Archived Reviews: # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Reviews Index
Reprise 1989
Review by Endre "Bandi" Hübner
Most of you might have the following biased stereotype picture in your mind when hearing the name Chicago: gayish looking guys in shiny clothes with Vaseline in their hair playing commercial music that John Travolta wannabe guys are dancing to in discos. Well, think again. I'd say their albums from the 80'ies (their 17-19) are good quality AOR albums with great sound, wonderful arrangement, (you might remember that half of the band is the brass section that gives a very special arrangement to their songs), and having more vocalists taking the lead, the songs are very diverse.
This album is from 1988/1989 (depending on which part of the world it was released in). The connection to some of the albums reviewed here is Diane Warren (again and again, this woman is a genius). She (among others) penned the wonderful ballads "I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love" and "Look Away". The album also features Dan Huff on guitars who has been working with Giant, Doro, Lou Gramm, Van Stephenson (just to mention some of the well known melodic rock artists of his carrier). Dan is a well-known producer but he wasn't involved as producer here, those duties were done by Chas Sandford and Ron Nevison. They created a crystal clear, very balanced sound for the album that does not over-emphasize the horns but still gives a very thick, orchestral sound to most of the songs. The keyboard sounds are awesome; lots of synth pads strengthen the thick sound of the brass section. As you might have expected from the names involved, the vocal parts are more than perfect. As everybody in the band, well at least everybody who's not having something (his instrument) in his mouth is singing, plus there are additional background vocals too, the refrains are monumental.
The songs are very diverse, the Warren ballads are like the ones we are used to from her, lots of isolated piano notes with strings orchestration and huge refrain. But we have funky flavored party rock songs like "I Stand Up" here with great groove and lots of horns in it, almost movie soundtrack sounding songs like "Come In From The Rain", that features a brass section tune that could fit to any movie. Or Bruce Springsteen / Bryan Adams like mid-tempo rocker anthem like "Runaround" with a drum sound that punches right into your belly. And for the fans of big vocal harmonies we have "Victorious" here that has a refrain with lots of vocal layers that reminds me of those vocals-only (usually Afro-American) groups.
The album is definitely a good start to tear down your walls of prejudice against Chicago; I'd recommend you to check it out. As both Chicago and Cher had massive distribution all over the world they can' t be that hard to find.
RC 2000
CHINAWHITE is back with their first real full-length CD "Breathe fire" an album filled with good PROGRESSIVE Rock and again with a excellent production done by FRED HENDRIX from fellow dutch rockers TERRA NOVA (Now & Then Records).
Everything from the front-cover to the music performances by the band members is very professional and done with great skill I might add. It´s a pure joy to listen to skillful musicians that play the music they like, instead of trying to follow stupid trends or money hunger. CHINAWHITE is mostly a Prog Rock band a-la SAGA, MARILLION, SPOCK´S BEARD etc. but mixed with Classic 70´s Hardrock like URIAH HEEP, CAPTAIN BEYOND.
These guys have been playing together since 1989 and it really shows. First track "Elevation Ticket" is a nice opener with a cool Prog-Groove "N.T.T." is a short instrumental keyboard track and "In my mind" sounds very 70´s with some great "Hammond" keyboards by ROLF "FUCHS" VOSSEN. The more melodic "My one and only" has a really catchy chorus and some lovely guitar work by PETER COX. The vocal harmonies by the boys are also very good. "Changes" is another cool song with haunting keys and a strong chorus while "Permanent Vacation" is a nice Piano Ballad. Bottom line is that "Breathe Fire" is an really good PROG Rock album with a good production and I´d recommend every fan of Prog/Classic Hardrock to check it out. Find out more about the band at their homesite http://come.to/chinawhite. Email: chinawhite@tref.nl.
Frontiers/Now & Then 1999
Review by Kimmo Toivonen
James Christian has been one of my favourite vocalists since he appeared on the first House Of Lords album. This album is was originally released back in 1994, it was one of the first albums of Now & Then label. I never managed to get a copy of the orignal release, so you can imagine how glad I was to find this in my mailbox! What's more, this reissue has 6 bonustracks!
"Don't Start Me Up" is the perfect opener, heavy AOR at it's best! It is slightly in the Def Leppard mould, with lots of layered background vocals and a very catchy chorus. "DSMU" is also one of the few uptempo tracks on this album, which might bother me if the songs weren't so damn good!
