderful voice that is up there with STEVE PERRY from JOURNEY sometimes. This guy can really sing and is a welcome to the AOR scene. Musically the band sounds pretty good and at times it is pure AOR. I would describe the sound of MILLENNYA as a mix between pure AOR (like JOURNEY and ROXUS) and some poppier Westcoast tingled AOR (like PROMOTION, HIGHER GROUND, OUTRIDER, TOTO and especially BOULEVARD). Though the CD is AOR almost all the way.

There are 11 songs on the CD which was very well-produced by the band and Terje Refsnes. Opener “Faded prints” is a great pure AOR song that is up there with PROMOTION and BOULEVARD. Next track “Crazy man” has a bit of an experimental start (90s influences), but the chorus makes it all up and is good AOR. Same goes for “Truth”, although I must admit that this song has a wonderful pure AOR chorus.

And these guys can really write pure AOR choruses, because song after song I am impressed on the songs’ choruses like in the next track “Don’t wanna be here”. This track has a great AOR chorus that is as good as JOURNEY. Then we get to hear the first uptempo song, which is called “Dance macabre”. This song is great uptempo AOR like JOURNEY, ROXUS, STRANGEWAYS...

The CD continues with “Heaven & hell”, a pure AOR ballad that is backed with some very impressive lead vocals a la STEVE PERRY and lovely piano-keys (like SURVIVOR). Do check out the beautiful harmonies during the chorus. “Storyteller” is a mixture of pure AOR and 90s poprock rhythm sounds, kinda like PROMOTION meets STEVE PERRY.

Although the following track “Fooling myself” is a bit weaker than the rest, it still is pure AOR. The song has a slow tempo and sounds like PROMOTION and the last FM records. “Black and white” follows and this is a good pure AOR rocker that sounds a bit like the old STRANGEWAYS. The song has a slight progressive touch, because of the somewhat epic sounding chorus.

Then we get to hear one of the most AOR oriented songs which is “No guts”, great AOR like the old STRANGEWAYS again. Note that this song has again a wonderful chorus that leaves you quite impressed. There isn’t a weak song on this record is my conclusion, because also the closing track “Long hard fall” is pure AOR rocker, only the chorus is not so strong.

The band was described as TOTO meets RICK SPRINGFIELD with the energy of Hard Rock and a taste of the nineties. Not a bad description, although I would rather recommend it to the fans of AOR in the style of PROMOTION, STRANGEWAYS, BOULEVARD, JOURNEY, OUTRIDER and the last STEVE PERRY solo-album. You can buy the CD of these rising AOR stars at: http://www.millennya.com and e-mail them at: tjh@c2i.net Also AOR HEAVEN has some copies available.

Rating: 8,5/10

(INDEPENDENT)

Bluebeard released 1 album in 1979 on Parliament Records, called Bad Dream and was overlooked by the mainstream record industry. The album has since become a cult classic and is very rare nowadays. Nowadays, 20 years after that release Bluebeard is back together in the original line-up, except for Vincent Penny and Bob Campbell. The other 4 members of
this legendary band recorded a new cd called Emotional Balance, containing 13 tracks, 3 songs from the debut and 9 additional tracks.

Although the 9 'new' tracks are sounding a bit different than the music on their debut, more guitars, less keys, still very melodic, you can still hear the typical Bluebeard sound with it 80's feel. Especially Barry Leech his voice has stand the test of time, and 20 years later, he almost sounds like on the debut.

Like I said before, the debut is known as a POMP classic with upfront keys, the new material is more guitar orientated ( many acoustic guitars), although, in every song you can hear keys, but more on the background. The first track on offer called You Keep Me Waiting is a nice melodic rocker with use of samplers sounding as violins (even pizzicatto) and is of the better songs.

Other recommendable songs on this cd are Runnin' to you ( semi ballad with plenty acoustic guitars), Starlight in your eyes ( another ballad with the same ingredients as the previous) and Tomorrow (up tempo song with great melody). Two songs, Attention and Meanstreak, have a bit different approach and have a more 'modern' sound, still very enjoyable songs. Plenty use of samplers in these songs (flute in Meanstreak) and they sound like Bluebeard ready for the next century.

The only song on this advanvce cdr, sounding a bit avarage, is the rocker In the Streets of L.A.. All the rest of the new songs are sounding very nice and together with the 3 ' older' tracks it's a fine mixture of melodic rock and ballads. The 3 reissued songs are Sad Forgotten Song (great ballad with many ivory keys), I'll give you Roses and the title track of the debut, Bad Dream, one of the best pomprock-songs ever made.

