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HOT NEW REVIEWS
Formed in 2013,
SAVELLI & NOSTRESS is an interesting act, because they play in an acoustic
setting and mix various music genres. The line up consists of Alex Savelli
(vocals, guitar), Jeanine Heirani (vocals, guitar), Paolo Lapiddi (bass guitar)
and Max Bertusi (drums). Their latest album is titled Doing nothing, which
consists of 12 songs. Opener See you later is a relaxing midtempo 70s inspired
funky Westcoast/Poprocksong, sorta semi-instrumental. Next track No choice is
more singer/songwriter orientated, also with a link to the 1970s, but with a
dark bluesy edge to it. JOHNNY CASH influences can be heard during the uptempo
shuffling Americana ish By my side, which has a melodic chorus and also some
ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND kinda guitarwork. Basically SAVELLI & NOSTRESS is
combining several American music genres and they do it quite well, making their
album Doing nothing a diverse melodic record that is of a high level. Other
highlights are the melodic The secret, The seaside first (STEELY DAN meets RAUL
MIDON), the midtempo Ariaz (with an interesting 70s wah-wah guitarsolo) and the
titletrack Doing nothing, with it's excellent guitar melody. There's not a
single weak moment to be found and Alex is a gifted singer without any accent,
while the acoustic guitarwork is really impressive and the songs are melodic
and memorable. I would recommend anyone to check out this exciting laid-back
summerfriendly record. More info at: https://www.facebook.com/nostress.trio
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
LUCIDVOX
'WE ARE' (GLITTERBEAT RECORDS/XANGO MUSIC)
Out of Moscow, Russia
comes a rather interesting band called LUCIDVOX, whom are playing a sorta Gothic/Folk
Rock, with however World Music influences and this combination is working
really well on their official debut album We are. It's an all-female band
consisting of Alina - vocal, flute, Nadezhda - drums, Galla - guitar and Anna -
bassguitar, and 9 songs are on We are. Opener My little star is a great rocking
piece that is Gothic Rock ish, yet with strong female vocals and a rhythm that
is clearly influenced by Russian Folk and World Music. The 8 following songs
continue this mixture more or less, with as highlights Amok, You are (one of
the finest songs, here it works really well, as the World Music infuences are
upfront), Sirin and Runaway (with even some 70s Krautrock and Jazz influences).
When the band goes for an uptempo rocking style, such as the straight-forward
Body or the noisy Sever, I am not fully convinced and then I think they should
not go that way. They should really focus on that interesting combination of
Gothic Rock, Folk melodies, World Music rhythms, because then they bring us
some superb musicianship! Hopefully a next record will fully concentrate on
that direction, because then the rating will be much higher! More info at: https://lucidvox-band.bandcamp.com
and https://www.facebook.com/lucidvox/
(Points:
8.2 out of 10)
MENACE
D'ECLAIRCIE 'FINISH YOUR PATATES AND TAKE YOUR CONVERSES' (KLAM RECORDS/XANGO
MUSIC)
Although the
instrumental French band MENACE D'ECLAIRCIE is seen as a Brass band, they are
actually mixing a Brass sound with not only Pop/Rockmusic, because several
other musicstyles can be heard (Gypsy, Jazz, Scottish Folk, Ska, Rockabilly,
Medieaval Folk, Blues), but they use several other instruments to make it sound
quite unique and diverse, going much further than playing Brass ish music. In
fact, they combine about each and every possible music genre on this album
Finish your patates and take your converses. The band consists of Formed
Florian Juillard (bombarde/veuze), Jean Marie Stephant (Percussions), Martin
Chapron (banjo), Sébastien Boyer (tuba) and Youen Paranthoën (accordéon
chromatique) and actually this is one of those bands that should perform live
on the streets, sorta busker music, which is done really well on this record,
with 12 exciting fun tunes that live in front of an audience will be a
guarantee for a streetparty! The diversity to go from brass to rock and
anything in-between makes MENACE D'ECLAIRCIE a highly recommended band! 1 song,
the titletrack, it features vocals by guest Ray, and this is a bluesy rocker,
quite a nice one actually! Check out more at: https://www.facebook.com/FanfareMenacedeclaircie
and https://www.klam-records.net/menace-d-eclaircie
(Points:
8.1 out of 10)
SARIS 'BEYOND
THE RAINBOW' (PROGRESSIVE PROMOTION RECORDS/GERMANY IMPORT)
It is always nice to re-connect with
bands, especially when it's such a long time ago. In this case it concerns the
German band, of whom I reviewed their album Curse of time back in 2009. The
history of this band goes back much further than that actually, because they
were formed all the way back in 1981! The only member left from the original
line-up is founder and leader DERK AKKERMANN, the guitarist and keyboardplayer
of the band. The rest of today's line-up consists of Bassist Lutz Günther,
Drummer Jens Beckmann, Lead Vocalists Henrik Wager and Anja Günther. The sound
is huge on their 5th album Beyond the rainbow, which consists of 10 songs.
Although the vocals do have an accent, it is not disturbing and it gives them
that typical German sound. The music is Progressive/Symphonic Rock with some
light 80s AOR/Melodic Rock influences here and there. You can also call it
uptempo Neo-Progrock with a focus on cheerful big bombastic keyboards, soaring
guitarsolos and catchy choruses, sorta like a cross between SAGA, ELOY and
DOMAIN/NO CREDIT BAND/CRAAFT/ZAR. The result is a very enjoyable album from
start to finish, with as highlights Avalon, Oblivion, Heaven's gate, the
fantastic AORish Away from you (CRAAFT meets the bombastic Symphonic
Rock/Metalsound of WITHIN TEMPTATION) and the lovely semi melodic rock/prog
ballad New world. Concluded, this new SARIS album is a great addition to your
collection and a perfect mix of Symphonic/Prog, Neo-Prog and 80s German AOR/Melodic
Rock. More info at: https://www.saris-music.info
and https://saris.bandcamp.com/album/beyond-the-rainbow
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
THE WAY
OF PURITY 'SCHWARZ ODER ROT' (WORMHOLEDEATH/ITALY IMPORT)
Now this is a mixed
bag of all kinds of rock and metal styles, which is usually not a problem at
all, but the death growls/black metal screams should really be left out here.
It's a pity because if you listen to some parts on this album, there is
definitely a huge potential! THE WAY OF PURITY is an Italian band and Schwarz
oder rot is their 4th album. For example the melodic Rootrot and Mandament show
an interesting band for sure, featuring guest female singers, but the
Industrial Metal with dark growls takes over on most of the other songs. It is
a very dark extreme Metal record, with here and there some melodic parts such
as the aforementioned songs, but also The lyncher. You can even note some
Gothic Metal influences here and there, HIM ish and I feel that if the band
drops those cookie-monster/extreme voices and put out an album with the female
vocals as main singer, we can easily welcome a sensational band! Now there is
too much going on, making it quite confusing, but in case you don't mind this
kind of mix, then go ahead and check them out at: http://www.thewayofpurity.com/
(Points:
-)
PAT
REILLY 'PATH TO TRANSCENDENCE' (INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT)
PAT REILLY is a
guitarist from Queens, New York who played and toured with several bands and he
has now released his debut solo album Path to transcendence. 6 out of the 9
included songs are instrumental and 3 of the tracks feature vocals. Pat himself
plays guitar and bass, while the drums are played by Tadpole Jones and Michael
Marrone. Opener Between two worlds is a heavy Neo-Classical/Prog Metal
shredding piece, sounding quite massive and very impressive, but when things
slow down a bit and go into calmer territory with the lovely melodic progrock
ish semi ballad Emergence, we can hear that PAT REILLY is an exceptional guitarist
who can let his guitar sing some beautiful melodies. It seems like the album
continues in this variation, because after the heavy Bleeding life, things get
more melodic again during the lovely The sleepless. Dracarys is another superb
midtempo Melodic Progmetal tune where Pat's soaring guitar brings us delightful
melodies. There is not a single weak moment to be found here and anyone into
the classic Melodic Rock/Metal/Progrock/Progmetal sound will absolutely love
this album. After 5 instrumental songs, there are also 3 vocal featured songs
included, of which Winter sunrise is a beautiful midtempo Melodic Progmetal
tune with impressive vocals of guest singer ANTHONY Q QUILES. The other 2 vocal
featured songs are Vitality and Birth of freedom, with as guest singer MICHAEL
CENTRONE, but he is more of the extreme metal kinda way of screaming and
growling, which is a pity, because I would have loved to hear more songs with
Anthony on vocals. Anyway, closing track The farewell illusion brings back the
beautiful melodic calm prog rock ballad territory, with even a sorta SCORPIONS
ballad kinda feeling. Pat is an amazing guitarist who can play with a lot of
feeling and he is also able to write a great tune as well. Definitely a
recommended guitarist to check out at: https://patthepanther.bandcamp.com/album/path-to-transcendence
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
INSTANT
CURTAIN 'LET TEAR US APART' (INDEPENDENT/ITALY IMPORT)
Out of Italy comes INSTANT CURTAIN and
they are making their debut with Let tear us apart, a very impressive album
that has an authentic 1970s progsound. Guitarist Giuseppe Petrucci, Bassist
Fabrizio Paggi, Drummer Carlo Maria Marchionni and Vocalist Massimo Gerini are
together INSTANT CURTAIN and I have to say that Massimo has an excellent
melodic clean voice. He and of course the musicians in the band lift up the
material to a very high level actually. There are clear influences from the
late 60s Psychedelic/Progrock of PINK FLOYD and THE BEATLES to be heard,
especially when hearing the great opener Reverse in the sand. There is no
accent to be heard at all and the band sounds really tight and well
constructed, playing perfect Progressive Rock in the classic 1970s tradition.
Other highlights are Tell the tales, May I (even a slightly bit of late 1970s
Pomprock here, STYXish due to the DENNIS DEYOUNG kinda vocalwork) and And the
ship battle down, but you every song of the 9 included sounds impressive!
Concluded, we have here a highly recommended band that mixes a bit of late 60s
PINK FLOYD, mid 70s STYX, U.K. and also a bit of the CANTERBURY sound. It
sounds very melodic and quite sensational, so a highly recommended album for
sure! More info at: https://instantcurtain.band/
(Points:
8.7 out of 10)
DAS RAD
'DAS RAD/ADIOS AL FUTURO' (DISCUS MUSIC/UK IMPORT)
If there's anything closer to Krautrock
nowadays than this band called DAS RAD, let them come forward, because the 2
albums of this British band are sounding dangerously close to the 1970s German
Krautrocksound of bands like CAN and TANGERINE DREAM, although there are also
some similarities to a band like SOFT MACHINE or even SWANS for example. They
hail from the city of Sheffield and their line up consists of Steve Dinsdale
(Drums, Keyboards), Nick Robinson (Guitar, Loops, Electronics) and Martin
Archer (Saxophone, Woodwind, Keyboards). Their same titled debut was released
in 2018 and the follow-up Adios al futuro in 2020. The included songs are
lengthy for sure, some around the 10 minutes mark, but for this kind of music
it is necessary to go into detail musically speaking and built something during
the song. The krautrock of DAS RAD is instrumental and quite diverse as well,
sometimes slow, dark and hypnotic, but at other times more jazzy and
improvising. Influences from the worlds of Rock, Jazz, Canterbury, Electronic
Music, Prog and Fusion are blended together very nicely here and it's a joy to
listen to songs like Inside reverse, the superb keyboard/synth driven Oslo star
and Tiefes blau. I also really need to mention the amazing 15 minutes counting
Porto steps from theit debut! They are doing a great job presenting here a
diverse and sometimes noisy classic genre from the 1970s, which at the moment
isn't done by many other bands. I can highly recommend DAS RAD to anyone who
likes classic Krautrock, because as authentic as on these 2 wonderful records
is really hard to find elsewhere! More info on this exciting band at: http://dasrad.uk/
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
NACHTLAND
'NACHTLAND' (CN MUSIC/GERMANY IMPORT)
In the past I followed
German speaking rock quite closely, with of course as most notable acts BRINGS,
BAP, DIE ARZTE, SILBERMOND, NENA and a few others. When RAMMSTEIN entered the
scene, it was clear that German speaking rock/metal will forever be connected
with that band. Nevertheless, there are still a lot of bands out there playing
classic rock orientated music with German lyrics and one of them is NACHTLAND.