"Pleasure And Pain" is first of the many ballads, and much like the rest of them, it is very good. If someone decided to use this as the theme song for a Hollywood movie, this song would easily put the likes of Aerosmith's Armageddon tune to shame!
"Brighter Day" might be a familiar song to some of you, because of the fact that it was also included on the first Steelhouse Lane album. This version is quite identical to the SHL one, a good semi-ballad!
The next three songs were the reason why I didn't give this album full five stars. The bluesy ballad "Where Does Love Go When It's Gone", the heavy stomper "The Warden" and the semi-acoustic ballad "Katie" just do not reach the level of the other tracks, even though they are not too bad.
With "Best Girl" we're heading back to AOR heaven, it's a simple yet catchy pop rocker co-written by Bruce Gowdy of Unruly Child. "Labour Of Love" is simply an awesome power ballad, and "Mother Night" (written by Robert Tepper and Judithe Randall) starts as a ballad, but evolves into a stunning midtempo track. "Cold Day In Hell" is the track that reminds me of House Of Lords the most, a very heavy rocker. "Love Should've Brought You Home" is my favourite track here, and it is quickly becoming one of my favourite ballads of all time. It's pure AOR perfection, great chorus and very hearfelt lyrics.
First of the bonus tracks is the fantastic "Candle In The Window", a catchy AOR track co-written by James and Judithe Randall. The drums do sound a bit too computerized, but I like the track anyway. "Woman Enough" is a bit of a throwaway rocker, while "After All" is a nice ballad. "Love Has No Mercy" is another rocker, but better than "Woman Enough". It has been covered by Airkraft on their "In The Red" album. "Demons Down" is the original demo of the title track of the last House Of Lords album. Didn't care for the track then, and this version is not that different.
Last but not least, there's an acoustic medley featuring three ballads from the album, "Pleasure...", "Love Should've..." and "Where Does Love...". It was recorded live at the Gods' 95 festival, and it is excellent! Sometimes all it takes is an acoustic guitar, great voice and great songs to make sheer magic!
There you have it, a great album and a must for anyone into House Of Lords, ecxellent ballads or AOR in general!
DVS-Records 2003
Review by martienkoolen
25 February 2003
Chrome Shift is a progmetalband from Denmark and this is their debutalbum which will surprise lovers of bands like Pain Of Salvation, King's X or even Dream Theater…In January 1999 Otto Schutt(guitar) and Jens Chrsitian Nielsen(bass)decided to form a band, and they started af playing songs that were inspired by the progressive metal-scene. In Rasmus Bak they found the perfect singer and in 2000 they recorded a demo with the help of the famous Danish producer Jacob Hansen.
The first song "Nightmachine" is a guitardriven progsong and immediately reminds you of pure progemtalbands like Pain Of Salvation or Symphony-X; very complex,lots of variety and a superb guitarsolo are the main features of this opener. "Full Moon" could be categorized as a Heaven's Cry-song or even makes me think of Wolverine; however Chrome Shift uses a very catchy chorus on this one."In My Own Dream"is a mid-tempo track with lots of keyboards and a beautiful melody; however "Shadowsong" is just a redundant piano-intermezzo.
"Kosmonauten Er Dod" (which means??) is a very rocky instrumental piece of music and "Le Temp Des Assassins" is probably the heaviest song on the album. However the best is yet to come with the longest track called "Ripples In Time"; check this out because this is Chrome Shift at it's best. The weird track on this album is "Sorry", especially the vocals, but the rest of this album is awesome. True progrock at it's best, this is a band that we will hear from much more in the future.
www.chromeshift.dk
AFM Records/Rock Inc 2003
Review by 
24 May 2003
Since “The Edge Of Thorns”(1993) Zak Stevens has enchanted me with his beautiful rockvoice. “The Wake Of Magellan”(97) featured him for the last time as a Savatage-singer and “Poets And Madmen” would be a perfect 10 album for me if Zak would have taken care of the vocals. When he “retired” I was devastated, but now about three years later Zak returns with his own band and his debut album.
