Toby Hitchcock is one of the voices of the last decade or so. Since his Pride Of Lions debut, his powerful tenor has been front and centre for some of the genre’s best anthems and most epic ballads. Any Toby Hitchcock is good Toby Hitchcock. And for the most part, this album is no different. Songs are delivered by the who’s who of the AOR scene, with at least another 4-5 classic songs here – Queen Untouchable, Promise Me, No Surrender and This Is Our World. Man, the guy can sing.
I like that a lot of the album is uptempo and flows at a pretty hectic pace. I don’t think this is as strong as Toby’s Erik Martensson-helmed debut. Even though this album is also a Swedish production, the differences are quite stark. Reckoning sounds firmly planted in the 80s, with the keyboards and production style a more distinct European in flavour.
The songs are enjoyable but not to the same level as the debut or Pride Of Lions. There is one issue that desperately needs to be addressed. The keyboards. We need to talk about the keyboards. As has been the case with all Daniel Flores productions, the keyboards dominate. They are the highest element in the mix, aside from vocals and there are just way too many layers of them. There is no letup in the sonic bombardment. There needs to be more space for the rest of the instrumentation to breathe. Even during guitar solos the keyboards still dominate.
I like Daniel a lot – very talented and sweet guy – but there must be an intervention. The keyboards are simply overbearing, and the production style is becoming very repetitive. Find Me (all 3), the second First Signal album, the Palace debut, Cry Of Dawn and now Toby Hitchcock – largely all sound the same.
So moving forward I hope some individual personality can be infused into these projects. And that's the main essence of what's missing here - its own personality. That said, there’s still plenty to enjoy and Toby’s vocals are powerful, emotional and totally immersive. Fans of Find Me, Daniel’s other AOR work and 80s keyboard melodic rock will enjoy.
It's nothing like the previous Hart solo albums and its nothing like the Bad Company record Robert recorded in the 90s.
However, it is a very fine piece of music - both in terms of production and performance. Its also far more direct in its musical vision than past Hart projects.
This is a pure 80s pop/AOR album with a very sound specific feel, driven by catchy songs and a very strong vocal performance.
Much hype for this debut album from this Los Angeles based melodic rock band, touted as a modern equivalent to the Big 3 (Foreigner, Styx and Journey).
And despite the obvious shortcomings in the album’s production quality, the opening anthem ‘Until The Dawn’ certainly gets your attention. Unfortunately, that’s clearly the album’s best track.
The guys have talent and the singer has a sure set of lungs on him, but when the album is dominated by ballads (a couple of very good ones) and the rockers fall short, the song consistency comes to light and the production issue becomes something that can’t be ignored.
I compare this more to Two Fires – a band with huge potential and great performers – who couldn’t get all elements to come together for that killer album.
Normally anything with the name Magnus Karlsson attached to the credits would be an instant blind purchase. No questions asked! His output with Allen/Lande, Codex, Starbreaker and his own Free Fall project has been nothing short of exemplary.
Now we have The Ferrymen, a project with vocalist Ronnie Romero (Lords Of Black, Rainbow), together with drummer Mike Terrana. I struggled with this from day one. And I kept at it because its Mangnus Karlsson right? But it didn’t take. Now after a month without listening, I’m again playing at maximum volume and really soaking up that monster guitar and rhythm section Magnus so easily delivers. But the vocals still aren’t doing it for me.
I’m used to a warmer, more melodic tone to accompany Magnus’ work. But more pointedly – I’m really still failing to connect with the songs themselves. The opening bombastic anthem End Of The Road is cool; Still Standing Up has a good vocal melody and the ballad One Heart certainly has impact.Tracks like Darkest Hour have the ingredients there, but just don’t have the warmth of past material.
The songs just aren’t there and the vocals leave me cold I’m afraid to say. There’s no issue at all with the musical performances or production, it is just a project that looked good on paper, but failed to deliver in reality.
Once you get past the absolutely horrendous “drum” sound and the somewhat muddy mix, the new House Of Lords (or on this occasion, House Of Spiro), offers some of the band’s best tunes in several years. A production budget would have raised the quality of this record to sit alongside some of my favourite HOL records.
I love the return to a more interesting musical landscape, a touch progressive even, much like parts of Sahara and Demon’s Down. The overall energy is similar to Demon’s Down too. But this is a different band again. As suggested earlier, the biggest influence and difference here is the genius of Mark Spiro. He has co-written most of the album, with his influence so strong there are at least 3, maybe 4 songs that are more Spiro than HOL. He is simply all over this record and his vocals can be heard on most tracks. In fact, he could feel unjustly denied a duet credits on We’re All That We Got and Better Off Broken. His influence over Change (What's it Gonna Take) delivers one of my favourite House Of Lords songs in years, The Both Of Us also impresses. The guys lose the plot a little towards the end, $5 Bucks Of Gasoline is about as catchy as it sounds and The Chase goes nowhere.
