BMG 1997
Review by Kimmo Toivonen

Annika used to be the vocalist in the techno/country/comedy group the Rednex. Therefore one would hardly expect her to deliver a decent pop rock album but that's just what she has done.

The first two tracks "The Reddest Rose" and the title song wouldn't sound out of place on a Belinda Carlisle album, great catchy pop rockers. Unfortunately, the next few tracks aren't anywhere near as good, "You And I" sounding like something that the Cranberries have rejected and "Footsteps" being just plain dull.

The next truly great song is "I Wonder, I Wonder" which is a moody ballad, very "heavy pop", if such term is possible! "Thinkin' Of You" is also a great song with an interesting keyboard melody and a neat chorus. Highlights among the remaining tracks are the Roxettesque "Flower In My Garden" and the beautiful ballad "In Times Of Sorrow".

Dino 1997
Review by Kimmo Toivonen

With a lot of help from MTV Europe Anouk from Holland is storming the charts all over Europe. And certainly the two hit singles from it, "Nobody's Wife" and "It's So Hard", are fine hard rock tracks. It's a shame though that the rest of the album isn't much to write home about, with the exeption of the trio of "Pictures On Your Skin" (good chorus), "Fluid Conduction" (nice pre-chorus and weird lyrics) and "My Life" (this must be the third single, right?).

Locomotive Music 2004
Review by Martien Koolen,
20 április 2004

Anubis Gate was formed in 2001 by Jesper M.Jensen(guitars/bass/keyboards) and Morten Sorensen(drums) in Denmark. Later on they found a suitable vocalist called Torben Askholm, who sang in other metal bands like Prophets of Doom and Northern Empire. Jacob Hansen was ready and willing to produce this record and right from the opener "Hall Of Two Truths" you hear it is a real heavy metal production.

The style of Anubis Gates could be best described as a mix of classical eighties heavy metal("In The Comfort Of Darkness"), power metal of the nineties("Purification") and dark progressive musical elements("Hypernosis"). It is therefore obvious that you will notice influences from bands like Queensryche, Iron Maiden, Crimson Glory and Fates Warning.

Massacre 2002
Review by 5 September 2002

I have to admit that I was under the impression that this band had called it quits several years ago, but no, they are still recording and touring. "Still Going Strong" is their twelfth album, and according to the press release it's a continuation of the "return to the roots" that they started with their previous album. Apparently this should be more catchy and melodic than their thrashy albums of the 90'ies.

As far as I remember, the couple of Anvil albums I heard back in the eighties weren't particulary catchy or melodic, more like average meat'n potatoes metal. In that sense, "Still Going Strong" is a return to that style, as it offers very little to be excited about. Sure, the band rocks like a...eh...hurricane, and why shouldn't they, after who knows how many gigs and years together. It's the song material that strikes me as being very average.

Stylewise Anvil sounds a bit like the bastard son of Motorhead and Manowar, with Spinal Tap as the godfather. The vocals of intrestingly named frontman Lips are just as "true metal" as Manowar's Eric Adams' vocals when it comes to attitude, but he doesn't really have the range or the power to match. Some of the lyrics could've been pulled from a Spinal Tap album, just listen to "In Hell" or "Holy Wood" for instance. Actually, it doesn't matter what song I am listening to, I can't help but visualize the 'Tap on stage playing these songs!

AORHeaven 2003
Review by 19 September 2003

There's a project with such a name out there and it's already the fourth release, yet I only heard the 2001 effort "Next Stop L.A.". Yeah, I know, a crying shame! However since the previous releases were all indies, they are really hard to come by. This time it's AORHeaven backing it up, so let's hope it will reach a wider audience than before. The music and the names behind guarantee consumer satisfaction, so why not? AOR is French songwriter/producer/ex-(?)journalist Frederic Slama's project spiced up with guest vocalists and musicians. If I mention some of the contributors you'll all have an idea what the music is like: Steve Lukather, Bill Champlin, Steve Overland, Tommy Denander. Yeah, you are right: Toto meets Chicago, soft AOR with stunning musicianship, thick arrangements, balanced mix, and good front- and thick backing vocals.

