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HOT NEW REVIEWS
MASON
HILL 'AGAINST THE WALL' (JABA MUSIC/7HZ/UK IMPORT)
Out of Glasgow, Scotland comes MASON HILL,
a band formed around Scott Taylor (Lead Vocals), James Bird (Lead Guitar), Marc
Montgomery (Guitar), Matthew Ward (Bass) and Craig McFetridge (Drums). They
were formed back in 2013 and were signed to FRONTIERS RECORDS, but eventually
found a new place under 7HZ and Against The Wall is their official debut
full-length record. The album was recorded at Riverside Studios near Glasgow
and vocals in New York, while Chris Sheldon (FOO FIGHTERS, BIFFY CLYRO) mixed
it. After the intro Reborn, opener No Regret shows rightaway we are dealing
with a massive sounding band, rocking out big time, with strong lead vocals and
lovely melodies, not that far removed from the American mainstream rocksound of
a band like ALTER BRIDGE. Following Against The Wall is a superb sensational
uptempo catchy chorus driven uptempo melodic hardrocksong that fits somewhere
between HAREM SCAREM, WHITE LION and VOLBEAT. The band's sound is tight and
very professional, while they are also able to write catchy tunes that could
easily become radiohits and thankfully the whole album is loaded with such
songs that combine the best of the past and present rocksound, of which the
highlights are the midtempo groovy Melodic Hardrock piece Broken Son, Who We
Are (a wonderful melodic rockballad), Where I Belong (another lovely melodic
rockballad) and the midtempo modern groovy melodic hardrocker Hold On (a la
ALTER BRIDGE). MASON HILL are right up there with the other British sensational
Melodic Hardrockband INGLORIOUS. Check out more info at: https://www.masonhillofficial.com
THE
ROME PROGJECT 'IV BEATEN PATHS DIFFERENT WAYS' (INDEPENDENT/TRP RECORDS/ITALY IMPORT)
Out of Italy comes THE ROME PROGJECT,
which was founded by keyboard player and composer VINCENZO RICCA. Beaten Paths
Different Ways is the 4th album and besides Vincenzo, other involved musicians
are some very well-known British and Italian musicians, such as STEVE HACKETT (GENESIS)
and David Jackson (VANDERGRAAF GENERATOR) who both have played on all the
albums, including this new one. Other contributors include(d) David Cross (KING
CRIMSON), Richard Sinclair (CARAVAN), Francesco Di Giacomo (BANCO DEL MUTUO
SOCCORSO), Billy Sherwood (YES) and FRANCK CARDUCCI, while there are also a few
lesser known Italian musicians to be heard. The music is mainly instrumental,
yet a few songs also feature vocals and/or occasional narration. The concept
kinda album is based around the history and mythology of the eternal city of
Rome, and basically this is beautiful timeless calmer melodic symphonic
rockmusic like we know it from the past, reminding of the 1970s when acts like
CAMEL, ALAN PARSONS PROJECT and PINK FLOYD were the major acts in the music
business. I love the cheerful keyboardwork here (80s Neo-Prog/70s
Synthwave/Sympho at it's best), and despite the vocals are not always that
strong when they appear, they make a nice appearance in the mostly instrumental
cheerful music of THE ROME PROGJECT. You can easily put on this album and dream
away into the world of Vincenzo and his ancient Rome, because this is
keyboard/synth heaven in a world where sympho, prog, new age and synthwave come
together perfectly in a beautiful melodic setting. Check out more info at: https://www.facebook.com/TheRomeProGject/
GAJANAS
'CIHKKOJUVVON - HIDDEN' (BAFE'S FACTORY/FINLAND IMPORT)
Here we have a very interesting Finnish
band called GAJANAS. They are coming out of the cold north of Finland, and
combine musically speaking Finnish (Northern Sami ethno music) with pure
Progressive Rock, and this mixture is unique and quite impressive. The band is
formed around Hildá Länsman (vocals, joiks and frame drum), Nicholas Francett (guitar,
cello and vocals), Kevin Francett (drums) and Erkki Feodoroff (bass), and 8
songs are included, all of them sung in the Finnish language. The booklet
reveals the English translation, which makes it easier to understand what the
band is singing about. As mentioned, the band is mixing pure Progrock with
Finnish traditional music, and here and there I can even trace some slight
World Music/Middle-Eastern rhythms and melodies in songs like Floods of
Diamonds and Hidden. For the open-minded proggies among us, GAJANAS is a band
to check out as soon as possible, because after hearing the lengthy opener
Northern Lights you will be impressed enough to check out the full album of
this band. There's also some KATE BUSH/TORI AMOS kinda similarities in a song
like Endless Sea, yet always keeping the music instrumentally speaking in a
Progrock direction. For a debut they set the bar pretty high and let's hope
that after corona they will be able to perform live, because I think this band
has a bright future ahead of them due to their original own identity, which can
be heard clearly on this first album. Check them out at: https://www.facebook.com/gajanasofficial
and https://bafesfactory.fi/gajanas
KATRINA
FROM KATRINA AND THE WAVES 'HEARTS, LOVES & BABYS' (INDEPENDENT/UK IMPORT)
The British/American band KATRINA AND THE
WAVES is best known for the 1980s classic Walking On Sunshine and of course the
song Love Shine A Light which gave them the Eurovision Song Contest victory
back in 1997. After an absence of almost 2 decades lead singer/guitarist
KATRINA LESKANICH returns under the moniker of KATRINA FROM KATRINA AND THE
WAVES, with a new line-up of musicians around her that recorded the album
Hearts, Loves & Babys. Besides Katrina on vocals and guitars, the other
musicians in the band are bassist PATRICK MCCARTHY, drummer ANDREW MAPPLEBECK
and guitarist DARREN LOVEDAY. I have to make the additional remark here that
Katrina always continued making music solo, but it seems this time the KATRINA
AND THE WAVES bandname is specifically mentioned on the frontcover. Although
I'm not familiar with a lot of Katrina's older recordings, this album is
definitely a sensational record that will be a must-have for anyone into
classic 80s US female fronted AOR/Poprock. Included are 10 songs that were written
by the incredible talented Katrina, with here and there a co-writer, and this
London, UK recorded recorded is without a doubt a huge surprise for sure! Opener
Drive is a lovely sensational catchy pure 80s orientated uptempo melodic
AOR/Poprocker that reminds me of classic RICK SPRINGFIELD, very early KIM
WILDE, very early BLONDIE, PAT BENATAR and the countless female fronted American
AOR/Poprock acts from the early-mid 80s (such as THE BREAKS, SCANDAL,
SIDEWINDER, DRAMA, TANE CAIN, FIONA, LISA HARTMAN..). Following Who We Are is a
different affair and is a very nice calmer semi-AOR/Poprock ballad in the PATTY
SMYTH meets ROBIN BECK style, with once again beautiful vocals by Katrina.
Crazy Mama rocks big time in a strong uptempo 80s melodic rock direction, sounding
quite close to BRYAN ADAMS circa Reckless. Move On slows things down again, and
this is a beautiful semi-ballad with again those wonderful emotional vocals of
Katrina. Holiday is the first 'weaker' song, a somewhat simple Christmas kinda
midtempo sing-a-long, but next track I Want To Love Again is back to high class
80s uptempo AOR/Poprock, featuring a catchy chorus that will make the fans of
the classic female fronted 80s AOR/Poprocksound dance all night long to
(remember the classic LISA HARTMAN album 'Till my hearts stops, DONNA CRISTY
and FIONA?). Beyond Love is a semi-AOR/Poprockballad that could have easily
been on the PATTY SMYTH solo record Never Enough from 1987. I Can't Give You
Anything But Love changes the sound completely, and not even in a bad direction
at all, because this sorta old school 1930s MARILYN MONROE jazzy shuffle feels
really good to listen to, and of course this is a cover of the old 1928 classic
song that was previously also covered by TONY BENNETT, LADY GAGA and many more.