Overall, despite that drum sound and the overall missing production elements, this is a very enjoyable record and their best in a few years. Spiro and James Christian have delivered some great songs for the most part and most of the record runs very smoothly.
I seem to have gained a reputation for disliking Bon Jovi. Giving Burning Bridges a 10% grading might have helped propel that train of thought for some, and my views on This House Is Not For Sale, This Left Seems Right, Lost Highway, What About Now and The Circle certainly wouldn’t have helped.
Now I look at it, I actually dislike more Bon Jovi album than I like. I’ve never broken it down like that before. This revelation should say more about the band than my personal critiques. I hold their first 5 albums in high regard and worship at the feet of New Jersey.
I also think Have A Nice Day is one of the better examples of a classic band updating their sound and still kicking ass.
With 2020 being universally regarded as the year of Satan’s armpit, it may not have been the wisest idea to give your big new album the same moniker. Perhaps though, it is quite fitting for the wrong reasons.
We all know the great Americana singer/songwriter Jonnie B Jovee wishes to take his place alongside fellow rockers Bruce Springsteen and John Mellencamp, but he’s missing more than one ingredient that makes those two legends the icons they are.
Jonny B Jovee could have been a legend in his own standing had he just stuck to what he did best. Of course, his voice will no longer play along and his lifelong writing partner Richie Sambora bailed in 2013, so fans have to live through his midwestern acoustic heartland rock dreams with him.
For me the album holds just one track of note and that is the lead track Limitless. It remains me a little of the modern rock Have A Nice Day vibe, just without the voice.
There’s a couple of token rockers thrown in, but the majority of this album is comprised of self-aware slow to mid-tempo tracks, carrying forward the album’s political and social messages.
That part doesn’t bother me - for the most part, I’m on a similar page as Jon’s political commentary, but you don’t have to be boring to make a point.
The deluxe edition adds two more utterly lifeless ballads and a duet of the uptempo Bruce Mellencamp styled Do What You Can.
I’d love to say that Bon Jovi are back, but they’re not. Jonny B Jovi is however and if you’ve been riding alongside his recent musical path, you’ll know what to expect here.
Jonny sings that ‘we start to die the day we are born’. Same could be said of this album’s sales on release day. Who could ever have imagined the guy that sang Living On A Prayer would one day be versing about chicken farms in Arkansas?
You’d have to be almost dead not to get caught up in the infectious fun that is Tokyo Motor Fist. The name might conjure up thoughts of an ancient form of Japanese bondage, but at least they didn’t name themselves Trixter Danger.
Yes, the most talented Steve Brown (Trixter, Guitar) and the always flamboyant Ted Poley (Danger Danger, vocals) team with the rhythm section of Greg Smith (Ted Nugent, Rainbow, Alice Cooper) and Chuck Burgi (Rainbow, Blue Oyster Cult, Joe Lynn Turner) for what amounts to a meeting of the New Jersey chapter of the Melodic Rock Mafia, to create an infectious slice of classic 80s melodic rock that you just have to rock along with. While the album may not have the polish of a major 80s budget, it does pass the crankability test and shines when at maximum volume.
Following his great recent solo album, Ted Poley again delivers a powerhouse vocal while Steve Brown provides the backbone of the sound, his soulful guitar playing filling the air between hooks and choruses. The album is also a tribute to his songwriting prowess.For the most part this delivers exactly what you’d expect – a mix of modern day Trixter’s smart melodic rock and Danger Danger’s hands in the air party anthems. Look no further than the opening salvo of Pickin' Up The Pieces, Love Me Insane, Gimme Your Good Lovin Shameless and Black And Blue to deliver plus the moody feel good ballads Love, Get You Off My Mind and Don’t Let Me Go work to balance the record and provide breathing space between the rockers.
You're My Revolution brings out the double kick drums for a rousing tempo boost, but its Put Me To Shame and Done To Me where Steve Brown’s connection to Def Leppard seems to get dialled up. For a minute I thought I was listening to Sweden’s Leppard loving Grand Design.
How could fans of the two principle artists not be happy with this? It delivers exactly what you might have been hoping for, perhaps exceeding expectations with the strong hooks and great performances.No complaints here and given the positive fan reaction so far, one would have to think that this will develop further just as the ‘other’ D2 side project The Definants has.