AOR at its best or should I call it HOSR (Housewife Orientated Soft Rock)? Well, you name it! Just don't expect roaring guitars and uptempo crashing. But who'd expect something like that when buying an album like this? Being a big Chicago fan my favorite tracks are the ones featuring Bill Champlin, "Lost in Your Eyes" is a pure gem, a midtempo soulful number that could easily find its way to any 80s or early 90s Chicago release. The same goes for the other Champlin track "Teach Me How to Love You Again" [cool sax work!]. However the majority of the songs are more in the vein of Toto in the 80s. No wonder since this time it was Tommy Denander taking duties of the production; not that the album would sound any different from the above mentioned bands or from the 2001 release… which is a good thing I guess cuz the production is as good as it can only get in this genre.

Frédéric Slama 2004
Review by Kimmo Toivonen,
17 May 2004

Frédéric Slama has released 4 albums under the name of "AOR", all of them featuring internationally known AOR/Westcoast musicians. This album is a "Best of" compilation with a few new songs, and the line-up on these songs is virtually a "who's who" of AOR/westcoast music...Steve Lukather, David Roberts, Tommy Denander, Bill Champlin.

I wasn't expecting much, since the only other "AOR" album I had heard, last years' "Dreaming Of L.A.", had been a way too west-coast-like and soft for my taste. Sure enough, this album isn't a hard rocking one either, but it does feature a bunch of really fine songs, and some of them do "rawk"!

The new songs (or at least "previously unreleased") represent the extremes of Slama's style: "Desperate Dreams" is excellent classic melodic rock, while "In My Crystal Ball" is more west-coast styled, jazzy track. The third track "Only In My Dreams" is a balladic, AOR-styled song, somewhere between the two extremes. I would prefer if Slama concentrated on the first mentioned side of his writing, but that's just my opinion (coloured by my enternal jazz-allergy).

Indie 2003
Review by 23 February 2003

Turku strikes again! Hot on the heels of Sister Manik, Faultline, House Of Mirrors and Human Temple comes another promising band from my hometown, this time representing another genre altogether. What it is I'm not really sure, I guess "modern rock" would be close enough...or indeed, the "in"-term "nu-breed" might not be too far from the truth either. Let's not get carried away with the terms though, it's easier to say that Apiskuko (a name that will most probably change - thank god!) play rock music with strong melodies and a contemporary sound.

Both "I Feel Alive" and "Why" are straight-forward tracks with good choruses, reminding me of "nu-breed" acts like The Calling or Lifehouse, while "Travelling All The Time" is more experimental, almost jazzy track which is rescued by another good chorus...these guys seem to have a knack for writing a strong hook!

Black Mark 2004
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
19 March 2004

I do enjoy this kind of athmospheric, melodic, Black Metal and Sweden's Apostasy remind me a lot of other great Scandinavian acts like Dimmu Borgir and Norther. "Cell 666" is their debut album and it tells the awful story about insanity at the asylum and such. Ehem... in other words the typical horror theme, that all these acts are dealing with really. Well, I guess it's all about being as evil as possible in the end.

The very atmospheric and almost symphonic keyboards in the background, gives the listener a feeling of watching an Italian horror movie. The spleded work by keyboardist Dennis Bobzien, along with the awesome performance by "vocalist" Fredric Edin, are without a doubt the key ingrediences here.

Starlight 2002
Review by 5 June 2002

Former Terra Nova mainman Fred Hendrix returns with his new band Aquila and with a new style of music. It's still melodic rock, but the 80'ies style Scandi-AOR of Terra Nova has been replaced by a more contemporary sound.

The first track "Say Yeah" is one of the more rockier tracks on the album, and one of the best ones too. It reminds me a lot of Hanson for some reason, it has the same kind of energetic, catchy sound. Unfortunately then we're off to the Ballad City, with the next three songs being nice but somewhat ordinary balladic tracks in the vein of latter-day Bryan Adams, Joey Tempest's solo material and even Michael Learns To Rock. "Young And Restless" is also in the vein of Joey Tempest's solo, and it's another uptempo track.

"Nothing's Impossible Now" is yet another ballad with a good chorus, if nothing else. "Everyday" is an uptempo track, another melodic rocker, but then it's ballad time again. Just like the other ones, "Sometimes" and "I Share It With You" are okay, but not essential in anyway. "The Kids Wanna Rock" isn't a B. Adams cover, but an okay straight-forward rocker nevertheless.