Every Step rocks again, this time in a catchy 80s poppy uptempo direction like
classic PAT BENATAR, THE BANGLES and also a bit of Walking On Sunshine can be
traced here. Closing track WIlling is a nice calmer but very strong semi-ballad,
with also some great guitarwork. I am pleasantly surprised and quite impressed
by this wonderful album that should definitely be in the hands of fans of all
those aforementioned acts, although of course if you're familiar with KATRINA
AND THE WAVES, you also need to check this out! More info at: https://katrinasweb.com/katrina-and-the-waves/
KHAIRA
'NEW YORK LIVE' (CLERMONT MUSIC/USA IMPORT)
Singer/Songwriter KHAIRA ARBY grew up in
Timbuktu, Mali and despite she has performed and created music all her life,
she only managed to release a few albums during the 2010s when she was signed
to the American World Music label CLERMONT MUSIC. She sadly passed away in
2018, but now in 2021 a rare concert she gave in August 2010 at Bard College in
New York is released on CD by that same label. Khaira was definitely a
charismatic vocalist and her music really gave you a good look into her life
and hard times she faced in her homeland. The music itself is close to Desert
Rock like we know it from other acts out of Mali, with the use of traditional
instruments and of course the unique way Khaira is singing. The other members
in the band that night were guitarist Dramane Toure, Abellow Yattara (traditional
3-stringed tehardent/ngoni), percussionist Mahalmadane Abbanassane Traore,
bassist Mohamed Ag Mohamed, guitarist MBarka Dembele and a few backing singers.
Songs like Sourgou and Haidata Moulaye have some amazing guitar shredding, and
actually a lot of the songs feature those rocking guitarsolos as if JIMI
HENDRIX was on stage that evening! I can tell you that this live album really
rocks and is almost a pure Blues/Classic Rock record, yet with the Mali
approach, which means a groovy funky rhythm and African style vocals by Khaira.
One of the rockiest concerts for sure with a bunch of lovely musicians, so
definitely something to check out for sure at: https://www.clermontmusic.com/khaira-arby-in-new-york-live
MOON
TAXI 'SILVER DREAM' (12TH SOUTH RECORDS/BMG/USA IMPORT)
Formed in 2006, the Nashville, Tennessee
based band MOON TAXI looks like your typical countryrockband, but they are
doing something completely different, because their album Silver Dream is a
typical modern popalbum, sounding very polished and filled with radio-ready
hits from start to finish. The 5-piece band have already 5 albums so far,
making this their 6th album. 12 songs are included and if you like bands such
as IMAGINE DRAGONS or BASTILLE, then you will absolutely like this modern soul
injected pop/rockband. Their line up consists of Trevor Terndrup (vocals,
guitar), Tommy Putnam (bass), Spencer Thomson (guitar, programming), Tyler
Ritter (drums), and Wes Bailey (keys) since the were founded over 15 years ago.
The music is as mentioned poppy, but done really well and an easy target for
fans of the aforementioned bands. Songs like Palm Of Your Hand, Hometown
Heroes, Live For It and the Beginning are instant winners for today's radio
market. Perhaps it might be a bit too soft for the rockers among us, MOON TAXI
are doing things quite clever, because they have created an album that is a
perfect hit for the upcoming summer and I am safe to say that one of the
included songs could easily end up high in the charts if they are lucky. Check
them out at: http://ridethemoontaxi.com/
LAINO
& BROKEN SEEDS ‘SICK TO THE BONE' (OFF LABEL RECORDS/GERMAN IMPORT)
Sick to the Bone is
the 2nd album of the Italian band LAINO & BROKEN SEEDS. This band was
formed in Bologna, Italy back in 2015 and they have a high class psychedelic
late 1960s/early 70s inspired Classic Rocksound, almost as good as the original
acts from 50 years ago. It sounds very authentic, which is thanks to an
all-analogue recording, while the mixing was done in Chicago IL, USA by famous
producer JD Foster (CALEXICO, LUCINDA WILLIAMS). The result is a lovely record
with as best songs Spells And Magic (THE DOORS meets ZZ TOP!), Way up Above
(lovely pure THE DOORSish rocker), the heavy boogie blues fuzz rocker Winanta
and the groovy DE WOLFF ish Sleepthinkers and Singin’ the Blues around Booze.
There’s a lot of diversity going here, with a mixture of groovy songs and
uptempo rockier tunes, while there’s always that feeling of classic rock,
sometimes bluesier and other times psychedelic. The mixture of THE DOORS, DE
WOLFF and ZZ TOP would definitely suit LAINO & BROKEN SEEDS, although they
do have an own identity for sure, which you absolute need to check out at: https://www.lainobrokenseeds.com
and https://laino.bandcamp.com/album/sick-to-the-bone
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
MAYFIRE
CHRONICLES 'SHADOWS/CLOUDSCAPES & SILHOUETTES' (INDEPENDENT/NORWAY IMPORT)
Norwegian sensation MAYFIRE CHRONICLES
return with 2 more new songs that will eventually be part of their first
full-length album. Anyway, along with LEPROUS drummer BAARD KOLSTAD, the band
recorded Shadows and Cloudscapes & Silhouettes, 2 great melodic Progressive
Metal pieces with superb vocalwork and massive melodies, all done in the
tradtional modern classic progmetal direction we know from bands like HAKEN,
LEPROUS, THRESHOLD and such. The covid 19 virus slowed them down a bit, but
eventually they will release an official full-length record in the future, but
meanwhile check out this sensational band at: https://www.mayfirechronicles.com/
The British progrockband TWELFTH NIGHT has
been around for many decades, but went through various line-ups between their
formation back in 1978 and the present day, because musician CLIVE MITTEN left
the band in 1986, re-joined them in 2007, but left them again in 2012, with a
one-off reunion gig in 2014. Eventually he left them for good and concentrated
on other projects, such as THE C: LIVE COLLECTIVE and since the lockdown in
2020, Clive worked on this new 2-CD set that contains re-composed material of
old TWELTH NIGHT material. It’s not covering or doing the same thing as back
then, because Clive clearly has created new music here with new ideas, taking
fragments and parts of songs from TWELFTH NIGHT’s period 1978-1983, but with
the 2021 approach. The result is a wonderful instrumental synth based
kraut/progsound with a classical music approach that reminds me a bit of
TANGERINE DREAM, KLAUS SCHULZE and such, with a focus on melodies that are all
created by Clive, although they do sound like full orchestras have been used.