Proof that everything happens eventually, here’s a brand-new AC/DC album, designed to drop some rock n roll healing on a shitty year. Could this be the last ever new AC/DC studio album? Never bet against accadacca but given it has been 6 years since the last album, it’s entirely possible.
Having cranked the contents of ‘PWR/UP’ several times in quick succession, I wouldn’t say the band have delivered a career defining record befitting a grand exit, but they have exceeded expectations to deliver a very credible late-career record that I think will please most fans.
It is true that the guys could possibly have written this album in their sleep and there is no deviation from the style or delivery of the last several records, but there is something very comforting about new AC/DC tunes.
Twelve tracks at 41 minutes in length should give an accurate summary of the contents here. I am comfortable stating that the first 4 tracks are amongst their best in many a year. Realize is a superb opener, with Rejection, the single Shot In The Dark and Through The Mists Of Time all delivering great riffs and hooks.
Elsewhere it’s a pretty consistent run. Only track 8, Wild Reputation, drags significantly for me.
I do wonder how good this would have been with someone like Bob Rock or Kevin Shirley at the helm. The lack of urgency and a harder hitting sound is what I think it missing from latter day records.
Brian Johnson sounds as good as ever, which I’m really pleased about. He’s one of the good guys.
God bless AC/DC, may their reign over metal heads until the end of time itself.
Kreek was first formed in the summer of 2019 after Bigfoot parted ways with frontman Antony Ellis, who went on to form this new group.
I personally found the Bigfoot debut to be fairly likable and a solid album. Unfortunately for Ellis, Kreek doesn’t carry the warmth or appeal of Bigfoot over to the new band.
In fact, one of the weakest aspects of the Kreek debut are the lead vocals of Ellis. His tone and delivery just aren’t what they were in Bigfoot.
Also missing are the songs. I honestly can’t find a lasting appeal with any of these songs and now reviewed, probably won’t revisit this album ever again.
Its not melodic rock. Its not quite hard rock. Its not quite sleaze and it’s not straight-ahead rock. I think it lacks personality and the quality of songs are just not there.
Production is average, songs are average and the vocals are very average.
::: NITRATE returns with “Renegade” on July 30th, 2021! :::
(c) Nitrate/ Nick Hogg
Nitrate is back with their third album; ‘Renegade’, a follow on to their previous highly rated albums ‘Realworld’ in 2018 and ‘Openwide’ in 2019, which achieved great success. Inspired by the late 80’s rock scene with bands such as Def Leppard, Europe, Motley Crue, and Bon Jovi, Nitrate is the brainchild of song writer Nick Hogg (bass guitar) from Nottingham England. Nick has this time changed the line-up and enlisted Alexander Strandell (Art Nation) to take over on Lead Vocals & has teamed up with Tom & James Martin (Vega) & Mikey Wilson (Kimber) to produce an album that has been heavily influenced by Def Leppard’s ‘Hysteria’. With Tom Martin playing all the rhythm guitars and James Martin taking over on Keyboards the album delivers a more melodic/AOR feel than ever before. Renegade delivers 11 Hook filled tracks with great melodies, walls of keyboards and backing vocals supplied by Alessandro Del Vecchio. Tracks were inspired from bands such as Def Leppard, Starship, Journey, Skid Row, and Roxette making for a true 80s sound. Taking over on Lead Guitar is Dario Nikzad (Hell to Play).
Nitrate is: Nick Hogg - Bass Guitar, Alexander Strandell - Lead vocals, Tom Martin - Rhythm Guitars, James Martin - Keyboards, Dario Nikzad - Lead guitars, Mikey Wilson - Drums p; & additional guitar and keyboards, Alessandro Del Vecchio - Backing vocals;
Produced by Tom & James Martin & Mikey Wilson; Mastered by Alessandro Del Vecchio; Engineered by Tom & James Martin, Mikey Wilson, Alexander Strandell, Dario Nikzad, Alessandro Del Vecchio & Paul J King
Music recorded at Strandell Studios - Sweden, Osborne Studios - UK, Ivorytears Music Works - Italy, Soundwave Studios - UK
Mixed by Mikey Wilson ; Mastered at Ivorytears Music Works
All songs written by Nick Hogg, Tom Martin & James Martin Except ‘Alibi’ & Children of the Lost Brigade’ Written by Nick Hogg & Rob Wylde & ‘Renegade’ written by Tom Martin, James Martin & Nick Workman
::: STEPHEN CRANE & DUANCE SCIACQUA team up for “Big Guns”! :::
Big Guns was formed in 1985 as a direct follow up to the record “KICKS” by Stephen Crane (MCA 1984). Due to Irving Azoff’s departure and the ensuing shake up at MCA that year, KICKS was left without any marketing or promotional funds and was basically ‘Dead on Arrival’ and did not chart. Although, interestingly enough, the record has subsequently been re-released two times in Europe and has received rave reviews!
