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HOT NEW REVIEWS
UPDATED JANUARY 4 - 2015
SILVIA ‘CALLING YOU’ (INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT)
Originally
from Uruguay, but now living in the Nashville area for 13 years,
singer-songwriter SILVIA DUARTE has been working on her career for most of her
life. She was kind enough to sent me a CDR filled with
7 songs she wrote. Musically speaking it is peaceful piano-led Adult
Contemporary Pop that owes a lot to the legendary 1970s major label releases in
that genre. Although she needs to strengthen her vocals a bit more, one can
already hear that she has a good ear for writing a strong melody. E-mail Silvia
at: 7mastersmusic@gmail.com
(Points: 7.3 out of 10)
BRIAN BARNHOUSE ‘CLARIFIED’ (INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT)
Now
here we have something very sensational, straight out of the American
independent scene and living in the middle of the USA, I am proudly presenting
you BRIAN BARNHOUSE, a guitarist/vocalist making his solo debut with
‘Clarified’. His first band was called RAYZE back in 1990, which was pure Classic
80s US Hair Metal a la DOKKEN (check out a video on Brian’s site, which by the
way is a damn catchy tune with superb vocalwork!) and what followed were more
bands, including MOTHER TUNG, with whom he released 2 CDs. All the time he was
in contact with the legendary BOBBY BARTH from AXE, but it took until 2014
before the two would record an album, which is now out! Besides Bobby on guitar
and taking care of the production, also BOB HARRIS from AXE is present on
background vocals and keyboards. ‘Clarified’ is the result of this cooperation
and I must admit, this is a fabulous honest record that shows that good new
AOR/Melodic Rock in it’s traditional format can still
sound sensational. This album is definitely more interesting that the standard
FRONTIERS RECORDS releases, because Brian has delivered an album that can
easily fit between ROBERT TEPPER, CARL DIXON and PAUL LAINE in their 1980s
heydays that is of course. I am a lot of times stunned when I hear the material
of Brian, because this is sounding really good and beating easily most of the
other releases in the genre. 10 songs are included, with a nice variety in
tempo and style, including uptempo songs, midtempo material and (semi) ballads,
which are all filled with catchy hooks, memorable choruses and flashy
guitarwork. The production by Bobby is quite excellent and the absolute
highlights here are the superb uptempo AOR rocker “Never return” (one of 2014’s
finest AOR songs, sounding like a cross between ROBERT TEPPER’s “No easy way
out” and PAUL LAINE’s “Doriana”), “Morning sun” (beautiful semi AOR ballad),
“Tears fall down” (another great AOR rocker, with even a touch of ROXUS),
“Firelady” (once again a fantastic uptempo AOR rocker) and the closing semi
AOR-Rocker/Ballad “Rule the sky”. ‘Clarified’ is an album you absolutely do not
want to miss! Concluded, what we have here is a true winner for every fan of
classic AOR/Melodic Rock out there! Get it a.s.a.p.! More info at: http://www.brianbarnhouse.com
(Points: 9.0 out of 10)
LACROSSE ‘ARE YOU THINKING OF ME EVERY MINUTE OF EVERY DAY’ (TAPETE
RECORDS/SONIC RENDEZVOUS)
Now
this is a great retro early 80s sounding upbeat happy poprock record by the
Swedish female fronted band LACROSSE, whom are delivering their 3rd
album with ‘Are you thinking of me every minute of every day’. Swedish people
exactly know how to come up with a catchy melody and also on this album we can
hear some summer radio-ready hits, such as “I told you so”, “Are you thinking
of me” and “Easter Island”. The band’s sound definitely has similarities to THE
CURE and SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES, but on the other hand it also reminds me of
acts like DEVICE, LUBA, DALBELLO, ANIMOTION, yet minus the big 80s production
which is replaced by an Indie-Pop/early 80s Poprock approach (reminding somehow
of THE MODELS, SHANDI, SHANGHAI, LAURIE AND THE SIGHS, SUE SAAD AND THE NEXT…),
but no matter what you call this, the melodies and choruses are out of the same
1980s perfect-pop hook book. It’s cool to sound 80s again, but LACROSSE does it
with a slightly modern and more electric guitar approach than the
oversynthesizered similar acts in this retro genre. More info at: http://www.lacrosse.nu/
(Points: 8.3 out of 10)
TOM COOPER ‘ON THE LAM’ (WINDOW’S EDGE RECORDS/USA IMPORT)
Out
of Alexandria, VA, USA comes singer/songwriter TOM COOPER, who plays a nice mix
of Blues, Soul and Folk, which reminds one of BOB DYLAN and LENOARD COHEN.
Besides a bunch of original songs, there are also covers, such as a few THE
BEATLES songs, which are covered very nicely here. Tom has got a raw bluesy
voice and also the music feels like you’re in a smokey bar somewhere in the
deep south of the USA. Check out all on Tom at: http://tomcoopermusician.com
(Points: 7.5 out of 10)
OVERLAND ‘EPIC’ (ESCAPE MUSIC)
On
every record where the legendary British singer/songwriter STEVE OVERLAND lends
his amazing vocal skills, we are able to enjoy a good deal of high quality
music and sensational melodies. Also the new OVERLAND record contains
picture-perfect AOR in the familiar STEVE OVERLAND style. Here and there close
to the classic early FM sound, especially during the lovely AOR rockers
“Stranded”, “So this is love” and “Down comes the night”, the midtempo
AOR-University Degree “Liberate my heart” and the slowtempo early 80s sounding
Westcoast/AOR shuffle “If your heart’s not in it”. Steve has done so many great
AOR records the past 10-15 years, mostly for ESCAPE MUSIC and with ‘Epic’ we
can add another great album, on which he by the way gets help from a few
legendary musicians, such as MIKE SLAMER (STREETS, CITY BOY, STEELHOUSE LANE,
SEVENTH KEY), JAY SCHELLEN (HURRICANE, ASIA, UNRULY CHILD), BILLY GREER
(KANSAS, STREETS, SEVENTH KEY) and BILLY TRUDEL (ELTON JOHN, BILLY JOEL).
However we also need to mention guitarist CHRISTIAN WOLFF, who co-wrote most of
the songs and plays fabulous guitarwork on each of the 12 included songs. This
is the way we want to hear someone playing guitar, in the classic STEVE
LUKATHER style! Must-have for anyone who wants to hear high quality pure AOR,
which might be by-the-numbers, but the vocals, the melodies and guitarwork is exceptional!
(Points: 8.7 out of 10)
ARNIE O CONNECTIONS ‘NEURAL EROSION’ (AO MUSIC/AUSTRALIA IMPORT)
Now
this is a real surprise from Down Under, because ARNIE O CONNECTIONS is pure
1980s AOR, including the catchy hooks, big melodies and crystal clear sound.
One of the involved musicians is LORD TIM, who of course is best known as the
band leader of DUNGEON, one of Australia’s finest Melodic Metal bands! The
first album of ARNIE O CONNECTIONS is titled ‘Neural erosion’ and offers some
really great AOR, with opener “Absolute escape” being a fantastic start.
Although the production is not as huge as the classic 80s records, the melodies
are definitely interesting enough to check out if you like for example the
British way of 80s AOR, because I would like to compare the overall sound to
PRAYING MANTIS, MORITZ, MONRO, LIONHEART, TOBRUK, SHOGUN, RIO, STATETROOPER and
such. However, not all of the material is interesting for the AOR fans, because
that there are a couple of different lead singers here and therefore not every
song can be qualified as AOR, because “Nowhere” and “The score” even have a
touch of 80s Gothic (THE MISSION) and “Dolores” and “Touchdown” are pure
punkrockers! The songs with JON HURLEY on vocals are definitely the most AOR
based songs and for example “Fool’s theatre” is a great uptempo piece that has
a touch of “Out in the fields” slipped right through. 17 songs are included, so
a lot to enjoy here and for a start and in the end a very diverse record, but
overall speaking this album is a nice introduction to ARNIE O CONNECTIONS, a project
based around guitarist/singer/songwriter Arnie Olbrich. Hopefully more of his
AOR stuff in the future, because the song “Absolute escape” is making me and
probably a lot of other AOR fans very enthousiastic! Check out all at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Arnie-O-connections/455751517856305
(Points: 8.1 out of 10)
OWLS ‘TWO’ (POLYVINYL RECORDS/SONIC RENDEZVOUS)
Out
of Chicago comes OWLS, an Indie band which was active in the early 2000s,
releasing an album, but then disappeared for 10 years, until now with the
release of their 2nd album ‘Two’. Typical Indie- meets Noise-Rock is
included here and vocally it might not sound that impressive (but Kurt Cobain
never was either!), the 10 songs will definitely be interesting enough to check
out if you’re into typical Indie/College-Rock. The strongest track is the
uptempo “Anicent stars seed”, but I guess if you’re into the 90s US Rocksound,
this might something to look up a.s.a.p. NIRVANA is a definite comparison here.
More at: https://www.facebook.com/owlsbandchicago
(Points: 7.7 out of 10)
BRACE/CHOIR ‘TURNING ON YOUR DOUBLE’ (TAPETE RECORDS/SONIC RENDEZVOUS)
Formed
in Berlin back in 2006, the band BRACE/CHOIR is definitely doing this slightly
different than most other bands. It could be because they hail from Berlin,
which is the experimental music versus dance music capital of Europe, but they
seem to mix relaxing Indie-Pop/Rock with influences from Kautrock, Progrock and
Trance Music. You can clearly trace PINK FLOYD and CAN influences here and
there, but calling them a pure Krautrock or Progrockband is a little too much I
think, because at best I would like to describe them as a melodic Dreampopband
with prog influences. They call themselves a Trancerockband, but a proggy
Indie/Dreampopact seems more appropiate. Songs like “Five fingered leaf”,
“Biond” and “Be let down” have the potential to grow into timeless tracks in
the future. Most of the songs are slowtempo and sound a bit dark, but as it all
sounds pretty original and vocally very strong, BRACE/CHOIR might easily stand
a chance to break through in the underground scene. Check them out at: http://www.bracechoir.com/
(Points: 8.4 out of 10)
PILLAR POINT ‘PILLAR POINT’ (POLYVINYL RECORDS/SONIC RENDEZVOUS)
Out
of Seattle comes the Synthpopact PILLAR POINT, which is the brainchild of SCOTT
REITHERMAN. The music on his full-length debut record is a clear early 80s
inspired Synth Pop New Wave adventure with the same kinda structures, melodies,
hooks and massive keys as bands like NEW ORDER, DEPECHE MODE, ULTRAVOX, HEAVEN
17, HUMAN LEAGUE, A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS and such did 30 years ago. The result is
a very nice album that suits quite well as background music. Although sounding
a bit soft in the end, ‘Pillar point’ is without a doubt an interesting album
to listen to every now and then. I have to say that this retro 80s synth style
has been very trendy the past few years, so it might be hard for PILLAR POINT
to get noticed, but compared to mainland European wanna-bees, PILLAR POINT
sounds very impressive on songs like “Eyeballs”, “Black hole” and “Curious of
you”. Must-have for fans of the mentioned bands! More at: www.pillarpointmusic.com
(Points: 8.2 out of 10)
AMALTHEA ‘IN THE WOODS’ (MOMENT OF COLLAPSE RECORDS/SONIC RENDEZVOUS)
The
mix of melancholic Post-Rock/modern Progressive Rock like PORCUPINE TREE and
screaming Hardcore elements is making AMALTHEA sound close to OPETH at times,
especially on their new album ‘In the woods’. Although I am not a massive fan
of screaming, the calmer moments are clearly taking the majority of the 7
lengthy tracks that can be found on the new album of this Swedish band. Most of
the songs starts calm, before halfway diving into post-Hardcore
screams. It is something you either love or hate I think, but one can not deny
that there is a lot of energy going on when songs like “Rain” or “Field” are played live on stage in front of an audience, because
you feel there’s some sort of trance-vibe adventure you’re taking into by these
Swedish musicians. Check them out at: http://amalthea.bandcamp.com/
(Points: 8.2 out of 10)
TAKE BERLIN ‘LIONIZE’ (TAKE BERLIN MUSIC/SONIC RENDEZVOUS)
TAKE
BERLIN is the result of 2 musicians meeting each other at a Baltic Sea
festival. The two became friends and less than 2 years later, JESSE BARNES and
YVONNE AMBREE finished their first EP ‘Lionize’. The interesting fact about
this album is that it was recorded on an old discarded tape deck, which makes
it sound very authentic. No massive overdubs or well-structured overthought
arrangements can be heard here, because everything was done back-to-basic and
that’s when you can hear we are dealing here with 2 great musicians. The music
is calm and acoustic based singer-songwriter material with a slight jazzy
touch. Yvonne’s vocals are very impressive and crystal clear, easily beating
out a lot of the so-called major label/The Voice participant singers out there.