The sound is massive and the 5 parts of the Suite Cryptique (Live at the
Target, Live (and Let Live) and The Collector on CD 1 and Fact and Fiction and
Creepshow in CD 2) take you into the world of Clive, who started working on
this project when corona hit Europe and recently finished it. So there’s at
least something beautiful coming out of the whole corona crises. Check out this
wonderful instrumental album if you want to hear a perfect mix of kraut, prog
and classical music at: https://clivemitten.bandcamp.com
(Points: 8.2 out of 10)
SARA WATKINS ‘UNDER THE PEPPER TREE’ (NEW
WEST RECORDS)
Under the Pepper Tree is the 4th solo
album of SARA WATKINS, an American singer-songwriter and fiddler who is also
part of the progressive bluegrass band NICKEL CREEK along with her brother
Sean. She started her solo career back in 2007 and in case you’re no familiar
with Sara and her band, this is also quite a different affair, because her new
album Under the Pepper Tree contains covers of her childhood favorite songs of
THE BEATLES, HARRY NILSSON, WALT DISNEY movies, musicals, You’ll Never Walk
Alone, When You Wish Upon A Star and much more of such material. They are all
done in a calmer, sweet ‘old music’ style, blending folk and some jazzy
influenced singer/songwriter music into the songs, with of course the beautiful
voice of Sara who reminds me of BARBRA STREISAND. The music is as mentioned
very calm and based around Sara’s angelic high pitched soprano voice, and it
feels the whole time if I am listening to something in the style of Somewhere
Over The Rainbow style. There are several guest appearances, such as TAYLOR
GOLDSMITH of DAWES. This is a very special record that is hard to compare, but
the description in the review might give you an idea which direction you must
think of here. Sara is a gifted singer and therefore it is a pleasure to listen
to her new album. More info at: http://www.sarawatkins.com
(Points: 8.2 out of 10)
CONNECTION THEORY ‘CONNECTION THEORY’
(INDEPENDENT/UK IMPORT)
CONNECTION THEORY is a husband/wife duo
from the Merseyside in the UK and they were kind enough to send me their same
titled debut EP. Opener All Walls No Doors starts with a sorta 80s new wave
meets 70s/80s progrock mixture, kinda like 80s IT BITES and IQ, yet a bit more
leaning towards the 80s New Wave side somehow (A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS similarities
sometimes). There are 5 songs included on this EP, and after this prog meets
new wave ish opener, the rest is more progrock orientated. The lenghty
instrumental In Two Minds also has some jazzy/fusion influences and the short
instrumental Rati Acutus is definitely going for a classic melodic progrock
direction, because this song also features a lovely soaring guitarsolo. The
vocals of LAURA COOPER are quite strong, although they can only be heard during
3 songs, while DUNCAN COOPER takes care of all the instruments (guitars, bass,
keys, teno/alto/soprano sax, flute, drum programming). Drumlins and Dropstones
is a lovely classic early 80s melodic progrock song with some very nice melodies
and reminding a bit of ESQUIRE and EVEREST, but if this is too obscure, 80s IQ
and 70s GENESIS are also good comparisons here. Closing the EP is the acapella
As The Earth Flows. The only remark I would like to make is the fact that the
drums are programmed on the album, so perhaps on a future record a real drummer
could be used. Definitely a nice duo to check out at: www.connectiontheory.bandzoogle.com
(Points: 8.1 out of 10)
ANGELINE ‘WE WERE RAISED ON RADIO’ (BLOW
YOUR FEZ OFF MUSIC/SWEDEN IMPORT)
The Swedish band ANGELINE has a long
history that goes back a long time, because I once received a tape from a
Swedish tape trading friend (25 years ago!) and this contained an EP ANGELINE
had recorded somewhere in the 1980s! Anyway, fast forward ANGELINE has released
more records throughout the decades, and they were kind enough to send me their
new album We Were Raised On Radio. Musically speaking no changes, while the
lineup consists nowadays of bassist Uffe Nilsson, drummer Tobbe Jonsson,
guitarist Janne Arkegren and vocalist/guitarist/keyboardplayer Joachim Nilsson.
10 songs are included and opener Helpless is a great start, because this is a
big time sounding uptempo melodic hardrock piece with a catchy sing-a-long
chorus in classic Swedish tradition, reminding of the early 90s records of
TALISMAN and HAREM SCAREM, so definitely one of the finest songs ANGELINE has
recorded so far. Other highlights on this new album are the massive sounding
groovy slowtempo melodic rocker Remission, the uptempo melodic rocker Closer To
Forever (a la THE DEFIANTS/DANGER DANGER/FIREHOUSE) and the DEF LEPPARDish semi
melodic rockballad Come What May. ANGELINE has delivered a really great
professional melodic anthemic 80s/early 90s inspired hardrockalbum that will be
enjoyed by the fans for sure. Check them out at: https://www.facebook.com/Angeline-125584335766
(Points: 8.3 out of 10)
TWANGMEN ‘TRISKELE AND CASCADES’
(EMG/GERMAN IMPORT)
There is a lot to enjoy here, because the
Austrian band TWANGMEN is making modern sounding instrumental post-progressive
rock with all kinds of interesting structures and melodies throughout the 9
included lengthy tracks on their official full-length debut album Triskele and
Cascades. The band is formed around Daniel Seeger (bass), Fabian Jäger (cello),
Flow Frick (drums), Gunnar Giesinger (keyboards) and Martin Mayer (guitar), and
all together this has got to be the finest instrumental album so far this year.
It’s a genre that has rapidly become very popular with countless acts around
such as COLLAPSE UNDER THE EMPIRE, RUSSIAN CIRCLES, LONG DISTANCE CALLING, GOD
IS AN ASTRONAUT… You can easily add TWANGMEN here, because once you put their
music on, you’re drifting into an adventure where sounds and melodies are
taking you straight into a hypnotical trance, with so many beautiful parts,
slower to uptempo, it’s all available here. Absolute highlights are opener
Bluetopia, the uptempo rocking Autowahn, the superb melodic rocker Gimme
Shelter and the longest song on the album, Escape from Island. Basically this
perfect modern instrumental progressive-post-rock at it’s very best with also
clearly room for traditional prog and even a bit of classic rock/melodic rock,
and the use of a cello makes it sound just a bit different. Do not miss this
album! More info at: https://twangmen.bandcamp.com/album/triskele-and-cascades
(Points: 8.7 out of 10)
EXIT 13
'THE LUNAR SOCIETY' (BACKWATER RECORDS/UK IMPORT)
EXIT 13 from Ipswich, UK is based around
multi-instrumentalist/singer/songwriter STEPHEN R. MANN, who did a lot on his
own on the album The Lunar Society, except for some drums, additional vocals
and cellos during a few songs. EXIT 13 has a long history that goes back to the
1980s and you can clearly hear that on this strong new album The Lunar Society.
It's is a great typical English melancholic, yet melodic, singer/songwriter
pop/rock affair in the style of MORRISSEY (THE SMITHS) and PAUL WELLER. The 14
included songs do reflect the British slightly depressing alternative 80s/90s
kinda pop/rock direction, but when things get more uptempo, such as the uptempo
rocking The Owl Club, we get to hear a rather catchy tune that feels like a
good old pub rocker. Stephen has got the perfect British kinda voice to sing
these songs and fans of aforementioned artists should check out the new EXIT 13
album at:
https://originalexit13.bandcamp.com/
MIDNIGHT
PHANTOM 'HOLLYWOOD DREAMS' (INDEPENDENT/ GERMAN IMPORT)
When opener Fordbidden Land starts we are
heading straight into the classic 80s German Melodic Hardrocksound of bands
such as SCORPIONS, VICTORY, VAMP, KARO, BONFIRE, CRAAFT, CASANOVA, VICE, DOMAIN
and of course also 80s BON JOVI and DEF LEPPARD. It concerns here the debut
album Hollywood Dreams of the German band MIDNIGHT PHANTOM, a duo formed around
multi-instrumentalist Christian Heimbucher and lead singer Stephan Wsintek.