In my humble opinion. Being a big fan of their debut, I was and still am very surprised after hearing this great band is back and I hope that we don't have to wait another 20 years to hear again from them. Please, check out the interview STRUTTER did withVincent Bitetti (guitars) of BLUEBEARD for more details on this other classic reunion.

Rating: 7,5/10 (Review by Willy van Buel)

'In flagrante delecto' (INDEPENDENT)

This is the one of the hottest bands of 1999, Conditioned Response are from Mineapolis  USA and  they play really awesome bombastic hard rock and AOR like TYKETTO and DOKKEN. In fact this is so much like TYKETTO that I am just totally biased!! Track one "3" kicks things off and is a melodic dream of catchy stomping aor heaven, a'la TYKETTO, DAMN YANKEES, WARRANT, MARK ALLEN BAND with huge harmonies, to die for, and this is just the first song!!!

The band are also a solid live force and have already supported bands like NIGHT RANGER, SAMMY HAGAR, WARRANT, GREAT WHITE, QUIET RIOT, ARCADE amongst others, "Refuge" is pure aor, and vocalist Rick Forsgren is so much like Danny (the god) Vaughan, I have never heard a vocalist this good in ages and he carries the songs with lots of enuthsiasm  and passion.

"Take" is more hard rock heaven with brilliant Don Dokken/Danny Vaughan swirling vocals from Rick, this is a great song with lots of kick arse axe work from Paul Christenson who reminds me of George Lynch, this track is also very close to SEVEN WISHES and is just hard rock of the highest calibre. When you listen to this album you will cream your pants with excitment , "Stealin" is again energy fuelled hard rock ,and "Rush" is a touch heavier and has some DREAM THEATER influences mainly due to the hot and bone crunching guitar work, Rick's manages a huge scream at the beginning of the song that just makes you want head bang like an idiot!!

"Caught" is a mixture of TYKETTO, DOKKEN and OZZY OSBOURNE and "Out" is a nice accoustic songs that is simply beautiful. This guy is just such an amazing vocalist with a huge amount of vocal capabilities that leave me totally blown away at every fuse filled powerline he sings, "Apparations" is another huge hard rock affair that I just can't get out of my head, and "Undone" is a gorgeous ballad similar to WARRANT.

The last track "Bleed" is more crazy hard rock ,and finally all too soon this album closes out to the last track "Bleed", which is more incrediable gutsy hard rock,this album is the buisness and is awarded the full 10/10 pips of hard rock honour. Awesome pure and simple!!! And don't forget to check out our interview!!!

Website: http://www.conditionedresponse.com or email them at conditionedresponse@netscape.net

Rating: 10/10 (Review by Nicky Baldrian)

RON WRIGHT is another multi-instrumentalist in the music business. He has released 3 CDs so far and Ron was kind enough to sent me these records along with a CDR that contained 3 new songs. Ron comes out of the state of Montana and received his musical education from Arizona State University.

The CDs 'Acoustic dreams' and 'Winged millennium' are instrumental only and also very laid-back acoustic oriented music. They are suitable to play as background music with Christmas, because they are nice played but are totally not recommended for people who want to rock and sing-a-long.

Because Ron likes all musicstyles, he has also released a Rock CD titled 'Digital highway' which features various lead singers. One of the vocalists is BOBBY KIMBALL from TOTO who sings the first 4 songs on this CD. This CD really is quite rocking and the melodic hardrock of the album reminds me a lot of 70s and 80s Rockbands such as UFO and KING KOBRA.

There are 8 songs on 'Digital highway' and the CD opens up with two nice uptempo late 70s sounding melodic rocker titled "Digital highway" and "The doctor". These songs remind me of UFO. The third song features some very good AOR oriented lead vocals by Bobby
Kimball. The song itself has a slow tempo and a bluesy feel (a la BAD COMPANY). The diversity of Ron's music goes further on the following track "Star baby" which is nice Melodic Hardrock that really is close to ROUGH CUTT (like their song "Wanna be a star").

After a short acoustic interlude called "Flight of the bumble bee", the CD continues with "Russian roulette". This is the best song of the album with some very good lead vocals from Mike Rose. This 80s typed melodic rocker is in the style of KING KOBRA. "Baked beans" follows in a metal kinda sound (like ANVIL) and the instrumental melodic rockballad "Come in" closes this CD nicely.