"Busted" is a departure from the overall sound: it's a synth-heavy pop rock track, quite catchy but somehow shallow. Same goes for "I Run", which is more organic-sounding, but again a bit of a "throwaway". The two remaining tracks, "The End" and "Where Is The Sun" are similar to the majority of the other tracks, balladic, melodic but ultimately a bit too nice for their own good.

Review by Kimmo Toivonen

This is an older release from Stephen Pearcy's Arcade, the band he put together after Ratt disbanded. Now they're back together, so I guess Arcade is no more.
The opener "Dancin' With The Angels" proves instantly that this is no Ratt mark II. The sound is more straight-forward and sleazy, I'd say more G'N R than Ratt. A few of the songs do remind me of Pearcy's past though.
All in all, this is not a bad album, but not that special either. For my money the best songs are the two ballads, "Cry No More" that sounds like an Alice Cooper/Desmond Child collaboration, and "So Bad...So Good...", which is more like an Aerosmith-ballad. Some of the faster songs are quite good as well, like "Screamin' S.O.S." with its catchy riff and "Never Goin' Home", but I think the choruses could have been stronger.

Verglas Music 2002
Review by 6 January 2003

"Contagion" is the fifth album of these UK progressive rockers, but the first one I've heard. I may have been missing some good music, because this is quite decent prog rock with some accessible hooks and good melodies. The band sounds a bit like a cross between latter-day Asia and Dream Theater, with a hint of early nineties' Queensrÿche. As it usually with this kind of releases, the musicianship is faultless and I suspect that a fellow musician would spot a lot of things that would make his jaw drop in awe...I'm just listening to the songs, and for the most part, liking 'em. Oh yeah, the vocals are quite excellent too.

QuiXote Music 2002
Review by 16 November 2002

'E.T. Phone Home' Whatever happened to that goddarn ugly, little creature anyway? And how come they never followed up that movie with another 4-5 crappy sequals huh?? Nevermind, if you're into those space and sci-fi sounds with atmospheric keyboards mixed with some Prog-Metal, check this out.

Arilyn is a young Prog Metal/Art/Space Rock band from the southwest of Germany. They've been around for some three years by now and "Tomorrow Never Comes" is their debut album at QuiXote music. I can't say it's all that easy to try and describe their overall sound here. However, I can find similarities to such various bands as Pink Floyd, Styx, Depeche Mode, Artension & Dream Theater here.

Stockholm Records 2003
Review by 18 May 2003

The Swedish Arise was formed back in 1994, but their name could mislead you. Their music could be anything really, but what it brings to my mind is some kind of a progressive band mixed with a band like Asia with atmosphearic sounds. But Arise is really about death and thrash metal. In the beginning they settled for playing covers from bands such as Sepultura, Machine Head and Pantera though. And some of those influences must’ve stuck along the way, as there’s definately Pantera and Carcass heard here. Now I’m not familiar with the guys earlier album ”The Godly Work Of Art”, but this one sounds convincing enough.

I have to say this still is very typical death metal though. The vocals are really convincing and the background ”devils” sound fearsome too, just like they should. The song titles aren’t exactly as rotten as these bands usually come out with, or what would you say about titles such as ”Way Above Life”, ”Wasted Life”, ”Master Of Gravity” or the title track ? But don’t even bother me with the most disgusting titles, I’m really happy these guys haven’t gone more twisted than this. Actually the beginning song must have the most horrifid title ”Strangled Love”. Hmmm, ok...but that’s one of the best tracks here along with ”Corroded” and the midtempo ”Another World To Consume”.

NTS 2003
Review by 30 October 2003

Ark Storm is the brainchild of talented Japanese guitar player Katsu Ohta, who worked in the past with Naoto Shibata (Loudness), among others. Ark Storm already released a debut album on 2002 named "No Boundaries". The present line up includes, besides Ohta himself on guitars, Ichirou Nagai (Concert Moon) on drums, Ysou Sasai on vocals and Isamu Takita on bass. So, "Beginning Of A New World" is their sophomore effort. The style is neoclassical metal with melodic hard rock touches in the most pure Malmsteen tratidition. Nothing new under the sun really.