They are also not shy to throw in some 80s melodic metal riffs here and there,
such as the HELLOWEENish Human Race and of course a typical 80s Power Ballad in
the TRANSIT/FRONTLINE/WARRANT style (Where I Belong). I think by now the fans
of classic 80s melodic hard/heavy rock will understand what this MIDNIGHT
PHANTOM is all about, and thankfully the 2 guys are doing a nice job here.
Other highlights are the 80s anthem Children Of The 80s (SCORPIONS meets
VICTORY meets V2), the midtempo melodic rocker Save Me (remember the band
ZERO?), the lovely uptempo big time 80s melodic rocking titletrack Hollywood
Dreams and the semi melodic rockballad Heroes Never Die, which has a DEF
LEPPARD 'Hysteria' meets WHITESNAKE's Is This Love kinda touch. Definitely an
album you must check out if you're a fan of 80s German Melodic Hard/Heavy Rock at:
https://www.facebook.com/midnightphantomband/
ROYAL
HUNT 'DYSTOPIA PART 1' (NORTH POINT PRODUCTIONS/DENMARK IMPORT)
In the mid 1990s the Danish band ROYAL
HUNT took the world by storm when they released a few timeless classics (Moving
Target, Fear and Paradox), which especially in Japan gave them a superstar
status. Their sound was quite innovative, combining AOR/Pomprock ish anthem
melodies with Progressive and Symphonic Power Metal heaviness that took it to a
new pure Orchestra/Keyboards dominated Neo-Classical Melodic Heavy Rocksound
that would make YNGWIE MALMSTEEN and STRATOVARIUS jealous and would eventually
influence KAMELOT to come up with a similar sound. Through the 2000s and 2010s
this sound became less popular, but ROYAL HUNT always continued and now in 2021
we welcome them back with this superb new album Dystopia Part 1. Musically
speaking the band's sound on this new record is going back to their glorious
90s years, with the prominent ingredients of DC COOPER on vocals and ANDRE
ANDERSEN on keyboards, the dream-team within ROYAL HUNT's line up. The line up
on this new album has been steady the past 10 years, with also Andreas Passmark
(bass), Jonas Larsen (lead guitar) and Andreas “Habo” Johansson (drums) on
board for a number of years. The result is a massive and high class sounding
classic ROYAL HUNT album with a diversity of well crafted songs, such as the
lovely uptempo opener Burn, the epic semi-ballad I Used To Walk Alone, the
superb catchy chorus driven bombastic The Eye Of The Oblivion and the
semi-ballad/midtempo piece Snake Eyes. There are a number of guests on vocals
by the way, such as the ex-vocalists of the band like JOHN WEST, MARK BOALS and
a few more. All together, this is one of the finest ROYAL HUNT albums in 20+
years, with many highlights and therefore a big recommendation who like classic
epic bombastic orchestra/keyboard driven symphonic melodic heavy rock/metal
with the focus on strong melodies all over the place! I can't wait for part 2
of Dystopia and hopefully we will be able to catch them live again. Check out
more info at: www.royalhunt.com
AURA
'REACTIONS/IMAGINATIONS' (MORRISON RECORDS/FORCE MUSIC/SWEDEN IMPORT)
Out of Sweden comes AURA, a band that
combines elements of various rock genres, but are probably best described as a
progressive rockband. They were formed way back in the 1970s and released
several albums during the 1980s, of which the rockmusical Dalen is their most
successful, because after this album release in 1984, the band did a 3 year
Swedish tour that was seen by more than 100 000 people (!). One of the members
in the band back then was TONY BORG of AOR/Melodic Rockers ALIEN. They
re-started in 2000s and have meanwhile released 5 new albums, of which
Imaginations is their new album. The band consists of Lennie Andrews (vocals,
keys, guitars), Joacim A Sternkrans (vocals, guitars), Conny Engelund (bass,
guitars) and Ulf George Andersson (drums). The band send me their 2 most recent
albums, and despite a few really nice songs, such as Dancing On Your Own (a
relaxing 70s inspired groovy melodic poprocker with a sorta 70s disco touch)
and the B.O.C. meets GRATEFUL DEADish slow rocker Cosmic lullaby, the band
sounds much stronger and mature on their new album Imaginations. This record is
a mixture of classic rock, progrock and melodic rock, with as highlights Angry
Bards (a great classic rocker that is really dangerously close to BLUE OYSTER
CULT), The Selfie Generation (midtempo melodic progrock, PINK FLOYDish), and
the melancholic semi prog ballads Tall And Free and Together Again. Check out
this interesting Swedish band at: https://aurasweden.com/AURA
(Points:
7.8 out of 10)
CHRIS
CORNEY 'FALSE HORIZON' (UNIVERSAL MUSIC/UK IMPORT)
Out of Bedfordshire, UK comes
producer/singer-songwriter/multi-instrumentalist CHRIS CORNEY, who has been in
the music business for almost 30 years now. He was a member of bands like THE
QUIREBOYS, THE CONTRAST and THE RAVINES and worked with JOE ELLIOTT (BRYAN
ADAMS), but is now making his debut as a solo artist. False Horizon is the
title of the album, on which he plays almost all the instruments, except for
some drums (LUKE TUCHSCHERER and TASHA BAYLIS on a few songs) and SUSANNA BENN
on backing vocals. 9 songs are included, and without a doubt, this is a really
great record to listen to. Opener Lewisham to Liverpool is a very nice midtempo
AOR/Poprocker with strong vocals of Chris and a summer-ish radio-ready sound, a
bit like BRYAN ADAMS here and there. Following Through Jealous Eyes is a lovely
uptempo AOR/Powerpop/Melodic Rocker that reminds me a bit of TOM COCHRANE, 80s
BRYAN ADAMS, VAN STEPHENSON and such. Back to midtempo AOR/Poprock with the
light DEF LEPPARDish Psychology 101 (reminding me a lot of RUSSELL ‘Wall Of
Love’ if anyone remembers that record!), Where Did It All Go Wrong? and Leave
Our Love Alone (which is basically pure late 80s/early 90s midtempo AOR a la
VAN STEPHENSON again). Sky High starts acoustic driven, but also this song
develops into a midtempo AOR/Poprockish song like if it was still 1989. Girl On
A Poster rocks a bit more, although also this song has that lovely classic late
80s catchy midtempo AOR/Melodic Rocksound, reminding me a lot of MICHAEL
MORALES crossed with a little bit of TOM PETTY somehow. Job well done for sure,
as Chris has a perfect voice for this kind of classic 80s AOR/Poprock/Rootsy
melancholic Powerpop and fans of aforementioned artists will definitely like
this album a lot. The final 2 songs are the excellent uptempo melodic rockers
(a la THE OUTFIELD) Bury The Bad News and Do Not Adjust Your Mind, so all
together we have a here a great melodic rocking album. More information can be
found at: www.chriscorneymusic.co.uk
(Points:
8.4 out of 10)
FRESHLY
CUT CRASS 'TOPIARY' (INDEPENDENT/UK IMPORT)
FRESHLY
CUT CRASS is the brainchild of OWAIN HUGHES (keys, guitars, vocals,
compoistions), who is a recent graduate of the RWCMD (Royal Welsh College of
Music & Drama). He gathered a bunch of fellow musicians and singers,
including the sensational BELLA COLLINS, and recorded an album that will
definitely appeal to fans of LEON BRIDGES, CURTIS HARDING, YOLA CARTER, THE
BLACK PUMAS, although it goes a bit further into jazzy funky 70s soul/pop on