Ron also sent me a CDR with 3 new rock tunes. The first track "Legs for days" is a groovy MHR song with lead vocals from Ron himself that sound like VINCE NEIL. Then comes the unexpected "She loves to shop" which is pure Reggea and really not my cup of tea! The last track on this CDR preview is "You need a dream", a nice melodic acoustic ballad like SCORPIONS. Ron is a talented man, but is hard to categorise musically. The CD "Digital Highway can be purchased on line from SPS Records International out of Australia. The CDR with the 3 new songs can be purchased on line at the Billboard Talent Net.

Rating: 7,5/10

SILVERWING is actually a band formed around one man. His name is Donnie Christianson and the guy plays everything on his own. He is playing bass, lead, acoustic guitar, drums and sings. There are 7 songs on his CD ‘Reality’ and actually it sounds very good for a one-man band. I am quite impressed with some of the songs on this album. My favourite songs are “Lady love” and “Only for you”, two fantastic AOR songs that come across like a mixture between HUGO and TRIUMPH.

The rest of the material is a little less AOR (still in the melodic rock vein) and also there are some more instrumental passages in songs like “Silver wings” and “Reality”. This is quite a welcome to any melodic rockfan, the album does contain some pure AOR songs, but also semi-instrumental melodic rockers that sounds pretty relaxing at times. Some of the songs are very calm and still are melodic rock based. Check this CD out at: http://www.mp3.com/silverwing

Rating: 8/10

DAVE WHITE is the webmaster of the URIAH HEEP website. Dave can also play the guitar very well himself and so he released a CD titled 'The lower room studios', a very nice instrumental CD. The album is good quality melodic rock that is filled up with great keys. There are many calm moments and actually I liked the CD a lot.

You can put the CD on and just listen to it and dream away with the spacy keys and guitarsolos of Dave. "Cheyenne" and "…and the sun will rise" are the two best songs and are very good instrumental AOR songs. I wonder what it would sound like with a vocalist, probably killer AOR. Anyway, the rest of the CD is also very good and if you like instrumental AOR/Melodic Rock, this is a must. More info at: http://www.mp3.com/lowerroom

Rating: 7,5/10

WOW!!! Gary Schutt seems to be releasing a wack load of material at the moment, his last two platters "Playthings" and "Spoofs Of Wrath" have barley been out three months and already here we are with Gary Rocks album number four. The opening track "Panic Fire" reminds me of DREAM THEATER especially vocally where Gary voice lies somewhere between James LaBrie and Michael Sweet,this track swifts along at a rocking pace with an attack of guitar fire throughout.

The next track is the LYNCH MOB, STRYPERish "Someone New", this has a great riff a'la GEORGE LYNCH , NUNO BETTENCOURT,then the song starts to go all funky and you can't help but marvel in Gary's talent as he handles all the instruments himself. "Crave", pops up next, this track experiments with techno pop and samples and is not very inspiring, but is a refreshing change on the album, so hats off to Gary for attempting to break new ground with his music, and forgetting his hard rock soul and identity.

"Left In The Dark", is a jangly keyboard/guitar number,that is very catchy, and "Psycho Bitch" is simply awesome. This song has some amazingly funny lyrics, and then Gary shouts out "Psycho BITCH!!". This is a sexist song so all you ladies had better
avoid this one, ha!ha!! This song is great and features some great guitar work and would make a superb single as it has tons of attitude.

And low and behold Gary's humour shines through yet again, as we get a DREAM THEATER keyboard driven rocker with touches of KORN,mixed together to form a psycho monster version of MARIAH CAREY'S "Without You", listen to Gary's
voice on this track, I was crying with laughter.I know Mariah Carey didn't do the orginal version of this song, but right now I cannot remember who did it, but you all know which song i'm on about and Gary's version is just brilliant!! Why wasn't this on "Spoofs" man? Talk of "Spoofs" i'd love to hear Gary rip apart Van Halen's "JUMP"!!

Anyway track seven dabbles with sci-fi keyboards,and track eight "Apparition" is a satisfying mellow song ,here Gary sounds hugely like MICHAEL SWEET. "Controlling The Rage" continues Gary's experimental jargon , what this guy smokes is beyond me!! "It's Not Me" is a VAN HALEN, EXTREME,TALISMAN, style rocker and my favorite song of the cd, "Self Destruction" is another crazy crunchy rocker, again listen to the lyrics, honest i'm biased listening to this music, I love it!!

"I'm In Love With The Girl That I Hate" is a brilliant ballad, with huge JEFF SCOTT SOTO like vocals from Gary and nice guitar back up, and the final piano led/progressive - track "Therapy" rounds things up on a highnote, this cd is great fun and not to be taken too seriously as Gary Schutt has a very warped sense of humour, nice one mate,roll on album number five!!! Email Gary at: sup@ij.net

Rating: 8,5/10 (Review by Nicky Baldrian)

(IRON CAT RECORDS)

New York based hard rocksters US Bandit are basically a hard rock band exactly like KISS, right down to the makeup and everything. The songs are even better than what KISS are now, the guitar playing is well hot and this album will make you punch fists in the air and bring out your old air guitar again.