Sasai's vocals reminds me a bit of Mike Vescera, who seems to be a very influential vocalist in the land of the rising sun. Ohta's playing is very fast and precise, with no trace of dirtiness despite the speed-of-light shredding. They keyboard parts (no clue who performed them, as in the press release attached to the promo there's no info on that issue), are good enough, but yet again the kind of keyboards you would expect in an album of this style. The musicians are all of excellent level, and the performances are all quite good. Point out any highlights it's hard, because all of the tracks are pretty much alike, "Brainless Traitor" has the most similar riff to Malmsteen's "I'm A Viking" you can get to hear in your entire life. "Evolution" is nothing more than a 2 minutes bass solo, really skilled one, but fails to impress anyone who is into Marcel Jacob's job, for instance. The opener "Ark Storm" maybe the one to point out, not really because it's any better than the rest, but being the first track, it catches you "fresh", so to say. As I said, I have no problem with the performances here, all good enough, but there's no single trace of originality on this album, and recording and releasing an album which includes all rip-offs from other albums released 20 years ago, it's pointless to me, specially in a genre like this, which has evolved so much within the latest years.

Indie 2003
Review by 30 Mars 2003

Sweet Home Alabama? Nah, this is music far from the Southern rock of Lynyrd Skynyrd. However, Armor Of God do come from the northern parts of Alabama/USA. "2 Face Reality" is their second independent release and some of you may remember? that I reviewed them back in the 'Catchy Hooks' days.

This album (like their previous one), has been mixed by David Huff from 'David & The Giants', fame. Reading from the info sheet, you can find out that: Armor of God is a Christian rock group with roots planted deep into the soil of 80's rock & metal. While turning the message to Christ, the music is spawned from the glory days of Heart, Dokken, Kansas, Black & Blue, and inspired by the whole 80's genra of hair bands and melodic rock & roll. The above statement may all be true, even though it's far from the whole truth. You can also find some heavier stuff here and especially the guitars are almost distorted to the max. Female vocalist Donna Worsham, is almost majestic in ther singing and the very early work of Lee Aaron (the Metal Queen), comes to mind. Add a dose of that chick from "Rosanna's Raiders" and you're pretty close to the core.

Vision 200?
Review by 27 October 2002

If you're into the music of the first The Storm CD, Journey, or the quality releases by Idle Cure & White Heart. You pretty much owe it to yourself, to at least check out this band's music at their homesite address (see: bottom of this review). Since this is a pretty fantastic indie release with a really good production. You can also find some influences and similarities to Styx on this "Delayed" CD.

The story of Arrival dates back to 1986 when guitarist Charlie McCormick and keyboardist /guitaist Ric Podmore formed the band. Charlie was ex.Arena a power pop/rock band that packed venues all over US, while Ric was ex.Saint Germaine. The search of a powerful vocalist began and Mark Free (ex.King Kobra) joined the rest of the band at the end of -86 (right after he left KK actually). Unfortunately, due to problems with powermad record labels (they wanted total control over everything and beyond), Arrival never released the material they recorded with Free. Finally very frustrated, and righfuly so, Mark Free left the band in the autumn of 1988. He would of course later return with both Signal, Unruly Child and his solo stuff.

Scarlet Records 2002
Review by Martien Koolen 4 February 2003

Locomotive Music 2003
Review by Martien Koolen 27 October 2003

Joachim Nordlund and Johan Linstedt decided to write some metal songs to honour their old heroes Rainbow, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Dio. Patrick Johansson(also singer on the solo-project of keyboard player Richard Anderson and vocalist with metal band Wuthering Heights) was asked to do the vocals on this album. Jocke Roberg(keyboards) and Martin Haglund(bass guitar) completed this new band called Astral Doors.