Make sure not to miss this little beauty at: www.takeberlinmusic.com
(Points: 8.2 out of 10)
CHERRY GLAZERR ‘HAXEL PRINCESS’ (BURGER RECORDS/SONIC RENDEZVOUS)
CHERRY
GLAZERR is a Los Angeles based trio fronted by teenager singer/guitarist
Clementine Creevy. ‘Haxel princess’ is the debut album and musically they
balance somewhere between Post-Punk, Fuzz-guitar driven Garage Rock and
Indie-Pop, with sweet melodic vocals of Clementine. They remind me of DUM DUM
GIRLS and THE BANGLES if they had not gone commercial back in the day. It’s
catchy, it’s melodic and still has a sort of underground approach. Highlights
are definitely “Teenage girl”, “White’s not my color (this evening)” and “Trick
or treat dancefloor”, which should go down very well live. Clementine and her
bandmates will probably deliver more great records in the future, but in the
meantime ‘Haxel princess’ is a nice starting point of this Californian band,
which you can check out at: www.cherryglazerr.bandcamp.com
(Points: 8.3 out of 10)
THE SOFT HILLS ‘DEPARTURE’ (TAPETE RECORDS/SONIC RENDEZVOUS)
The
SOFT HILLS is a band from Seattle playing a mix of typical American Westcoast
and British Popmusic, but seem to end up sound like FLEET FOXES in a lot of
ways. The band’s latest album ‘Departure’ sounds very impressive, with some
jewels hidden here and there, such as the beautiful relaxing pure Westcoast of
“How can I explain?” that almost takes you back to the days of POCO and all the
other major label signed bands in that typical American genre, which was so
popular during the 1970s. There’s also hints of RADIOHEAD, so a slight
post-Prog touch as well, but crossed with Folksy Westcoast.They fit in nicely
between all the GRIZZLY BEAR, THE JAYHAWKS, BAND OF HORSES, FLEET FOXES, MY
MORNING JACKET and MIDLAKE type of bands in the world. More info on them at: http://www.thesofthills.com/
(Points: 8.4 out of 10)
NEXT STOP HORIZON ‘THE HARBOUR, MY HOME’ (TAPETE RECORDS/SONIC
RENDEZVOUS)
NEXT
STOP HORIZON is a Swedish duo, which releases their 2nd album with
‘The harbour, my home’. The duo consists of Pär Hagström and Jenny Roos, both
sharing the vocal duties here. The included material is very strong and is
musically speaking a very melodic affair that nevertheless offers a modern
experimental pop/rock approach in the arrangements. Highlights among the 11
tracks are “A heart for Gold”, “The wish” (60s Psychedelica influences) and the
amazing “We’ll whistle so”. There’s a lot of influences to be heard, such as
JEFFERSON AIRPLANE, WHITE STRIPES, typical modern female fronted Soulish
Pop/Rock, a little folksy Westcoast and a dash of 60s Garage Rock, with a JACK
WHITE kinda modern production. Do not miss this gem! More at: www.tapeterecords.de/artists/next-stop-horizon
(Points: 8.5 out of 10)
DRAKE KENNEDY ‘HOPE – THE EP’ (INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT)
Singer/Songwriter
DRAKE KENNEDY is coming out of the Atlanta, Georgia, USA area and releases a
great EP here entitled ‘Hope’. He has got a great melodic vibe in his voice,
sounding very natural and the music on ‘Hope’ is radio-ready summer-breeze
melodic pop/rock. Sounding quite laid-back, this sounds like something that
could become huge if of course one of the songs is picked up by the radio and
turned into a hit. There’s a lot of soul in Drake’s voice and the material does
have a Westcoast vibe. This is what you get when you have a young blue-eyed
soul singer from the deep south of the USA doing material that mixes RICHARD
MARX and HALL&OATES. Perhaps not groundbreaking, this is definitely
something that you can hear on any radio station in the world, so a lot of
potential that is waiting to be discovered. Check out all on Drake at: http://www.drakekennedy.com/
(Points: 8.2 out of 10)
DISTANT PAST ‘UTOPIAN VOID’ (PURE STEEL RECORDS)
The
Swiss Melodic Progressive/Power Metalband DISTANT PAST consists of ex-EMERALD
members and releases their 2nd official album with ‘Utopian void’.
The album starts with the very strong progressive metal song “A day of
darkness”, which pays tribute to classic 80s US Metal, reminding a bit of FATES
WARNING, CRIMSON GLORY and very early QUEENSRYCHE, also vocally of the same
high-pitched vocal level. However, between the following 11 tracks we can also
hear a few MEGADETHish Thrash Metal influences, such as during “Sceptre”. The
band is at their best when they go for the more melodic approach of the opening
track and therefore the best songs are for example “Faces”, the MAIDENesque
“Helpless” and “Breath – the spell”. Perhaps not a classic in the genre,
nevertheless a nice album to check out if you’re into Melodic Metal with
high-pitched vocalwork. More at: www.distant-past.ch
(Points: 8.1 out of 10)
WORDS OF FAREWELL ‘THE BLACK WILD YONDER’ (AFM RECORDS)
The
German band WORDS OF FAREWELL returns with their 2nd album ‘The
black wild yonder’, which musically is a Melodic Progressive Death Metal
affair. Instrumental and production wise of a very high level, but vocally it
is pure Death Metal and therefore highly recommended to fans of bands like IN
FLAME and DARK TRANQUILLITY. If only they could add some melodic clean vocals
to make a sort of contrast, then it would probably appeal to a lot of more
people, because now they will only interest the open-minded fans out there who
don’t mind the death growling.
(Points: 8.0 out of 10)
LINDA AND THE PUNCH ‘OBSESSION’ (ESCAPE MUSIC)
Wow,
here we have a great album by a young female singer called Linda. She hails
from Münster, Germany and releases her debut album ‘Obsession’ on ESCAPE MUSIC.
Musically speaking not very original and typical catchy female fronted melodic
rock like we heard it many times before, but it does sound very professional
and quite catchy most of the time. You can easily put this record on and have a
great time! Involved are a bunch of musicians and songwriters, whom worked with
many famous acts in the past, such as TAYLOR DAYNE, BRUICE SPRINGSTEEN,
SCORPIONS, ROBBIE WILLIAMS, PINK, etc. etc. The melodic rockfans might be
interested in knowing that MICHAEL VOSS, HERMAN RAREBELL and TOMMY DENANDER are
part of the cast and ‘Obsession’ is a high quality record that will definitely
appeal to fans of classic melodic rockacts like PAT BENATAR, JOSETTE, LAOS, LEE
AARON, FIONA, etc. but on the other hand it is perhaps closer to the modern day
ff melodic rock of bands like HALESTORM (best comparison!), PARAMORE, FLYLEAF,
PRETTY RECKLESS, THE VERONICAS, AUTOMATIC LOVELETTER, etc. etc. Linda has a
great strong voice and although the polished production by MICHAEL VOSS (MAD MAX,
CASANOVA) is making things sound quite smooth and radio-ready, this album
definitely rocks and songs like “Lost
for words”, “Kill the lights”, “What a shame” and “Welcome to London” are just
a few examples of the catchy melodic rocksound of LINDA AND THE PUNCH! In the
end, this record is in quality standing above the average rock release!
(Points: 8.3 out of 10)
KJETIL BY FT ROBIN BECK ‘BETTER DAYS’ (INDEPENDENT/NORWAY IMPORT)
The
Norwegian guitarist KJETIL BY is for me personally something of a long long way
back, because I think it was 15 years ago since I reviewed his solo material.
In the meantime the whole world changed and we have gone digital more than ever
sadly, but happily Kjetil sent me his new CD ‘Better days’. He somehow
convinced ROBIN BECK to do the vocals on his new album and this is an excellent
move, because Robin is one of the legendary singers whom I always admired a
lot. She has got that perfect rockvoice you instantly fall in love with and
Kjetil wrote 12 great 80s inspired AOR/Melodic Rocksongs. Co-produced by
Robin’s husband JAMES CHRISTIAN (HOUSE OF LORDS), this new album contains
nothing but great material, with songs like “Better days”, “New York rain” and
“Dancers” showing how good high class Melodic Rock/AOR needs to be done in
2014! It’s Kjetil’s 4th album and probably his finest so far, so I
can easily recommend it to anyone who likes the great female fronted melodic
rocksound we all love so much, especially of course a must-have to any ROBIN
BECK fan out there! More info at: http://www.kjetilby.com/
(Points: 8.3 out of 10)
NOLAN GARRETT ‘ALL THE TIME’ (NG ENTERTAINMENT/USA IMPORT)
Guitarist/vocalist
NOLAN GARRETT offers melodic bluesy rock (with even a slight AOR touch in songs
like “Enough” and “I’ll do anything for you”), with clear influences of JOE
BONAMASSA, JOHN MAYER, STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN and JIMI HENDRIX. He is based in the
Seattle region and the most incredible thing about him is the fact that he is
just 15 years old!!! His career is rapidly moving into a direction, which might
lead to a big break soon, because he already was able to meet and share the
stage with wlel-seasoned people from the music business. His first CD ‘All the
time’ sounds very professional and one can not tell this is such a young
musician, because he sounds very mature, which makes this an easy target for
fans of mentioned acts earlier on in this review. “Don’t criticize me” and “End
road” are great punchy rockers, while a song like “House of mirrors” is a more
laid-back adventure, with a focus on the acoustic guitar. Nolan is able to
throw in some great classic rock guitar riffs in each and every song and still
give each time something new to offer, so thankfully the 11 included songs are
showing enough variety to keep one listening from start to finish. Vocally his
voice might not yet be as good as for example JOE BONAMASSA, but we all know
that in the future his voice will definitely develop and I am safe to say that
we will be hearing much more of NOLAN GARRETT. The best song by the way is the
amazing “I can’t imagine”, a beautiful bluesy melodic rockballad with fantastic
guitarwork and a wonderful chorus that gets you right after playing it the
first time! For now, check out more on him at: http://www.nolangarrett.net/
(Points: 8.3 out of 10)
MIGGI ‘FRESHLY CUT SANDWICHES’ (INDEPENDENT/UK IMPORT)
Singer-songwriter
MIGGI is coming out of the South of England, but actually works as a musician a
few months each year in Florida. Not so strange when you listen to his latest
CD ‘Freshly cut sandwiches’, which is an album that sounds very American. 10
songs are included and basically this is typical American Singer-Songwriter
music with a dash of Americana and Country, but always with a pop melody
slipped right through. Miggi has got a great voice that fits perfectly the kind
of music featured on the album’. “Good day” is one of the finest tunes, which
could be due to the fact that it has a touch of Westcoast in a kinda CALEXICO
sorta way. Other highlights are “Lovin’ you”, the British pop flavored “Moments
like this” and “All I ever wanted”, but every song is sounding pretty good.