This German band is formed around the powerful female lead singer Yvonne (Viva
la Tia) and the music on her band's same titled debut album is strong Classic
Rock/Melodic Hardrock. Aussenseiter and Kleingeist are catchy straight-ahead
uptempo rockers with a punky/sleazy attitude, but also featuring great melodic
hardrock ish singable choruses and even a cool guitarsolo. Der Pakt is
definitely one of the best songs on the whole album, because this is a
sensational uptempo melodic rocker like a German version of early 80s PAT
BENATAR. In a same style are Dunkle Venus, the lovely Disco and Nachtland. I
also need to mention the superb uptempo Melodic Hardrocker Ein stuck
unendlichkeit, which has a deadly catchy 80s AORish chorus as well as a
beautiful classic rock guitarsolo and is actually close to a German version of
bands like VIXEN and WITNESS (!). And how about Wir sind Feuer, which is almost
reminding me of WARLOCK! All together this band is highly recommended and very
interesting for the fans of 80s female fronted Melodic Rock/Hardrock/Classic
Rock, yet with German vocals. NACHTLAND should definitely be able to score
massive hits in Germany! Check them out at: www.nachtland.com
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
THE
SWINGING CHADS 'WITH THE SWINGING CHADS/BRINGING THE HEAT' (RUSSIAN RIVER
RECORDS/USA IMPORT)
Out of California
comes THE SWINGING CHADS, a band formed in 2010 around Norman Collins - Guitar,
Randall McGowan - Bass, Keyboards, Vocals, Ken Ingels - Drums and Stephen Sea -
Guitar. They were kind enough to sent me 2 of their CDs and when listening to a
song like The lizard, we can hear a very relaxing sorta soulful bluesy southern
westcoast pop/rock tune. Battle of the bands has funny lyrics, but is musically
a very serious and strong 70s inspired pop/rock anthem with also great vocals
of a different singer. Melissa is really back to the mid 1970s on a positive
note of course and so it goes throughout the rest of the 2 CDs, with songs that
come across like a healthy mix between CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG, THE
EAGLES and ORLEANS. Highlights are the uptempo Americana Loving kind, the
melodic westcoast Blue sundance, the AOR/Yacht-Rockish ballad Night dancer
(YOUNG GUN SILVER FOX ish) and the rocker Home is everything. Check them out
at: http://theswingingchads.com/
(Points:
8.1 out of 10)
FOUR
TRIPS AHEAD '...AND THE FIRE WITHIN' (HI FI RECORDS/USA IMPORT)
Sensational! FOUR
TRIPS AHEAD is a superb band from New York with a high quality release that
sounds like the perfect comination of late 1980s US Melodic Hardrock and 21st
century European Melodic Metal, think of ICON/STRYPER meets MYSTIC PROPHECY and
a touch of HAREM SCAREM perhaps, with a focus on clean vocals/harmonyvocals and
catchy choruses. This is the way Hardrock/Metal should sound like and it's
quite surprising to see these guys still in the underground, because European
labels are very keen to sign such bands. For example METALOPOLIS RECORDS
released a couple of similar albums this year (DEVICIOUS and STORMZONE), so who
knows that will happen someday soon! However, the band has more to offer,
because as the album develops, we can also hear Progmetal influences. Anyway, FOUR
TRIPS AHEAD were formed back in 2004 and have meanwhile already released a
couple of albums. Their new album ...and the fire within was produced by lead
vocalist PETER WILSON, mixed by Johnny Nice (AMY LEE, RIHANNA) and Grammy-Award
winning engineer Nick Cipriano (DREAM THEATER, TWISTED SISTER) at Spin
Recording Studios and it was mastered by engineer Roger Lian (RUSH, MUSE,
SLAYER). This explains the fact that the album has a massive sound/production
and together with with excellent musicianship, including fabulous vocals and
guitarwork (by guitarist BRIAN EISENPRESSER), the 10 songs pass by in a minute,
which is a good thing of course, because that means we are dealing with
something special here.
The first 2 songs
(Step into my world and December) are lovely Melodic Hard/Heavy Rock pieces
with catchy timeless choruses, while Sea song is a step into Progressive Metal
actually, with a groovy rhythm and some shredding guitarwork. Good times
goodbye is even heavier, with a sorta mid/late 90s TALISMAN/TEER bass groove (by
bassist DAN CASSIDY) and also once again great vocals of Peter, who really has
a superstrong Rock/Metal voice. We head straight into pure uptempo Metal on the
following track There's a time, which is a bit weaker song, although the major
sound is still quite impressive and perhaps a good time to mention the drummer
KEN CANDELAS here as well!The escape puts the band back to Melodic HardrockMetal
again, because this song has once again those great clean catchy vocals and a
killer chorus that is really not far removed from STRYPER. Let it out (Inside)
has some clear Progmetal riffs and a melodic chorus, reminding me so much of
HAREM SCAREM circa their classic 2nd album Mood swings, with also similar
guitarwork. Run to you is another slight change, because this is superb classic
midtempo late 80s/early 90s Melodic Hardrock with that typical American Arena
sound like we know it from the classic FIREHOUSE sound! The descent is tapping
out of the aggressive Metal direction like METALLICA meets SHINEDOWN, while closing
track Bring me down is almost 90s PANTERA ish groovy Metal. Despite the band
has a mix of melodic and aggressive metal throughout the album, the incredible
high level is enough to say that you should not miss this excellent band, so go
check them out at: www.fourtripsahead.com
(Points:
8.7 out of 10)
EIGHTS
ROUNDS RAPID 'LOVE YOUR WORK' (TAPETE RECORDS/UK IMPORT)
Out of Southend, UK
comes EIGHTS ROUND RAPID and Love your work is their 3rd album. The band features
guitarist Simon Johnson, who is the son of DR. FEELGOOD's guitarist Wilko
Johnson. Musically speaking EIGHTS ROUND RAPID is clearly sounding as British
as you can get, because this is Post-Punk at it's very best. If you're into
current popular bands like LIFE, THE IDLES, THE MURDER CAPITAL, FONTAINES D.C.
and such, then you will love this band as well. Especially the first 2 songs
(You wait and Passive aggressive) are a must to hear if you're a fan of the
aforementioned bands! The band also goes for a somewhat quirky British Pubrocksound
here and there (Love don't and the FISCHER-Z ish Black tide) and slightly
calmer melodic rootsy STONES ish rock (Letter), so basically this is pure
British Rock and Roll the way it sounds like for over 50 years now! Check them
out at: https://www.eightroundsrapid.com/
(Points:
8.1 out of 10)
GRANDVAL
'DESCENDU SUR TERRE' (VALLIS LUPI/FRANCE IMPORT)
Out of France comes
GRANDVAL, which is the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist/singer/songwriter
HENRI VAUGRAND, who is joined by another multi-instrumentalist OLIVIER BONNEAU
(playing keys here) on the 2nd album Descendu sur terre. Besides them a few
other guests make their appearance, including NEMO drummer JEAN-BAPTISTE ITIER.
The result is a strong Melodic Progrockalbum that is sung in French, which is
no problem at all and immediately I am reminded of that other great French sung
progalbum of 2020, the LAZULI album. GRANDVAL is musically speaking not that
far removed from them, although perhaps a little more diverse, because after
the instrumental opener, we get to hear a very diverse record that brings
progrock as main starting point, but for example the lovely titletrack Descendu
sur terre is very AORish and things get quite experimental during La meute est
dans la place. Other highlights are Un nouveau destin, the instrumental Fractal
et systemique and the semi prog ballad Le chemin a l'envers, with it's soaring
guitarsolo. Concluded, this is a diverse record that explores boundaries
outside prog a few times, although the overall sound of GRANDVAL is definitely
Progrock and thanks to the French lyrics, it sounds just a bit different than
the rest! More info at: https://grandval.bandcamp.com
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
MIKE
ROSS 'THE CLOVIS LIMIT PART 2' (TALLER RECORDS/CENTRAL PRESS/UK IMPORT)
MIKE ROSS is a British
guitarist/singer/songwriter and The clovis limit part 2 is his 2nd album.
Recorded in Brighton, UK, Mike was helped by bassist Ricky Kinrade, organ
players Rob Millis and Stevie Watts and drummer Darren Lee, while he produced
it himself. The result is a strong heavy bluesrockalbum that sounds like the
bluesrockstyle we have seen the past few decades, so a combination of bluesy
riffs and a bit of Classic Rock as well, blended like for example RIVAL SONS or
JOE BONAMASSA are also doing. Mike is a gifted guitarplayer, with a signature
sound and he is thankfully a great singer as welll, with a raw rock voice that
fits the songs just perfectly. 10 songs are included of which opener Thanks a
lot is a nice start, but following track None of your business is an excellent
groovy bluesy midtempo rocker with an excellent vibe and showing Mike at his
very best! Other highlights are the instrumental rocking Tell Jerry, the superb
acoustic The loser (with amazing vocalwork of Mike), the twin-guitar driven
instrumental Unforgiven (ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND meets THIN LIZZY) and the big
stompin' raw heavy midtempo bluesrocker Don't say a word (somehow reminding me
of BILLY SQUIER, yet with also a LED ZEPPELIN ish riff), which is basically as close
to modern day blues rock as you can get. Concluded, Mike's new album should
easily find it's way to the fans of the blues rock giants from the past 30
years (WALTER TROUT, JOE BONAMASSA), who don't mind a touch of Classic Rock
here and there! More info at: https://www.mikerossmusic.co.uk/
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
LUNAR
CLOCK 'THE SCREAM OF NATURE' (CLOCK TOWER RECORDS)
It took a while, but finally we have an
interesting new Dutch Progressive Rockband or should I call LUNAR CLOCK a
Symphonic Rockband, because they are basically reminding me of the great 70s
Symphonic bands like ELO, ALAN PARSONS PROJECT, KAYAK, SUPERTRAMP, YES, etc. On
the other hand, there is something mystical about them too, as they also recall
sometimes memories of bands like KING CRIMSON or even KLAATU, although there's
also some Canterbury influences here and there, so a comparison to CARAVAN
might even be possible! They are actually quite experimental and not here to
score a hit (perhaps a song like Mother nature's sanctuary could however well
become one!), but thankfully they are still focused on keeping things under control
and sound melodic in each and every song. Anyway, it is clear that this band is
influenced by the 1970s and they are doing it at a very high level, so they are
definitely recommended to check out if you're into any of the aforementioned
bands. There's more than meets the eye however, because this is one of those
albums where you discover something new evertime you listen to it.
LUNAR CLOCK is formed around Robin Boer
(vocals/keys), Shardan Stream (guitar), Thefar Side (Achille Regazzoni) (bass)
and Karsten van Straten (drums), and The scream of nature is their debut album.
10 songs are included and after seeing the frontcover of the CD, it is clear
that the album has a concept as well, because the music is inspired by the
works of Edvard Munch. Although LUNAR CLOCK is Symphonic Rock orientated, I
have to say the songs are usually quite dark, calm and melancholic, with a lot
of moments where there are only piano/keys combined with lead- and
harmonyvocals, just like KAYAK and ALAN PARSONS PROJECT did in the 1970s. A
song like Equal adoration perfectly resembles that sound and personally I am a
fan of this long-forgotten laid-back calmer symphonic sound. CAMEL is also a
band that just comes up when listening to LUNAR CLOCK and songs like Despair
and Sadness under the belt of Venus remind me so much of KAYAK, with it's crystal
clear lead and close harmonyvocals. Those multiple vocals are hearable a lot of
times throughout the album as already mentioned and with the bombasticness and
cheerful keys in a song like Bridge of anxiety, the band truly sounds like
classic 70s Symphonic (almost Pomp) Rock!