Topiary, the debut album of FRESHLY CUT CRASS. The Bipolar Jazz Oversture opens
the album and is a jazzy instrumental, but the following Funk Enigma is
introducing vocals that sound really great and give the song a pure 1970s funky
disco/soul-ish pop/rock direction. The album continues this way with a mix of
funky 70s pop/rock and a touch of a jazz, with the focus on smooth melodies, a
bit like classic EARTH, WIND & FIRE crossed with MARVIN GAYE and TERRY
CALLIER, yet with female vocals and also memories of the aforementioned new
generation of acts in this style. Other highlights include the beautiful sung
London In His Eyes, the instrumental 70s Fusion of The Last Melon and the pure
70s radiohit sounding Work To Be Done. If you’re starting to become interested,
then check out FRESHLY CUT CRASS at: https://www.facebook.com/FCGrass
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
DOUG
SCHMUDE 'MILEPOSTS' (LOST HUBCAP RECORDS/HEMFIRAN/SWEDEN IMPORT)
Although the American singer/songwriter
DOUG SCHMUDE has been active for over 17 years now and he gets some help from
other musicians on his 5th album Mileposts, he actually does
almost everything on his own. Doug plays guitar, lap steel, acoustic guitars,
banjo, Dobro, mandolin, organ, piano and bass besides of course singing and
producing the 7 songs on this new EP CD. The included music is a mix of folk,
Americana and 70s singer-songwriter pop, not far removed from TOWNES VAN ZANDT,
STEVE EARLE and BOB DYLAN. The songs are uptempo (Mileposts in the Rear View,
The Ballad of Early and Feels like Texas), calm balladry (All the Lines on My
Face and A World Without John Prine), midtempo orientated (Old Crow) and even a
sorta bluesy slow rocker (Maybe I Just Won’t Go Home Tonight). I am not a major
fan of Doug’s way of singing, but in case you’re into BOB DYLAN or NEIL YOUNG,
you will definitely like this a lot. More info at:
(Points:
7.0 out of 10)
MICHAEL
JOHNATHON 'THE PAINTER' (POETMAN RECORDS/HEMFIRAN/SWEDEN IMPORT)
If this would have been released 50 years
ago, American singer/songwriter MICHAEL JOHNATHAN could have been a major label
artist. Nowadays one in a million gets lucky and breaks through big time, such
as the Dutch DANNY VERA in The Netherlands. Nevertheless, Michael still has
built up quite a reputation in the 35 years he has been active now, with quite
a lot releases so far. The Painter is his latest album, which is an album about
Vincent Van Gogh, including a cover of the DON MCLEAN classic Vincent (Starry, Starry
Night). Michael sings and wrote 7 out of the 11 included songs, so it’s 4
covers (also BOB DYLAN, HARRY CHAPIN and THE MARCELS are covered), and Michael
plays guitar, banjos, percussion and Hammond. There are also additional
musicians to be heard on drums, bass, harmonica, flute, piano, accordion and
backing vocals, and the music we can hear is beautiful calmer story-telling
folksy singer-songwriter pop in the classic 70s style, reminding of DON MCLEAN,
JOHN DENVER and such, which is due to Michael’s melodic clean voice, because
some of the songs also have BOB DYLAN similarities. Definitely a nice album to
check out if you long back to the classic 70s singer-songwriter popstyle. More
info at: www.michaeljohnathon.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
ROGER
JOHNSON AND THE RIALTO VALLEY REGULATORS 'MOD AMERICANA' (AT
MUSIC/HEMFIRAN/SWEDEN IMPORT)
I love the sentence “all music on this
album was performed on real instruments & played by real musicians. No
auto-tune or other pitch correction devices were used on this recording.”. This
is mentioned in the CD booklet of the Mod Americana CD of
ROGER JOHNSON AND THE RIALTO VALLEY
REGULATORS. This American band is formed around vocalist Roger Johnson (who has
been a performer for a very long time), and musically we are heading into the
typical American Country/Lap-Steel guitar rocking style. Opener This Summer
Feeling is a great catchy fun uptempo rootsy country poprocker, while the
following Waiting For The Rain is nice calmer WILLIE NELSONish
singer/songwriter country ballad. The rest of the album, which contains 16
songs in total, they follow the same mixture of mostly uptempo rootsy country
rockier pieces and a few balladry singer/songwriter material. The highlights
are California, New Old Times Together (a middle-of-the-road rootsy rocker that
even has some ELVIS PRESLEY influences in Roger’s vocals somehow), the
Rockabilly-ish Am I Right?, the WAYLON JENNINGSish On The Road and THE EAGLES
meets GRAM PARSONS catchy 60s Powerpop orientated Mod Americana. Without a
doubt, this is one of the most authentic pure traditional American
Countryrockalbums in ages, so in case this sounds interesting, please check
them out at: https://rogerjohnsonmusic.com
(Points:
8.1 out of 10)
CATHERINE
BRITT 'HOME TRUTHS' (BEVERLY HILLBILLY RECORDS/HEMFIRAN/SWEDEN IMPORT)
(Modern) female fronted melodic American
Countryrock at it’s very best is what you get on the 8th album
Home Truths by the singer/songwriter CATHERINE BRITT. She originally comes out
of Australia, but settled in Nashville for her Country career 20 years ago,
although eventually returned to Australia where she became quite popular in
recent years. If you’re familiar with ILSE DE LANGE, CARRIE UNDERWOOD, LEANN
RIMES, LUCINDA WILLIAMS, DOLLY PARTON, MIRANDA LAMBERT, JUICE NEWTON and
countless more, then you will more or less understand what CATHERINE BRITT is
all about. Despite it might not sound original, the result is a perfect strong
polished record that will definitely whet the appetite of fans of the
aforementioned artists. Highlights are the uptempo pieces Fac’rit Song, Gonna
Be Mumma (excellent catchy song that is the perfect mix between DOLLY PARTON
and ILSE DE LANGE) and New Dawn, the midtempo southern rockers Country Fan and
Me, and the balladry of I Am A Country Song, Home Truths and Make A Diamond.
Catherine wrote most of the songs by herself, although here and there with the
assistance of additional songwriters, and for the instruments she got help from
bassist Jeff McCormack, drummer Steve Fearnley, guitarists Duncan Toombs &
Michael Muchow, fiddle players Mick Albeck & Hugh Curtis, keyboardplayer
Andrew Schravemade, Pedel Steel guitarplayer Michel Rose and several backing
singers, as well as 2 guest vocalists (JIM LAUDERDALE & LEE KERNAGHAN).
Catherine’s voice is really wonderful to listen to and all of the 12 included
songs are a joy to listen to, maybe a bit too polished here and there, it
surely is a must-have for fans of any of the mentioned artists (ILSE DE LANGE
being an obvious comparison of course for the Dutch readers among us). More
info at: www.catherinebritt.com
(Points:
8.6 out of 10)
SON OF
THE VELVET RAT 'SOLITARY COMPANY' (FLUFF AND GRAVY RECORDS/HEMFIRAN/SWEDEN
IMPORT)
The Joshua Tree, California based band SON
OF THE VELVET RAT is a so-called Folk Noir band, which is sorta a mix between
dark folk rock, Americana and bits of Garage Rock. They were formed back in
2003 by Austrian songwriter Georg Altziebler and organist and accordionist
Heike Binder, and eventually they went to the USA to refine their sound.