There is actually quite some diversity going on on this album, which makes it of
course a pleasure to listen to from start to finish. More info at: www.musicbymiggi.com
(Points: 8.3 out of 10)
OWLS OF THE SWAMP ’ATLAS’ (SOURCE MUSIC/LABELSHIP RECORDS/TOM BRUMPTON
PR/UK IMPORT)
The
project OWLS OF THE SWAMP is based around Australian singer-songwriter PETE
UHLENBRUCH, who has been living isolated in Iceland to record the new album
‘Atlas’. Musically it is a very atmospheric calm relaxing sound that can be
heard, sorta reminding of SIGUR ROS, JOHN GRANT and DAMIEN RICE. A sorta Indie
Folk Singer-Songwriter adventure with a focus on the acoustic guitar and low
pitched vocalwork by Pete, although here and there also with a subtle
drum/synth beat. ‘Atlas’ is the 3rd album and without a doubt, this
record sounds very professional and could easily become bigger in the music
business. This is the kind of underground music that is praised by the music
press and who knows OWLS OF THE SWAMP will breakthrough someday soon. In the
meantime, check them out at: http://owlsoftheswamp.com/
(Points: 8.2 out of 10)
QUI ‘LIFE, WATER, LIVING…’ (COBRASIDE/TOM BRUMPTON PR/UK IMPORT)
‘Life,
water, living…’ is an exciting new album by the LA based duo QUI. This act
features drummer/vocalist Paul Christensen and guitarist/vocalist Matt Cronk,
who formed the band in the early 2000s and ‘Life, water, living…’ marks their 3rd
album. It took them several years to record, as their previous album ‘Love’s
miracles’ was released in 2007. 11 songs are included and musically it is quite
an adventure, which contains influences from a wide variety of music genres.
The titletrack is a very impressive song, with massive groovy almost Doom Metal
like guitar riffs and harmonyvocals out of the QUEEN book, making it sound like
QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE somehow. Co-produced by the drummer of THE MELVINS, QUI
is definitely an Alternative Rockband, yet with somehow songs that could get
them attention from the mass media, thanks to the melodic harmonyvocals and
rather catchy tunes, like the already mentioned titletrack, but also “Awkward
human interest”, the Pomprocker “Whateryadoin?” and “Proof of bass” offer some
very interesting material. Definitely worth checking out this new QUI album! More
at: https://www.facebook.com/quiband
(Points: 8.4 out of 10)
LITTLE GREEN BLACKBIRD ‘THE SUMMER I STOPPED WHINING’ (FOLLOWING MAY
PRODUCTIONS/USA IMPORT)
Out
of Woodstock, New York comes singer/songwriter KIRSTI GHOLSON, who is the
leader of the project LITTLE GREEN BLACKBIRD. She released the CD ‘The summer I
stopped whining’ a few years ago, but it’s no problem here to make a small
review on this 2011 release, because after all, it is filled with high class
music by a talented singer. Mostly this is typical singer/songwriter pop music,
with crystal clear vocals and lyrical themes. She got help from musician and
producer BARRIE MAGUIRE (AMOS LEE, NATHALIE MERCHANT, WALLFLOWERS) and JULIE
LAST. Things get a little rockier during the best track of the album, which is
“Dr. Lemmon” (SHERYL CROWish), so hopefully a new album will also bring some
more rockers, because that would give it more diversity. Nevertheless, Kirsti
is a very talented girl and hopefully we will hear much more from her in the
future. Check her out at: www.littlegreenblackbird.com
(Points: 8.4 out of 10)
RHETT MAY ‘INSATIABLE’ (INDEPENDENT/AUSTRALIA IMPORT)
Singer/songwriter
RHETT MAY sent me his mini-CD ‘Insatiable’, which contains 5 tracks. Although
the start of the album features a very annoying drum computer, the song itself
(“Cocktails and Cannabis”) has had over 1,000,000 plays! More interesting are
the following tracks, which musically are definitely much better, such as the
acoustic tingled titletrack and “Jenny”, which has a nice 1960s influence. The
vocals are low pitched and I do have to add here that I love the guitar solo in
closing track “My baby’s got style”, while the song has a slight early 80s
Powerpop feeling a la DWIGHT TWILLEY! One can also trace Indian influences in a
song like “Hey Peter”, which is probably due to the fact Rhett grew up in
India! Anyway, check out more on Rhett at: www.rhettmay.com
(Points: 7.5 out of 10)
BLUE MINDED ‘BLUE MINDED’ (INDEPENDENT/ROCK INC)
Now
this is quite a surprise! BLUE MINDED are a new band from Holland and they
present us a very strong mini-CD which musically is pure 1980s AOR! The songs
“Have it all” and “Call on me” are of a very high level actually and any AOR
fan out there will dig this a lot. The hooks, the keys, the guitarwork, the
choruses and especially the vocalwork are all sounding the way the fans of FM,
ROXUS, NIGHT RANGER, AVIATOR, AGENT and such want to hear it! Although the best
comparisons might be TERRA NOVA, WORK OF ART, RUBICON (a lot!!!) and THE
PROMISE, with a slight touch of Neo-Prog in there as well during the TOTOish
“Move on”. I am glad finally a real new AOR band from my own country is trying
to make it with potential original material. Let’s hope they will get their
lucky break in 2014! More info at: http://www.blueminded.nl
(Points: 8.5 out of 10)
JEKERS CARDBOARD CONDO ‘JEKERS CARDBOARD CONDO’ (JEKE RECORDS/USA
IMPORT)
Out
of New Jersey comes JEKERS CARDBOARD CONDO with a sound that combines heavy
Bluesrock with Classic Rock, sorta a cross between BLUE OYSTER CULT and THE
GRATEFUL DEAD. The vocals are very raw, but nevertheless the songs are quite
melodic and for example “Mind’s eye” and “That’s life” are pretty damn catchy,
even a bit AORish, but then with a raw almost Heartland-Rock kinda approach,
read MICHAEL STANLEY BAND or BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN for that matter. Actually this
is pure American traditional Classic Rock like one hears when turning on the
radio wherever you drive in the land of the free. Check it out for yourself at;
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/markjeker
(Points: 8.0 out of 10)
DAWN OF DESTINY ‘FORGOTTEN, ENSLAVED, ADMIRED, RELEASED’
(PHONOTRAXX/ROCK INC)
‘F.E.A.R.’
is the 5th album of the German band DAWN OF DESTINY. Without a
doubt, this album sounds like a high quality recording, which will definitely
appeal to the fans of Melodic Power Metal. Vocalist is JEANNETTE SCHERFF, who
has a really great voice, very powerful and crystal clear. However, there are
guest appearances by the legendary male singers MATS LEVEN and JON OLIVIA, and
bassist Jens Faber also co-sings here and there. Anyway, Jeannette is the real
star here and she is definitely making DAWN OF DESTINY sounding better than the
countless similar sounding bands in this genre. “My memories”, “Then I found
you” and “Prayers” are the highlights on the band’s new album and despite it
might all sound by the numbers, you will not be disappointed at all, so check
it out for yourself at: www.dawnofdestiny.de
(Points: 8.2 out of 10)
GLITTER ROSE ‘DEAD OR ALIVE’ (INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT)
LITA
FORD move over, here is GLITTER ROSE, a singer/songwriter/guitarist from Texas,
who released the CD ‘Dead or alive’ back in 2012, but as it might have missed a
lot of people 2 years ago, I feel it definitely deserves to get a lot of
attention again, because what we have here is a very talented musician. She is
a great singer and guitarist with a bunch of great catchy Classic Rock/Melodic
Rock tunes, such as the uptempo rockers “Desert blues” and “Superstar pop twin”
that are basically Classic 80s AOR/Melodic Rock tunes in the style of VIXEN,
DONNA CRISTY early 80s PAT BENATAR and you name it further. And the Classic
Rock also has a lot of Southern Rock influences, so basically this rocks big
time, with even a great semi AOR/Melodic Rockballad included called “Fade
away”. Without a doubt. a must-have for any fan of the classic female fronted
rocksound and let’s pray Glitter will release a follow-up and also plans a
European tour someday soon, because over here we can only dream about such
great female rockers! Check out all info at: http://www.glitterrose.com
(Points: 8.6 out of 10)
SUBSIDIARITY ‘MUSIC THAT SPEAKS FOR ITSELF’ (FETAL RECORDS/USA IMPORT)
Blues
Guitarist TONY FAZIO is the man behind SUBSIDIARITY, a project that musically
takes a bit of THE DOORS vocally and musically also has a touch of Indie-Rock.
The LED ZEPPELIN influences mentioned on the CD BABY site are not really
traceable and basically bluesy rock is only hearable in the guitarwork perhaps.
NICK CAVE is the closest comparison I can come up with here. It’s free spirited
rock that is mostly sounding slow and dark, very underground ish and it’s best
to check it out for yourself at: www.cdbaby.com/Artist/Subsidiarity
(Points: 7.0 out of 10)
DAVID LEASK ‘UNDERNEATH’ (JEDDART MUSIC/CANADA IMPORT)
‘Underneath’
is the 4th album of Canadian guitarist/vocalist DAVID LEASK. He
brings a nice variety on his first album in 8 years, which contains elements
from Folk, Country, Blues and Rock. He has a fantastic voice, which actually
sounds best during the rockier tunes. He somehow has a ROBERT TEPPER kinda
vibrato and a song like “Ready to buy” is basically pure Classic Rock/Melodic
Rock with a bluesy twist, somehow reminding of CARL DIXON, a fellow Canadian.