As you can see LUNAR CLOCK is definitely
doing something right here, ticking all the boxes and despite all the
comparisons, they really have an own identity as well, due to those many
different similarities. The modern influences, including some jazzy parts, they
can be heard during A winter storm on spring blossom, which is a song that will
be enjoyed by the open-minded progfans out there, as it taps out of this modern
HAKEN/FROST kinda direction. All I can say is that you must hear the full album
of LUNAR CLOCK and discover some of the most beautiful music created in The
Netherlands the past few years! More info at: https://lunarclock.bandcamp.com/releases
(Points:
8.6 out of 10)
DORIS
BRENDEL AND LEE DUNHAM 'MASS HYSTERIA' (SKY ROCKET RECORDS/UK IMPORT)
Mass hysteria is the
4th album of the duo DORIS BRENDEL and LEE DUNHAM and already by the look of
the frontcover, which is designed by surrealist IGOR MORSKI, I knew there was
something special about this record. Doris used to sing in the early 1990s in a
band called THE VIOLET HOUR, of whom I remember having a vinyl record somewhere
in my collection. She also worked with a lot of other established acts in her
music career, such as GARY MOORE, MARILLION, FISH, SAM BROWN, JOHN FARNHAM and
many more. Besides Doris on vocals and flageolet and Lee on guitars and
mandolin, we can also welcome some other musicians to help out the duo, such as
Jacob Stoney (piano/keys), Sam White (drums) and Ewan Mcintosh (bass). 11 songs
are on the CD, which is 3 more than on the vinyl record that has also been
released of this album.
Opener Takes on to
know one starts quite rocking, with a huge groovy 70s classic hardrocking vibe,
yet it still sounds modern, which is thanks to the massive production, while
towards the end there is some interesting Progressive Rock moments as well.
Doris has a superb rockvoice, which suits the music quite perfectly and this
can be heard clearly on the following bluesy semi-melodic rockballad It's never
too late that has some similarities to classic ALANNAH MYLES, although again
towards the end there's this progrock part. This is mainly due to the fact that
the mixing and mastering was done by the legendary JOHN MITCHELL (IT BITES,
LONELY ROBOT and countless other progbands). The somewhat quirky melodic
progressive rocksong Mass hysteria is quite superb actually, somehow reminding
me of LANA LANE and KAYAK circa Nostradamus (with CINDY OUDSHOORN on vocals),
although you can also trace a sorta jazz-shuffle here as well, but overall the
song rocks big time! Other songs that need to be mentioned here are You took my
breath away, Wrong time wrong place (excellent melodic rocker with surprising
rare progrock part somewhere in the middle of the song), the Power Ballad Hard
heart and the impressive epic semi-ballad The people are gonna rise up. A
surprise for sure and I have to say an album you will enjoy if you want your
prog to rock and feature strong melodies, which are sung by a fantastic
powerful female singer who sounds raw and slightly 'bluesy'. I can easily say
that the Melodic Rockfans (especially those who appreciate LANA LANE) also need
to listen to this wonderful album! Check out more at: www.dorisbrendel.com
(Points:
8.7 out of 10)
OGD 'THE
BIG GAME' (OGD MUSIC/USA IMPORT)
Out of New York City
comes OGD, a band which takes it name from the 3 members' surnames, Derek
Olivero (guitars, lead vocals), Bobby Gavin (drums), and Dave DeRanieri (bass).
Their debut is titled The big game, which was produced by the legendary JERRY
MAROTTA (ORLEANS, PETER GABRIEL, INDIGO GIRLS, HALL&OATES, TONY LEVIN...),
mixed by MICHAEL COZZI (TREY GUNN, PHIL KEAGGY...) and mastered by CHRIS ATHENS
(AEROSMITH, OZZY, ALICE COOPER...). There are some big names helping this
relatively new band, because so far I have not read much about OGD. I honestly
thought at first this was going to be a DREAM THEATER ish progalbum, due to the
artwork (done by HUGH SYME, who is known for RUSH and DREAM THEATER covers),
but it's clearly not a pure progalbum at all. OGD have recorded a strong album
that has a sorta typical American sound, which is modern Hardrock with a focus
on melodies and here and there we can trace Progressive Rock influences as
well, while there is a groovy rocking rhythm sound overall speaking. The album
opens quite groovy with the rocker Young love, but things get more melodic on following
song Sweet life, which also captures a very funky rhythm in a way reminding of
early LIVING COLOUR and KING'S X, but then with a modern rock ish voice like we
know it from bands like CLUTCH, LIMB BIZKIT, TOOL and STONE SOUR. It continues
this way until the end of the album, with as other highlights Innocence ran, Dreamland
and closing track Outland. What is also quite striking is the way Derek sings,
because this is in a lower monotone key, sorta singing with integrity, which
sets them apart from the rest. Check it out for yourself at: https://ogdband.bandcamp.com/album/the-big-game
(Points:
8.1 out of 10)
GHOST
AVENUE 'EVEN ANGELS FAIL' (INDEPENDENT/NORWAY IMPORT)
The timing is just perfect, because after
listening to and reviewing a bunch of progrockalbums, it was time for some
heavier straight-ahead rocking stuff and GHOST AVENUE from Oslo, Norway
definitely delivers that on their 4th album Even angels fail. The band is
formed around Kim Ihsak Sandvik (lead vocals), André Berger (guitar), Thomas
Eljarbø (guitar), Magnus Liseter (bass) and Petter Christopher Lein (drums) and
basically their sound is classic traditional 80s inspired melodic heavy
rock/metal that sounds like a perfect cross between PRETTY MAIDS, LIZZY BORDEN,
MYSTIC PROPHECY, ASKA, JUDAS PRIEST and HITMAN. 10 songs are included on this
well-produced independently released album of GHOST AVENUE and they all sound
very strong and quite impressive. Any fan of classic hardrock/metal will bang
their head and sing-a-long to the anthems of the band. If I have to pick
favorites, it would be Breakdown, the sensational Wasted generation, the super
catchy The fallen and the closing titletrack Even angels fail. It might not be
really original, I think fans of especially PRETTY MAIDS will like this a lot!
More at: http://www.ghostavenue.com/
(Points:
8.2 out of 10)
THE
MIGHTY HANDFUL 'TOUCHY SUBJECTS' (INDEPENDENT/UK IMPORT)
Out of South London comes THE MIGHTY
HANDFUL, a band formed around Ralph Blackbourn – Keyboards, backing vocals, Tom
Halley – Bass, backing vocals, Christopher James Harrison – Lead guitar,
backing vocals, Matt Howes – lead vocals, guitar, backing vocals and Gary Mackenzie
– drums, backing vocals. 10 songs are on their 6th album, which musically is
quite an exciting and original prog related record. Opener I knew your name is
a slower progressive rocker, yet with some slight bluesy influences slipping
through and 70s classic rock is also notable very clearly. The band reminds me
a bit of GALAHAD and TWELFTH NIGHT, partly due to the charasmetic higher
pitched vocals, because the music is less proggy and also not stretching to
long instrumental passages. I also must think of GENTLE GIANT and even DAVID
BOWIE several times, so THE MIGHTY HANDFUL is different than the rest for sure
in today's Progrockworld. Most of the songs follow this structure of melting
prog, bluesy and classic rock influences with DAVID BOWIE ish theatrical
singing, with as other interesting songs Just you wait (a bit AORish, strong
melodic vibe going on here, with an uptempo rocking part finishing the song), Relentless
(a dark somewhat haunting midtempo progrocker), For the world is hollow and I
have touched the stars (a lovely harmonyvocal driven calmer classic
progrocksong) and the instrumental closing track Sculptress. If this is up your
alley, then be sure to check out this band! More info at: https://mightyhandful.com/
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
DREAMING
DAVID K. 'ORGANIC MR. PASSIVE PROGRESSIVE' (INDEPENDENT/UK IMPORT)
DREAMING DAVID K. is based
around British musician DAVID KOVACEVIC, who did a lot on his own here,
including keys, synths, organ, piano, writing, singing, production, etc. It's
been a dream of him to make such an album ever since 1977 (!), so nice to see
he fullfills his dream here! However, he gets help from guitarists MARCO
MAGNANI and GAVIN BECKWITH and drummer ALEXANDER SAVVA whom complete the band
and the resulting album Organic mr. passive progressive is definitely very
impressive. It's quite good Classic Rock with a real authentic 1970s approach
upon first listen, uptempo melodic rocking like URIAH HEEP in opener Save the
human, a song which also shows the band's love for Progressive Rock due to the
use of keys/synths. In fact, when hearing the synths/keys in songs like A
prayer and Personality game, it is clear this band is actually going for that
classic 1970s sound on the rest of the album, with even influences from JEFF
WAYNE's The eve of war, ALAN PARSONS PROJECT and also CAMEL and GENESIS come to
mind, so after an uptempo classic rocking start, things get much more progrock
later on. It is clearly always the 1970s rocksound where there was a lot of
room to change direction several times and call it prog in the end (haha), with
as other highlights the uptempo Pomprocking Lost in space (pure 1970s, with
cool STYX ish keyboardwork), In the moment now (ALAN PARSONS PROJECT meets PINK
FLOYD meets CAMEL, excellent 70s classic progrock), Personality game (JEFF
WAYNE meets GENESIS) and the beautiful lovely 70s prog adventures of It's
electric and Time is shallow. If this sounds interesting for you, then be sure
to check out this great album! More at: https://www.dreamingdavidk.com/
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
HAZE 'BACK
TO THE BONES' (GABADON RECORDS/UK IMPORT)
If there is one
Progband in the U.K. that has been around forever, it should be Sheffield's
HAZE, although they had really long periods of inactivity during especially the
1990s and 2000s. Anyway, HAZE was formed all the way back in 1978 by the
brothers Chris McMahon (bass, keyboards and vocals), and Paul McMahon (guitar
and vocals) and during the 1980s they released many cassettes and albums
independently. Eventually their reunited live shows in 1998 and 2008 were
released by the establish proglabel CYCLOPS RECORDS, but their new album Back
to the bones is released on their own label GABADON RECORDS. It's a sorta
comeback album, because their previous album dates back to 2013. The first
couple of songs (See you on the other side and Faces on the wall) are
sensational melodic progressive rockers with strong guitarwork, catchy choruses
and excellent vocals, really focusing on the melodies instead of endless
instrumental passages. The song orientated melodic progressive rock sounds
timeless and it is great to see these guys back delivering a wonderful rocking
album. PALLAS comes to mind a few times, but comparisons are not necessary,
because HAZE has been around for ages and have meanwhile created a sound on
it's own that combines well-balanced mature melodic rock with progressive rock
influences and a lot of soaring guitarwork as well as strong memorable choruses
in each and every song. The band also throws in calmer almost folk orientated
influences in their songs, such as can be heard in the melodic progrockballad
The snake in a way we have also seen from DARE. There's not a single weak moment
to be found here, so HAZE might have delivered their finest work so far! Other
highlights are the lovely progrocker Lockdown (with great keyboardwork), The
awakeners, A call to arms and the epic closing track The summoning dark that
has some slight MAGNUM similarities. Recommended to both prog and melodic
rockfans! Check out all info on HAZE at: www.facebook.com/HazeUK
(Points:
8.4 out of 10)
DICE
'CRAZY LITTLE DREAMS AND MAPS FOR RAMONA' (SCENE RECORDS/GERMANY IMPORT)
If there was one band that should gain
more exposure, it’s the legendary German band DICE. They were formed all the
way in 1974 in the city of Leipzig and still exist 46 years later! Meanwhile a
lot of records have been released through the years and in 2020 DICE is mostly
controlled by original founder CHRISTIAN NOVE. He plays keys, guitar, bass,
sings, writes, composes, produces all the material, but is assisted on this new
album by guitarist PETER VIERTEL, vocalist RAMONE NOVE and drummer TOM TOMSON.