On “Watching In Silence” you can enjoy Zak’s excellent voice in romantic, bombastic and dramatic tracks like “Face To Face”, “Into The Wind” or the absolute highlight “Fields Of Sorrow”. Ofcourse you hear that this guy has been in a band called Savatage and that Jon Oliva and Criss Caffery helped him, but Circle2Circle really rock. Besides Zak’s marvellous throat you can also wonder about heavy guitarriffs - “Sea Of White” - speedy guitarsolos - “Out Of Reach”- catchy refrains - “Walls”- and typical “savatage” arrangements in “Lies”.
So, Zak is back and do not forget it because he is still one of the best and he rocks my world again.
www.circle2circle.net
www.afm-records.com
CJSS: "Kings Of The World" 5
Pavement Music 2000
Review by Kimmo Toivonen
One of the most profilic musicians of the last two decades, David
T. Chastain continues to bomb the audiences with his releases. This time
he has reformed an old band of his, CJSS. This should make some friends
of 80'ies U.S. metal quite happy, as this album is indeed classic American
Metal with chestbeating vocals, thundering drums and roaring guitars.
The sound of the band lies somewhere between Dio and Manowar. Chastain
doesn't hold back with his guitarplaying, and the vocalist (who's not
named in my promo copy) does his best to sound like a metal god, but
ultimately the song material sounds a bit samey. Only the melodic "The
Fall Of Babylon" stood out. That's not to say that this album
wouldn't make the day of an old Chastain/CJSS/Manowar fan, which I am
not.
BMG 2003
Review by 
3 November 2003
Just as the first "Idols" TV show is at its' semi-final stage here in Finland and generally the most talked about thing on TV, it is only suitable to check out "Thankful", the debut of the first American Idol Kelly Clarkson. The record company hasn't spared any expenses to ensure that this album is a hit. With the kind of exposure the Idol-show format is getting though, the winners can pretty much take gold records for granted...at least for their first albums. Anyway, "Thankful" features songs from some of the biggest songwriters out there, including Desmond Child and Diane Warren, famous for their contributions to several classic hard rock albums. What's more, cult melodic rock hero Clif Magness (every AOR fan should check out his brilliant "Solo" album) is one of the producers.
The first half of the album doesn't give a rock fan like me much to write home about. Most of the songs are more in the R&B vein, including the hit "Miss Independent", co-written by Christina Aquilera, and a very lame contribution from Diane Warren, the dull ballad "Some Kind Of Miracle". "Low" is a good one though, as it sees Kelly attempting something a bit more rock-styled, and so is the Danielle Brisebois-penned "Just Missed The Train" (produced by Magness), an excellent pop-rock track, previously covered by Trine Rein in the mid-nineties.
The second half isn't half bad actually, starting with nice pop-rock tune "Beautiful Disaster", followed by a cool dance-rock hybrid "You Thought Wrong", which reminds me a bit of Pink, only heavier. The title track is worthy of skipping though, another dull R&B ballad. "Anytime" is the absolute highlight of the whole album, a power ballad that wouldn't sound out of place on a Robin Beck or Heart album. Of course the production is a bit more contemporary, but still...it's a great track, and great vocal performance from Kelly.
Both "A Moment Like This" and "Before Your Love" have been billed as "bonustracks", but they're still better than many of the "real" album tracks. They are both decent ballads, and the latter is the one track co-written by Desmond Child.
Although there are some very good songs here, as a whole album "Thankful" doesn't really work. It sounds more like a collection of singles, and you can almost hear the record company exec's calculating... "Great! we can market her as a R&B chick, and then we have the ballads for the Adult Contemporary radio...and there's even some rock tracks! This one's gonna sell!". Maybe on the next album Kelly has a stronger direction, and of course I hope it's more along the better tracks here...
www.kellyclarksonweb.com
Indie 2003
Review by 
23 April 2003
Bring your sword and sheild to the battlefield as these Germans are preperd to fight to survive. The metal business is not always kind to their followers, but I believe that The Claymore is just a shot away from success. Not literaly though!!!! This is their second demo CD and I must say it's a great craftmanship of Power/Heavy Metal.
The production is very professional done for a independent release and the songmaterial is really impressive. The line-up consisting of: Andreas Grundmann (vocals), Sebastian Busacker (guitar), Kai Schwittek (guitar), Christian Köhle (bass), & Hardy Kölzer (drums), are all experienced and good musicians. You wont find a single word of heavy German accent here either. Since vocalist Grundmann, do sound more like a distant cousin to Rey Perra (Sacred Warrior), or why not even Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden).