On the other hand there’s also a couple of pure Folk/Country ish tunes and some
cool JOE BONAMASSA bluesy rock with a groovy touch (“You’ve got my world”),
while the ballad “Freedom by the barrel” is a crossover-Country Southern Rock
fried-AOR ish ballad that recalls the days of JOHNNY VAN ZANT and ALABAMA. 13
songs are on the album and you can clearly hear that this is a high quality
release that keeps you entertained until the last second, but you have to
accept there is a wide variety of music genres passing by. If only David would
be able to present his talent live on stage in Europe, then the whole world can
discover this Canadian musician, as he deserves it big time! In the meantime,
check out his site at: www.DavidLeask.com
(Points: 8.4 out of 10)
!PENDEJO! ’ATACAMES’ (CHANCO RECORDS/GRAVITON/PIMP)
!PENDEJO!
is a Dutch band with Latin roots and ‘Atacames’ is their 2nd album.
The included music is big fat groovy fuzz guitar riff orientated Stoner
Hardrock and I am safe to say that this band will be very popular during
festivals. It’s quite heavy and probably not interesting for the melodic rockers
among us, but those who appreciate bands like FU MANCHU, HIGH ON FIRE, KYUSS…
this is highly recommended!
(Points: 8.0 out of 10)
DR. RAGE AND THE UPPERCUTS ‘RAGE 3’ (ABSURD MACHINE RECORDS/CANADA
IMPORT)
Out
of Winnipeg, Canada comes a great Classic Rockband called DR. RAGE AND THE
UPPERCUTS. They were kind enough to sent me their new CD ‘Rage 3’, which
musically recalls memories of the classic 70s Canadian Rock, HARLEQUIN, TROOPER
and STREETHEART are clear comparisons. The band shared the stage with such acts
like HELIX, GREGG ROLIE, WARRANT, HARLEQUIN, TWISTSED SISTER and despite they
rock a little less than those acts, DR. RAGE AND THE UPPERCUTS is pretty much a
great Classic Rockband to check out. DR. RAGE not only plays some great guitar
riffs (LED ZEPPELIN/JIMI HENDRIX influenced during especially “Consumed”), but
he also has a very strong voice, which combined is making the new album ‘Rage
3’ a highly recommended piece! They also present an original approach here and
there, such as the catchy “Incarcerated mind” that has an Irish sorta Folk
touch, almost reminding of DROPKICK MURPHYS, while the Trumpets during
“Spiders” are also quite surprising. Canada delivers another great act that
easily blows away any of the wanna-be European acts in the Classic Rock genre,
but as mentioned the band wents into a very original direction sometimes! More
at: www.power-of-rage.com
(Points: 8.4 out of 10)
THE HAWTHORNE EFFECT ‘AWAKEFUL SLEEP’ (RED MIST RECORDS/USA IMPORT)
Out
of Chicago comes the band THE HAWTHORNE EFFECT and they deliver a great album
titled ‘Awakeful sleep’, which musically is a very melodic mix of Punkpop,
Classic Rock and Melodic Rock. “The same” is a song that could easily be on the
radio, because this is an incredible catchy uptempo melodic rocker, but the
Classic Rock beat of the midtempo “Viva” might also work to get attention.
Between all the rock material, the band also finds time to come up with a
beautiful ballad titled “Run”. Here and there they remind me of the Dutch band
THE NEW SHINING or a better version of GO BACK TO THE ZOO. The calmer melodic
semi-rockballad “Marry him” has a very nice chorus that somehow grabs the
attention and doesn’t let go. A simple, but effective tune that shows the
emotional side of THE HAWTHORNE EFFECT. Check out these guys at: http://www.reverbnation.com/thehawthorneeffect
(Points: 8.2 out of 10)
TONY CLARK AND KILLING TIME ‘WHEN I’M IN MY CAR’ (VANITY MUSIC
GROUP/GERMANY IMPORT/)
Out
of Germany comes TONY CLARK AND KILLING TIME, a pure Rock and Roll band with
American approach and somehow that made it all the way to the USA and Mexico
where they seem to be more popular than in their homeland. ‘When I’m in my car’
is an EP, with 5 tracks included and strangely enough the best song is the
Spanish sung “Tonto”, a big fact midtempo groovy melodic hardrock/classic rock
tune with LED ZEPPELIN “Kashmir” influences in the drumbeat and somehow the lead
vocals sound stronger here than during the 4 English sung tracks. Anyway, I
look forward to a full-length of them, but in the meantime check out TONY CLARK
AND KILLING TIME at: http://www.tonyclarkandkillingtime.com/
(Points: 8.1 out of 10)
WILL PENNY ‘PRICELESS’ (INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT)
Out
of Tennessee, USA comes WILL PENNY, who sent me a CDR of his album ‘Priceless’.
Musically speaking this singer-songwriter is focused on telling stories with
the help of his acoustic guitar as instrument, while his vocals are very raw
and raspy. The music has of course a Folk touch and HARRY CHAPIN, DAN
FOGELBERG, KENNY LOGGINS, JIM GROCE and such are clearly the best comparisons.
17 songs are on the album and it’s with these kind of singer-songwriters, live
on stage they are the best, so let’s hope Will be able to head over to Europe
someday soon! More info at: http://www.reverbnation.com/williamosborne
(Points: 7.4 out of 10)
FRIED GOAT ‘FRIED GOAT’ (OUTHOUSE VINYL RECORDS/USA IMPORT)
Now
here we have a Classic Southern Rockband from the US state of Georgia. They are
called FRIED GOAT and are basically playing the good old Classic US Rock and
Roll style of bands like LYNYRD SKYNYRD, 38 SPECIAL, DOC HOLLIDAY, CHARLIE
DANIELS BAND, ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND, etc. etc. There’s clearly a Pop vibe added,
so a lot of the songs are quite catchy and radio-ready, but I’ll bet that live
on stage FRIED GOAT will surprise for sure as being an awesome rockband! This 2nd
album was mastered by the legendary RODNEY MILLS and without a doubt, it is a
really great record, with quite a few memorable tunes, such as the catchy
“Roller Derby Queen”, the melodic AORish VAN ZANT style “Young runaway” and the
Southern fried rocker “Takeaway”, with it’s intense guitarwork. The
semi-melodic rockballad “She makes mistakes” also needs to be mentioned, but
any of the 15 included songs is interesting to play and I can therefore highly
recommend this band! More info at: http://www.friedgoat.com
(Points: 8.5 out of 10)
JEANETTE AKERLUND ‘EN EGEN PLATS’ (INDEPENDENT/HEMIFRAN)
Out
of Sweden comes singer/songwriter JEANETTE AKERLUND, who released her
debutalbum ‘En egen plats’ in September 2013. The included music is AOR/Poprock
ish like only the Swedish people are able to do, so it is filled with catchy
hooks and melodic choruses, sung beautifully ny Jeanette. It is partly sung in
the Swedish language (50/50), but actually that is not a real issue, because
the melodies sound damn fine and somehow in Swedish it even sounds better than
in English! She is helped on the album by fellow Swedish musicians, of whom
EMANUEL SANDGREN is the main contributor. The sound is overall very polished
and radio-friendly, basically feeling like a Summer breeze. Here and there a
Country influence can be heard, but basically this is a light-AOR/Westcoast
affair, with a strong 1970s approach and beautiful female vocals, so it is
definitely recommended to check out at: http://jeamusic.se/
(Points: 8.3 out of 10)
TIA MCGRAFF ‘BREAK THESE CHAINS’ (BANDANA RECORDS/HEMIFRAN)
TIA
MCGRAFF is a Canadian singer/songwriter who has already released quite a few
albums in the past. I believe ‘Break these chains’ is her 5th album
and I am definitely interested in hearing her earlier work, because Tia is an
amazing singer! She has a Rockvoice like ANN WILSON, ALANNAH MYLES, DARBY MILLS
and ROBIN BECK, yet the music is more acoustic tingled, mixing Folk and
Americana, but if you unplug HEART, they sound the same as TIA MCGRAFF! When
things get rockier, you can hear that Tia is a terrific singer, especially
during the lovely “Messed up world”, “Come up roses” and “Saints and angels”. I
would love to hear her doing full rocksongs, because she has got that kinda
voice, although ‘Break these chains’ is still a great album to enjoy. It
features a collection of beautiful back-to-basic Americana/Country/Folk songs
that in a different arrangement could just as well be aor/melodic rocksongs if
you know what I mean. It reminds me so much of the Californian band CHALLENGE,
if anyone actually remembers them! Great stuff and a singer to check out asap, because
she sounds to my ears as one of the finest female singers I have heard in a
long time! More at: http://tiamcgraff.com/
(Points: 8.6 out of 10)
NITE WOLF ‘TAKIN’ CONTROL’ (INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT)
I
vaguely remember this American band from New Mexico from way back when we were
just a printed magazine and indeed this album was released 18 years ago, but
somehow re-sent by the band’s leader, guitarist/vocalist Dan Vash. No problem
at all, because the included music is very cool and strong Melodic Hardrock
mixed with 80s US Metal. Dan has a great voice and he is delivering some great
guitar riffs and solo’s and most of the songs are reminding of the days when
bands like FIFTH ANGEL, RAIL, DOKKEN, LEATHERWOLF, STRYPER, ICON, TALAS and
such ruled the airwaves. Especially the awesome midtempo melodic metal wet
dream opener “Passion dreamer” is an instant classic and somehow NITE WOLF also
reminds me of the mid 90s US underground bands TEER, TALON, JYNX, JOKER and ASKA,
but for those who are not familiar with them, the aforementioned acts are also
very good comparisons. So I might have reviewed this one a very long time ago,
it was nice to revisit the record and I can easily conclude that it’s a great
highly recommended album to anyone with a heart for the classic 80s US Melodic
Hardrock/Metal sound. More info at: www.myspace.com/danvash
(Points: 8.3 out of 10)
LAURA BERMAN ‘EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN’ (INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT)
Originally
from NYC, singer/songwriter LAURA BERMAN is now settled in Portland, Oregon,
USA where she recorded her latest album ‘Everything in between’. Laura has a
great voice and the included music is light AOR/Poprock orientated with a
strong focus on beautiful melodies, which can be heard at best during the songs
“Mend”, “Revealed” and “Voices”. The only let-down is the use of programming
instead of real drums, but aside from that, this is a highly recommended
professional sounding record by a very talented singer/songwriter. The last
couple of songs are mostly acoustic based and could be seen as
singer/songwriter orientated material, of which closing track “I realize” has
some lovely melodies. Laura is definitely someone you need to check out asap.