Their new album is titled Crazy little dreams and maps for Ramona and it
continues their never-ending Space/Progrock journey. Their progrock is very
1970s orientated that could also be labelled as Krautrock, with a
psychedelic/spacey touch as well. The focus is on bringing instrumental
adventures in the world of prog, kraut and spacerock that is clearly influenced
by HAWKWIND, ELOY, PINK FLOYD and such, but DICE also has an own identity,
which is not so strange after almost 50 years! The album has a playing time of
exactly 60 minutes, with as highlights Bibos dream (a lovely melodic progrock
anthem), the excellent instrumental The mood times (this song has some exciting
keys and a saxsolo), Avalanche (with it’s really beautiful melodies, this song
has a pure 1970s sound thanks to the huge synths and soaring guitarsolo) and
the sensational instrumental epic progrock closing track X on the other side.
Make sure to check out this unstoppable band from Germany at: https://www.scene-records.de/dice/index.html
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
AUTOMATISM
'IMMERSION' (TONZONEN RECORDS/SOULFOOD/CREATIVE ECLIPSE PR/GERMANY IMPORT)
Out of Stockholm, Sweden comes the
sensational instrumental band AUTOMATISM. They have already released a couple
of albums and Immersion is their 3rd album. The band consists of Hans Hjelm -
guitar, Gustav Nygren - guitar, Mikael Tuominen - bass and Jonas Yrlid - drums
and on this new album they have a few guests, namely Per Wiberg (KAMCHATKA.
SWITCHBLADE) on keys and Jesper Skarin (VAK, GOSTA BERLINGS SAGA) on
percussion. The result is an impressive instrumental album featuring 6 long
songs that musically speaking is somewhere between psychedelic rock and
progressive rock, with a modern rock edge to it. It sounds quite melodic and
with 2 guitarists in the line-up you can imagine it is guitar/rock orientated
and the first 2 songs (Hearstroke #2 and Falcon machine) are uptempo rockers
with lovely melodies. Monochrome torpedo is calmer and a bit more progrock
orientated with an almost surf rock ish guitarsound that even recalls memories
of THE SHADOWS, yet the music itself is of course modern and coming across like
a mix between PORCUPINE TREE and PINK FLOYD instrumental journeys. New Box
follows and is a hypnotic and melancholic sounding midtempo psychedelic meets
progrock anthem, with a fantastic almost Middle Eastern kinda melody going
throughout the whole song, very well done! Next track Smoke Room and closing
track First Train are both calmer progrock orientated pieces that are picture
perfect sounding as background music at work I can tell you! It seems that
instrumental music is becoming more and more popular, with many new bands
emerging from all over Europe. LONG DISTANCE CALLING fans will like this band
also a lot I think, so go check it out for yourself at: https://automatismband.bandcamp.com/album/immersion
(Points:
8.4 out of 10)
FOOKS
NIHIL 'FOOKS NIHIL' (UNIQUE RECORDS/THE ORCHARD/MEMBRAN/CREATIVE ECLIPSE
PR/GERMANY IMPORT)
FOOKS NIHIL are doing
things really as authentic as possible, because their same titled debut album
is pure 1960s British/Liverpool style Garage Rock in the classic style of the
British beatbands like THE KINKS. When hearing opener Insight of love, it's
like we are back in 1965. Following track What's left takes it a step further
and adds a 70s American/San Francisco Westcoast/Close-harmonyvocal/Psychedelic
pop/rock driven chorus and guitarsolo to it, making it sound like a cross
between THE BYRDS, CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG and THE BEATLES. These guys
are really sensational and should be praised as the promise for the future in
creating a classic authentic beat/rocksound. FOOKS NIHIL are coming out of the
city Wiesbaden in Germany by the way and are making their debut here with this
sensational same titled record. It was recorded by sound engineer Christoph
Müller (Suzan Köcher, Blackberries, Okta Logue) at the Lotte Linderberg Studios
in Germany and mixed and mastered by Glenn Brigmann in L.A./California. 10
catchy songs are included and after the superb start, the high quality
continues on the uptempo Garage/Beat-Rocker Tales that sounds so much like the
mid 1960s one would honestly believe it was recorded 60 years ago! Lady from a
small town slows things down and is a lovely calmer semi-ballad. It is
fascinating that 3 young guys from Germany sound so close to the original
beat/rocksound from so many decades ago and I mean in all aspects, both
instrumentally and vocally, while the top-notch production also helps here and
the fact that they deliver only excellent songs on this first album is
incredible. Surface of things is clearly influenced by the late 60s San
Francisco movement, with it's fantastic harmonyvocals, this is a lovely uptempo
westcoast psychedelic rocker with a damn catchy chorus, sounding like a mix
between JEFFERSON AIRPLANE, THE HOLLIES and CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG,
with also memories of FLEET FOXES. Following song Homeless features a hammond
and is an uptempo faster psychedelic rocker with an almost 70s classic rock
kinda feeling, also thanks to the guitarsolo. Down from where she comes brings
the band to it's most rockiest moment on the album and once again pure mid
1960s, somehow reminding of early THE WHO actually! Misery is changing the
tempo again, as this is a smooth calm 1960s pop ballad. Next track The seer is a
semi-ballad with memories of THE ANIMALS and closing track Long days is a slowtempo
very early almost Southern Rock ish ballad. Concluded, FOOKS HILLS come out of
nowhere and deliver one of the surprises of 2020! If you're into the authentic
sound of the 1960s and want to hear a new band making this, then make sure not
to miss this band at: https://fooksnihil.bandcamp.com/album/fooks-nihil
and http://fooksnihil.com/
(Points:
8.8 out of 10)
SLOMOSA
'SLOMOSA' (APOLLON RECORDS/PLASTIC HEAD/CREATIVE ECLIPSE PR/GERMANY IMPORT)
Now here we have a big
fat heavy groovy guitar riff orientated album that is basically pure Stoner
Rock with Doom Metal influences and a Fuzz Guitarsound of the late 1960s
Psychedelic Rock era. BLACK SABBATH comes to mind a lot of times and also RED
FANG, SPIDERGAWD and MASTODON similarities are possible, but on the other hand
SLOMOSA has an own face and the 8 songs on their debut are showing an
enthousiastic rocking band that is eager to conquer the world with their energy.
SLOMOSA hail from Norway and their line up consists of guitarist/vocalist
Benjamin Berdous, guitarist Anders Rorlien, bassist Kristian Tvedt and drummer
Severin Sandvik. The music of the band is built around a guitar riff like it
was very common in the 1970s, while the songs are most of the time a mix of
midtempo and uptempo rockers, with as highlights Horses, Kevin and Just to be.
The only slightly calmer song is In my mind's desert, which is pure 1970s
(especially the fuzzy guitarsolo) that sounds like a cross between BUDGIE, LED
ZEPPELIN and BLUE OYSTER CULT, although there is also a tiny bit of 90s
American altrock due to the way of Benjamin's singing. And the slowtempo Doom
Metal of Scavengers is giving the album a diversity needed after the first 3 uptempo
similar sounding pieces. This song by the way has a very cool middle part where
there is room for a tension between the bass and guitar. Concluded, fans of
Fuzz guitar driven Stoner Rock/Doom should check out this band at: https://slomosa1.bandcamp.com/
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
MARK
AMBUTER 'DEVIL'S DOZEN' (INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT)
Californian
muti-instrumentalist/singer/songwriter MARK AMBUTER sent me his digital album
Devil's dozen on CDR. 13 tracks are included and musically speaking it is quite
a diverse sounding record. Opener Love is everywhere starts calmer and has an
almost CSNY ish semi-acoustic pop/rock vibe, but following track 37 is a strong
classic 80s inspired uptempo AOR/Melodic Rocker with a great chorus and
authentic guitarwork, a bit in the style of ALDO NOVA. Let's go home is then a
completely different style again, with country influences. It is a real mixture
of all kinds of styles, because the uptempo A stranger's eyes for example is a
somewhat quirky power/poprocker, while there is also some BOB DYLAN ish
singer/songwriter included (When its right now with you and the world), uptempo
80s melodic rocking Laughin and crying' and Always there is a nice 70s
orientated semi progressive rock/classic rockballad. The vocals are not
superstrong, but it's good to see so much diversity musically speaking,
although personally some more uptempo rockers like the song 37 would be
interesting next time. Check out more at: http://www.markambuter.com/
(Points:
7.0 out of 10)
SOUL
SECRET 'BLUE LIGHT CAGE' (LAYERED REALITY PRODUCTIONS)
Formed back in 2004 in
Napels, Italy, the band SOUL SECRET has released 4 albums so far and recently they
signed with the Dutch label LAYERED REALITY PRODUCTIONS for the release of
their 5th album Blue light cage. The album was delayed for a while due to
covid, but it is now officially released and personally I think that's what we
need in these rare times, much more new quality music like this new SOUL SCRET
album! The band's line up changed several times through the years and they also
had different singers on their previous albums, including the fantastic
vocalists of DGM and SUBSIGNAL. Nowadays the band has a permanent singer in
their line-up called Lino Di Pietrantonio, while the rest of the band consists
of Francesco Cavezza (guitars), Claudio Casaburi (bass), Antonio Mocerino
(drums) and Luca Di Gennaro (keyboards). When the first song of their new album
Blue light case spins the CD player, it is clear that this is music of an
incredible high level. It's the instrumental opener Opening sequence, a strong
neo-classical power/progressive metal piece. SOUL SECRET also has a singer which
is of course already mentioned, so this first song is indeed just the intro,
because following track The ghost syndicate features vocals and this is
basically typical Italian Melodic Progressive Metal in the style of DGM, TIME
MACHINE, WONDERLAND, KINGCROW, MIND KEY... The sound is massive, with DREAM
THEATER like comparisons, also vocally it's going in the high pitched octave
during the chorus, while the big fat guitar riffs are enriched with cheerful
neo-classical keys. The choruses of most of the songs are super melodic and
this is quite important for a melodic Progmetal band and personally I think the
band is at their best during the song A president's speech, which has a lovely
catchy melodic chorus and ends with a jazzy influenced instrumental DREAM
THEATER ish part . Vocally it's not always picture perfect and at times
reminding me a bit of ZINATRA and ROBBY VALENTINE somehow, although musically
of course much heavier and pure Melodic Progmetal. I do have to point out that
Lino sounds very impressive on the calmer Blue light cage, which is a beautiful
melodic progressive semi-rockballad like DREAM THEATER did on their
breakthrough album Images and words, and this song ends with an interesting
saxsolo. We'll become dust is very powerful melodic progmetal with a super
catchy melodic chorus and the song comes across like a perfect mix between
DREAM THEATER, THRESHOLD and SUBSIGNAL. Also closing track Jump right in needs to
be mentioned here, because this is another big time massive sounding Melodic
Progmetal gem. Fans of the genre need to check out this Italian band for sure.
You can find more info at: www.soulsecret.net
(Points:
8.4 out of 10)
ANDREE
THEANDER 'THE PECULIAR PRESENT' (MALACHITE NIGHT MUSIC/SWEDEN IMPORT)
I am not sure if
ANDREE THEANDER is related to Swedish drummer/engineer/producer ANDERS THEANDER,
who is a well-known name in the Scandi AOR/Melodic Rockscene, but Andree has
meanwhile also built a reputation in the AOR/Westcoast/Melodic Rock scene. He
is the man behind the project THE THEANDER EXPRESSION, which gave us 2 great
AOR/Melodic Rockalbums in the 2010s. Now he has a solo record out titled The
peculiar present, which is a bit lighter than his previous work. It's still
AOR, but more akin to Westcoast/Poprock most of the time, so for the melodic
rockfans among us it might be a little disappointing, although here and there
we can still hear some classy Swedish Melodic Rock/AOR. People who like catchy
chorus/melodic vocal driven pop/rock at a very high level should get this album
asap, because it is a strong record from start to finish. Andree did almost
everything on his own, except for some drums, bass and backing vocalists. In a
different period of time, this could have been a huge selling record, because
when listening to opener Dare to try, it is like I stepped into a time machine
and went back to the early 1990s when THOMAS VIKSTROM released a solo record
titled If I could fly, because that is what this song sounds like, a stripped
acoustic catchy AOR/Poprock affair with a focus on a chorus you will be siging
for days after you heard it.