As a result of MCA’s inability to promote the album and band, Stephen Crane and Duane Sciacqua continued their quest to write and record new songs that were, and still are relevant in the world of Rock! Joined by then band member, Johnny Burnett (RIP), Crane and Sciacqua soon enlisted fellow band mates Paul Daniel (drums), and Matt MacKelvie (guitars, keys, vocals) and created “BIG GUNS”. They began a series of recordings with engineer Brett Gurewitz at his Hollywood studio. Crane and Sciacqua wrote, or co-wrote, and produced the songs that would become their self-titled album “BIG GUNS”. The band became a staple playing around Hollywood at the ROXY, FM Station, and other well-known rock venues. They received label interest but could never reach an amicable agreement and their search waned - players moved on, lives changed and BIG GUNS faded into the Rock n Roll sunset.
Many years later as good fortune would have it, the once forgotten Stephen Crane album (KICKS) received its popular acclaim, and the search for the long forgotten tapes was on. Georg Siegl at AOR Heaven, sought out guitarist Sciacqua for material, and the re-emergence of BIG GUNS was underway. After searching through the archives of years past, Sciacqua found the missing BIG GUNS tapes and through careful remastering and some re-recording was able to render the 10 tracks that make up the album.
This project stands as a monument to the songwriters, the singers and the players who dedicated their time and talents to comprise their self-titled album “BIG GUNS”.
:::TUPLE releases new video for ”Welcome To Hell” today!” :::
“Welcome To Hell” (out today) is the follow-up to the highly-acclaimed “Wooden Box” album by TUPLE which was released in 2020 via AOR Heaven and resulted in a charty entry in the native country of this Finnish artist.
Finland is well-known for its Heavy Metal roots. Far and wide comes the list of Metal bands that are known all around the world. But there’s also a strong Melodic Rock/AOR community. Bands that rely, not only on heavy riffing, but also strong melodies and larger-than-life keyboards. TUPLE is a good example of it. Catchy songs, great melodies, fine artistry.
To celebrate today’s album release, TUPLE has released another video today:
Who on earth wants a Goo-y Christmas album? This monstrosity of cheese soaked, soggy cardboard ‘music’ is the ultimate 2020 ‘fuck you’ to fans of this once great band. As if everything else this shit sandwich of a year has served up isn’t enough, the Goo’s end all hope for humanity with this ultimate betrayal of everything the band once stood for. This almost makes me wish for a shit sandwich. More like a soggy lettuce hemorid.
Yes, I hate Christmas albums. Yes, I hate most Christmas songs, although there’s a handful out there that allow me to stop saying bah humbug long enough to enjoy.
And yes, the most recent Goo Goo Dolls output has been largely uninspiring. It’s been a long while since Long Way Down and Slide ruled the airwaves and the band sounded half interested in rocking their fanbase.
But this horrendous record is simply too much. Safe, boring, cheesy and lazy are its good qualities. This is so insipid it makes Wham sound like Napalm Death. One of their kids even sings lead on one track. I don’t even care enough to find out who. It will never pass my ears again.
From tracks that sound more like a badly imitated Tom Petty (his track opens the record) to jazzy Michael Buble standards, this is almost criminally bad.
Only the original track This Is Christmas (which is basically the sappy parts of Iris re-written) has anything remotely connected to the band’s past sound.
No redeeming features to this at all. Horrible. It gives new meaning to the word bland and if your ears can stomach all 30-odd minutes of this disaccharide goo, a good blast of the aforementioned Napalm Death is required to cleanse one’s musical palate.
Not sure how to categorize this one. Perhaps if Poison were a Christian band from the Midwest?
Martin Perticone is the Argentinian behind the band, but to my ears there is still a lot of work to do to take the next step and compete with today’s melodic rock artists.
The production and mix feel underdone and the songs are a little awkward in places as a result.
Steve Overland (FM) takes lead vocals on the opening track, but I didn’t even pick it was him such is the mix. Eric Martin takes lead vocal on two versions of the same song – a present enough acoustic driven pop rocker. After those tracks there is only 6 others to take in and while uplifting in its premise, the finished product feels like half an album. It needed more songs and a sharper sound to make an impact. And something completely different for the artwork. It looks like record for an independent rap artist.