Solitary Company is already their 13th album, and without a
doubt it’s a great rocking affair that has a lot of memories of classic TOM
WAITS, NICK CAVE, LEONARD COHEN and BOB DYLAN, although when things go uptempo
a bit happier than those slightly depressing singer/songwriters. During the
calmer songs it’s dangerously close to TOM WAITS (Alicia and When The Lights Go
Down) or LEONARD COHEN (Remember me) sometimes, but as mentioned the band is at
their best during uptempo pieces like Stardust, Beautiful Disarray and The
Ferris Wheel. Quality record for sure and highly recommended to fans of
aforementioned artists. More info at: http://sonofthevelvetrat.com/
(Points:
8.2 out of 10)
LOVE ON
DRUGS 'MELODIES' (PARAPLY RECORDS/HEMFIRAN/SWEDEN IMPORT)
Not WAR ON DRUGS, but this Swedish band is
called LOVE ON DRUGS and Melodies is their 3rd album I believe.
The band is formed around multi-instrumentalist/singer/songwriter THOMAS PONTEN
from Gothenburg and he gathered a few fellow musicians (drummer MARTIN LILLBERG,
bassist ROBERT OLSSON and keyboardplayer MARKUS LARSSON) around him, as well as
a few backing singers (the well-known American singer/songwriter TED RUSSELL
KAMP and JENNY LUNDIN) to record Melodies. The result is a cheerful melodic
affair that blends influences from various music styles, such as Americana,
Westcoast, Rootsy Rock, Indie, Powerpop and Pop/Rock, with as highlights The
Well (a midtempo groovy rootsy rocksong with a sorta 70s ROLLING STONES vibe),
the catchy uptempo indie melodic poprocker Let The Banner Wave (THE SMITHSish),
the relaxing 60s influenced uptempo powerpop ish Faking It All, the THE
BEATLESish Heartache I Know You So Well and the early 80s uptempo catchy
poprocker Cutting Words (a la TOM PETTY). Check out more info on this great
diverse Swedish band at: https://www.facebook.com/loveondrugs/ and https://loveondrugs.bandcamp.com/album/solder
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
ANNAMAY
'RISE UP' (INDEPENDENT/HEMFIRAN/SWEDEN IMPORT)
Only 1 song can be found on the single I
received from the band ANNAMAY, which is a Swedish act formed around
singer/songwriter Anna-Maria Ejrupo (ANNAMAY). The song is titled Rise Up and
is an Americana uptempo poprocker with folk and country influences. Done very
well, I would be very interested in a full album! More info at: https://www.facebook.com/annamayofficial/
(Points:
7.7 out of 10)
DAVID
MASSEY 'ISLAND CREEK' (POETIC DEBRUS RECORDS/HEMFIRAN/SWEDEN IMPORT)
Out of Washington D.C. comes
singer/songwriter/guitarist DAVID MASSEY, who has been around for some time
now, although with long pauses. His new EP Island Creek contains 6 songs and
after the calm start of the singer/songwriter-ish titletrack Island Creek,
David comes up with a great MARK KNOPFLER/DIRE STRAITS ish uptempo pop/rocker
(Demon Wind). The following 4 songs are a mixture of those styles, with uptempo
and calmer pieces. David has a great voice and sings his songs very well, so it
is a joy to listen to the EP. More info at: www.davemasseymusic.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
HEATH
CULLEN 'SPRINGTIME IN THE HEART' (5 X 9 RECORDINGS/HEMFIRAN/SWEDEN IMPORT)
He not only looks like a cross between
NICK CAVE and LEONARD COHEN, but Australian singer/songwriter HEATH CULLEN also
sounds like them on his new album Springtime In The Heart. Besides Heath on
vocals and guitar, other involved musicians are . On the other hand, the
aforementioned comparison is way too easy, because when listening to the album
you can clearly hear an own identity that sounds rockier than Nick and Leonard.
Highlights are opener Things Are Looking Up, Song That I Know (here he sounds
quite sensational and rocks big time), the bluesy Cowboy Truths (for Sam
Shepard), and Home. I wonder what the result would be is Heath would do a more
uptempo rockier album, because he surely has the right voice to rock! Anyway,
check out this gifted musician at: www.heathcullen.com
(Points:
8.2 out of 10)
JESSE
BREWSTER 'THE LONELY PINES' (CROOKED PRAIRIE RECORDS/HEMIFRAN/SWEDEN IMPORT)
Out of San Francisco comes
singer/songwriter JESSE BREWSTER, who releases a strong solo record titled The
Lonely Pines. He has a wonderful crystal clear voice and his music is catchy
melodic poprock/westcoast orientated. The first couple of songs on his album
are lovely catchy uptempo melodic AOR/Westcoast/poprockers (Let’s Run Away and
Kicking And Screaming), reminding me a bit of MIKAEL ERLANDSSON and RALPH VAN
MANEN in their early 90s rockier days. There are also calmer songs on the
album, such as Bitter Pill and Southern, which could be classified as
singer/songwriter pieces, but Jesse is at his best when going for the rockier
approach, which we can also hear during the songs Close To Home (midtempo
rootsy heartland rocker a la TOM PETTY) and the semi melodic rockers So Much
Good Right Here and Follow It Down. Check out more info at: http://www.jessebrewster.com/
(Points:
8.4 out of 10)
EDDIE
SEVILLE 'HIGH AND LONESOME' (TEMPLE WARD MUSIC/HEMFIRAN/SWEDEN IMPORT)
The American
singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist EDDIE SEVILLE has already released
quite a few solo albums in the past, but is best known as leader of the band
STEEL RODEO and he also toured with the legendary FRANK CARILLO and GEORGE
KOOYMANS (GOLDEN EARRING). 5 songs are on his new EP High And Lonesome, which
musically speaking is a typical American cocktail of rock, country and
Americana. He sings, plays guitar, bass and a bit of mandolin, drums and
harmonica, so a real multi-instrumentalist, but also got help from a few guest
musicians, such as guitarist Billy K, bassist Michael Speranza, drummer Isaac
Civitello, pianoplayer Jimmy Wilkas and pedal steel guitarist Peter Adams.
Opener All Night Radio is a great uptempo rootsy rocker with a clear BRUCE
SPRINGSTEEN comparison. One More Guitar is a great semi rockballad and closing
track Talking To Myself is another lovely SPRINGSTEENish uptempo rootsy rocker.
Actually all 6 songs are sounding very strong and Eddie is definitely a gifted
musician and songwriter with a fantastic raspy voice, so let’s hope he will
provide us much more great original music. Check him out at: www.eddieseville.com and https://eddieseville.bandcamp.com/album/high-lonesome-ep
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
LAZY
AFTERNOON 'TRAPPED' (PARAPLY RECORDS/HEMFIRAN/SWEDEN IMPORT)
Here we have another interesting Swedish
band with sadly just 1 song on their CD single. Trapped is a great uptempo
fresh sounding Americana folk rocker that even reminds me a bit of the very
early records of POCO and PURE PRAIRIE LEAGUE. Once again hopefully a full
record soon, meanwhile check them out at: www.lazyafternoonmusic.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
THE ODD
BIRDS 'BETTER DAYS' (INDEPENDENT/HEMFIRAN/SWEDEN IMPORT)
THE ODD BIRDS is a Californian band formed
around RON GRIGSBY (vocals, guitars, bass, piano, harmonica), JENNIFER MORACA
(vocals, guitars), BOBBO BYRNES (bass, organ, guitar) and MATT FROEHLICH
(drums). They released a nice 6 tracks counting album titled Better Days, which
musically speaking has some similarities to THE EAGLES, so it contains
influences of Americana and Westcoast, yet also Country and Folk. The songs are
a mixture of calmer and uptempo pieces, with the main focus on the vocalwork of
Ron and Jennifer, both providing some lovely lead- and close-harmonyvocals.