By the way, "Claymore" is the name of some old, highlander sword from Scottland huh? Something wich describes the music well, I believe. It cuts like a... ehhh... sword through every part of your body and leaves you bleeding to death, in some back alley. There's a lot of Sacred Warrior, Iron Maiden, Crimson Glory, pieces to be found here and "The Claymore", may not be the most original Heavy Metal outfit. Still, they do have the songmaterial and tracks like "Tolerance Denided", "Arborlon", "Beyond The Walls Of Tears", "Into The Unknown", "Element Of Hate", "Claymore" and "Time For Glory", is smashing metal with lots of energy and hooks. This is very much "old school" and every fan of the genre and time, should at least check out their stuff, at the below address. Have we heard alot of this before? Yes... but as long as it's this good... who cares???
www.theclaymore.de
Gazochtahagen Records 2001
3 August 2001
´"Thorough Scrutiny" is David Neil Cline's third solo album, and it is a very decent set of songs mostly in the classic hard rock style, intertwined with weird effects and comedy elements.
The opening number (I'm neglecting the odd "Ol DC Intro" purposely) "Take It Or Leave It" promises that there are good things ahead: it starts with a "vintage Van Halen"-riff and features a good melodic hook. It does not represent the remaining tracks too well though, as they seem to be in the early Eighties Metal style - I'm thinking of obscure acts like Jack Starr, Tokyo Blade etc...maybe a very early Def Leppard might be a bit more familiar reference to most of you, although without the vocal stylings of young Joe Elliot.
The production reminds me also of the early eighties indie hard rock albums. There were three studios used in recording of this album, and you can easily tell the difference of those. Unfortunately most of the album was recorded in a demo studio, and those tracks do sound like demos. The substandard sound does not hide DNC's abilities completely, he seems to be a good axeman and an OK, if not brilliant, vocalist.
I would recommend this album to anyone into the early eighties metal/hard rock sound and style. Especially the fans of the "NWOBHM" era might lend an ear to good ol' DNC. And for the uninitiated, "NWOBHM" stands for "New Wave Of British Heavy Metal", a title that the jolly ol' brit journalists came up with back in 1980 or so.
Vidisco 2000
PORTUGAL is maybe only known in the Hardrock History for being the homeland of the ex.EXTREME guitarist NUNO BETTENCOURT. Until now that is... CLOCKWISE is a pretty new band that actually sounds almost more Swedish than the project from Sweden who released the album "Nostalgia" under the same name. So... NO... once and for all let it be known that this is NOT the same band.
JOSE MACHADO (Vocals/Bass), RUI MOURA (Guitars), CARLOS LOPEZ (Keyboards) & HELDER SILVA (Drums) have done a really good Melodic Hardrock album a-la GLORY, HOUSE OF SHAKIRA filled with catchy melodies, great guitar work and lovely keyboards. I really like the sound of MACHADO´s voice and the vocal harmonies are all good, the production is not bad at all either.
Opener "Two words" is a nice way to kick off this CD with! A good chorus and MOURA plays some cool riffs & licks right from the start. Other highlights are "To eternity", the superb "Broken promises" with a lovely chorus (the vocal harmonies are great) and a sound a-la GLORY, TALK OF THE TOWN. "Secrets" is a good Piano ballad and the title track "Time is waiting" is maybe the best track of them all, with a sound a-la the first album with GLORY and a really catchy chorus. This is an album that I can recommend to all lovers of Scandi-Rock! I don´t know where you can buy this CD right now... but send a email to the band at: clock@esoterica.pt or try at www.aorheaven.com. Great Stuff !!!
AOR Heaven 2003
Review by
27 February 2003
Coastland Ride is a brand new band from Sweden, fronted by original Lion's Share vocalist: Markus Nordenberg (ex-Big Price). Some of you out there may also remember that I raved about his Pearls & Flames project, a couple of years ago [see review in our archive]. They never managed to secure a deal with those old demos though.
The music of "CR" isn't that far away from "P&F" actually. It's Westcoast Rock with lots of smooth melodies, layers of keyboards, and Swedish hooks. There are no horn-section to be found this time though and the material is bit more AOR orientated.