A nice throwback to old school harmonies and a mixed acoustic/electric uptempo approach, but like I said, still a lot of work to do.
US melodic hard rockers SHAD should be well known to readers of MelodicRock. Their 2 singles to date have created solid interest, but now that’s all going to go into overdrive thanks to one of the classiest EPs I’ve heard in a long while.
I generally avoid EPs as I like a full plate of music, but the 5 tracks offered up here on ‘5ive’ – all powered by hotshot producer Bob St. John – pack the equivalent punch of many full albums.
Produced & Engineered by Bob St. John at PDQ Studio, Miami and then backed up with mastering by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound, SHAD’s new EP puts them on the same playing field as the big boys.
Not only with the sonic quality and expert mix, but also by delivering 5 compelling, enjoyable solid rock anthems.
Back To You, Fool, Belittle, Today & Poor Excuse are five different tracks that work alone and also together, as the sound and the sequence of the tracks takes the listener on the same kind of journey a full album normally would.
Crunchy guitars, real drums, thumping bass are all clearly audible in the mix, then add some big layered chorus harmonies.
The sound is hard rock, commercial American – not necessarily 80s – but an amalgamation of what made the late 80s/early 90s so good with an updated feel. There’s a touch of blues, a little funk, but mainly its just all rock. Very loud, very good rock!
The mighty Jeff Scott Soto celebrates his birthday week with the release of a brand-new solo album that seems him paired for the first time with Frontiers in-house go to guy Alessandro Del Vecchio. That will draw some automatic presumptions over the sound and style of this record, which I must immediately dispel.
This is not a project release that has Jeff phoning in his vocals. Fans of Jeff will already know that he doesn’t put his name on anything that doesn’t include his heavy involvement, and this is even more true of a record that bares his name.
Tasked with production and music, Alessandro has worked in partnership with Jeff, who wrote all the lyrics and additional melodies. And the in-house band isn’t the usual ADV crew, with long-time Soto/JSS drummer Edu Cominato taking command of the kit and really belting out a powerful performance.
What I love about this record – and what I told Jeff after he sent me the album some months ago - was that I thought Alessandro had done a superb job in crafting a set of songs that play like a JSS Greatest Hits record. Throughout the record you hear parts of Jeff’s career, solo as well as a taste of Talisman, Yngwie Malmsteen and even WET. I can hear parts of Lost In The Translation, Prism and Damage Control.
Wide Awake (In My Dreamland) sounds like the best of all parts of Jeff’s career, wrapped up in a seriously well produced and sounding package. On top of that, Jeff himself sounds as fresh as ever.
This is a classic Jeff Scott Soto record.
To showcase just a few of the songs, the album opens with one of the best solo tracks of Jeff’s career is the Talisman sounding Someone To Love, this is just everything fans love about Jeff.
Paper Wings again heads back to the heavy groove of Talisman, mixed with some Yngwie guitar hero stylings.
The heavy but melodic Love Will Find A Way has groove, funk and driving attitude that wraps up several eras in one song.
Between The Lines is a superb AOR ballad while the dark and heavy Wide Awake (In My Dreamland) is almost at the opposite end of Jeff’s spectrum.
No filler, just winner after winner, with the inspired paring of ADV and JSS really delivering for fans. As already stated, this is the best of JSS comprising of 11 new songs and another killer live set as a 10 track bonus disc.
Wig Wam in 2021 is exactly what I pictured after announcing their welcomed return. At times delivering mixed results in the last few years of their first run at fame.
Older, more mature and pretty much perfectly aware of what the name means to fans and what is expected of them, Wig Wam deliver on Never Say Die.
A little heavier, a little more contemporary (darker) and a little more straight ahead, this album is chock full of big anthems, big guitars and big attitude.
I hate 90 second intros and I’m still not completely sold on the second full track Hypnotized, nor the late in the album instrumental Northbound, but everywhere else I’m hypnotized!
The band have seldom sounded so good – the powerhouse approach works, and the big budget sound certainly ensures all songs are presented in their best light.
For those unfamiliar with my affinity with Night Ranger, they’ve been close to my favourite band since 1985 and have rarely disappointed throughout their distinguished recording career.
They’re also responsible for a couple of my most loved live albums over the years.
Add in solo albums, favourite songs and general songwriting prowess and you should get the picture - Night Ranger are melodic rock royalty.
With that status, each album is therefore highly anticipated. For a band recording since 1982, with 12 studio albums to their name (yes, I’m including the marvellous Mojo record), they have a remarkably consistent catalogue. And in the last decade they have continued to prove that veteran bands can still deliver fresh, energetic and engaging new music.