More info at: http://www.laurabermanmusic.com/
(Points: 8.3 out of 10)
RONNY LEE ‘ORIGINAL RETRO’ (INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT)
The
days when I was impressed by a new AOR release are long gone sadly, but every
now and then a new album has that certain feeling I got back in the early days
as a writer very frequently. RONNY LEE from a small town in the US state of
Illinois has delivered an album that might easily be called the finest piece of
pure 80s AOR in a very long time. FRONTIERS RECORDS has tried many times the
past years to release a classic 80s AOR sounding record, but nothing comes
close to this little gem. I am not sure if every recording is actually also
brandnew, because therefore it all sounds too much like it was recorded
somewhere in 1983. You really have to dig that classic 1983 US
AOR/Radiorocksound of bands like PREVIEW, SHELTER, FRANKE AND THE KNOCKOUTS,
STEEL BREEZE, ALLIANCE and such if you also want to appreciate the ‘Original
retro’ album of Ronny, although while listening to the album more and more
comparisons pop up from different time frames in the AOR dominated 1980s of the
North American continent.
Ronny
himself is a terrific vocalist, who sounds like a cross between DENNIS DEYOUNG
and IAN PARRY, while the CD frontcover picture looks like a cross between the
MARK FREE and GARY HUGHES classics from 1993. 10 songs are included and I can’t
remember how long ago I must have played a new album so many times as this one,
because it really is a killer AOR record that has been on repeat countless
times since I received it last week. It takes off with the superb semi AOR
ballad “Straight to the top” that begins with DENNIS DEYOUNGish vocal style
melodies and ends up with a beautiful TRADIA like chorus that sticks in your
head quite rapidly. Second to the lovely melodies, also the guitarwork is very
impressive and it seems RONNY LEE is doing everything on his own, so we have a
real winner here!
“Long
after midnight” follows as being an uptempo melodic rocker, with a less
stronger chorus than the first song and overall reminding a lot of LIONHEART
(the UK band that released ‘Hot tonight’). Then we are heading into AOR ‘wet
dream’ heaven during the next 3 tunes. “It’s been too long” is JOURNEY and BE
TAYLOR GROUP all over the place, with lovely harmonyvocals and basically you
can not get any closer to pure 80s AOR! Time to rock on during the following 2
songs, “Just one night” and “Side by side”, which are the best songs on the
album. Now we’re talkin’ really pure early 80s AOR-Rock, including dut-dut
keys, flashy guitarwork, catchy hooks and memorable choruses that are
dangerously close to bands like FRANKE AND THE KNOCKOUTS, SHELTER, SYNCH,
CHEATER, ALLIANCE (1982), BEAU COUP’s mini-record, etc. etc.
Ronny
really knows how to re-create Classic AOR at it’s very best and of course, some
of you might say this sounds dated, but if you only listen to the first minute
of the song “Just one night”, then you will understand that this was how Rock
used to sound all over the USA 30 years ago! I would love to see this released
as a vinyl record, because that’s where it definitely belongs. AOR might never
become fashionable again, but in case you have a real AOR heart like me, it
will beat faster than ever upon hearing those songs “Just one night” and “Side
by side”, which are AOR-rockers at it’s very best! Although the first 5 songs
capture the best moments of the album, also the second part of the CD has some
nice secrets to offer. More TRADIA similarities in the song “Easy street”,
which has once again a really cool guitarsolo, while “Hey Mary” goes for a more
1987 sound that mixes AOR with light Sympho in a style that is close to SAGA.
“Backstreets”
is a relaxing AOR song that reminds me of AGENT crossed with STEEL BREEZE’s
‘Heart on the line’ record and the uptempo Melodic AOR Rocker “Black limos and
white lines” is sounding like an excellent mix between BYSTANDER and URGENT
(USA), with a chorus that has similarities to RAY ROPER. The CD closes with an 80s
Hardrocker called “Sign of the times”. JOSEPH LEE WOOD, CHEATER, HEAT and such
underground acts are probably the best similarities to mention, because I might
mention JOURNEY, SURVIVOR and such here, but you have to realise that all
together the sound/production does not have the high quality of the major label
releases from the 80s AOR, although the real AOR fan doesn’t mind that.
Basically we have a real AOR gem here you urgently need to check out. More info
at: http://www.theronnylee.com/
(Points: 8.8 out of 10)
KATIE KNIPP ‘NICE TO MEET YOU’ (INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT)
Singer/songwriter
KATIE KNIPP comes out of Sacramento, California and ‘Nice to meet you’ is her
little baby, which is I believe her 4th album so far. This girl has
an amazing vibrato in her voice, which should make it possible to put her next
to such female singers like DIANA KRALL, JOSS STONE and BETH HART, so I think
you’ll get the picture that we have here a woman with a real amazing vocal
range! The music is slow bluesy rock with Americana influences and a slight
jazzy touch here and there. Katie is playing the piano besides singing her
heart out and without a doubt, ‘Nice to meet you’ is a highly recommended album
to fans of the aforementioned female singers. Check out Katie asap at: http://www.katieknipp.com/
(Points: 8.2 out of 10)
HANS YORK ‘HEARD OR HERDED?’ (COYO MUSIC/USA IMPORT)
Originally
from Germany, singer/songwriter HANS YORK is now settled in Dallas where he
recorded a nice album that mixes Americana, rootsy rock and roll and a little
New Orleans Jazz. Influences from PAUL SIMON, JACK WHITE, STING and countless
others can be heard, although Hans is holding back to fully rock out, but the
rootsy uptempo “Who’s gonna trust you now” is showing Hans at his very best.
There’s a real 1970s vibe going on here, especially during a STEELY DAN like
song such as “Mrs. Sunshine”, while “Leave a little light on” is pure
singer/songwriter like JIM GROCE. And so there’s enough diversity going on here
and when you are getting interested, then go to: www.hansyork.com
(Points: 8.0 out of 10)
THE AMBER SNIDER BAND ‘THE AMBER SNIDER BAND‘ (INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT)
7
songs are on the same titled mini-CD of singer/songwriter/guitarist AMBER
SNIDER, who has her own band named after her. The included music is traditional
American music which combines blues, rock and pop music quite perfectly. Opener
“Bagel song” is a very melodic tune that contains beautiful melodic
harmonyvocals during the chorus, while the guitarwork gives it a nice bluesy
rock touch. Most of the songs continue in this style, so an uplifting bluesy
melodic poprock affair is what we get to hear, with as other highlights
“Different world” (with even a slight STEVIE NICKS comparison) and “Gravel”.
Without a doubt, an interesting release and recommended to check out at: www.
(Points: 8.3 out of 10)
HEATHER SCARLETT ROSE ‘BOUNDLESS’ (RETRO ROCKET RECORDS/USA IMPORT)
How
many more sensational female singer/songwriters are there still hidden in the
whole of the USA! Well, guess what, HEATHER SCARLETT ROSE from California is
another very talented musician, who was kind enough to sent me her album ‘Boundless’.
The music is typical singer-songwriter style, with a light soft-rock/melodic
pop approach, so it is quite laid-back with minimal instrumental support.
“Waiting on a miracle” is definitely one of the highlights, because this is a
very strong melodic pop/rock tune. There’s also a jazzy touch here and there,
such as during “Ballad of a Boomerang (I’m free)”, while “Hard killin’ floor
Blues” is pure Blues. Vocally there are some KAREN CARPENTER similarities,
although the music is definitely less smooth and more adventurous than THE
CARPENTERS has ever been. Check out Heather at: www.heatherscarlettrose.com
(Points: 8.2 out of 10)
KRISTIA DI GREGORIO ‘THE WHIPLASH CURVE’ (KDG MUSIC/CANADA IMPORT)
While
looking at the frontcover and listening to the CD of the Canadian
singer/songwriter KRISTIA DI GREGORIO, I am reminded of EDITH PIAF and actually
the whole feeling of this album recalls memories of that legendary French
singer. What we basically get hear is beautiful calm singer-songwriter Chamber
music with remarkable vocalwork you don’t hear everyday. “The disappearance of
Antoine Labelle” truly feels like you’re walking down the old Montmartre
streets of Paris somewhere in the 1920s. “Empty pockets” is another very strong
tune that has an irresistible melody. Without a doubt, we have here something
very original here, which should definitely be checked out, because this might
just as well become huge if the mass media discovers it. Although it doesn’t
rock much, another comparison which can easily be made is MARTHA WAINWRIGHT,
just listen to the song “Oh my heart” and you can hear clear similarities
between KRISTIA and MARTHA. ‘The whiplash curve’ is a very impressive album
that needs to be praised for sure! More info at: www.kristia.ca
(Points: 8.4 out of 10)
KING OF THE AIR ‘BEWARE’ (INDEPENDENT/ITALY IMPORT)
KING
OF THE AIR is an Italian band formed around multi-instrumentalist ANTONELLO
VENNERI, who is basically doing everything on his own here on the album
‘Beware’. The included music is quite nicely played laid-back modest
semi-progressive rock with not the focus on endless improvisations, but keeping
room for vocal melodies. Antonello is clearly influenced by FISH, but there are
also similarities to MUSE here and there, so it’s not a complete MARILLION like
album what we have here. It’s definitely a high quality record that will be
loved by the progfans out there, although like mentioned do not expect long
instrumental passages, because this is song based prog, with a lot of strong
tunes actually, such as “Caribean girl”, “Beware” and “Advice for the young and
tender”, some of them even touching a slight singer-songwriter/westcoast
influence. Definitely a recommended musician to check out at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz8A2lGQ1KqCtWFqIjyrtZ9KV8otprJF6
(Points: 8.2 out of 10)
THE BLACK MARBLES ‘MADE IN CONCRETE’ (RKC/SWEDEN IMPORT)
Now
here we have a new sensational band from Sweden called THE BLACK MARBLES. They
were kind enough to sent me their debut album ‘Made on concrete’, which right
from the start grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go. Everything seems to
sound perfect here, with biting groovy guitarwork and superstrong vocals, while
the songs are Classic 70s Hardrock at it’s very best and never forgetting a
catchy melody. There are clear influences of VAN HALEN, THIN LIZZY, URIAH HEEP and
LED ZEPPELIN and of course we have already RIVAL SONS and THE ANSWER, but this
THE BLACK MARBLES can easily compete on such awesome Hardrocking tunes like
“Night and day”, the crowd-pleaser “Looks” (VAN HALEN meets MOTLEY CRUE!!!) and
“Free your mind”. Perhaps nothing new here, but it’s all done at a high level,
so fans of classic 70s Hardrock need to check them out quite urgently. More at:
www.theblackmarbles.com
(Points: 8.4 out of 10)
POLLY PRY ‘TWO WARM MINUTES’ (INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT)
Formed
in 2005 by Kristen Foster (Ukulele/Vocals) and Anna Byars (Guitar/Vocals), the
act POLLY PRY from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA offers a collection of lovely
original melodic Folk/Americana songs that sound straight from the Mississippi
river. The vocals are very strong, both solo and during the harmony vocal
parts, while the music reminds me a bit of the WEBB SISTERS, however then a
little more leaning towards the traditional American way of Folk music. One of the
highlights is the closing track, which in fact is the title track, which is a
lovely slow tempo tune that has a sorta psychedelic electric guitar at the back
that makes it sound quite haunting and close to the recent new record of
MARISSA NADLER. Of course there are many artists and acts doing this style of
melting Folk, Americana and Country with a pop overdose in the vocal
department, but POLLY PRY do it very well and I’ll bet live on stage they would
steal the show easily! Check them out at: http://pollypry.bandcamp.com/ and www.pollypry.com
(Points: 8.3 out of 10)
BAD RADIATOR ‘SHANGHAI’ (CRAZY FEELGOOD MUSIC/SWEDEN IMPORT)
The
Swedish band BAD RADIATOR returns with their 2nd album ‘Shanghai’,
which follows their ‘Hypnotize’ album from 2013. Musically no changes, so once
again 1980s inspired Melodic Rock that here and there might sound a little
cliché tingled, but it’s been done at a high level, so then it is not such a
big issue I guess. There are some great tunes here, such as the midtempo groovy
melodic rocker “What are we fighting for” (with it’s infecteous chorus it
reminds me a bit of THE DISTANCE and THOWSEN if anyone remembers those acts!),
the midtempo AORish “My house is on fire” (with a sorta 90s FM similarity),
“Can’t let go” and “Do you remember”. Vocally there are somehow similarities to
STAN MEISSNER, but musically it falls between AOR, Melodic Rock and midtempo
groovy Rock, clearly 1980s orientated and thanks to a massive sound, it has
somehow a touch of the major labels of that decade. Most of the songs are
midtempo based, but all filled with some really nice hooks and strong vocal
lines. All together, a nice relaxing album you can easily put on loud and
proud! More at: https://www.facebook.com/BadRadiator
(Points: 8.4 out of 10)
SEAN MCMORRIS ‘LO AND BEHOLD’ (INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT)
Out
of New York comes multi-instrumentalist/singer/songwriter SEAN MCMORRIS, who
recorded a very strong album titled ‘Lo and behold’. Without a doubt, this is
an album you need to hear, because it is quality stuff in the AOR/Melodic
Poprock field. Vocally it is clearly in the MARK SPIRO direction, so with a singer-songwriter
touch, while the music is also moving into the AOR/Melodic Rock territory of
MARK SPIRO. 10 songs are included and from start to finish it is a pleasure to
listen to this clever poprock album that offers a lot of lovely melodies.