The production is brilliant and songs like "Borderline Crazy", "(We're An) American Band", the drum pounding "Madman" and "Wicked Anesthesia", the firey blaze of "Lonely Girl", the guitar shredding "Sister Morphine" and the live cut "Loud" all work with consumate ease. This is a great album,apart from the obvious KISS references the band remind me of SKID ROW, FASTER PUSSYCAT, LOVE/HATE and all those glam bands of the late eighties hollywood boulevard scene.

US Bandit could kick start that whole genre again on the strength of this almighty codpiece. And that's all that is needed to say, this is great funtime friday night music!!! All together now "STRUTTER"!!!

Rating: 8/10 (Review by Nicky Baldrian)

Ever since I got wind of this movies release I have been wanting to check it out,and fianlly it has just been released on video here in the U.K.. And not a minute too soon,this is Poison frontman Bret Michael's big step into the world of the hollywood film industry,and what's even more suprising is that he makes his debut as a director and doesn't do a abad job at all. As an actor Bret ain't no Anthony Hopkins, but he's not too bad and often quite entertaining, he's more direct and convincing than Jon Bon Jovi, as he takes you through the his charcters story.

Bret plays Michael Raine who has been convicted of murder and sentenced to the electric chair, the beging scene of the movie are quite spooky and you get to see Bret being fired in the electric chair, you also get a nice strip club dance scene with one hell of a sexy babe,This is Michael's girlfriend and the reason why he is on death row, accused of her killing. Anyway without giving too much away the film is dark and mystical, and traces Michael's daily prison journal, Martin Sheen also stars alongside Bret with a cameo role from son Charlie.

Overall this isn't bad and as I mentioned Bret is quite convincing, but I do think that this would have been a whole lot more acceptable if it had been made for TV. Still I did enjoy "A Letter From Death Row" and I look forward to seeing more performances from Bret Michael's in the furure as he clearly has a niche for both music and movies.

Rating: 6/10 (Review by Nicky Baldrian)

Hmm,So Bret's venture into the movie world hasn't a least distracted his musical abilities. This is cleary shown on his debut solo album "A Letter From Death Row". The soundtrack came out last year,but I feel that it has been, by and large ignored by the rock crowds, it is very good and honest album which deserves another shot,and what better way to review this to coincide with the release of the film on video here in the UK.

There are alot of good rock songs on this album like "Party Rock Band" with it's DICK DALE guitar influences and POISON makeover, "The Last Breath" is an intense and dark ballad, whilst "Time's Like These" remind me of SAMMY HAGAR's "Warmth Of The Womb". "The Devil Inside" showcases Bret's songwrting skills and is a very nice piece of gospel/AOR,that is almost classic POISON. "Sounds Of Sex", (heavy hard rock) is another highlight.

Overall this is a good solo album, there's lots of diversity and styles with these songs,an also contributions from C.C.Deville and Rikki Rockett, I look forward to the new POISON album with their original line up with great anticiaption.

Rating: 8/10 (Review by Nicky Baldrian)

I haven't much info about Vivian Slade,but what I can tell you is that this record is a deep and sensuous album for those romantic late nights. The music swifts along at a folky jazzy lazy mood, this is great mood album full of different and delcate musical pieces. There's a big hint of blues running through the record,songs like "Shiver", "Shocking", "Tonight"
remind of the excellent BLUE MOON JUNCTION and JANE FALLON.

The songs have universal appeal and could easily break into chart bound territories. Her voice is similar to JANE FALLON and FIONA APPLE, it's not really rock, but there are some nice guitar refrains during the songs, so it just about get's away with it. The album top award goes to the brilliant JAIME KYLEish "Fly" which features some glorious violin structures and deep piano peices a'la JONATHAN CAINE. A very nice album indeed,sit back, turn down the light, pour a glass of a wine and enjoy the smooth and silky enigmatic voice of Vivian Slade.

Rating: ?/10 (Review by Nicky Baldrian)

AERON 99 comes out of Los Angeles and they released this CD-single last year. There are two songs on their CD-single of which one is featured in two versions. This is the track “All I remember” which is a good semi AOR ballad. This song is also featured in an instrumental version. The other song on the CD-single is called “Rainy day”, a nice uptempo AOR rocker. I think a full CD will show how good AERON 99 really is, now you can listen to at least two songs of the band on this CD-single.