The guys peaked with the flawless Somewhere In California in 2011 and followed it up with the also excellent High Road in 2014. Don’t Let Up slipped a little off the pace in 2017, so fans were anxiously awaiting the band’s 2021 statement.
And I’m sorry to deliver the point of view that the band has missed a step here, delivering for me at least, their weakest album since 2007s inconsistent, modern-rock dominated Hole In The Sun album. And the reasons are very similar to why. Basically, the band has again veered off path, leaving some of their much-loved trademark sound behind. There are less harmonies, much less keyboards and a whole lot less of Kelly Keagy on this record. And while the band’s most popular songs showcase their knack of delivering emotional uplifting mid-tempo anthems, here the band is either rocking hard, or not. There’s not much middle ground.
Track By Track:
Opening with the furious rocker Coming For You, the band are off to a flying start and make up for the lack of a sing-along chorus with added raw power.
Bring It All Home To Me adds those layered with harmonies, which is a plus and its dominated by some sterling shred work from Brad Gillis, which culminates in the closing minute, but overall the song straddles the line between styles. Strip the guitars and add a banjo and it wouldn’t sound out of place on country radio. A theme that makes repeated appearances on ATBPO.
Breakout sees a welcomed increase in keyboard presence and is another track that races along at breakneck speed. Being the lead single there are considerable public comment on this track and many bemoan the lack of a big chorus. I say that note and appreciate the excellent melodic bridge that leads into the short, sharp chorus. A track that sounds great to me.
Hard To Make It Easy is the first major left turn and will be one of the songs I edit out on my playback version. I simply don’t need honky-tonk Night Ranger and while the song ‘rocks’, it isn’t in a way I can appreciate and is another almost-country song.
On the first ballad of the album, Can’t Afford A Hero, the band stop hiding behind the pseudo-country hints and come out as a full country flavour acoustic driven track that’s more Shaw/Blades or Garth Brooks than Night Ranger. I’m sad to say it’s another hard pass for me.
Now, the start of Cold As December has my full and immediate attention. The opening riffs and melody hint at an anthem of epic proportions, with intricate keyboard and guitar parts lighting up my ears. But without warning at the 48 second mark, the song abandons the entire premise to become another pretty bland screamy hard rocker. The melodic refrain makes a brief return at 3.35 for a few seconds, but I’m left wondering where that song went and why we were left with the one here.
Dance is a feel good mid-to-up tempo rocker with another strong Shaw/Blades vibe and a reasonable chorus, but again, it’s not Night Ranger.
The ballad The Hardest Road sees the first appearance of Kelly Keagy on lead vocals. Where has he been? It’s a warm vocal, but the song is reminiscent of the other Beatlesque ballads Night Ranger have delivered on the last two albums.
The attitude filled hard rocker Monkey has some recent era Night Ranger familiarity to it, but the chorus is horrible. “‘Cause I’m your monkey, well I’m your money, I’ll be your junkie?” Guys…c’mon.
A Lucky Man is another decent track, but it’s another with a strong rock-n-country-pop vibe and I just don’t think this is Night Ranger.
Closing the album is a good rocker sung by Kelly again, which is welcomed. Tomorrow is one of the more traditional Night Ranger sounding tracks and will likely rate as one of the fan favourites.
And that is And The Band Played On. Honestly, as much as I love all things Night Ranger, I’m not afraid to make a stand when something doesn’t live up to my high expectations.
To me, this is more a Jack Blades solo album. And that isn’t meant as an insult in any way. Rather it is more a point of reference to describe what I think this album is. Less ‘Night Ranger’ and more dominated by outside influences and styles. Ones I’d rather hear on solo albums, than on a new Night Ranger album. We only get them every 3-4 years, so for me, I want to hear Night Ranger at their very best each time.
I might add for the record - I'm not at all opposed to a band trying something different, but to do that successfully, the songs really have to be there. For me, that isn’t happening here.
Swedish melodic rock outfit Wildness are back with their second album, now featuring the very versatile lead vocals of Erik Forsberg. The band go back and forth between styles - Erik going higher on several songs but a more powerful lower pitch on others. All with equal effect thanks to some strong songwriting and a traditional 80s, keyboard friendly style, that has a good strong current production (and a big drum sound too) thanks to the band’s drummer/producer Erik Modin and Erik Wigelius' magnificent mix and master.