The two other members of Coastland Ride are Anders Rybank (keys/guitar) and Mikael Bohlin (keys/guitar/programming). The computer programmed drums gives this CD a Pop/Hi-tech rock, feeling over it all. I was also able to find similarities to bands/artists such as Chicago/Peter Cetera, T'Bell, Secret Service, Fingerprints, here. Nordenberg is indeed an excellent singer and the overall sound is very 80-ish. The CD is filled with those typical keyboards that both Secret Service (Pop), and many Westcoast bands used back then. Everything is very professional and it only got better for each spin in my old CD-player. You actually need to spin this disc a couple of times, before some of the songs really kick in. There are unfortunately only 9 tracks included here and the playlenght is less than 36 minutes. Pretty much like in the vinyl days back in the 80's or so. Fans of above mentioned artists and smooth Swedish music, will enjoy this for sure. Even though it may not be a perfect release and the production could have been better, from time to time. Still, with songs like "Let Me Let You Go", "The Angels Must Have Missed A Turn", "Hearts To The Flame", "Eyes", "Sleepless" etc. you're in for a treat anyhow.
www.coastlandride.net
Vinny Records 2003
Review by
15 December 2003
Out from the deepest and darkest forest of Dalarna/Sweden, comes the lightheaded and fluffy music of Coastline. Female fronted AOR with tons of keyboards and similarities to fellow Swedes like Tone Norum, Alyson Avenue, and Broke[N]Blue. Not quite what you'd expect perhaps, but you can't take away the high quality of their debut album.
After recording a couple of demos earlier (see archive), they are now signed to Vinny Records in Europe and Marquee-Avalon In Japan. I complained about their material and that everything was steeped into this 'mid-tempo' formula, before. This hasn't changed since last time I spoke about them! However, keep in mind that it's also the "only" thing, you can really complain about here.
Everything else from instrumental performances (including vocals) to production, will surely please fans of Swedish, and/or female fronted, soft-rock. The lovely Helena Rosendahl is blessed with a clean and strong voice, that perhaps lack the raspy stuff of Alannah Myles or Darby Mills (Headpins), and instead you'll get the classy performance of a trained singer. Thomas "Angus" Hansson, works more in the tradition of Tony Borg (Alien), even though he played the part of a certain AC/DC guitarist once, add that Lars Melin is a wimp master behind the keys with all of his 'dut-dut' stuff. This is music straight out of the 80s and it's not the most original sounding CD lately. Nonetheless, the more I play it, the more I actually like it (up to a certain point of course). Songs like "Restless Heart, Restless Mind", "Breaking A Heart Is So Easy", "Masterplan", "Desperate Heartbeats", "Innocent Child", etc. are all winners and I see no reason to why fans of acts such as: Witness, What If, and even Heart or Pat Benatar, wouldn't like this CD. I must admit that Coastline isn't that far from a 9 rating in the end. Hey! Here's an idea for the band... why not tour as a "dansband" here in Sweden with this material. It might actually work you know ;-)
www.vinnyrecords.com
Indie 2003
Review by
25 February 2003
You like the Swedish sound with fluffy keyboards and catchy hooks? Look no further as Coastline will supply all your needs of wimpy AOR. This is yet another nice female fronted band from Sweden, with their roots firmly grounded in the 80's.
Helena Rosendahl (vocals), Thomas Hansson (guitars), Tomas Munters (bass), Lars Melin (keyboards), and Jan Hedlund (drums), are all heavily influenced by bands such as Heart, Survivor & Journey. With songmaterial in the Swedish tradition, they set out to conquer the world... or at least to try and obtain a record deal. I really believe they have a good chance in considing one too!!