For more info, visit their site at: http://www.mp3.com/aeron99 and e-mail the band at: aeron99@yahoo.com Aeron99 will release their debut EP on February 14, 2000.

Rating: 7,5/10

Band out of Canada that has been on the scene since 1986. They participated in one of the famous 80s Canadian Homegrown contests and ended on place 3 out of 1400 bands I believe. Not bad for a new band. Anyway, in the years to follow SHOCK HAZARD played in front of bands such as HUMBLE PIE, KICK AXE and YNGWIE MALMSTEEN. So, they have a lot of experience behind them and so I started to listen to the band’s debut CD which is available via mp3.com.

The music of SHOCK HAZARD is hard to compare, because actually they have sort of an own melodic rocksound. Instrumental it is very good melodic rock, but the lead vocals are a bit raw and sound sometimes like BILLY IDOL. But the music is much better than that guy and actually I like the uptempo melodic rock of this band.

If I really have to compare it to other bands, I could say that this band reminds me of a mixture between KIX, CHOIRBOYS, THE KNACK and KICK. If you know these acts, you’ll probably know how SHOCK HAZARD may sound like. This is pure Rock and totally clear from the awful 90s sounds. The first 6 songs are all in the same style.

“Boys”, “Greedy”, “Heaven”, “Long live rock and roll”, “Love is the answer” and “Rats on the highway” are all uptempo melodic rockers that remind me very much of the mentioned bands. Also the closing track “Teenage destitute” is in this style. Only the two remaining songs (“Runaway train” - slower tempo MHR and “She loves rock and roll” - faster punkish rocker) are different and actually they are a bit weak. But hey 7 good uptempo melodic rockers on one CD isn’t bad at all!

If you like one song, you’ll love them all. If bands such as KICK, KIX, CHOIRBOYS and THE KNACK (like their last CD) are your favourite bands, I am pretty sure you will like this SHOCK HAZARD too. More info at: http://www.mp3.com/ShockHazard

Rating: 7,5/10

X-FEARS comes out of Graz, Austria and this single of them contains 3 songs. The titletrack and opener “20th century man” is a fine semi melodic rocker that has some DEF LEPPARD references. The second track ”Together” is a nice midtempo melodic rocker that has some poppy vocals. The final track “Another world” is the best song, this is uptempo AOR like the old BON JOVI material, yet the song has a saxolo which disturbs the song a little. For more info on X-FEARS go to their website at: http://www.get.to/xfears and e-mail the band at: xfears@yahoo.com

Rating: 7/10

(AOR HEAVEN/POINT MUSIC)

Private Angel's debut for Point Music is a classic hard rock album, and probably their labels best ever release. The album offers comparisments straight away to bands like WHITESNAKE, BAD MOON RISING, CASANOVA, KEEL, DARE and ICON amongst others, they have a shit hot vocalist whos voice lies inbetween Kal Swan and Gary Hughes, add to that a guitar hero who trades hot monster licks with such metal icons as Vinnie Moore and Neal Schon , and you have an album that is baked with hot bread and dollops of butter that leave your tastebuds mouthwatering.Check out delicious rockers like the bouncy "Anytime" which is a giant arena sized anthem filled with sunkissed rays of sunshine.

All the tracks follow in similar style , blitzering away chunky guitar workouts that never sound out of place (unless your attending a MARILYN MANSON gig), lend a year to the delicious instrumental ballad "love attack" which almost outshines JOE SATCH'S "Always with me, always with you"

As a whole this is a very great album full of rock chops, with everything sounding clear, you know that your on to a winner when this baby is cranked up to maximum wattage, Private Angel will send you into a headbanging frenzy whilst the riffs will make you get out your old air guitar,this is a nifty classy album that hasen't left my death deck since the day i recieved it, every song is infectious and catchy and throws everything at you in a bundle of big entertainment,buy this sucker now ,hey don't ya just love albums like this!!BUY!and marvel in the music of Private Angel,an album that this year has been criminally ignored, I hope they get to make another album, FAST!!

Rating: 8/10 (Review by Nicky Baldrian)

"Transistor" was probably the most anticipated rock album of the year.A lot of people disregarded TNT after the nineties sounding "Firefly". Whilst I thought that album was interesting, I could also appreciate why people were ready to dismiss TNT.

Back in Febuary, Tony Harnell got together with some of his buddies and released the utterly fantastic melodic rock album "Westworld", which put hope to the fact that TNT would perhaps continue in this direction.Another important factor this year was the release of Ronni Le Tekro's "Extra Strong Strings" debut album which i'm afraid although reviewed by yours truly for another magazine, remained to set the world on fire, Ron's album though, like the Westworld was total class, with a bit of eccentric humour.