Next song The peculiar
present is following this style, with perhaps a more typical Swedish
Westcoast/AOR direction, because the vibe is dangerously close to bands like SWEDISH
FUNK CONNECTION, PROMOTION, SVEN LARSSON, STATE COWS, CROSSFADE, FINGERPRINTS,
WEST OF SUNSET... Although I mention all kinds of comparisons, I have to say
that Andre stil has own kinda identity and he is doing a wonderful job here.
Words I've never used starts acoustic, but develops into a catchy uptempo light
AOR/Poprocker with once again a typical Swedish chorus. What it's like to cover
starts with excellent acapella harmonyvocals (thanks to WORK OF ART/LIONVILLE
singer LARS SAFSUND and a few other guests) and is basically a nice calmer
acoustic driven AOR/Westcoast ish tune. Ready for tomorrow follows and is a
hand-clap campfire acoustic sing-a-long pop tune (close to EXTREME/MR. BIG's
major ballads from the early 90s). Things get rockier during the midtempo
groovy Sweet alder, which is a very nice instrumental melodic rocker a la
TALISMAN. Next track Mr. Mastermind is a fantastic catchy Swedish chorus driven
uptempo AOR rocker that reminds me a lot of bands like RADIOACTIVE and TALK OF
THE TOWN. Fans of such bands will be dancing all night to this song, which is
by far the best one on the whole album. The competition is a cool funkier
westcoast ish tune, while Train of dreams is a nice semi-ballad and closing
track A fool's idea of glory is a great midtempo AOR/Melodic Rocker with
superstrong chorus in the classic TALK OF THE TOWN style. All together this is
a recommended album to the fans of classic AOR/Poprock and especially if you're
familiar with THOMAS VIKSTROM's If I could fly record or PEO, WEST OF SUNSET
and MIKAEL ERLANDSSON, then you will absolutely love this ANDREE THEANDER album
as well! More info at: https://www.andreetheander.com
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
LOW CUT
CONNIE 'PRIVATE LIVES' (HALDERN POP/GERMAN IMPORT)
Personally I was
unfamiliar with the American band LOW CUT CONNIE, but their new album Private
lives was sent to me and this is an impressive record. I read somewhere that
one of their songs landed on OBAMA's playlist and ROLLING STONE praised them a
lot. Anyway, for me it's the first time I get to hear their music and I am glad
I am exposed to it, because LOW CUT CONNIE sounds really sensational. The band
exists since 2010 and they have already released 5 albums so far. Bandleader is
frontman, pianist, singer/songwriter ADAM WEINER from Philadelphia who started
LOW CUT CONNIE as a solo project, which eventually became a band and Private
lives is now their 6th album. Opener Private lives is back to the early 1980s,
because this is a superb catchy uptempo melodic power poprocker like a mix
between RICK SPRINGFIELD's Working class dog, HALL & OATES and early 80s
JOE JACKSON. These guys are doing it just perfectly and I love their vibe in
all it's aspects, just focusing on strong melodic tunes and no freaking around.
They found a perfect balance between catchy pop melodies, blue eyed Soul and
rock, with an authentic sound that recalls good times of the past, but also
with their eyes open for a modern touch here and there. Other highlights are
Help me (SPRINGFIELD meets SPRINGSTEEN meets COUGAR, with a fantastic catchy
chorus and nice soaring guitarsolo), the midtempo Now you know (INXS meets
SPRINGSTEEN meets JOHN MAYER), Take a little ride downtown (BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN's
Hungry heart style), the midtempo somewhat bluesier rocker If I die, the THE
BLACK KEYS ish It don't take a genius, Charyse (lovely COUGAR meets SPRINGFIELD
ish catchy Poprock) and Let it all hang out tonite. As you can see, there are a
lot of highlights and that's not so strange, because LOW CUT CONNIE is
sensational and a must-have for anyone into catchy traditional old school
pop/rock/retro-rock with a focus on melodies and soulful vocals. They offer a
lot here, 17 songs in total and a lot of diversity as well, which makes them an
attractive band to check out at: https://lowcutconnie.com/
(Points:
8.7 out of 10)
JEREMIAH
JOHNSON 'UNEMPLOYED HIGHLY ANNOYED' (RUF RECORDS/GERMANY IMPORT)
Earlier this year we
reviewed the superb new album of guitarist/singer/songwriter JEREMIAH JOHNSON,
which landed him in the Billboard Charts, but sadly the corona virus killed all
his touring plans. As a result he found himself more or less unemployed and decided
to record more new material, which has now been released in the shape of
another new album titled Unemployed highly annoyed. I think this is the only
thing you can do as a musician at the moment, which is just keep recording and
releasing new music. Thankfully the high quality of his previous 2020 album
Heavens to Betsy is also hearable on Unemployed highly annoyed. 8 songs are
included in total and with a playing time of 40+ minutes, this is another great
2020 full-length release of Jeremiah! The only positive about corona is the
incredible amount of new music and with 2 new full-length albums in 1 year from
the same artist, it's like we're back to the 60s/70s when it was quite common
to do that besides touring. Anyway, Jeremiah truly delivers here 8 more heavy
bluesrocksongs, of which opener Burn down the garden is a fantastic heavy blues
rocker with a Southern Rock twist, which at the end of the song even shows a
slight proggy touch. Next track Muddy black water is a sensational heavy blues
rocker with once again also a touch of Swamp/Southern-Rock. Getting back to
basic classic bluesrock a la MUDDY WATERS/BB KING on the following Cherry red
wine, which also has some JIMI HENDRIX similarities. The groovy Daddy's going
out tonight has a slight 1970s Classic Rock touch and rocks big time, easily showing
Jeremiah's excellent vocalwork besides his wonderful guitarplaying. The long
titletrack Unemployed highly annoyed follows and is a groovy mix of blues rock
and classic rock, with a swinging chorus to sing-a-long to. The lovely calmer
bluesy rockballads Different plan for me and Love and sympathy follow and both
of them will make JOE BONAMASSA and KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD jealous for sure. The
album closes nicely with the uptempo classic rock and roll sounding Rock n Roll
for the soul. It's not a great touring year for Jeremiah, but delivering 2 high
quality albums is also something to be proud of!. Check him out at: https://jeremiahjohnsonband.com/
(Points:
8.7 out of 10)
THROWING
MUSES 'SUN RACKET' (FIRE RECORDS/UK IMPORT)
THROWING MUSES is a
band from Boston and they have been around for a long time now. In fact, Sun
racket is their 10th album, which took them 7 years to produce. The result is a
90s inspired album that combines slow Alternative Rock with Indie Pop. I am not
that familiar with the band, but I have somewhere in my collection an original
tape from the 1980s, but I am afraid I haven't played it for ages. They have
been around forever as already mentioned and to be more precise, they were
formed back in 1980! 40 years in the business and this new album Sun racket is
my first taste. It's never too late of course! The music is very alternative
rock based, slow most of the time, with remarkable vocals of the female singer
KRISTIN HERSH, who has a voice that reminds a bit of STEVIE NICKS, although the
music is really pure dark depressing 90s slow altrock with choruses in a dream
pop/indie pop department, so completely different than Stevie's music. The
result is quite well actually, although it is not an album that will make you
really happy and it also takes a while on the album before we get to hear an
uptempo rockier tune, because track number Frosting is the first one to do that
and here's hoping for more of such uptempo rockier tunes on a next album,
because it gives the record a much-needed diversity after 7 slow depressing
songs. The final 2 songs are by the way also slower depressing altrock tunes.
Anyway, fans of this legendary band THROWING MUSES will probably not be
disspointed, because they definitely deliver a quality record here. More info
at: https://www.kristinhersh.com/
(Points:
7.8 out of 10)
BLIND
RIVER 'MADE OF DIRT' (HOUSE OF BONES RECORDS/UK IMPORT)
Sometime ago we
reviewed the debut album of this up-and coming Classic Rockband from the UK,
and now BLIND RIVER deliver a great follow-up in the shape of Made of dirt. 10 songs
are included and they rock big time here, with a focus on uptempo rocking
material. Recorded in the beginning of the pandemic within 4 days (!), the guys
deliver a great record here, with as highlights the groovy sleazy heavy rockers
Acid tongue, Slow begins the sickness, Gone and the uptempo no-nonsense rockers
Horsehead and Learning to lose (with a great twin-guitarsound). It's groovy,
raw, dirty and mean and rocks harder than any other record at the moment, with
a focus on excellent screams by vocalist Harry Armstrong, who sounds like a
cross between SEBASTIAN BACH (SKID ROW), AXL ROSE (GUNS'N'ROSES) and LAYNE
STALEY (ALICE IN CHAINS), while also musically they are creating a mix of these
bands. Their sound fits somewhere between classic late 80s Hardrock, early 90s
Heavy Alternative Grunge Rock and today's retro Classic Rocksound, with only
during the song Psycho sapien a step back to a calmer sound! I'll bet live
these guys will deliver big time with their 2 strong guitarists (Chris Charles
and Dan Edwards) and tight rhythm section (drummer Andrew Esson and bassist
William Hughes). Check them out at: www.blind-river.org
and https://blindriver.bandcamp.com/album/made-of-dirt
(Points:
8.2 out of 10)
PROFESSOR
AND THE MADMAN 'SEANCE' (FULLERTONE RECORDINGS/USA IMPORT)
Seance is the 4th
album of the Californian and UK collaborated band PROFESSOR AND THE MADMAN.
Actually they are a supergroup, because all the members play (ed) in well-established
acts. Their line-up consists of Alfie Agnew (Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards, Horn,
Tea Kettle, THE ADOLESCENTS, D.I.), Sean Elliott (Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards,
Horns, Bamboo, MIND OVER FOUR, D.I.), Paul Gray (Bass Guitar, EDDIE & THE
HOT RODS, THE DAMNED/UFO) and Rat Scabies (Drums and Percussion, ex-THE DAMNED).
Musically they play a great mix of 60s beat-rock, early 80s powerpop/US college
rock and a touch of British Post-Punk, reminding me a of a mix between THE
KINKS, THE KNACK and R.E.M., which can be heard very clearly during a song like
the titletrack Seance. The highlights on their new album are the uptempo rockers
All the lonely souls, Seance and Real me, but also the heavier midtempo Time
machine should be mentioned. Most of the songs are uptempo pieces with a clear
focus on catchy melodies and a tight punchy rocking sound, reminding a lot of
both classic 60s and early 80s MOD/Powerpop, with also some memories of the
early 90s TEENAGE FANCLUB, THE JAYHAWKS, THE POSIES and earlier mentioned
R.E.M. ish college rocksound of the very early 1990s. Must-have for fans of
this genre and for more info please go to: https://professorandthemadman.com
(Points:
8.1 out of 10)
SOUNDBORNE
'HALLUCINATIONS' (REROUTE RECORDS/NORWAY IMPORT)
Recorded 12 years ago,
the only album of the Norwegian band SOUNDBORNE is nevertheless still a great
modern sounding album. Hallucinations is filled with high class instrumental
semi-progressive rockmusic that sounds super melodic, but also very modern.
13 songs are included
in total and this is one of the better sounding instrumental albums I have
heard in a long time. I can't believe it's already 12 years old, but nevertheless
I have to say good music never dies, so make sure to check out this diverse
sounding record. Highlights are The race, Space, Unreal (superb uptempo
twin-guitar driven melodic rocker), Weather (calmer ballad ish) and Chase (very
RUSH ish). The band's main member Stian has started another project called
TASKAHA meanwhile, who will soon released their full-length album, so we are
looking forward to review that one. In the meantime, check out this older album
at: https://orcd.co/soundborne
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
MOUNTAIN'S
FOOT 'MOUNTAIN'S FOOT' (DELTA PROMOTION/ITALY IMPORT)
Formed in 2016, the
Italian band MOUNTAIN'S FOOT brings a great mixture between melodic blues rock
and classic rock on their sensational same titled debut album. Their line-up
consists of Fabio Bonomi - Bass, Matteo Scaringelli - Vocals / Guitar, Mauro
Ramozzi - Guitar Simone and Facchi - Drums. 9 songs are on this first album,
which starts with a couple of groovy Classic Rock tunes titled Angry bear and
Little big valley man, while the calmer southern rock/blues rock semi-ballad
Admirable vision shows a strong emotional and very melodic side of the band.