This is a nice mix of old meets new, with a classic Scandi-AOR feel. Sometimes you don’t need a lot of words to describe the package and that’s the case here. There’s an abundance of sharp guitar solos and keyboard swirls and the tempo is fairly fast moving.
A couple of the moodier tracks veer off closer to symphonic territory, such is their epicness. It adds a fresh dimension to the album.
Ultimate Demise might sound a bit dramatic for a record titles of this kind, but it certainly delivers for fans of this genre and the more traditional elements of it. Great stuff.
I absolutely love this album. It has everything I love about the two principles behind it and a added freshness that has been missing in some recent AOR releases.
Art is Work Of Art – that is, vocalist Lars Safsund, who is his usual blindingly good self, delivering a classic vocal that gives me the best of WOA, but more so, I hear him stretching out with some of the more adventurous material on offer and he knocks it out of the park.
Illusion is one of my favourite pomp songwriters, Grand Illusion’s songwriter/producer Anders Rydholm. Fans of Grand Illusion can hear Anders’ trademark pomp AOR all over this record and there are a few tracks which could easily be Grand Illusion tracks.
But there’s so much more on offer here. There are a few tracks that are completely bananas. It’s part classic rock opera and part falsetto overture and it sounds so good. Lars is extraordinary in his varied vocal delivery. There’s Queen, ELO and Styx influences throughout.
But it isn’t every track – its mixed in and around some traditional WOA style keyboard-AOR mixed in with some typical Grand Illusion pomp. There is a good dose of piano and some sentimental ballads, but also a few driving guitar tracks.
All in all it is quite the mix, but the superb quality of the songs and the performances make it work cohesively.
I won’t make a point of highlighting any particular songs as id like the listener to hear it fresh start to finish. Just be assured that this is a quality piece of work.
This could be the most pointless review ever written.
Rabid Yngwie fans will no doubt agree. But for the rest of you, I will explain.
Yngwie is Yngwie. An no amount of words with stop Yngwie being Yngwie. So why bother?
Yngwie is a one man show – he does everything himself. He takes no advice, believes his own self-written press releases, has an ego the size of the empty Marshall stacks he ridiculously piles up on stage and is basically a self-declared shred icon.
So, any review of an Yngwie album that doesn’t tug on the girth of his titanic ego will be met with derision. I’ve read a couple of good reviews for this album, which makes me wonder if the audio for those was heard via a shortwave radio transmission to the mountains of Uzbekistan, as there is no sane rationale for anyone to hear this and not think that it sounds like a big sonic turd.
The drum sound alone is worthy of instant rejection by normally functioning ears. It sounds like they lowered a kit into a medieval mud-filled well and recorded whatever was able to be played with a RadioShack microphone from the top.
Yngwie’s vocals are as warm as a used tray of kitty litter and the shredding is so intent on the one purpose of million-degree shredding, that the album cover itself began to melt.
In his desire to be seen as a faultless guitar-bass-drum-vocal-production-mixer-engineer-cello-everything-god, he makes the same mistake for the forth album in a row. There is no self-awareness in play here. Yngwie can play – I have every album from his first decade – but he can’t and shouldn’t do it all.
Hire a producer, hire a drummer, hire a bassist, hire a vocalist, hire ANYONE that will actually work with you. And work together on something that doesn’t sound like it was recorded by a self-obsessed raving lunatic.
Like I said. It’s all pointless. Almost like the score for this album.
Fee, where have you been?!! Fronting The Tubes reunion shows mostly… but it doesn’t matter – he’s back! And Richard Marx is with him once again. The singer/songwriter/producer is the foundation that this record is built upon, with a MVP performance delivered.
Popping up for a cameo is Michael Landau and Matt Scannell on a couple of tracks.
For physical collectors the package is a flimsy cardboard thing that you can barely pull the CD out of. My pet hate without doubt.
Musically though there are no disappointments here. From the opening hard rock of Faker to the anthemic masterpiece How Dare You (classic Fee), to the funk-riff-rock of Don’t Want To Pull The Trigger onwards through the album via a modern rock ballad in Say Goodbye, a lyrically biting Promise Land, the moody Man Of The World (more classic Fee) and three more classy rock songs.
Only 9 tracks here over 33 minutes, but there isn’t a filler in sight or a minute wasted. This is all Fee Waybill at his very best and Richard Marx does a superb job producing it and co-writing all tracks with Fee.
Sharp, snappy, loud – everything you could wish for from a Fee Waybill record. Another essential purchase here I dare say.
The second Joel Hoekstra’s 13 album does everything a sophomore album is supposed to do. It has improved upon every aspect of the debut, which itself was already a great record. But this is even better and the pleasing aspect is it delivers improvements in all departments.