If you combine both those albums , mix them in together with a dab of the "Firefly" album , you get " Transisitor". It's nothing ground breaking nor is it like the TNT of yesteryear, it's a combination of everything , the music simply does the talking here, the highlights of the album for me are "Because I Love You" perhaps the only song here to represent the days of old , the huge arena sounding "Mousetrap", and the two ballads "Fantasia Espanola" and "Under My Pillow", the former is nice european sounding ballad whilst the latter is a huge heartwrenching love song , i've never heard Tony's voice sound this magnificent, and
to top it all during the chorus you find a female backing singer helping to balance the record out , this helps to send the song soaring into heaven.

The first four tracks "Just Like God","Wide Awake", "No Such Thing" and "Crashing Down" are quite uninspiring , but it's from the fifth track that the album falls into place , but even then only the afforementioned tracks are the ones that are a cut above the rest of the Transistors material. I would like to mention "The Whole Your Inn", which is a very twisted and melodic tune with great axe work from Ronni Le Tekro, and also "Into Pieces" which is a powerpoppy ballad with some electronic samples added in ,to give it that dancey beat effect. Overall this shows TNT in a new light, I suspect that many of you will probably
hate Transitor , but if you can persevere with this record for a bit longer then you will find some hidden treaures througout Transistor.

Rating: 6,5/10 (Review by Nicky Baldrian)

Sweet Alibi are a great new melodic rock band from Canada.Their music bares similarites to GUNS N' ROSES, BON JOVI, TESLA, RED HOT CHILLI PEPPERS, AEROSMITH and THE ELECTRIC BOYS , etc......

One of my favorite tracks on this six track album is the gutsy guitar attack of "I'm Not The Singer,I'm The Song" which reminds me of ALICE COOPER, MEGADETH, GUNS N' ROSES, RACER X, LOUDNESS, COLD SWEAT, 9-0, these are typical eighties hard rock songs with lots of JENNIFER BATTEN, NEIL ZAZA and MARTY FRIEDMAN style chunky riffing and chracteristic vocal melodies from Vic De Sousa.

"Never Ending Faith" is a great moody semi-ballad,the delicate guitar structures make this song stand out and this tend to remind me of the band POSTITION and VELOCITY.

This is a great teaser,and I can't wait for a full album from these guys as I have a strong feeling that it will be deifntley a vintage eighties hard rock album.Go get this sucka now music fans......

Rating: 8/10 (Review by Nicky Baldrian)

(MOON PIE MUSIC)

Awesome, this debut live double cd from Henry Lee Summer is awesome, fresh and exciting and can be placed alongside some of the best "Live" albums of rock n' roll history. You can literally taste the excitement of the crowd as the songs bounce off chunks and chunks of enthusiasm, passion and excitment,and this is just on cd, imagine what his show is really like!! Please come over to europe Henry, we need a start like you.

CD 1 contains twelve excellent renditions of "Turn It Up", an excellent "Wing Tip Shoes", an inspiring accoustic version of "Roll Me", and electrifying crowd pleasing "Love Rules", a magnificent "Darling Danielle Don't", a really orgasmaic "Psychotic Neurotic" (another crowd favorite judging by the screams and cheering), the catchy counrtyish "Down On The Farm", the TOTAL CLASSIC and crowd favorite "I Wish I Had A Girl", oh man I just can't tell you how much I'm enjoying this, why this song was never a hit is beyond me and I think the time is right for Henry to re-issue this as a single!!This song just proves how
much of an underrated talent Henry is, the crowd goes ape shit over this song and so do I, in smeggingcrediable!!The last song is a cover of "Spirit Of The Sky" and is a nice bluesy jam with some nifty guitar work.

This album was recorded at Timothy's Pub in Plainfiled Inndianopolis in August of this year,and Henry is continuing to tour the western hemisphere right now!!!

The second cd contains ten more awesome live tracks that kick off with the brilliant keyboard orintated "Time For Big Fun", next up is the second Henry Lee Summer classic "Hey Baby", this songs is amazing and the crowd lap every musical bite of it
up, a rousing "Hands On The Radio" is next and again the crowd goes mental ,Henry then covers "Treat Her Like A Lady" and his famous chants of "AW!!" can be heard through out the song, Henry's band are brilliant, the whole band sound fresh and exciting and sound as if they are having so much fun,a nd you can tell just by listening to Henry's voice that he is clearly marvelliing in his situation, he's a great frontman as the crowd reacts in a rewarding way, it sounds here as if he bought the house right down with this gig, the cd winds up with "Close Enough For Me", and "Just Another Day" with it's spine tingling guitar intro. The very last track is a brand new bonus track full of nifty guitar twanging, and bluesy smokey vocals from Henry.