Their debut album has now been released with the help of top engineer Peter Tatgren (Pain, Dimmu Borgir, Hypocrisy) and it really is a traditional hard rock album with 11 great songs. When you listen to the first track “Cloudbreaker” you think that you are listening to a new Dio album; Patrick sounds, or tries to sound, like Ronnie James Dio the second. The song is a true metal/rock up tempo title, which sounds so familiar... “The Son & The Father” even has a Black Sabbath beginning, just listen to that guitar riff and the melody. Here the singer makes me think of Tony Martin, like he sang on e.g. “Tyr”(1990) or “The Headless Cross”(1989). The lyrics in songs like “Slay The Dragon”, “Rainbow In Your Mind” or “Man On The Rock” immediately make you think of Dio again. While “Ocean Of Sand” begins with an Iron Maiden like guitar riff, all the other tracks remind me of Dio and/or Black Sabbath. Just listen to “The Trojan Horse” or the “Kill The King” guitar riff in “Burn Down The Wheel”.

Massacre 2002
Review by 10 March 2002

My tolerance for "Melodic Metal/Progressive Metal/Neo-classical Metal" acts is somewhat limited these days, when it seems like a new Helloween/Stratovarius clone etc. pops up every week, and very few of them are worthy of further inivistigation. Yet, now and then a band stands out, not necessarily doing anything new but doing it so well that it can only be applauded. Last year Edguy and a couple of others struck the right powerchords, while this year it seems that At Vance is such a band.

There's no denying that At Vance have similarities to both vintage Helloween, Stratovarius and Yngwie Malmsteen, but damn, they are doing their "Trottel Metal" very well! Sure, the drummer Jürgen Lucas sounds like he has more legs than the common man sometimes, the guitarists Olaf Lenk and Rainald König seem to be equipped with ultra-fast fingers, and the same goes for bassist Jochen Shcnur and keysman Ulli Müller. Vocalist Oliver Hartmann is probably the most positive surprise of them all, he has a great voice and he doesn't seem to rely on typical heavy metal screaming.

There's not a single weak song here, and virtually every song is armed with a good or even better chorus. Highlights for my money are the awesome title track, which reminds me distantly of Malmsteen at his best, the slightly Dokken-like "Take My Pain" and "Sing This Song", where the verses are actually more memorable than the chorus, which is more of a traditional hymn-like one. The bonus track, a cover of Rainbow's "I Surrender" is great too, and I must add that Vivaldi's "Four Seasons/Spring" doesn't sound too bad as a hard rock instrumental either!

AFM Records/Rock Inc 2003
Review by Martien Koolen 3 June 2003

“The Evil In You” is the fifth album of German power metalrockers At Vance. Their previous cd “Only Human” sold rather well and I think that this one is going to do even better. Former leadsinger Oliver Hartman will not be missed by me, because now At Vance is enriched with the beautiful vocal chords of Mats Leven. This workaholic already did some wonderful work in bands like Treat, Malmsteen and Dogface; and his voice is just perfect for this sort of music.

Eleven brandnew songs, all composed and written by guitarplayer Olaf Lerk are on this album. They range from fast, faster fastest like “Right Or Wrong”, “Street Of My Dreams” or the opener “Fallen Angel”, till pure powermetal tracks like “Broken Vow”, “Stronger Than You Think” or “The Curtain Will Fall”. If you are looking for powerballads look no further and listen to “One Million Miles Away” or the absolute highlight of this album: “The Evil In You”, a track with a smashing guitarsolo and a beautiful chorus. „Caprice No.16” is a rather simple unstrumental track and Shining Star is a real ballad, but maybe a bit too sweet. But if you like powerful riffs, excellent vocals and good old fashioned hardrock/metal then this is an ideal album for your ears.

Atello Music 1999
Review by Kimmo Toivonen

Atello are a new hard rock band from the New York area, and "The Big Payoff" is their first album. Quite an impressive debut it is too, reminding me of such bands as White Lion, Vain and Gypsy Rose, with a little bit of Bon Jovi thrown in... melodic hard rock with a glam edge!

The thing that will separate Atello from the dozens of other bands is the very unique voice of Larry Atello. He has a voice quite unlike anybody else's. The only one who sounds somewhat like him is the vocalist of the Canadian band Gypsy Rose. I can describe it as being on the edge of breaking down, but never really going over... Some will hate his style I know but somehow I like it! Once you hear Atello, you will always recognize them!

Atello have another thing that will work for their advantage too: they can write good songs! The opener "Love Me Down" is a good example, a very cool song a bit like Vain but with really tasty keyboards. Other highlights include "Your Love" and the very emotionally charged "Hold On" (despite the title... this must be the 64th "Hold On" in my CD collection!). Worth checking out is also the Motley Crue-like "Blind Justice", with a hilarious sample from one Mr. Clinton...