There’s a nice diversity in material on the album, with uptempo and midtempo
rockers along with a couple of calmer tunes. One of the highlights is the
beautiful semi AOR ballad “Very own hell”, with it’s strong lyrics and haunting
chorus it really grabs you. Sean’s voice is reminding one of the 1970s way of
singing, think BILLY JOEL, 10CC, ROBERT PALMER and also RUFUS WAINWRIGHT comes
to mind sometimes. The music rocks a bit more and has a certain early 80s
AOR/Westcoast feeling. For example the laid-back “Next to you” just breathes
out the classic sound of early 80s Californian Westcoast (AMBROSIA, PABLO
CRUISE, BILL CHAMPLIN, STEELY DAN, PAUL DAVIS, MARC JORDAN, IAN THOMAS, etc.
etc.), while some of the earlier tracks on the album are more rocking into a
BRYAN ADAMS meets RICHARD MARX style (and then not their commercial housewife
balladry, but the lesser known songs). “Hindsight” also needs to be mentioned,
because this is a really great semi rocker, with some nice groovy guitar licks
and once again a memorable song structure with lots of melodies. I can easily
recommend this musician, because he deserves attention from all of you. More
info at: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/seanmcmorris
(Points: 8.5 out of 10)
OLIO ‘OLIO’ (INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT)
Now
this is an interesting band from Los Angeles, California, because they rock,
they have a soul and are sounding very melodic, but it’s their combination of
soul, rock and pop that makes them somehow an interesting new groovy act. In
fact they can easily be labelled as a Funkrockact actually, with somehow
similarities to LENNY KRAVITZ, MOTHER’S FINEST, LIVING COLOR and JEFF SCOTT
SOTO (“Caught up”), but “Boom” and “Dance” are also sounding like late 70s
Disco, which might not work for everyone, but it is done quite clever. I prefer
personally the more rockier tunes like “Round and round” that sound like JEFF
SCOTT SOTO and the fantastic melodic rocker “Getting away with murder” that
reminds me of KING’S X. The vocalwork is very good, quite soulful and although
it might not sound like your typical rockband, I feel that OLIO is a band with
something interesting to offer and who knows they might become the next big
thing. Go check them out at: www.oliomusic.com
(Points: 8.3 out of 10)
PYRAMID ON MARS ‘PYRAMID ON MARS’ (INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT)
Now
here we have a very talented musician from the Canadian city of Hamilton. His
name is KEVIN ESTRELLA and except from the drum programming, he plays all
guitars, bass and keyboards by himself, which makes him a
multi-instrumentalist. His own band is called PYRAMIDS ON MARS, which musically
is pure Neo-Classical Progressive Rock and the same titled debut CD contains 10
instrumental tracks that clearly displays his love for RUSH and PINK FLOYD.
Especially during a beautiful song “King of the mountain” one can hear the
enormous talent of Kevin. The only thing that is missing here are real drums,
but Kevin is such a great guitarplayer one is able to forgive him that. Check
him out at: www.pyramidsonmars.com
(Points: 8.0 out of 10)
KEVIN DANZIG ‘PLAYGROUND’ (BANDANZIG MUSIC/USA IMPORT)
Out
of Colorado comes a great singer-songwriter called KEVIN DANZIG, who is not
related to the Hardcore screamer Glenn Danzig by the way! Anyway, he was kind
enough to sent me a great CD he recently released, which is titled
‘Playground’, an album filled with lovely melodic tunes that balances somewhere
between Singer-Songwriter and 1970s Westcoast, with a touch of Americana and
Folk. Somehow the band AMERICA comes to mind here and there, although DAVE
MATTHEWS BAND, PAUL SIMON and LEONARD COHEN influences can also be heard very
clearly. Kevin has a fantastic melodic voice which is basically making him
standout between the countless other singer-songwriters out there. In fact, he
has a sorta AOR type of voice, with a soul tone (JEFF PARIS), while the music
also sometimes (“Emotional rollercoaster”) also reminds me a bit of JOHN MAYER.
Anyway, ‘Playground’ is already his 9th album and Kevin has been in
the music business for over 35 years now, so it is about time he gets heard by
much more people, because his latest album ‘Playground’ is a great melodic
adventure. Check him out at: www.kevindanzig.net
(Points: 8.2 out of 10)
MEDLOW ‘MEDLOW’ (YOO RECORDS/USA IMPORT)
Here’s
another retro early 80s UK New Wave influenced band from the USA. They are
called MEDLOW and their same titled debut CD does not offer anything new to the
already familiar sound which once was created by British acts like THE CURE,
JOY DIVISION, DEPECHE MODE, ULTRAVOX, THE SMITHS… The current new wave trend
offers bands like THE KILLERS, WHITE LIES, VAMPIRE WEEKEND, BASTILLE, PHOENIX,
WOMBATS, HURTS, EDITORS, NEON TREES and a thousand more, of which MEDLOW is the
latest addition. It all sounds pretty much by the numbers, but thanks to a
major production by Luke White of the band ATOMIC TOM and also the fact these 4
young guys know how to create a catchy tune, it all sounds quite nice and is
recommended if you like any of the mentioned modern wave bands. Hard to tell if
these guys will become massive, because every few months one of the new similar
sounding New Wave bands is picked up by the mass media to become the next big
thing and BASTILLE was one of them in the recent year. Check them out for
yourself at: www.medlowmusic.com
(Points: 8.1 out of 10)
STEVIE JEWEL 'THE M
SERIES' (INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT)
Out of Nashville, USA comes singer/songwriter Stevie Jewel. She sent me
a 3-tracks counting mini-CD which contains musically speaking a very strong
professional melodic pop/rock sound that leaves a lot of room for Stevie's
passionate picture-perfect vocalwork. Songs like the midtempo We Are Magic
and the ballad One In A Million are radio-ready and one listen to Stevie
learns that she could well become a major star, because the high quality of her
recordings blows away a lot of the major label signed acts. This could well be
the start of something much bigger in the future for this talented musician
from Nashville.
More information at: www.Facebook.com/steviejewel
(Points: 8.2 out of 10)
TOLERANCE 'WHEN TIME
STOPS' (MUSEA RECORDS)
Tolerance is a band from Venezuela playing a mix between Progressive
Rock and Prog Metal at an incredible high level, combining complex instrumental
passages with crystal clear melodies that all together bring you straight into
a journey that you just don't want to leave after the album is finished. When
comparing their sound, you should definitely think of bands like Shadow
Gallery, Enchant, Pagan's Mind, Threshold, Magellan and such, so then you will
understand that we are dealing here with something very interesting. They were
formed more than 10 years ago and during this period they worked hard on
releasing this gem titled When Time Stops, so this is indeed their debut
album. The musicians of the band are clearly gifted in bringing perfectly
balanced instrumental back-up to the band's sensational lead singer Ricardo Figueroa.
He shines especially during the somewhat calmer very melodic tunes Drifted and
Meeting the path. Although the similarities to a slightly calmer Dream
Theater are also very clear, Tolerance is definitely a band you absolutely do
not want to miss out when you call yourself a dedicated fan of the progressive
rock/prog metal genre. The guitarwork of Carlos Cabrices is quite phenomenal
and all I can add further here is that you need to urgently go and look up this
band a.s.a.p.
More at: www.toleranceband.com
(Points: 8.5 out of 10)
HOUSE OF X 'HOUSE OF X' (ESCAPE
MUSIC)
House Of X features the likes of well established British musicians
(Danny Peyronel, Laurence Archer, Rocky Newton and Clive Edwards), whom all
played in legendary UK Hardrockbands like UFO, MSG, Lionheart, Wild Horses and
Grand Slam (with Phil Lynott). The band's untitled debut album contains typical
British Hardrock with a strong reference to the 1970s and 1980s. Samson, UFO
and Stampede are a few bands that come to mind while listening to the album and
although it is all done very well, the only real highlight is the
semi-ballad/rocker Alive. It is pretty much a standard record that
offers good quality music that will probably eventually find it's way to the
fans of mentioned acts...
More: www.houseofx.net
(Points: 7.4 out of 10)
A LIQUID LANDSCAPE 'THE
LARGEST FIRE KNOWN TO HER MAN; (GLASSVILLE RECORDS)
The Dutch band A Liquid Landscape is an upcoming band from the very
north of The Netherlands, the Fryslan area and they just released their 2nd
album titled The largest fire known to man. It is a very good thing to
see new Dutch band releasing professional sounding albums that can easily bring
international success, because basically this band offers melodic Progressive
Rock with an Alternative Rock touch at the same high level as bands like
Anathema, Riverside and Marillion, with Muse and Radiohead also passing by as
influences here and there. All the ingredients are there to make this album a
true winner in the Progressive Rockworld and instead of endless instrumental
passages, A Liquid Lanscape also chooses to go for a more song based direction
that sounds just perfect, mainly thanks to the beautiful vocals of their singer
Fons Herder. Each of the 8 included songs is a jewel and I am convinced that we
are looking here at one of the Dutch finest moments in Progressive Rock in the
year 2014, so all progheads out there should check out this super band.