Check it out for yourself at: www.TheOddBirds.com
(Points:
7.7 out of 10)
BRANDI
VEZINA 'WALK AWAY/JOHN DILLINGER TYPE' (INDEPENDENT/HEMFIRAN/SWEDEN IMPORT)
Only 4 songs have been recorded so far by
this talented American singer called BRANDI VEZINA, but she is definitely one
of the finest I have heard in ages in the country crossover pop/rock genre.
John Dillinger Type is a lovely classic Americana Country Poprock mixture like
only the Americans are able to do. You would think this is a major label
release, but BRANDI VEZINA is at the moment an undiscovered sensation! The
other song I received on CD is Walk Away, which is a great uptempo
countrypoprocker in the classic JUICE NEWTON style. Brandi has a perfect voice
and it would not surprise me if she will become huge in the USA! Check her out
at: https://www.brandivezina.com/music-1
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
GEORGIA
VAN ETTEN ‘DEEP BLACK WATER VINYL LP’ (BIIRTHDAY CAKE MEDIA/UK IMPORT)
She originally comes out of Melbourne,
Australia, but eventually moved to London, UK about 6 years ago, the extremely
talented Soul/Bluesrock singer/songwriter GEORGIA VAN ETTEN has now released
her official debut full-length record titled Deep Black Water, which I received
on a beautiful vinyl record. In the past few years she has performed at various
festivals and built up a reputation, so this very first record should get a lot
of attention, especially since it sounds quite impressive. She did release a
live EP before, which gained a good deal of publicity, partly thanks to the
praise of JAMIE COLLUM, but Deep Black Water is definitely showing what Georgia
is all about. There’s a list of musicians included here to help Georgia refine
her sound, but it’s EDWIN IRELAND who is clearly taking care of most of the
instrumental side of the album. 9 songs are included in total and the material
is balancing between bluesy rockers like the superb Deep Black Water and The
Other Side (feat. JOEY LANDRETH), both a bit reminding me of LARKIN POE and a
calmer BLUES PILLS, and calmer soulful pop songs that could easily end up high
in the charts worldwide, such as the amazing Painted People. Of course it’s
also a matter of luck and finding the right connections, but I can easily say
that GEORGIA VAN ETTEN might become a household name in the future to come,
because her voice and songs sound beautiful. She was kind enough to send me her
debut on this beautiful looking vinyl record, and you can hear when you’re
playing the record, it’s her voice that makes the absolute difference. Her
voice is giving her an own identity and the material she recorded is diverse
enough to appeal to a diversity of people. This is one of those records you
will put on over and over again and if only corona had not killed the live
music industry, Georgia would have already been closer to the fame and fortune
she deserves, but it’s never too late, especially since she is still young and
has a lifetime ahead of her to become one of the big stars in the future to
come. Check out all on this talented singer/songwriter at: http://georgia-van-etten.com/
(Points:
8.8 out of 10)
ANGRUSORI
‘LIVE AT TOU’ (HUDSON RECORDS/UK IMPORT)
ANGRUSORI was previously named PHUTERDO
ORE, but they changed their name recently and are now releasing their debut
album Live At Tou, which was recorded on the 23rd of April 2017.
They are a group of musicians from the Norway based KITCHEN ORCHESTRA and the
Slovak Roma community, who have been working together since 2016. The included
material is based on traditional songs, rearranged by NILS HENRIK ASHEIM
(composer, organ, leader of the orchestra), with additional compositions by INA
BITTOVA (composer, violin, vocals). The band further consists of Stine Janvin
Motland on vocals, Marcela Drevenáková on vocals, Jozef Drevenák on
vocals/guitar, Gjertrud Økland on violin, Patrik Žiga on violin, Roman Harvan
on cello, Petter Frost Fadnes on saxophones, Johan Egdetveit on accordion,
Peter Mižigar on guitar and Ståle Birkeland on drums/percussion. The music is
an interesting mixture of experimental Nordic music and traditional melodic
Roman music, so it is possible that you start with a cold dark instrumental
complicated Norwegian feeling during a song, while during that same song the
mood changes into a warmer cheerful Roman setting where everyone is singing
along, and this is exactly what happens in the song Pre ada baro svetos. This
mixture has not been done before a lot I can imagine, so ANGRUSORI are doing
something quite original and therefore I would recommend you to check this out
if you’re open-minded enough. There is of course more to discover here and it
feels like one big adventure overall, with the focus on those Roman/Gypsy Music
vocal melodies that are combined with a North European orchestra sound, and
despite mentioning the word experimental, the album still has that typical
World Music/Gypsy Folk music feeling most of the time. More info at: https://hudsonrecords.co.uk/product/angrusori-live-at-tou
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
THE
RICH HARDCASTLE BAND ‘RUDY’S BAR’ (INDEPENDENT/UK IMPORT)
RICH
HARDCASTLE is a British singer/songwriter/guitarist and he was kind enough to
send me his debut album Rudy’s Bar he released as THE RICK HARDCASTLE BAND.