The only problem I have with their material? Almost all of the songs are steped into this mid-tempo formula, without any real rockers. There's nothing remarkably wrong with that maybe, but it would be nice to hear some 'pedal to the metal' tunes, for once. Coastline is definetily something to look out for in the future, if you enjoy Tone Norum, Heart, Alison Avenue, or Witness. Since songs like "Restless Heart, Restless Mind", "One Step", "Masterplan", "Desperate Heartbeats", "Breaking A Heart Is So Easy" etc. are all darn fine and "pure" AOR, in the 80's style. The lovely Helena sings with passion and heart, even though she's dangerously close to sounding like a "dans-bands" vocalist. "Dans-Band" is a very typical Swedish thing and i wont even try to describe it too closely. You could say it's music simular to German Schlager and suitable when middle-aged people, goes dancing at weekend's. Swedish readers may also remember guitarist Hansson from the TV-Show "Sikta Mot Stjärnorna". Where he played the part of 'Agnus Young' in the 'Highway To Hell' cover. He's a real 'dal-mas' from Malung/Sweden, like the rest of the band (Nä, Jag är från Dalarna, ja'). Look out for Coastline in the future and you can contact them at: speedlund@spray.se or: lillflask@hotmail.com
Tone Center 2002
Review by Endre "Bandi" Hübner
8 May 2002
Whenever I get a Tone Center release to review, shivers are running up and down my spine. Namely because the label describes its own mission as "to place highly talented, yet divers players in the studio, and let the tapes roll". So the albums are endless instrumental jam sessions recorded and put into "songs on an album" format.
Fans of this kind of stuff will surely be please by the new one too as it features Sting, Zappa drummer Vinnie Colauita who has played as session musician on many of our favorite AOR albums as well, Tommy Bolin's bassist Jimmy Haslip, and Robber Ford on guitars. No doubt they are all masters of their instruments and they give a strong proof of that again. It's hard to name highlights in an album like this my personal favorites were the moody "Tengoku" with its really cool guitar effects, and interesting guitar work by Ford that makes very good use of them, "Go Figure" that is probably the easiest song to digest with its mid-tempo rocking rhythm section parts and highly melodic, almost catchy guitar playing, and 'Train Song" in which very tasty acoustic and rocking electric guitar themes are "replying" to each other. The album is almost 70 minutes long so worth the investment, provided you are a fan of 6-10 minutes long jamming; want to learn new tricks, ideas, techniques because you are playing one of the featured instruments.
However if you aren't a professional or don't have any positive experience with these kind of releases you'd better stay away from it. You can reach the Tone Center website through Shrapnel: www2.shrapnelrecords.com.
Indie 2003
Review by
7 June 2003
Nashville/TN is the capitol city of Country and Western music in America. It's also the hometown of Cold Truth and their lovely package of Bluesy Hardrock. This is their independent debut CD and it's absolutely filled with good rock, with the roots firmely grounded into the 70's groove.
The band consist of: Thane Shearon (vocals/guitar), Kurt Menck (guitar), Abe White (bass) and Matt Green (drums). It's pretty obvious that they've been speding many hours in front of the stereo, with Free & Bad Company blasting out through the loudspeakers. Throw in some influences from another UK band, namely Thunder, and you're actually pretty close to the core.
They are also blessed with one helluva good lead singer in Shearon. He may not be exactly as good as Paul Rodgers, but he's not that far behind either. He reminds me also of Danny Bowes (Thunder) from time to time. They are nine fine original songs included here and one good cover of "Fire And Water", which of course Free did back in the days. Everything from opener "Break Of A New Day" to closing track "Gravel Road" is quality music. The production is actually pretty good and tracks like "In The Groove" sure gets you in the right mood. Highly recommended and I'd go as far as saying... it's an essential release to have in your collection, in you're a collector or simply just into the above mentioned style and music. Heck... I can't get enough of the bluesy hardrock of Cold Truth and this really needs to get out to the people. They may not play anything remotely fresh or new music here. But who cares as long as it's this good??? If interested you can get hold of this disc from their homepage at the below address. Any lables into bluesy hardrock out there? Make darn sure to check out these guys!!!
www.coldtruth.net
Hammer Muzik 2001
"Elusive Dreams" is an album that has obviously taken its time to create, and the guys should be proud of what they have accomplished. It can easily stand shoulder to shoulder with the "Big Names", as it is very well produced and performed. Vocalist Ufuk Özkurt has a good voice, a bit like Jeff Scott Soto in fact, and the band sounds like it has been playing together for years.
The songs have more than a few tempo changes, and you can never be sure what to expect. They may start like ballads, but halfway there they might turn into furious metal numbers. It's hard to pick out any particular songs, as they all have their likeable parts and the not so likeable parts - and half a dozen other parts in between! Okay, now that I mentioned it... I guess my faves would be "Elusive Dream Of Life" and "Cradle Of My Dreams".