More at: www.aliquidlandscape.nl
(Points: 8.8 out of 10)
MARCO SANTIAGO 'SURRENDER'
(PACIFIC POP PRODUCTIONS/USA IMPORT)
Hawaii isnt exactly known for bringing us a lot of music, but I'll bet
it's because of it's isolation that most acts never make it outside of that
tropical island. Marco Santiago was kind enough to sent me 2 albums he recorded
and musically we are entering a sorta laid-back jazzy Westcoast meets Blues
adventure while listening to his 2nd album titled Surrender.There's a
clear 1970s and early 1980s vibe here and comparisons to especially Lee
Ritenour can also be made and that isn't a bad thing at all. Marco did
everything himself here and it all might sound not as flashy and major
production alike, it is very clear that we are dealing with a professional
musician (especially on the guitar!) and his music is recommended to fans of
that traditional American Jazz flavored Westcoast sound of acts like Gino
Vannelli, Pages, Steely Dan, Orleans, Bill LaBounty, etc.
(Points: 7.8 out of 10)
SEVEN ‘SEVEN’
(ESCAPE MUSIC)
25 years ago
the UK based band SEVEN was one of many AOR bands trying to make it big, but
apart from FM, UK bands creating AOR was not such a success unfortunately,
despite the high quality of the acts. Nevertheless, ESCAPE MUSIC now releases
an album full of original material by SEVEN, a band which only released 2
singles in the very early 1980s, so actually this is a brand-new record being
released in 2014. Back then they played support to huge pop acts in every big arena/music
venue in the UK, but after the split and various other projects/bands, they now
seem to become a pure AOR favorite, especially when listening to the incredible
high level of the same titled record. Recorded with Swedish hard rock guitarist
and producer Lars Chris, SEVEN probably now sounds rockier than they ever were
back in the day, so it was worth the wait probably for a full record to be
released by the band. JOHN PARR was involved during the period the band was
alive almost 25 years ago and some of his influences can clearly be heard, such
as during the fantastic midtempo AOR “Thru The Night”, which actually was a
song I already knew from the awesome AOR demo CD of DEVINE INTERVENTION, a
band/project reviewed/interviewed more than 10 years ago. The absolute
highlights here are the AOR killers “Shoot To Kill”, “Still” and “Strangers”,
which all bring back memories to the real classic 80s AOR sound of bands like
URGENT, AVIATOR, AGENT and such. The vocals by singer Mick Devine are quite
extraordinary and instrumental one cannot get any closer to pure AOR than this.
It somehow breathes a Canadian AOR sound and for the insiders among us, none
other than MARK MANGOLD makes a guest appearance. Highly recommended AOR piece!
(Points: 8.7 out of 10)
CHRIS
PETERS 'PASSING LANE' (INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT)
Now here we
have a great musician from New Hampshire, USA, who was kind enough to sent me a
very strong professional sounding record he released entitled 'Passing Lane'.
The included music is slightly early 1980s based catchy uptempo melodic driven
guitar orientated poprock with a touch of AOR and a lot of Powerpop overdose. I
hear all kinds of similar sounds to retro legendary artists like BRETT WALKER,
BRYAN ADAMS, RICK SPRINGFIELD, MOON MARTIN, PHIL SEYMOUR, but also lesser known
acts such as SCOTT SUDBURY, JOHN TAGLIERI, RICK MATHEWS, etc. 9 tracks are
included and a lot of them are uptempo guitar driven sing-a-long poprockers in
the mentioned style, with as deadly catchiest the killer tune "Dorks".
Chris has a very powerful voice and together with a healthy dose of lyrics and
catchy material, his CD 'Passing lane' is highly recommended to fans of fun
uptempo summer ish melodic poprock/aor. More info at: www.reverbnation.com/chrispeters
and www.cdbaby.com/cd/chrispeters5
(Points: 8.4 out of 10)
CREATION MIND 'THE CRIMSON SUN'
(INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT)
CREATION MIND is a band/project formed by
MIKE PARANTI, who is a very talented multi-instrumentalist/singer-songwriter
from New York City. Along with bandmembers Stewart Wenig (vocals, bass and lead
guitar) and Stefano Leone (drums) and studio/engineer BEN RICE (DeGraw Sound,
Brooklyn, NY), they created a really great album, which is filled with high
quality Melodic semi-Progressive Rock that leaves a lot of room for
instrumental passages, but not stretching out too much in the classic 70s
style, so keeping up with clever clean and bright melodies all the time that
stick in your head. Mike has a great voice, with a sorta PETER GABRIEL tone,
while the music is clearly influenced by 1970s GENESIS, THE BEATLES, YES and
such, sounding actually dangerously close to SPOCK'S BEARD with NEAL MORE on
vocals, so a BEATLES/singer-songwriter touch is clearly hearable all throughout
the album. There’s also a strong 1970s pop vibe here going on and together with
some peaceful acoustic passages, the album develops into a very diverse record
that contains from start to finish nothing but enjoyable music to please
especially fans of 1970s music in all its forms. "Laura You're An
Angel" and "Tell Me The Word" are just 2 examples of the
incredible high quality which can be heard on this album. I'll bet the prog
labels in Europe would be interested in checking this out, but as mentioned it
is not entirely prog what we hear over here, because lots of elements of rock,
pop and singer-songwriter can also be heard throughout every song on the album
and that is on the other hand what makes his album a winner for the open-minded
progfans out there, because SPOCK’S BEARD and TRANSATLANTIC get away in the
same league with that. For more info I would like to invite you to go to: http://www.reverbnation.com/creationmind
(Points: 8.2 out of 10)
ZEN JUDDHISM ‘ZEN JUDDHISM’(LOOSH ROTE RECORDS)
Zen
Juddhism is a new project from guitarist/songwriter Jude Ωne Eight, who is
based in Southampton, UK and on the first release we can hear various guest
vocalists. The music is quite diverse and combines elements of rock, metal,
funk, soul and pop into an exciting own style. It’s a pity about the somewhat
slick production and also the drum computer is not really making it sound
explosive, but on the other hand, here and there the album reflects some
interesting music, such as Am I Alive?, which is a really great semi AOR ballad
in the style of Alannah Myles. On this song we can hear Marlene Rodriquez, who
has a strong voice and it would have been very interesting to hear her voice on
each and every song, but she only sings on a few songs, which happen to be the
finest tracks on the album by the way (also check out Concrete beat, which
reminds me a bit of Pat Benatar). The diversity in styles is clearly hearable
through Heart removal (metal’ish) and Clash from oblivion (rap-rock), while we
can also hear a glimpse of 1970s Hardrock a la Montrose and Ace Frehley.
The future will tell us more if we can expect a more balanced album, but Zen
Juddhism offers some light in the darkness already, so we’ll wait and see. In
the meantime, check out more at: http://zenjuddhism.com
(Points 7.3 out
of 10)
JANELLE NADEAU 'THESE ROADS'(FACTOR/MAP/CANADA IMPORT)
Now
here we have a gifted Vancouver, Canada based harpist/vocalist Janelle Nadeau, who just released her
debut album These Roads. Musically
and vocally we are drifting into a very high level here, combining elements of
Popmusic, Celtic, Folk and Singer/Songwriter into a very melodic style that
reminds me a bit of Sharon Corr. There’s
a strong touch of Irish traditional Folk to be heard all throughout the album,
not only due to the harp, but also because of the inclusion of a song like the
Irish traditional Star of the County
Down. Janelle is a classically-trained harpist (graduated at the University
of BC, played with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and regularly performs with
the Vancouver Opera) and the beauty of it all is that she also has got a
magical voice, so that combination is rather unique and does not make her just
a harpist only. She has a lot more to offer, just listen to beautiful songs
like Tree and the House On the Hill
and Caught in Between, which are
lovely singer-songwriter pieces. Janelle has toured and played with world-class
harpists Kim Robertson, Deborah
Henson-Conant, Patrick Ball and has played in the backup band for Kanye West. Together with
Singer-songwriter Jaylene Johnson,
she has composed most of the songs on her debut record. Along with a backing
band featuring drums/percussion (Ian
Mackie) and guitar, bass and vocals (Stephen
Fisk), live concerts will be more band and rock driven. I’ll bet my money
on Janelle for a breakthrough in the future, if she is lucky enough that the
British press/media (BBC/Jool Holland/Mojo/Uncut/Songlines) picks her up and
starts doing what she truly deserves and that is giving wide coverage of her
talent and bring it to the masses out there. Check her out at: www.janellenadeau.com
(Points: 8.6 out
of 10)
JAAP 'WHAT I'M HERE FOR' (CAZAN PRODUCTIONS/GERMANY
IMPORT)
Although
musician JAAP was born in Spain and
raised in England, he is based in Germany, where he grew as a musician the past
20 years. What I’m here for is his
journey through the pop/rock landscape and musically speaking we are listening
to a mix of 1970s singer-songwriter and 1980s hi-tech pop. Especially a song
like You walk by is a very relaxing
westcoast/poprock ish melodic tune that sounds like a cross between Mark Knopfler meets Christopher Cross and some Edward
Reekers, while the 80s synths/drums give it a hi-tech influence which makes
me think of Thowsen and early Richard Marx. There’s also some Al Stewart and Billy Joel thrown in for good measure and the die-hard AOR fans
might also find something for their taste (such as the song The Longest Mile). Melodies is the key
word for JAAP and I am sure his album
will eventually find its way to the fans of Westcoast, AOR and summer-breeze
Pop/Rock and who knows one of the songs will end up on the radio, because it
has got hit potency written all over. Check out more at: www.jaap.com
(Points: 8.0 out
of 10)
CIVILIAN 'THE SECOND' (INDEPENDENT/BELGIUM IMPORT)
The
origins of the Belgian band Civilian
harkens back to the 90s when it’s members met and joined forces after their old
bands more or less dried up. Although among the material we can hear an
aggressive Thrash Metal tune called Lost
in the moshpit, most of the time we can hear nice quality American
Hardrock, with as highlight the classic semi-ballad Dead man walking. The raw vocals do not sound very strong, but as a
band, Civilian sounds quite tight and
I’ll bet live they will make an impact. More at:
(Points: 7.4 out
of 10)
DUFFY KANE 'DEAD MAN WALKIN' (FREEDOM TRAIN RECORDS/Q
ENTERTAINMENT/USA IMPORT)
American
singer/songwriter Duffy Kane looks and sounds like the next big American hero,
but when reading his bio it becomes clear that we are dealing here with a
musician who has been playing guitar for a few decades and he has already
released 6 albums in the past 20 years, so Duffy is definitely a well-seasoned
guitarist/vocalist. Dead man walkin'
is his latest adventure and without a doubt, this record is loaded with high
class typical American Rock that combines the best of all the traditional
American sounds, such as Blues, Americana, Rootsrock, Heartland Rock and
Country. If you listen to the record for the first time, it is understandable
that you call this an album to be picked up a.s.a.p. by fans of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Joe Bonamassa, Jimi
Hendrix and Johnny Winter, but
Duffy definitely has an own identity (and you can even hear influences of Allman Brothers and Bruce Springsteen). For example,
Son of the Republic is a very strong bluesy rocker with really great
guitarwork, crossed with Duffy’s raw vocals, this tune sounds quite dirty and
nasty, while America the Beautiful
and Growing up Tree are suddenly
peaceful beautiful acoustic singer-songwriter pieces with amazing clean spot-on
vocals. And actually the whole CD shows these different styles of traditional
American sounds (Blues meets Country meets Bluegrass Rock) and the natural way
of Duffy’s voice (both raw and clean) is perfectly suitable to fit these
various music styles and make it a pleasure to listen to the album from start
to finish. Duffy is a huge talent, who could easily be on a major label and
let’s just hope this Dead man walkin’ will
be his breakthrough record. He deserves it and everyone out there needs to
check out this American musician at: http://duffykane.com
(Points: 8.4 out
of 10)
JANE WALKER 'WALK GENTLY' (GO SET MUSIC/AUSTRALIA IMPORT)
Out
of Australia comes a very talented singer/songwriter called Jane Walker and her
album Walk Gently was recorded in
various studios in Sydney, London and New York, mixed by David Hemming, while
the album was mastered at the legendary Sterling Sound in New York City. What
we get to hear is very impressive melodic pop/rock with a touch of soul and in
fact, songs like Missing Myself and Sleepless are quite strong midtempo
AOR/Poprock tunes that feel a bit like Alannah
Myles actually. This album sounds like a high quality major label ish
release and although it is labeled as chill-out pop, it definitely needs to be
clarified in detail how it actually sounds like and as mentioned, it contains
elements of pop, rock, soul and aor. It might not sound too rocky for some of
you, but it definitely sounds very relaxing, is melodic in all aspects of each
and every song and is basically a recommended album to anyone who cares for
quality pop/rock music. There is a lot of competition out there, but Jane has
got all it takes to beat out all the other ones, whom are praised by mass media
at the moment. She is worth it to check out asap at: http://www.janewalker.com.au
(Points: 8.5 out
of 10)
YOUR FAVORITE ENEMIES 'BETWEEN ILLNESS AND MIGRATION'
(HOPEFUL TRAGEDY RECORDS/CANADA IMPORT)
Formed
in 2006, Your Favorite Enemies is a
(Quebec based) Canadian band whom are rapidly becoming quite popular. They make
a mix of Alternative Rock, Melodic Rock, Punkrock, a little bit of modern
Progrock and quite a bit of Noise. All together you might as well call it just
raw rock and roll the way it needs to sound. The start of their latest album Between illness and migration is quite
experimental, but with A View from
Within, Where Did We Lose Each Other and
From the City to the Ocean they offer lovely catchy uptempo melodic rock
with memorable hooks and melodies. Thankfully it doesn’t dive into standardized
Emocore, because therefore this band is offering way more instrumental
diversity and strength in the vocal department, especially during their
experimental moves in some of the songs. In fact, they are more interesting
than Simple Plan or Greenday for example, whom are selling
millions of records and this Your
Favorite Enemies could well be highly recommended to fans of let’s say Deftones, with clean melodic vocals a la Ignite. Also lyrically they are
offering a lot of interesting topics, but that is partly due to the fact that
lead singer Alex Foster has been
involved as an official Amnesty International spokesperson for more than a
decade. Definitely a band to check out, because they sound utterly professional
and are strong enough to become a major rockband in the next few years.