The album continues with Rock and roll dose, a strong straight-ahead uptempo
classic rocker with a catchy beat and chorus. My happy song and By way home are
both calmer groovier songs that reveal clear Southern Rock influences (LYNYRD
SKYNYRD ish), Always sick and tired is a groovier heavy bluesrocker that
reminds me a bit of BLACK CROWES and On a beat of a gun is a lovely classic
midtempo Southern Rocker based around a stompin' bluesy guitar riff. Closing
track is Libra, a very nice song that sums up all their influences, classic
rock, southern rock, blues rock and even a proggy touch, while ending with a
great guitarsolo, this is pure 1970s sounding. Nice Italian band we have here
and I can definitely recommend them to fans of classic rock/southern rock. Check
them out at: www.facebook.com/mountainsfoot
(Points:
8.1 out of 10)
PACIFIC
RANGE 'HIGH UPON THE MOUNTAIN' (CURATION RECORDS/SWEDEN IMPORT)
Out of sunny
California comes PACIFIC RANGE and they are bringing us classic Southern
Californian sunshine Westcoast/classic 1970s close-harmonyvocals driven rootsy
rock like a mix between CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG, SIMON & GARFUNKEL
and THE ALLMAN BROTHERS. The band was formed back in 2013 by Seamus Turner
(guitar & vocals) and Nate Ward (drums), while bassist Cameron Wehrle and
keyboardist & guitarist Stewart Forgey later joined them and together the
foursome recorded High upon the mountain, a very impressive album that sounds
dangerously close to the early 1970s. The son of legendary ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND
founder DICKEY BETTS, guitarist DUANE BETTS, he makes a guest appearance on the
debut album of PACIFIC RANGE, along with a few other musicians. Most of the 11
included songs follow a calmer early 1970s inspired sound that combine the best
elements of singer/songwriter, rootsy Americana and very light
Southern/Country-Rock. Fans of mentioned bands will absolutely fall in love
with such beautiful melodic songs like High upon the mountain, Rainbow song and
Santa Monica. However, the finest songs can be found towards the end of the
album, with 3 fantastic lengthy songs of 6-8 minutes playing time (Need A
Little Rain, Boulevard Indigo and Nothing Else More) that capture the best
influences of bands like ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND, AMERICA and LYNYRD SKYNYRD. The
frontcover painting looks lovely and brings memories of the classic early 1970s
frontcovers and the included music is of an incredible high level, easily
reaching the level of bands like AMERICA, CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG,
ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND, POCO and such. Definitely a highly recommended band that
should gain a lot of attention with this sensational high class debut album!
More info at: https://www.pacificrangeband.com/
(Points:
8.7 out of 10)
SLEEPMAKESWAVES
'THESE ARE NOT YOUR DREAMS' (BIRD'S ROBE RECORDS/CREATIVE ECLIPSE PR/GERMANY
IMPORT)
SLEEPMAKESWAVES is a
semi-instrumental post-rockband from Australia and These are not your dreams is
their 5th album so far. The band was formed in 2006 and they have meanwhile
built up quite a reputation. The band's line up consists of Alex Wilson - bass,
electronics, Otto Wicks-Green - guitar, vocals and Tim Adderley - drums,
electronics, and their new album is quite a lengthy record actually. 12 songs
are included in total, divided into 3 epic concept parts. Opener The endings
that we write is modern Progrock, quite agressive actually at first, but still
melodic in a way like we also know it from of OPETH or PORCUPINE TREE (of
course instrumental then, so think of those bands without vocalwork). Basically
this is mostly instrumental music, with calmer and heavier parts, although a
few songs feature vocals by Otto like the relaxing superb proggy Cascades (a la
PORCUPINE TREE) and the midtempo progrock of Embraced. The heavy and
complicated prog riffs of Pyramids show how good these guys really are! A song
like Time wants a skeleton is sounding very modern and is actually quite good
as background music. All together it is a very diverse record that is almost
pure instrumental, with a few exceptions, but nevertheless highly recommended
to fans of LONG DISTANCE CALLING! More info at: https://sleepmakeswaves.bandcamp.com/
(Points:
8.6 out of 10)
MOTHER'Z
BOYZZ 'PINK CADILLAC' (INDEPENDENT/GERMAN IMPORT)
When looking at the
frontcover of the 2nd album Pink cadillac of the German band MOTHER'S BOYZZ I
feel a bit nostalgic, because it reminds me a lot of the classic 90s CD artwork
frontcovers of a lot of other German bands. Anyway, this Cologne based band is
formed around Wolfgang “Bad Boy“ Schmidder (Guitars / Vocals), Friedel Holler (Bass),
Volker “Inspector S“ Sczesni (Keyboards) and Chris “Huggy Boy“ Verhalen (Drums)
and they have a real raw dirty mean desert rocksound that fits somewhere
between ZZ TOP and SEASICK STEVE. The vocals perfectly suit the music, because
they sound really raw and gritty, very close to SEASICK STEVE. Highlights among
the 9 songs are Non talkin' woman blues (slow desert rocker a la ZZ TOP), My
ugly neighborhood (pure SEASICK STEVE), Out of sight (great midtempo rocker),
Big bad mama (uptempo ZZ TOP rocker, very catchy!) and Lil' wolf (sounds like a
raw bluesy version of the classic Nights in white satin). If you're starting to
become interested and you like your rock and roll to sound dirty, mean, raw and
honest, then go to: http://www.motherz-boyzz.de/
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
ELECTRIC
MOON 'LIVE AT FREAK VALLEY FESTIVAL 2019' (SULATRON RECORDS/GERMAN IMPORT)
Now this is 1970s
Krautrock/Progrock at it's finest, capturing all the elements that made this
genre so big 40+ years ago in especially Germany. ELECTRIC MOON is an
instrumental German band formed in 2009 by guitarist/casio keyboardplayer Sula
Bassana, bassist Komet Lulu and drummer Pablo Carneval, and they are by far one
of the greatest new bands in the classic 70s prog/kraut/psych/space-rock genre.
They have released many albums during their 10 years of existence and the
latest album is a fantastic live album titled Live at Freak Valley festival.
The album was recorded at this festival and recorded by the legendary German
cult music TV show ROCKPALAST. It captures ELECTRIC MOON at it's best during 5
songs, of which 3 (Increase, 777 and The picture) are around the 20 minutes of
playing time. Their music is hypnotic and adventureous, really taking you into
this psychedelic trip to the rocking 1970s with a lot of room for raw spacey guitars
and those 70s psychedelic keyboardwork by bandleader Sula, while the groovy
rhythm section gives him the needed back-up. I was not familiar with ELECTRIC
MOON actually, but this live album makes me really eager to check out much more
on them! Meanwhile, you can find more on this exciting German band at: http://www.electricmoon.de/
(Points:
8.7 out of 10
PERMANENT
CLEAR LIGHT 'COSMIC COMICS' (SULATRON RECORDS/GERMAN IMPORT)
Out of Finland comes
the sensational band PERMANENT CLEAR LIGHT and they released their debut album
Beyond these things back in 2014. It took them some time to release a
follow-up, but now the superb 2nd album Cosmic comics is released on the German
label SULATRON RECORDS. The included music is late 1960s inspired Psychedelic
Rock and they are doing it at an incredible high level. The band is formed
around Markku Helin: lead guitar, synth & percussion, Arto Kakko: drums,
bass, guitar, keys & vocals and Matti Laitinen: lead vocals, synth &
percussion. Together these 3 gifted musicians create a sound that was very
common around 1967/1968, with clear memories of THE DOORS, THE BEATLES, THE
BYRDS, very early PINK FLOYD and also a bit of the 1970s Canterbury progsound
of CARAVAN, but also the legendary underrated Canadian band KLAATU comes to
mind here and there. Anyway, 9 songs are included and I think fans of
aforementioned bands will absolutely love PERMANENT CLEAR LIGHT, because each
and every song is reminding of those glorious days when this kind of music was
extremely popular. Highlights are the uptempo pieces This quiet smiling man,
Maurice n'est pas la (instrumental) and the strong rocker One in five. A song
like Corneville skyline reveals clear influences of late 1960s THE BEATLES,
done in a very good professional way. Also Peasants and peons take us back to
the Flower Power days of 50+ years ago, with again those THE BEATLES
similarities, although more akin to early PINK FLOYD due to the rare proggy
synths used throughout the song. This can also be heardduring Salmiac, which is
a lovely pure 70s inspired calmer prog/sympho/krautrocker with cool synths all
over the song, actually reminding me a bit of SOFT MACHINE meets CARAVAN. Overall
I would say that if you imagine a mix of all the aforementioned bands, then
you're close to the sound of this Finnish album Cosmic comics. Check them out
at: https://www.facebook.com/PermanentClearLight/
(Points:
8.5 out of 10
SUN
DIAL 'MIND CONTROL - THE ULTIMATE EDITION' (SULATRON RECORDS/GERMAN IMPORT)
The British band SUN
DIAL was formed all the way back in 1990 and have released 10 albums since
then, of which Mind control was their 16th album, originally released in 2012.
8 years later the album has been re-released, with in addition an extra
full-length CD featuring previously unreleased material that were recorded
during the same sessions as this album. The band has changed their line-up
throughout the 30 years of activity quite a few times, but original founding
member Gary Ramon (guitar/vocals/mellotron, mini-moog, arp, hammond organ) has
always continued as the leader of SUN DIAL. Their music is quite experimental
and hypnotic, with some vocals here and there, although instrumental music is
the main direction of SUN DIAL. You can pick up traces of 70s krautrock a la CAN
here and there (Radiation), while there is also time for more relaxed calmer
prog (Last ray of the sun) and a a bit of Synthwave during the dangerous
sounding Mind control. This is an interesting and exciting band that goes a bit
further than the standard progrock. The bonus CD is by the way slightly more
open and less experimental, with a lot of pure progrocksongs, such as Liquid
grey, Masks of dawn, the uptempo 1018am and the lovely closing track
Spiral. Concluded, we have here an
interesting band that combines experimental Kraut and Progrock with an own
identity. It was the first time I had ever heard their music and I was not
dissapointed at all, because SUN DIAL has definitely something of interest to
offer. More info at: https://www.facebook.com/sundialofficial
(Points:
8.2 out of 10)
TENNESSEE
CHAMPAGNE 'TENNESSEE CHAMPAGNE' (INDEPENDENT/RED ARROW ENTERTAINMENT/USA IMPORT)
And we're back in the
USA again with an undiscovered sensational Southern Rockband called TENNESSEE
CHAMPAGNE. These guys are the real deal, with a southern soul, a real swamping
rock vibe and basically blending the classic American music genres of Rock,
Soul, Country and Blues into one melting pot. The result is a very strong same
titled debut record that should appeal to a lot of people out there. The band
comes out of Elizabethon, Tennessee, which in the heart of the Appalachian
Mountains of the USA. I don't have any information on the band's line up I'm
afraid, except their names, but they are a great bunch of musicians and their
lead singer sounds really good, because he is just perfect for this kind of
music. 10 songs are included in total and opener Wicked is a lovely groovy
Southern Rocker with also some Classic Rock and Blues Rock influences, ending
up sounding like a perfect mix between AEROSMITH, THE BLACK CROWES, BLACK STONE
CHERRY and BLACKFOOT. Thunder in the mountains continues this style, sounding
even more like classic AEROSMITH. including a lovely soaring guitarsolo in
classic LYNYRD SKYNYRD style. The calmer bluesy classic rockballad Can't get
over you follows, while Mountains in my bones is another groovy hardhitting
Southern Bluesy Rocker like BLACK CROWES meets AEROSMITH. Despite all the
comparisons, TENNESSEE CHAMPAGNE has an own identity, which you will recognize
afer listening a couple of times to their album. The band's mix of a Hammon
organ, a soaring guitarsolo, raw pure southern rocking vocals and a groovy
rhythm is combined a cocktail you absolutely don't want to miss. The calmer
swamping bluesy southern Stompin' grounds is up next, while Selfish ways taps
out of a slightly different direction, because the vocals sound more soulful
here, kinda like PAUL RODGERS in his FREE days, also musically speaking a
wonderful calmer soulful semi rockballad that recalls FREE. Corn from a jar is
classic midtempo Southern Rock in the style of LYNYRD SKYNRD and BLACKFOOT, yet
also reminding of our own Dutch VOLTAGE. Singing to my broken heart is a more
Classic Rock orientated Power Ballad like AEROSMITH again, while Shake it is a
really cool all-American Classic Rocker with a certain heavy blues rock vibe
that is actually not even far removed from a band like BLUE OYSTER CULT. Closing
track Silver tongue has some big heavy rockin' guitar riffs and is basically a
super strong Classic Rock tune in the best 1970s style, with even marvelous
twin-guitarsolos a la LYNYRD SKYNYRD/THIN LIZZY/ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND.