The whole album might be a bit too hard to digest for the AOR purists, but if you enjoy the progressive metal of today, I'd advise you to check this band out.
Steamhammer/SPV 2002
02-01-02
Do you remember the days when Whitesnake was still a blue collar band? You know... before Coverdale decided to go fish on the other side of the pond. In other words, before he turned himself into a blonde push-up bra. That may look good on the outside, but you'll still end up with a empty package, when you're done unwrapping the music :-)
OK ! I must confess that 'Slide It In' is actually my favorite album and '1987' was not exactly a bad year either. Still, Company Of Snakes with Mickey Moody (guitar), Bernie Marsden (guitar), Neil Murray (bass) all original members of the Whitesnake. Will take you 'Back To The Blues' inspired rock of classic albums such as 'Lovehunter', Ready 'N' Willing', 'Come & Get It' or 'Saints And Sinners'
The only problem I have with this CD is that five of the thirteen tracks (not counting the intro/outro) were already included on their first studio album 'Once Bitten' with vocalist Jorn Lande (Yngwie). New singer, Stefan 'Swede' Berggren (ex. Snakes In Paradise) does a good job with them all, and songs like 'Labour Of Love' or 'What Love Can Do' are always nice to play, and I guess they wanted to include them here, since it's their first release on a 'major' label. Still, I can't help feeling a bit disappointed. As I would rather have thirteen completely new tracks to listen to.
New songs, such as 'Kinda Wish You Would', Can't Go Back', 'Back To The Blues' and the title track 'Burst The Bubble' with lyrics that takes you back to '1984'. Are darn nice, bluesy, melodic rock with a whole lotta' soul. Add that 'Hurricane' is a lovely, sentimental little ballad. With some marvelous guitar work by the two 'M' brothers Moody/Marsden. I can't complain about the production by Nikolo Kotzev (Baltimoore, Brazen Abbot, Nostradamus) or the mixing by Hermann Frank (Accept, Victory) either. Recommended, even if this could have been more enjoyable, with more 'new' songs! [The rating has been done with this in mind] Still, no harm done... if you haven't heard them before.
Polygram 1990
Review by Kimmo Toivonen
Company Of Wolves were a fine melodic rock band with their roots firmly in the classic rock sounds of the seventies. Their music reminds me sometimes of Aerosmith, sometimes of Cheap Trick, not to mention several less known acts such as Jimmy Davis & The Junction or Danny Wilde. The band featured former Ravyns vocalist Ky Brewer, brothers Steve & John Conte on guitars and bass and drummer Frankie La Rocka from John Waite's and Bryan Adams' bands.
The songs range from bootstompin' rockers like "Romance On The Rocks" and "Hell's Kitchen" to awesome ballads "Everybody's Baby" and "I Don't Wanna Be Loved". Also included are a few brilliant AOR'ish tracks such as "The Distance" and "Girl" (very much in the Danny Wilde-vein). What's more, the band has a way with the words: this album contains some rather memorable lyrics. Take "The Distance" for instance, a very touching track about a relationship gone sour: "You think we work it out in some restaurant, but I've got my reservations, girl"...Oh yeah, "Call Of The Wild" even contains the line "Ain't never goin' home no more - it's LOUD AND CLEAR"!
Vocalist Kyf Brewer has released a couple of solo albums ("Me And My Big Mouth" and "Salvador Deli") and has had his music on TV. The band's original demos were recently released on CD ("Shakers and Tambourines"), but that's about it. Just like many of the bands of the era, Company Of Wolves will go down in history as one of those one-album wonders. Still, this album is definitely worth digging up, if you can find it!
Indie 2000
Hmmm.... Don´t let the long band-name scare you away :-) cuz this is really high class Melodic Hardrock mixed with a small dose of Progressive Metal. CONDITIONED RESPONSE is a band from Minneapolis/USA that's been together since 1992! They've been the opening act for bands such as Night Ranger, Warrant, Sammy Hagar, Quiet Riot & Great White and they´ve been building up a strong following of fans (and a good reputation) in the local area.