More
at: http://yourfavoriteenemies.com
(Points: 8.3 out
of 10)
WENDY?!: ‘NOTEBOOK’ (ITALY IMPORT)
Lead
singer/guitarist Lorenzo “Mr. Grady” Canevacci is the leader of the Italian
band Wendy?!: He played in the band Bloody Riot, one of the best known
Italian Hardcore bands in the early 80’s, but quit more or less the music
business throughout the 1990s, until in 2000 when he encountered a few
tragedies, including losing his younger brother. During the 2000s decade, he
formed Wendy?! together with Andrea
DRM Giuliano (bass), Alessandro Ressa (guitar, keyboards) and Luca Calabrò
(drums) and now they release their 2nd album Notebook. The record is all about big guitar riffs and it truly
rocks big time, combining 1970s Classic Rock with today’s modern Alternative
Rock, somewhere between Lou Reed, Jeff
Buckley, Mark Lanegan, David Bowie and
Golden Earring. Highlights include Lovers
lies (melodic heavy rock), I’m sick
(punky rocker) and I’m gonna try
(pure David Bowie, slow tune). For an Italian band, Wendy?! does sound pretty original
actually and especially vocally quite interesting. The combination of big
rocking guitar riffs, catchy tunes and an alternative way of singing, that is
setting this band apart from the rest. More info at: http://www.wendyofficial.com/
(Points: 8.2 out
of 10)
SUSAN MCKEOWN 'BELONG' (INDEPENDENT/IRELAND IMPORT)
Susan McKeown comes out of
Dublin, Ireland and 'Belong' is already her 11th album. She has spent most of
her career in the USA, where she did very well, but Irish people always return
to the place where they belong, which is likewise in Ireland. She has performed
with Pete Seeger, Natalie Merchant, Linda
Thompson, Billy Bragg, Arlo Guthrie and
The Klezmatics, was nominated for a BBC award and without a doubt, Susan is
one of the most respected Irish singer/songwriters of the past decades. The
music is singer/songwriter orientated, calm and sorta Joni Mitchell ish, but somehow with an alternative touch and quite
melancholic in a song like Lullaby of
Manhattan. This slow dark song happens to be the best song on the album,
with Susan really giving it all. Our
Texas is another highlight, a great uptempo melodic tune, while opener On The Bridge To Williamsburg is a
strong duet with Declan O’Rourke.
Susan has her own way of singing the words, really telling a story. Her voice
is hard to compare to any other singer/songwriter actually and therefore
interesting to listen to. Don’t miss out this incredible Irish singer and go
for more info to: http://susanmckeown.com
(Points: 8.4 out
of 10)
SAINT REBEL 'SAINT REBEL' (MIGHTY MUSIC/DENMARK IMPORT)
The
Copenhagen based band Saint Rebel was nominated for best Danish hardrockalbum
in 2012 and 2014, so for both their debut from 2012 and now for their new
album, which is self-titled by the way. The band’s music is melodic hard/heavy
rock in the style of Shakra, Gotthard,
Victory and Sargant Fury, so
perhaps not original, but thankfully it is done at an exceptional high level,
which makes it a must-have release for fans of this style. The band’s strong
singer Jonas Kaas reminds me of the
vocalists from Tesla, Lillian Axe,
Sargant Fury and Victory and
likewise the material is not far removed from those legendary melodic
hardrockbands. The album has a huge sound, thanks to producer Marcus “Dolken”
Toft (DAD) and besides, the
guitarsound is also high class and spot-on from start to finish. Highlights are
My Patient and One and the Same (midtempo groovy hardrock, pure Shakra) and Feeling Good and I Give It Up
(semi melodic hardrock ballads). A surprisingly strong album, which is highly
recommended to the melodic hardrockfans. More at: www.facebook.com/SaintRebelMusic
and www.saintrebelmusic.com
(Points: 8.4 out
of 10)
HEAVYBALL ‘ANOTHER COUNTRY' (MAGNETIC NORTH MELODIES/UK
IMPORT)
Based
in London, Heavyball consists of
Bigface on guitar and vocals, with his brother Habs on drums and completed with
bassist Johnny Iball and Tom 'Stone Cold' Frost on lead guitar. Sadly only 2
songs (Another country and Unhappy now) are on this CD single Another country, because they sound
quite good, playing catchy uptempo poprock in 1980s style, with clear
comparisons to The Outfield and Sting / The Police. So one definitely
wants to hear much more of this exciting new band, but we’ll have to wait for a
full-length album I’m afraid. They toured with Kaiser Chiefs and who knows, we
might be looking at the next UK sensation, so go check out more at: http://www.heavyball.net
(Points: 8.2 out
of 10)
23 ACEZ 'REDEMPTION WAVES' (MIGHTY MUSIC/DENMARK IMPORT)
Here
we have an interesting Belgian band called 23
Acez. They sound quite close to that other Belgian band All I Know, if anyone can remember them
of course. The beginning of their album Redemption
waves is quite strong and basically what we get to hear is pure Melodic
(Hard) Rock, but as the album continues, the songs become less interesting and
that is a pity, because 23 Acez shows
they are able to do some great stuff here. At times it sounds groovy and pretty
heavy, but very melodic most of the time, such as during opener Loopholes, which happens to be one of
the finest songs on the record. This song has a lovely catchy chorus that
sticks in your head quite quickly and reminds me a bit of the 1990s sound of
bands like CITA, Jaded Heart, Mara and Frontline, so the melodic rock addicts
then know this band is really interesting to check out asap. It’s not in the
exact same league, but especially during the beginning of the album, it reminds
me a bit of those legendary acts. Other highlights are The bigger picture (pure classic 80s
AOR, a bit like The Promise) and From the
moment (uptempo melodic rock). So basically we have a high quality band
here from Belgium, with superb guitarwork, strong melodies and dito vocals
(some struggling here and there) most of the time. Melodic Hardrock the way it
should sound, so a great job from these guys. There are even some pure AOR
songs included and together with some nice keyboardwork, the band can also be
compared to Terra Nova, although as
already mentioned before, they have to work on more stronger tunes than the 4
or 5 ones we can now get really excited about. More at: https://www.facebook.com/23Acez
(Points: 8.0 out
of 10)
JANET ROBIN 'EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED' (LITTLE SISTER
RECORDS/USA IMPORT)
I
haven’t played them in ages, but the vinyl records of 1980s all-female
glam-rock band Precious Metal
(produced by AOR legend Paul Sabu)
are somewhere in my apartment. Anyway, one of its members was Janet Robin, a singer/songwriter from
L.A., who released a solo-album titled Everything
has changed in 2010, which has now re-released with a different cover. The
album was produced by John Carter Cash,
the son of the ultimate American Country legend Johnny Cash. Musically speaking we are drifting into American
Roots-Rock that does remind a bit of Martha
Wainwright, with also some typical female fronted pop/rock in 1990s mood
(read Melissa Etheridge, Sheryl Crow and
Meredith Brooks) and one can also trace some aor/poprock influences here
and there. Highlights on the album are opener View from Above and Clean
getaway (pure Martha Wainwright).
There are quite a few acoustic pieces included as well, but Janet has the voice
of a rock singer and that makes this album quite a challenge and pleasure to
listen to. One should also listen to Dream
Baby, a superb cover of the Roy
Orbison classic. The album was released on her own label, Little Sister Records and a truly recommendation
to fans of female fronted acoustic and roots-rock orientated music. Janet has a
long history behind her, which includes playing with Precious Metal, but it already started in the very early 1980s when
her guitar teacher was none-other than Randy
Rhoads (Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne) and in the 1990s she joined Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham’s band in support of
his 1992 solo album Out of the Cradle.
And now she continues to play live and record her own solo material, which can
be heard on this great album Everything
has changed. More info can be found at:www.janetrobin.com
(Points: 8.3 out of 10)
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