Concluded, it was a pleasure to listen to this great new band and let's hope
they will get their big break someday soon, because in Europe this kind of rock
is appreciated a lot! Don't miss this sensational band, so go check them out
at: https://tnchampagne.com/
(Points:
8.7 out of 10)
RAY
GILMAN 'REANIMATED' (INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT)
Out of Minneapolis,
USA comes multi-instrumentalist/singer/songwriter/producer RAY GILMAN, who was
kind enough to sent me his new album Reanimated. Ray has a long history behind
him, playing in bands since the mid 1970s, but eventually he went solo in the
mid 1990s and has been releasing albums ever since. He did everything on his
own and I must say he did a pretty good job. The music is a bit lightweight,
but surprises also here and there with sensational guitarwork by Ray himself
and some cool keys during a song like Questions. Ray is a decent singer, but he
has his limitations, kinda reminding me of ALDO NOVA and PHIL VINCENT somehow.
12 songs are included on the albun, of which opener Animated is a slightly
calmer midtempo pop/rocker with a clear 1970s meets 1980s kinda harmonyvocal
driven melodic rock/AOR chorus. The album continues with this kinda lightweight
Classic American Pop/Rocksound that is also a bit early 1980s Powerpop
orientated, with a focus on catchy hooks and melodic choruses, reminding me
quite a bit of DWIGHT TWILLEY, MOON MARTIN, THE ROMANTICS, THE CARS during the
album's best songs Give me one more day, Could have been in love (AORish with
great guitarsolo) and the uptempo rockier Deliver me (a bit 80s Hair Metal ish
actually!). However, there is more to explore here, because Ray is in fact a
real bluesman/singer and this can be heard also a few times, such as during
Hard deal to make and the lovely JIMI HENDRIX ish Quarantine blues. Musically
and also vocally speaking it's all very nice and well, but what I would like to
recommend Ray to use a real drummer next time to give the songs a real good
basic rhythm sound instead of the thin sound it now sometimes has. Check out
this musician at: http://raygilman.com/
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
HOVERCRAFT
'FALL' (INDEPENDENT/POLAND IMPORT)
Out of Katowice,
Poland comes HOVERCRAFT, a band formed around one man only, BARTOSZ GROMOTKA.
He did everything on his own here and basically he did a great job, because the
album Fall is a diverse record that offers a lot great material. Only 6 songs
are included, but some are quite lengthy (around the 12 minutes), so therefore
it can still be considered a reall full-length release. After the short
opener/intro Leaves falls, things become sensational during the calmer midtempo
melodic progressive rocking titletrack, which has some beautiful melodies and
is clearly vocal/song orientated. AIRBAG comes to mind here and there, but also
of course PINK FLOYD, with strong vocals/harmonyvocals, precise guitarwork and
tempo changes, exactly the things that every progfan wants to hear. Silent room
follows and is an uptempo progressive rocker, while Rain is back to the calmer
progrock again (a la PORCUPINE TREE). HOVERCRAFT has a modern yet also classic
melodic progrocksound which will appeal to all proggies out there I think. The
lengthy Antiphoenix follows and is a beautiful calmer melodic prog song with
lovely twin-guitars here and there. Closing track Silverange is an instrumental
heavier progrock piece. Concluded, the progfans will definitely like this one!
Check out more at: https://hovercraft.bandcamp.com/album/full-of-eels
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
JIM
DIAMOND 'VARIOUS ALBUMS' (INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT)
The JIM DIAMOND BAND
(bandname is slightly different sometimes) is one of many undiscovered bands in
the USA playing original and traditional music like it has been for over the
past 50+ years in lots of places over there, but especially in New Orleans. Jim
and his band however are coming out of the Ohio/Tennessee Valley and they are
quite popular in that area of the USA, resulting in 4 strong albums and lots of
live performances over the past 30 years. Somehow I got connected with these
guys and I must say this is a great bunch of musicians delivering sensational
high class music that is a mix of all kinds of styles from the rich American
music history (Blues Rock, Classic Rock, Swing, Shuffle, Southern Rock, Soul,
Funk, Psychedelic 60’s Flower Power, Jazz, etc. etc.). What they are doing is
of an exception level, because they melt all these influences very naturally
and come up with so many great original songs. Jim is the leader of the gang,
because he plays guitar, sings and writes all the material. He does that really
well and together with his wife drummer Beth Deminski-Boyington, Mark Wagner on
bass, Jon (Reese) Pleasant on keys, Chris Herndon on guitar and occasional lead
vocals and Joe DiGiuseppe on tenor sax, they all form the JIM DIAMOND REVUE.
Although he released a number of CDs in the past as JIM DIAMOND & THE
GROOVE SYNDICATE, the latest album Friends & family is released as JIM
DIAMOND REVUE. No matter what the line-up was on any of his albums, Jim and his
band always delivered high quality music. All of his albums are recommended and
most interesting here is the fact that there is so much diversity to be heard,
because almost every music style is presented. Although it rocks and swings in
an uptempo mood most of the time, there's also smooth proggy jazz fusion
(Akos), bluesy meets old swinging jazz (Surfin'the blues and Down so long), a
bluesy ballad (Love me relaxing), 70s funk (Time for us), instrumental high
class sax driven funky jazz (Mercy, mercy, mercy) and much more diversity on
all of Jim's releases. Everything is high quality stuff, with great vocals and
a fantastic guitarist in the shape of one person (JIM DIAMOND), but his full
band is also contributing to the sound of course! The new Friends & family
album is a mostly good old fashioned 1950s uptempo rock and rollalbum, with
bluesrock influences and also jazzy moments, basically more of the
aforementioned melting pot, with as highlights I'm cryin', Tight mini skirt,
Tell me and the lengthy 15 below. I would say to anyone into real music, please
check out this fabulous band at: https://www.jimdiamondband.com/
(Points:
8.4 out of 10)
MITCH
PERRY GROUP 'MUSIC BOX' (INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT)
American guitarist
MITCH PERRY has toured and recorded with some of the big names in the rock and
hardrock scene the past 25 years, including MSG, CHER, LITA FORD, TESLA, GLENN
HUGHES, FASTER PUSSYCAT, KEEL, THE SWEET, DAVID LEE ROTH and countless others. Through
the years Mitch released also albums under his own name and I believe somewhere
in 2005 we even reviewed the first MITCH PERRY PROJECT album. Now in 2020 Mitch
has a new record out titled Music box, on which he plays guitar, keyboards and
sings, although there is also a long list of additional musicians, including
various singers, whom are helping him and together they are the MITCH PERRY
GROUP. It's hard to trace who is actually singing here, but thankfully each of
them has a great voice that suits the music just perfectly. It's not a CD
focused on Mitch's excellent shredding guitarwork, because this album is all
about real music, combining elements of Soul, Blues and Classic Rock, with
mostly strong raw typical American male vocals. 9 songs are included in total
and except for 1 cover, they are all composed and written by Mitch himself. Opener
Saint Valentine is a superb midtempo soulful bluesy classic/southern rocker
with a warm sound, kinda reminding of the days when LYNYRD SKYNYRD ruled the
airwaves. Next track Believe is a lovely classy melodic rockballad with a
slight BADLANDS kinda feeling. In the morning follows with a big soul injection
thanks to the female guest singers and this is a great groovy rocking tune. The
ROLLING STONES cover Jumpin Jack Flash is done very well in a completely
different bluesy soulful rocking version. Wasted time is up next and this is a typical
American power rockballad with even some slight THE EAGLES similarities,
although also a bit of AEROSMITH can be heard here. Following Pack it up and go
is a long classic soulful uptempo rocker that somehow makes me think of TINA
TURNER crossed with MOTHER'S FINEST, with also a beautiful guitarsolo, while
Pain is a nice soulful semi southern rock/bluesy rockballad. Closing track is I
still miss you is a 7:30 minutes counting soulful BETH HART/JOSS STONE ish
rockballad. Concluded, MITCH PERRY GROUP has delivered a sensational record
that contains real music like in the good old days, which is a mixture of soul,
blues and classic (hard) rock. Check them out at: https://www.mitchperry.com/
(Points:
8.7 out of 10)
KISS
THE GUN 'WE SEE YOU' (KTG RECORDS/UK IMPORT)
KISS THE GUN hail from
Salisbury, UK and their 2nd album is titled We see you. This is a band you must
hear if you like the classic female fronted melodic rocksound of the
1980s/1990s. The band has a strong high-pitched female singer called ABIGAIL
AUSTIN and a steady band behind her, including shredding guitarist GERRY HEARN
(who is really good by the way, especially during the guitarsolo of the catchy
ABBA chorus driven midtempo melodic rocker Enter the gate). Anyway, the band
has a tight sound that should definitely appeal to fans of bands like WITNESS,
LAOS, HEAT, VIXEN, DANTE FOX, COASTLINE, ALYSON AVENUE, etc. etc. 9 songs are
included in total, of which the opener Flight of the phoenix is a very strong
fresh sounding uptempo Classic Melodic Hardrocksong with a catchy chorus,
sounding like URIAH HEEP meets LANA LANE. The Melodic Hardrock of KISS THE GUN
sounds really good and brings back memories of the genre's classic past when
many bands (such as the earlier mentioned ones) were making this kind of music.