This is the definate Henry Lee Summer collection, and you gurantee that this cd will be played on New Years eve at my Millemium party. Go buy this sucker now and relish in the talent that is Henry Lee Summer. Hugely recommened!!By the way this is only limited to a 1000 signed copies!!!

Rating: 9/10 (Review by Nicky Baldrian)

(MOON PIE MUSIC)

This cd was issued late last year, and was by and large ignored by the music press, so I am using this oppurtunity to urge you all to check out Henry's fifh studio album.

"Smoke And Mirrors" incorporates a mix of blues, pop, country and aor, there's no pretentious bullshit with Henry's music, as this album shows a band having fun in the studio and enjoying their creative voids, the album kicks off with a huge wall of steel guitars on the tiltle track and immediately the song demands you to singalong like a derranged duck slipping and sliding on a frozen pond.

Other tracks to listen out for are "Crazy One You Need" which gets your thumbs clicking, the accoustic "Why Don't You Just Say It",a song that offers a vast amount of musical enjoyment to the listeners ears, also impressive is "Queen Of The Rodeo" a song that gently blasts out of your speakers making you singlaong to every note that Henry sings, the show stealer though is "Earth to Suzi" a song with some nice subtle and dreamy vocals from Henry. This album is a must to any ones collection,as above get it bought!got it, get it, good!!because it is good that is, very good, i'm biased!!!

Rating: 9/10 (Review by Nicky Baldrian)

When I first gave this a listen I really thought we had something special with this band, but very quickly "Hang" became a very boring glam album from Winnipeg glam rockers Dik Trickle.

The first track is quite bombastic and in your face with some really impressive drumming and bass playing,this is very catchy song that reminds me of ZODIAC MINDWARP and POISON. The next track is just straight forward sleeze and the third track "Away From Here" is also catchy and very good, reminding me of DOG'S D'AMOUR, D'MOLLS, GUNS N' ROSES, EVERY MOTHER NIGHTMARE AND LOUD N' NASTY, and that's your lot i'm afraid, this is an eight track cd that is ok but nothing worth flipping over with excitment as some magazines have been keen to point out.

Rating: 5/10 (Review by Nicky Baldrian)

It's amazing this crazy world of music, just when you think you have everything pinned down to a tee, along comes an artist with an extrodanary talent and a backload of albums to discover.

Jeff's latest disc is due to hit the shelves very soon, "T.H.S.O.T.", very much picks off where "Waitng For The Fire" left off. The guitar work is super, and reminds me BRIAN MAY this time, the songs have an early eighties feel to them, "Rock Bottom", is very instant and poppy with refrences to QUEEN, "When I Close My Eyes" is a passioantly sung tune with refrences to Michael Learns To Rock and Chicago, listen to the chorus on this song, gorgeous and serene.

"Kick Back" is a funky electronic number, and "Fallen Heores" is another gentle track with superb singing. The album then totally changes direction with "Alice In Wonderland" a song with many wonderful poppy musical moments, a very haunting and sad song with some nice keyboards, it's left to track six to get the aor flowing again, the song is called "Through The Sands Of Time" and has an ever so slight touch of MARK FREE feel to it. Overall this sin't too bad, perhaps a bit light and feathery in places, but that's Jeff style and as you will hear his music is growing with each album, so i'm staring to get very excited about this artist. As I said, it's amazing when you find someone like this who has loads of albums, and has remained unheard of, until know that is, go and lend a willfull ear to Jeff Pikes music, you may enjoy it as I most certainly did.

Rating: 7/10 (Review by Nicky Baldrian)

JEFF PIKE is a very talented musician, he has a vast musical ability (see my review of VERTICAL SMILE), but it's seems to me that what ever style of music he decides to pursue, you can be guaranteed of some very good music."Waiting For The Fire" is a very smooth easy listening pop/semi-aor album, and it's songs like "Young Hearts" that make his music and songs worthwhile and above all enjoyable.

"Young Hearts" is vocally, an awesome ballad, the keyboards are very cute and are in the style of poppier aor bands like LYNN ALLEN, this is a great and very likeable tune that also features some really terrific sax playing similar to DAVID FOSTER, Jeff's voice lies somewhere inbetween FREDDY CURCI and PHIL VINCENT. "Words And Music" is another keyboard orientated number with uplifting melodies, as does the glorious "Always The One" this track is very pure westcoast aor a'la KYLE VINCENT, BOBBY KIMBALL. This is my favourite track off the album because the song is very singable and memorable and get's your feet tapping like crazy, the lyrics are also sung with great passion,"Fade Away" continues the sensuous luxurioties,actually i could really imagine BONFIRE doing a track like this on their more passionate moments, lol!!