Kivel Records 2000
Review by Vesa Nuorala

This is a band that doesn't follow trends. It's long hair, tight ripped jeans and partytime! Gotta love this kind of music. It doesn't make you feel sad and worried about all the s6 that's going on around the world. This is a getaway CD. I listened to this at home and afterwards I had a big smile on my face.

This is the music that I fell in love with in the 80's, and I still think that more people like this kind of music than they would like to admit. The guys aren't even pretty boys so it's the music here that makes this band worth checking out if possible. This is produced by James Christian and when reading the thank you's there is House of Lords, Danger Danger, Dee Snider and Firehouse mentioned. This music fits right in the category of those acts. They even thank Metal Sludge which probably has given these guys hard time but like this band, Metal Sludge is for fun. If someone likes party music this is worth every penny. Songs are about having fun and all the stuff that is necessary in life to be able enjoy it to the fullest.

Not as good as Danger Danger, but there is need for these types of bands.

Atenzia 2003
Review by 18 August 2003

Attraction 65 founder Gregg Fulkerson might not be a household name (yet), but die-hard melodic rock fans will know him from Blue Tears, who released one very Bon Jovi/Def Leppard-influenced album in 1990. Now Gregg's older, wiser and back for another try with his new band.

A lot of years have passed and Gregg has obviously matured as a songwriter and a performer. The rather silly lyrics of Blue Tears are nothing but a memory now, and his vocals are altogether on a different level now. Musically speaking it's a different ballgame too: the album sounds very up-to-date, with production values and arrangements that are comparable to bands like The Calling, Lifehouse or Nickelback. The Bon Jovi influence is still very strong, but we're now talking about latter-day Bon Jovi instead of the Slippery-era.

"Believe" is the opener, hardly not very representive of the rest of album as it's quite a hard-edged and uptempo track, with distorted vocals. Except for one track, the rest of the album is filled with midtempo tracks and ballads. Anyway, "Believe" is not one of my favourites, but the next two tracks more than make up for it: both "Roll On" and "In Another Life" are fine examples of modern-day melodic rock, with attitude, edge and big hooks. There's great hit potential here, but without major label backing the band needs more than a little luck to conquer the playlists, I'm afraid.

"Train" and "Stand" are more balladic tracks, good but not quite up to the level of the two previous tracks. I do like the choir on "Stand" though. The one exception mentioned earlier is "Rise Above". This hard rocker gives the album a major boost, and it is also my favorite track here. The Bon Jovi influence is strong, and it's easy to describe this track as a more earthy mix of "It's My Life" and the New Jersey-era Bon Jovi sound.

The remaining five tracks are more balladic again, with only "Call My Name" being a bit more uptempo. It's again another Jovi-influenced track, and it wouldn't have sounded out of place of Jovi's "Keep The Faith" album. "Strong", "Storm In My Heart" and "Eden" pay homage to another New Jersey guy, Bruce Springsteen, and you can even hear a bit of U2 in there somewhere. Best of these five tracks is "Swept Away", the big "power ballad" of the album, and one of the biggest highlights with its' massive chorus.

Lucretia Records International 2002
Review by 25 january 2003

The Danish Aurora was formed back in 1994 and at that time went by the name Asmodeus and later as Aurora Borealis. “Dead Electric Nightmares” is the fourth release from this versatile band and is quite brutal for Aor-Europe’s average readers, but might interest those who like the taste of gloomy and dark side in their music.

Most of the songs here could be categorized to atmospheric death metal or a mixture of Voivod and Children Of Bodom. The vocals are mostly brutal and the music has those weird progressive twists that Voivod was so good at, yet having melody in there as well. You can pick up a lot of ideas where the music is going only by looking at the titles of the songs, such as “Metaphysical Electric”, “New God Rising”, “Watching, Falling, Breathing” and “Two Dice And A Silent Disguise”. The lyrics aren’t easy reading and they’re dark, sad and thoughtful, a good and easy example would be in “Black Heavy Cat”; We’re trying to make sense of absurd things, Bearing our burden on heavy wings, Gather all our joys and sorrows, But life is still completely shallow”. Wow ! How deep and low can you get ?! And I thought HIM was the King of depression.