Besides Rich on vocals and acoustic guitar, there is a long list of guests,
although his band consists of Lindsey Woods – Flute, Bob Ward – Electric
Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Helen Martin – Background Vocals and Gary Martin –
Electric Bass. The album starts with the strong uptempo Americana pop/rocking
titletrack, which shows right away we are dealing here with an excellent singer
who is able to write a very decent song. There are 12 songs on the album, which
is a mixture of mostly calmer Americana/Singer/Songwriter pieces and a few
uptempo cheerful tunes (such as Dancing Room Only and Snow Angels), with always
the focus on strong memorable nostalgic melodies. DANNY VERA is a good
comparison for the Dutch people among us, although Rich has an own identity
thanks to his voice, which somehow reminds me of PHIL LYNOTT. In fact, a song
like the beautiful calmer Angel’s Share has that fantastic 70s
singer/songwriter feeling like JIM CROCE and JAMES TAYLOR, but also reminds me
of PHIL LYNOTT when he did a calmer song back in the day. Stanley and Ramona is
another wonderful melancholic 70s inspired singer/songwriter piece with a
slight semi prog/rock ballad touch. The acoustic Holly is really beautiful and
has the same kinda feeling as for example STING’s Fragile, just saying that we
are dealing here with a gifted musician. The album is a pleasure to listen to
from start to finish and a must-have for fans of aforementioned artists. Check
out more info at: https://richhardcastleband.com/music
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
DEDE
BOOTH ‘THE EXPANSION EFFECT’ (INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT)
Out of Boston comes the talented DEDE
BOOTH, who has been active for over 10 years now and The Expansion Effect is
her 5th album so far I believe. She is a multi-instrumentalist,
singer/songwriter and producer, and she does everything on her own. Quite
interesting to hear, because she does it quite well. Musically speaking it is
modern based progressive post-rock with a focus on vocal melodies. The overall
sound quality of her new album could be slightly better, but on the other hand
it’s an independent release that will be appreciated by the real music fans for
sure. 9 songs are on the album, and most of them have a sorta slower
melancholic dark approach, with also influences from indie pop, alternative
rock, dreampop and such, although the prog post-rocksound is the general music
style that can be heard in each and every song. Dede is a talented musician who
is able to create interesting almost ambient hypnotical music that will
especially be appreciated by the open-minded progfans out there. Check more for
yourself at: https://dedebooth.bandcamp.com/
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
JAMES
FOX ‘ALL THE FOURS’ (INDEPENDENT/UK IMPORT)
Now here is a great interesting
independent release from multi-instrumentalist/singer/songwriter JAMES FOX. He
did almost everything on his own, except for the drums, because MIKE SORRENTINO
(BLACKMORE’S NIGHT, VIOLENT STORM, JOE LYNN TURNER…) took care of that part and
he did a great job by the way! However, we are here to talk about James and he
is a gifted singer and musician, because his voice is superb and so is the
music. Opener Nightfall is a lovely uptempo classic AOR/Melodic Rocker that
reminds me a bit of FINAL FRONTIER. Thankfully the AOR/Melodic Rock continues
on the following 11 tracks of his debut album All The Fours. His voice and
music reminds me so much of ex-TRADIA singer DAVE BALDWIN, so if you’re
familiar with that early-mid 90s AOR/Melodic Rocksound, then you will
understand what this is all about. It’s a sensational record with a focus on
picture perfect catchy hooks and melodic memorable choruses that are brought to
you by superb crystal clear high pitched vocals and soaring guitars, as if
STEVE PERRY got his voice back and recorded a new album with JOURNEY! Other
highlights are the semi AOR ballad Fire & Coal, the midtempo AOR/Melodic
Rocker Time Will Tell (superb vocals!), the midtempo AOR rocker Our Future’s In
The Past and the 80s orientated AOR pieces Don’t Let The Rain Stop You and I
Could Take You Down. This is definitely a huge surprise from London, UK, an
independent AOR/Melodic Rockalbum at a very high level. More info at: https://jamesfoxsongs.com/
(Points:
8.7 out of 10)
PANOPLY
‘FIRST INVERSION’ (INDEPENDENT/UK IMPORT)
First Inversion is the 3rd album
of the British band PANOPLY and it concerns here instrumental progressive rock
at a very high level. When listening to opener Riding the Wave, it feels like
we’re back in time, because this is almost 1970s symphonic/pomprock, with rich
keys and a classic soaring guitar. There is not so much information on this
band, but they clearly understood how to create a melodic retro sounding
instrumental album, which consists by the way of 5 long songs. The melodies are
all over the place here and I can honestly highly recommend their new album to
fans of classic ELP, ASIA, YES, RICK WAKEMAN, MIKE OLDFIELD and such. I
absolutely love that first song on the album, but any song here has a lot to
offer and is actually very diverse if you listen to the beautiful classical
Spanish guitar used in Inflection Point. There is a lot to discover here, so
make sure you check out this great instrumental band at: https://www.panoply-music.com/product-page/first-inversion
(Points:
8.4 out of 10)
LIFESIGNS
'ALTITUDE' (LIFESIGNS MUSIC/UK IMPORT)
Progressive Rock is one of the main
reasons to keep checking new releases and every once in a while a golden jewel
is released in this genre. We did review a previous album of the English band
LIFESIGNS, but they have now released a new album titled Altitude, and this
particular album might become one of the finest releases in 2021! Everything
sounds crystal clear and picture perfect here, and it is basically the dream of
every fan of melodic neo-progressive rock! Although LIFESIGNS is not doing
something completely different than most other progbands out there, they surely
play their progrock at an incredible high level, basically containing all the
ingredients to make this new album an absolute winner in the genre. Melody is
king here on each and every song that is included and not a single dull moment
can be found on this album. LIFESIGNS was founded back in 2008 by JOHN YOUNG
(keyboards, lead vocals), who worked with BONNIE TYLER, SCORPIONS, ASIA and
many others, and along the way there have been a few lineup changes within the
band throughout the year, but they have always continued to release quality
records. Altitude is their 3rd album so far and it features as
other band members JON POOLE (bass, ex-CARDIACS, WILDHEARTS), DAVE BAINBRIDGE (guitars,
keys, IONA, STRAWBS), ZOLTAN CSORSZ (drums, FLOWER KINGS) and STEVE RISPIN
(sound engineering, co-producer, additional keys, ASIA, WETTON DOWNES), while
LYNSEY WARD (backing vocals), PETER KNIGHT (violin), JULIET WOLF (cello) and
SIR ROBIN BOULT (acoustic guitar, FISH) appear as guests. 8 songs are included,
of which 2 are short instrumentals (Arkhangelsk and Altitude Reprise), while
the other 6 are sometimes quite long, especially the superb opener Altitude,
the titletrack, which is an amazing piece of progressive rock, 15 minutes in
length, and basically this is a perfect prog adventure you really want to
experience if you’re a fan of the genre. I absolutely love the song based
Gregarious, which is a truly tremendous melodic song that blends AOR melodies
with progressive rock, just like we saw in the past being done by bands like
FOR ABSENT FRIENDS, ENCHANT, ALIAS EYE, SUBSIGNAL and such. The songs Fortitude
an Last One Home feature amazing soaring instrumental guitar vs keyboard
melodies, while Ivory Tower and Shoreline are a combination of the best of
prog, aor and melodic rock can offer nowadays. What more to say here! This is a
stunning album that is a must-have for any fan of classic melodic progressive
rock and even AOR fans might like this a lot I think, because LIFESIGNS offer
some of the best melodies I have heard in a long time. John is a gifted
musician, he has a superb voice and his songs are all masterpieces, so you can
be sure that you will have one of the finest albums of 2021 in your hands when
purchasing a copy of this album. More info can be found at: http://www.lifesignsmusic.co.uk/
(Points:
9.1 out of 10)
DIRTY
HONEY 'DIRTY HONEY' (DIRT RECORDS/SONY MUSIC/USA IMPORT)
Formed in 2017, the Los Angeles based band
DIRTY HONEY rapidly became a household name over there and is in the USA
already praised as the next big rockband for the future to come. They even
secured a major hit (number 1!) on the US Billboard Charts with one of their
songs in 2019, but we had to wait until 2021 for their official full-length
debut album to be released. The same titled album follows their EP from 2019,
and is released independently. The band’s line up consists of vocalist Marc
Labelle, guitarist John Notto, bassist Justin Smolian, and drummer Corey
Coverstone. Their music is clearly influenced by the Classic Rock giants like
LED ZEPPELIN and GUNS’N’ROSES, and the 8 songs on the album are mostly gritty
big time sounding groovy Classic Hardrock orientated, with the exception of the
lovely semi-ballad Another Last Time, which closes the album nicely. Songs like
California Dreamin’, Tied Up and Gypsy are rockers the way rock needs to sound.
DIRTY HONEY might not truly have an own sound yet, they surely rock and it’s
young bands like these that could inspire a whole new generation to bring back
real classic rock and roll back to the youth. We have seen it happen in the
past 20 years when bands like STEEL PANTHER, THE DARKNESS and GRETA VAN FLEET
recently, but who knows DIRTY HONEY will be the real deal. Thankfully they have
now this great debut album available and therefore I highly recommend them if
you like any of the aforementioned bands. Check out this promising band
at: https://www.dirtyhoney.com/
(Points: 8.5 out of 10)
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