The next song "Believe In Me" is a little more uptempo and has a nice chorus and melody line,"Butterfly Lady" has some small progressive pieces mixed into the poppy melody that works quite well and "What I Find In You" round things off with another neat little hat trick from Jeff, but my favorite song is the afforementioned "Young Hearts" but I enjoyed this cd and I think you will to. Email Jeff at: A1AJPIKE@aol.com

Rating: 6,5/10 (Review by Nicky Baldrian)

BLITZ DYNAMITE play soul, kinda like BLUE MOON JUNCTION ,a modern MICHAEL BOLTON,JAN HAMMER, DAVID SANBORN ,and THE BRAND NEW HEAVIES , this is a nice album that has a tasty combination of musical treats that are often quite catchy and powerful. There isn't alot of refrences to melodic rock music with this one, but as I said it's a nice listen and I think that I will be going back to this one quite a bit.

Top songs must go to "We All Fall Down", a song with a big swing and loads of sax and a nice guitar section from Forrest Brown. Other great songs are the ballad "You Can't Call This Living", Amy Simpson's voice is awesome on this track!! "Fire" is a very rocking rock n' roll song, I can't remember who originally covered this song,but what I can remember that another version was featured in WAYNE'S WORLD when TIA CARRERE sang it live on stage!! This is a great version that suits the bands music to a tee. Overall this is a bit left field of melodic rock but if BLUE MOON JUNCTION can get reviewed here then so can BLITZ DYNETTE . Good effort, but not essential. Contact at: forrest@blitzdynette.com

Rating: 6/10 (Review by Nicky Baldrian)

Chris Phillips is another hot female artist from Melbourne, Austarlia. Chris' music is loosley based around gentle and soothing late night music,she has a very warm voice that reminds me of PAT BENATAR and LEIGH MATTY from ROMEOS DAUGHTER This is seven track mini album that is very one-paced, I really enjoyed the up-tempo radio friendly accoustic rocker "Sometimes" which reminded me of JAIME KYLE.

Also well cool is "I'm Here Too", but the real high point of this album is the last track "Eternity" which is a nice and tender slow burner in the style of HEART and BABY ANIMALS. Overall a nice little album, i'm looking forward to hearing lots more from
Chris Phillips in the future.

Rating: 6,5/10 (Review by Nicky Baldrian)

Now this is a blessed band, they have talent, lots of it, the only thing letting them down is that the lyrics are sung in their native lanuguage Japanese. "Under The 2nd Dance" is their first album and songs like "Moonlight Dance" remind me of some of the more progressive rock bands, like SPOCK'S BEARD , the song has many gratfying musical elements, like the STEVE STEVENS style guitar heroics, then the song settles down into some nice riffs, that remind of KING'S X and musically not vocally DAVID LEE ROTH's last album.

A lot of this cd is based around jazzy guitar music, and it's done very tastefully, I keep going back to the majority of the songs on this album as they have very good structures and recognisable beats , but without running the band down, I feel that their market is going to be very limited unless they get a singer who can sing in English. Then I do think Dazzle Puzzle have what it takes to go quite far. Other cool tracks are the swinging "Rock In Bed", "Sex Beat" is also really good and really rocking in a STUART HAMM, LIVING COLOUR, STEVIE SALAS, KING OF THE HILL (now there was a cool and groovy band, what happened to them?) manner. The rest of the album continues it's varied style and shows of a band with pen for writing a good tune or two.

Rating: 7/10 (Review by Nicky Baldrian)

"Jack Of All Trades" is the bands all new cd, this is a five track cd, that continues in the same vein as "Under The 2nd Moon", I really like the track "Struggle Foe Existence", this is an awesome song that just builds and builds into a fine hard rocking instrumental song reminding me of STEVE STEVENS and JOE SATRIANI with a touch of SHAWN LANE..

"Elephant Train" also features some intresting playing and sits nicely along side the traditonal playing of MICHAEL LEE FIRKINS. This whole cd is instrumental guitar rock of a very high calibre, but in all honestly I really wanted to hear some songs that are sung in English from this band, as I have a feeling that they would be worth their weight in gold. Definetley a band to keep your eye on in the future.

Rating: 7/10 (Review by Nicky Baldrian)