That is the predominating mood on the album and the last track “Chains Of God” is the only really melancholic piece here that goes well hand in hand with the lyrics, offering only darkness in all respects. Among all this darkness you will notice the technical side of the band, which usually goes together with being progressive. Here that side is brought more on top of the music, the guitars are right there in your face and the sound is cold. It also gives an industrial expression for the music and you will notice a lot of different things while listening to this.

Indie 2002
Review by 24 April 2003

Aurora with a 'K' is not really related to the band Hooters (No, I'm not talking about... ehh... you-know-what here). This is a rather new and fresh duo from Helsinki/Finland and "11th Hour", is their first CD release. I believe they even call themselves "The Hardrock version of Roxette", even if it's not all that serious meant... perhaps ?

I must say that the lovely covergirl Katriina (vocals), is not only a sight for sore eyes. The voice is a chapter of its own really! The deep and almost 'Gothic' style is sometimes very melancholic and dark. While other times you could swear she'd been possessed by the rock'n'roll devil. Thank God, she's not yet another "Nightwish" wannabe though. I think we've had enough of those from Finland for awhile now.

Frontiers 2002
Review by 23 February 2002

Jeff Austin is a new name in the melodic rock business, although he has been working on these songs for years. Now he has finally found a label to release his songs, and the result is an album featuring seven of his songs and two covers. Jeff himself plays drums and keys, while Mark Roebuck sings, Mark Sevens plays guitars and Rex Alan handles the bass.

"Go Big Or Stay Home" takes the listener back to early eighties, with many of the songs sounding a lot like Journey, not to mention numerous less famous bands like Legs Diamond etc. However, Austin and Co can not really reach the same heights.

After hearing the rather impressive opener "Lisa", I had high hopes for this album. Unfortunately, most of the remaining songs are just too ordinary to raise this album above average rating - not bad, but not really good either. There are a couple of expectations though: "Forever" is a fine ballad, and "So You Ran" is a good version of the Orion The Hunter tune. The other cover, "I'm A Fighter" (written by Jimi Jamison and Mandy Meyer) has never been my favourites and this version isn't any better than than the Van Zant version I'm familiar with. What really bothers me on most of the songs are the backing vocals - there's a really highpitched vocalist there, and he (she?) somehow strikes a nerve in me...otherwise the band doesn't sound half bad.

I'm sure that a lot of people with an affinity to the late seventies/early eighties sound will find a lot to enjoy, but apart from the three great songs, this really isn't for me. So I guess I'll "stay home"?

Point Music/Rock Inc 2003
Review by 24 May 2003

This L.A. based melodic hardrockband, founded in 1983, had a massive hit with “Turn Up The Radio”; a song from their debutalbum “Sign In Please”(1984). After three albums and failure of further success Autograph pulled out the plugs in 1988.

Now, almost fifteen years later they try a comeback with the new album called “Buzz”, which contains 10 brand new songs. Tracks that would be well received in the late eighties; which means: strong melodies, catchy hooks, singalong refrains and melodic guitarsolos, but unfortunately all built up in the same way. And that makes it not easy to listen to the complete album in one take; it’s a bit boring sometimes.

Point Music 2004
Review by Kimmo Toivonen,
10 March 2004

The first "Missing Pieces" of Autograph was released a few years ago, and it contained demos that were mostly intended to be the core of their fourth album, which never happened (last year's "Buzz" release is a different story). The songs varied from very good to average, with the sound quality varying similary. It was a reasonably interesting release...

"More Missing Pieces" isn't a follow-up, it's actually the same album with a few extra tracks. I don't know whether it should be considered a re-issue or what, but I can't help but smell a cash-in. First of all, if the booklet I have is the final version, it's a disaster: you can not find a correct track order anywhere, part of the Autograph history in it is printed twice, not to mention that it's basically the same layout as in the first version of "Missing Pieces".

The tracklisting includes a total of 7 songs that weren't on "Missing Pieces": two rare tracks "Nothing To Lose" and "Reason To Rock", decent enough but nothing special, and 5 demos that lead to the bands' signing with RCA back in the early eighties. All of them were later re-recorded for the album "Sign In Please".