Better production, better songs, better guitar work, all delivered in a more cohesive package.
The band featured on Running Games is sensational. The great Russell Allen is the only featured vocalist, which gives the record that band feel, more so than the guest vocalists scattered across the debut. Joining in the fun is Tony Franklin (bass), Vinny Appice (drums), and Derek Sherinian (keyboards). Jeff Scott Soto lends a helping hand with background vocals.
Running Games is a heavier record, yet more melodic and more accessible thanks to some very commercial songs and Russell Allen’s perfectly attuned vocals.
To say Joel is an accomplished guitarist is an understatement, but it is still nice to hear him doing exactly what he wants in his own project, writing music and lyrics and controlling every aspect of the sound. It is clearly a labor of love, as we all know the label wouldn’t be covering all costs involved.
So Joel should be very proud of the results. There’s a nice balance between the heavy and the melody and between the pace of various tracks. 13 tracks and over an hour of music flies by in no time at all as the flow is never allowed to drag at any point.
A top class hard rock record that will further entrench Joel as one of the scene’s most respectable and reliable musicians.
What a way to make your solo debut. Overshadowed by the recent death of his legendary father, Wolfgang Van Halen has to balance shifting focus on to his own long planned career, while still in deep mourning for his dad – his biggest fan. Helping the two worlds connect is a very personal single, clearly written with Eddie in mind.
What pressure it must be to have literally millions of Van Halen fans standing by to critique every second of your first solo offering to the world.
I think some of that angst is wrapped up in this song, which I honestly think is remarkable for all of the above reasons, and for the most important reason – it’s a fucking great song.
‘Distance’ features a warm vocal with Wolf’s own unique tone immediately evident. There’s some space for it to soar towards the close, a very melodic yet powerful sound on offer, mixing acoustic and electric guitars with a modern beat, yet a very classic rock feel. Its modern rock with a huge commercial edge. Great production too.
There’s a lot to absorb here – all of it good. Can’t wait for the full album, I love songs like this.
No need for any introduction to Neal Schon. The guitar legend delivered his long awaited new solo album late last year and has been almost universally praised and appreciated.
So I will simply add to the chorus of platitudes that this wonderful piece of work has already been laiden with.
One of Neal's most expressive solo instrumental albums to date, the 15 track/70 minute record touches a myriad of emotions and musical styles, all under the direction of producer/multi-instrumentalist and songwriter (plus new Journey drummer) Narada Michael Walden.
The album sounds a million bucks and is one of those types of records that you can just hear all the time and effort that's gone into it. Smooth, sultry, rocking and complex. Love it!
Rock Sugar’s debut was one of the finest records and without doubt the most fun record of its time. It’s taken what seems like a decade for a new album to appear – wow, it really has been a decade and a touch! Yes, 11 years since the debut, the class clowns from the school of rock are back and firing on even more cylinders than ever.
If the debut was an experiment gone right, then Reinventinator is a mad-scientist’s end of year ball.
Why restrict yourself to mashing two or three songs together when you can do five or six or even - holy shit – 10!! This is a sure-fire party favourite and it takes many listens to unweave the madness that is each song and the ultra-complicated structures within.
True genius or utter madness will be up to the individual listener, but I can’t say enough, just how good the band performances are and just how well Jess Harnell is able to inhibit the personality of each vocalist on the many songs featured.
And the production is top shelf-big dollar stuff – clear, crisp and loud.
Where else are you going to hear classic songs by Guns N Roses, Motley Crue, Heart, Led Zeppelin, Queen alongside (or inside?) others by Survivor, Toto, Adele, Tears For Fears and Stevie Nicks.
We all need a laugh, and this record is funny but it’s no joke. Its just killer classic hard rock in a fun, non-stop party kinda vibe.
Synth-wave AOR outfit Magic Dance quickly established themselves as a leader in the retro-genre, but for their newest album, the band has updated their sound to a more contemporary modern rock production and song style.
There are still waves of synth and more keyboards than a Yamaha outlet store, and while the change is subtle, it definitely heralds a different approach.
The vocal style remains in place as do the lush keyboards, but the direction chosen has changed the way the songs are structured, and the band has lost some of their unique 80s sound in an attempt to reach a wider audience.
The song writing is not nearly as catchy or unique and I’m hearing strong hints of modern melodic rockers Anberlin in amongst this album.
That all said, this is still a very enjoyable romp, with a distinct sound driving the largely uptempo album. I’m just struggling to identify individual songs and if given the choice, would rather the sound of the past.