Other highlights are the uptempo melodic rocker Dreamer, the sensational catchy
midtempo AOR tune What we've become (lovely chorus a la DANTE FOX/WITNESS), the
pure 80s driven uptempo AOR/Poprockers Out on my own (PAT BENATAR/TANE CAIN
ish), the dut-dut keyboard driven uptempo AOR rocker Beyond the ship and the
superb uptempo hookladen Pomprocker Emergency (one of the best songs I have
heard lately, with incredible melodies a la SHELTER's First stop and
ROADMASTER!). The band started a bit heavier and also finishes with perhaps the
heaviest song on the album, namely the classic 80s melodic metal anthem Almost
undone, which still has a great catchy melodic chorus and some excellent 80s
shredding guitarwork a la MALMSTEEN/MOORE during their 80s days. Concluded, fans
of especially classic female fronted melodic AOR choruses driven rock should
check out KISS THE GUN a.s.a.p. at: https://kissthegun.com/
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
PYMLICO
'ON THIS DAY' (APOLLON RECORDS/NORWAY IMPORT)
Actually I was
completely unaware of this sensational instrumental Norwegian band, but they
have been active for quite some years and have released several albums. PYMLICO
is formed around Øyvind Brøter: Keyboards, Stephan Hvinden: Guitars, Andreas
Sjo Engen: Guitars, Arild Brøter: Drums & keyboards, Oda Rydning:
Percussion and Robin Havem Løvøy: Saxophones Their new record is titled On this
day and contains 8 well-produced songs. Opener Heliotrope has a lovely full
rich sound with beautiful melodies created by the saxophonist, keyboardplayer
and 2 guitarists and is overall quite a positive midtempo 80s Prog/AOR/Melodic
Rocking tune. Next track Time turner continues in this style and actually the
whole album follows this positive cheerful vibe that fits somewhere between 80s
AOR/Poprock, a tiny bit of funky Jazz-Fusion and Sympho/Progrock, with as other
highlights Survival guide, Partners in crime and Solex agitator. A must-have
for anyone into instrumental high class melodic 80s inspired friendly music,
sometimes rockier (Partners in crime) and at other times smooth relaxing (Real
people adn Jump start). A surprisingly strong album from these Norwegian
musicians! More info at: http://www.pymlico.no/
(Points:
8.7 out of 10)
LEON
GILL 'MASTER OF NONE' (INDEPENDENT/UK IMPORT)
Out of the greater
Manchester area comes LEON GILL, a talented
singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist who did everything on his own on his
debut album Master of none. Quite impressive for a first record and it's really
a great record from start to finish. What I'm thinking is a very strong opener
that immediately grabs the attention due to it's groovy hard hitting guitar
riff, which works very well in combination with Leon's excellent melodic clean vocals
and overall this is a great midtempo bluesy Classic Rocker in the style of JOE
BONAMASSA and KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD. The album continues with this mixture,
Classic Rock meets heavy Blues Rock, with as other highlights What a life,
Mamma Liz, Eulogy and the fantastic uptempo Fool, which is the most radio-ready
tune on the album. Fool is a perfect catchy melodic rocker that has a beat a la
GOLDEN EARRING's Radar love, a chorus a la CONEY HATCH and shows Leon at his
very best, both vocally and songwise! Somehow I am also reminded of BILLY
SQUIER and CARL DIXON musically speaking, but then a bit more bluesy classic
rock based. Concluded, Leon is a great musician with a strong debut album, so
for more info please go to: https://leongillmusic.ecwid.com/Master-of-None-p176469205
(Points:
8.2 out of 10)
TOKYO
STORM 'OPTIMISTIC STATE OF MIND' (INDEPENDENT/UK IMPORT)
There are quite a lot bands out there
waiting to be discovered and TOKYO STORM from Birmingham, UK happens to be one!
They are an excellent sounding Classic AOR band with an authentic 80s British
AOR sound like we know it from bands like AIRRACE, FM, LIONHEART, STRATUS,
PRAYING MANTIS, VIRGINIA WOLF, MORITZ, ATLANTIC, PASSION STREET, WALK THE WIRE
(very close to that band, also vocally speaking!), etc. etc. As soon as the album
opener and titletrack Optimistic state of mind is playing, I was immediately
impressed by the incredible high quality of this uptempo AOR rocker, because
everything sounds perfect here, including superstrong melodic clean vocals, a
catchy hook, a melodic chorus and a soaring guitar, so basically this is how real
AOR should sound! Thankfully the rest of the album continues this incredible
high level, with as highlights the superb pure 80s Classic AOR of Is this love
(JOURNEY/STRANGEWAYS ish), the uptempo melodic rocker Kill the machine, the amazing
soulful 80s smooth AOR ballad Silent obsession (even reminding me of SHELTER,
PREVIEW and FRANKE & THE KNOCKOUTS and featuring a beautiful JOURNEYesque
soaring guitarsolo) and the catchy uptempo melodic rocker Fire in your eyes (with
an 80s DOKKEN, STRYPER, VALENTINE, ICON, KING KOBRA ish classic hardrocking
guitar vibrato). Closing track Signals is the only song that steps away a bit
from the AOR sound, because this is a 10 minutes counting instrumental rocker with
a few prog influences. Anyway, the band has a superb soulful singer (Ben Green)
who has a PAUL RODGERS vibrato, while the 2 other members are drummer Bob Peach
and Joe Bartnicki, who plays Guitar (and bloody well I can assure you!), Bass
and Keyboards. I am quite overwhelmed here by this album, because it is a
sensational independent release that easily beats a lot of the AOR label
releases. These guys are playing the real classic 80s AOR sound, so make sure
to get yourself a copy of their album! More info at: https://tokyo-storm.com/
(Points:
8.9 out of 10)
ALL FOR
THE KING 'ALL FOR THE KING' (CONCEPTION/SWEDEN IMPORT)
It's quite surprising
how many releases you're not aware of at the time of release, because for
example the Swedish Christian rockband ALL FOR THE KING's same titled debut
album from 2017 was unnoticed by us back then. Thankfully the band sent me a
copy of this lovely sensational album that musically fits somewhere between
Melodic Heavy Rock, Classic Rock and Melodic Metal (NARNIA meets TALISMAN meets
LION'S SHARE meets MALMSTEEN meets RAINBOW meets NATION). They have a strong
lead singer (RICHARD HULTEKE) and excellent guitarist (ERIK TILING) and they
throw in some very catchy melodic choruses into their classic hardrocking
music. The sound is massive and basically this ALL FOR THE KING is a band you
must have in your collection. Highlights are the LION'S SHARE ish opener I am
God, The old man (superb catchy melodic chorus), the TALISMAN soundalike I
belong to you and the melodic rock anthem Rules of love (would make H.E.A.T.
and ECLIPSE jealous!). Anyone into classic 80s guitar and catchy melodic chorus
driven hardrock should definitely hear this sensational album. Hopefully a new
album will follow in the neat future, but meanwhile check out ALL FOR THE KING
at: http://www.allfortheking.se/
(Points:
8.7 out of 10)
DEAD
VENUS 'BIRD OF PARADISE' (INDEPENDENT/SWISS IMPORT)
Out of the beautiful
Swiss town of Luzen comes the female fronted Progrockband DEAD VENUS. This band
was formed back in 2015 by lead singer SERAINA TELLI, who left the all-female
Melodic Metal band BURNING WITCHES a few years later to full concentrate on her
own band. She gathered a drummer (MIKE MALLOTH) and bassist (ANDRE GARTNER) to
complete the line-up of DEAD VENUS, while he talented Seraina plays pianos,
keys and acoustic guitar on the debut album Bird of paradise. While listening
to the album, you would think there is an electric guitarplayer, but it's
actually a distorted bass that sounds like a metal guitar. Seraina has a great
voice and the included music is melodic progressive rock of a high level. The
focus is song orientated, so no endless complex instrumental passages can be
found here, because instead we get to hear beautiful melodies and
well-constructed progrock rhythms, with as highlights Bird of paradise, Kiss of
the muse and Redemptionless (a semi-ballad with also some aggressive modern
parts where Seraina screams and sounds quite angry. DEAD VENUS is reminding a
lot of the other Dutch newcomers of 2020, GOLDEN CAVES and LESOIR, so if you
enjoyed those bands, you will certainly like this band too! DEAD VENUS belong
to the better female fronted progrockbands out there for sure, so go check them
out at: https://deadvenus.com/
(Points:
8.4 out of 10)
RING
VAN MOBIUS 'THE 3RD MAJESTY' (APOLLON RECORDS/PLASTIC HEAD/CREATIVE ECLIPSE
PR/GERMANY IMPORT)
Without a doubt, this
2nd album of the Norwegian trio RING VAN MOBIUS is a superb piece of
well-crafted pure 1970s Progressive Rock in the style of EMERSON, LAKE &
PALMER, VANDERGRAAF GENERATOR, KING CRIMSON, FOCUS, EARTH & FIRE, EKSEPTION
and the other great bands of the classic improvising 1970s progrock genre.
Formed around Thor Erik Helgesen - Vocals, Hammond organ, Fender Rhodes piano,
Mellotron and other keys, Håvard Rasmussen - Baryton bass and effects and Dag
Olav Husås - drums, cymbals and percussion, this trio delivers an authentic
masterpiece of the long-forgotten classic genre where there was a huge amount
of space and time to come up with long instrumental classical music meets
progrock adventures. 4 long songs are included, with a lot of great Hammond
Organ dominating the sound of RING VAN MOBIUS. Fans of aforementioned bands
need to grab this release a.s.a.p.! More info at: https://www.facebook.com/ringvanmobius/
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
BRUDINI
'FROM DARKNESS, LIGHT' (APOLLON RECORDS/PLASTIC HEAD/CREATIVE ECLIPSE
PR/GERMANY IMPORT)
Erik Brudvik, a.k.a.
Brudini is a Thai-Norwegian musician setlled in London, UK and he released his
debut album From darkness, light on APOLLON RECORDS. The included material feels
like a music theme kinda sound with calmer speaking parts, instrumental music
and songs where he sings and brings a mixture of prog and singer/songwriter.
The result is interesting, because it sounds quite different than the usual
stuff. Imagine a mixture of NICK CAVE, DAVID BOWIE, Progressive Rock and vocals
a la CHRIS DE BURGH, then you're somewhat close to BRUDINI. On the other hand,
it's best to check him out for yourself, because BRUDINI has an own identity
that is hard to describe, although with songs like Nightcrawler and Reflections
he brings nice 70s inspired proggy singer/songwriter tunes. More info at: http://www.brudini.com/
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
AIRFORCE
'STRIKE HARD' (PITCH BLACK RECORDS/UK IMPORT)
Formed in 1987, the
London based band AIRFORCE released their debut in 2016 so it took them almost
30 years to release an official album. Now another 4 years later a follow-up
has been released in the shape of Strike hard. The band has a connection to IRON
MAIDEN, because their drummer DOUG SAMPSON played in that band and 1 of the
included songs features the legendary PAUL DI'ANNO on vocals. The album opens
with the pure IRON MAIDEN ish Fight, which is basically pure classic 80s
Melodic Metal, with singer FLAVIO LINO sounding dangerously close to BRUCE
DICKINSON. The band continues the rest of the album with similar high class
pure 1980s NWOBHM/IRON MAIDEN ish Melodic Metal in a style that was extremely
popular around 1980-1985 when thousands of dedicated Metalheads headbanged each
weekend to local bands all across Europe. AIRFORCE are doing it extremely well
and it is nice to see them back on track. Highlights on this new album are
besides the opener, the midtempo pieces Die for you, Son of the damned and Wargames.
Check them out if you like the mid 80s Melodic NWOBHM Metalsound in the style
of MAIDEN, GRIM REAPER and such, because AIRFORCE is doing things at an
extremely high similar level! More info at: www.airforceuk.co.uk
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
PALILA 'TOMORROW
I'LL COME VISIT YOU AND RETURN YOUR RECORDS' (ROCK'N'ROLL FANTASY RECORDS/KAPITAN
PLATTE/CREATIVE ECLIPSE PR/GERMANY IMPORT)
PALILA comes out of Hamburg, Germany and
has already released a couple of albums before this new record Tomorrow I'll
come visit you and return your records. The music of the band is a mixture of
Indie-Rock, Powerpop, 90s College Rock, kinda like NEIL YOUNG meets WILCO meets
TEENAGE FANCLUB meets THE JAYHAWKS meets THE POSIES and some modern
similarities as well. The band is a 3-piece act formed around Matthias
Schwettmann (Guitar, Vocals), Jonas Czok (Drums) and Christoph Kirchner (Bass)
and the album actually consists of 2 EP's, with 10 songs in total. Opener Paper
cup is a very strong catchy modern sounding westcoast ish indie poprocker like
a mix between WAR ON DRUGS and BEAR'S DEN, with a focus on catchy melodies and
a tight uptempo indie poprock sound. The album has more of such songs, all
sounding quite uptempo melodic rocking and radio-ready in the mixture of all
the mentioned bands, with as highlights Sell out, the harder rocking Ramrod
lads, the catchy Electricity and the very strong Control. For a German band
they sound very international and fans of aforementioned bands should check
them out at: https://palila.bandcamp.com/
(Points:
8.1 out of 10)
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