Vocalist Rick Forsgren may be the best independent singer out there, right now! His voice makes this CD a pure joy to listen to! In fact... he sounds a lot like Danny Vaughn (ex.Tyketto, Waysted, Flesh&Blood, now Vaughn) and the music that 'C-R' are playing sounds like a mixture of Tyketto, Firehouse & early Queensryche which makes this CD a must for both Melodic Hardrock fans and Melodic Prog-rockers. Or maybe I just should say: A must for every Hardrocker?
Opener "3" kicks off with a crunching guitar riff a-la Tyketto´s "Forever Young" and continues with a catchy chorus with some lovely harmonies! This is a hit for sure! Track #2 "Refugee" is a great semi-rocker with both acoustic & electric guitars, the album has also been gaining the attention of local airwaves which put the song "Stealin´" in heavy rotation! It´s a good mid-tempo rocker with some influences from 90´s kind of hardrock, but it´s still very melodic. And on "Rush" we can for the first (but not the last) time on this CD, hear influences from Prog-Metal a-la early Queensryche. I must say that "Forsgren" is an amazing vocalist! He can sing like both Vaughn & (Geoff) Tate, but still manages to have a voice of his own. "Out" is a superb AOR ballad and "Apparitions" sounds again like Prog-Metal. Make sure that you'll check out this band at their site www.conditionedresponse.com cuz this Rocks!!! Big Time!
Poexula Publishing 2000
01-03-16
Praise The Lord and pass the ammunition!!! CONNERY FAIRE is a project that was created in late 1997 by female vocalist/producer Connie Whitley and multi talented David Mikael (known from MPG, David) who takes care of all the instruments/backing vocals and co-produced the whole CD at his studio in Florida.
I wouldn´t call this an AOR or Melodic Hardrock album as you can find both POP and Spiritual Rock, but I would call it "Pure Metal" as this is a Christian album. In fact Connery Faire reminds me of the 80´s band ROSANNES RIDERS who released the album "Calling down fire" on the Pure Metal label. Female vocalist "Connie Whitley" sings with a lovely, warm voice that goes straight to your heart and I think you all know by now that David Mikael is a pro from head to toe! He can do nothing wrong!!!
But I´m not that impressed by the songmaterial this time! It starts really good with the catchy "Letting Go" with some great guitar work by Mikael and Connie´s voice sounds really great here. "Mere Seconds" is a good mellow semi-ballad "Praise God" is a nice Funk/POP tune. After that? Well... it´s just too much POP for me and not enough ROCK if you know what I mean! But I gotta admit that "I went to heaven" is really good Rock/Pop song with a catchy chorus and the same goes with the last track "Who cares" Still ... make sure to check ´em out at: www.mp3.com/conneryfaire if you like female fronted AOR/POP/Rock. You can also get in contact with Conni at: conneryf@cfl.rr.com.
Escape Music 1999
Although this album is from the last millenium, it deserves a space here at L&C. Conquest is from Finland and its actual line-up is formed by Marco Hietala on bass (also singer/bass player of seminal Finnish heavy metal band Tarot and recently playing in Synergy), Pate Kivinen on keyboards, Tuomo Lassila on drums (ex-Stratovarius), Peter James Goodman on vocals (distinguished singer in the Finnish hard rock/heavy metal scene and once the first choice of guitarist Timmo Tolkki to be the Stratovarius frontman) and Heikki Warma on guitars.
So we have an all-stars band here that delivers melodic Heavy Metal. Versatility is the name of the game for Conquest; sounding like Iron Maiden on tracks like "Different World" (my favorite so far) or reminding you a R&R blues band on "Heal My Soul". Also worth mentioning are the beautiful ballads "Guardian Angel" and "Through The Time".
Now Conquest are preparing material for their 2nd album that will be relesed sometime this spring. For more info, check out www.conquestworlds.com.
Indie 2001
02-02-07
Yeah ! Here's a really marvelous band from US of A, who play some very impressive Thrash Metal. Conquest has actually been around since the mid-80's and why these guys are not signed to a label, goes right over my head. [Kimmo: Well, a band called Conquest did release a CD on Escape a couple of years ago, but they were a Finnish melodic metal group...]
They've been the opening act for a bunch of shows in the mid-west over the years. And has opened for: Manowar, Napalm Death, Testament, Overkill, Dokken, W.A.S.P, Iron Maiden, Rob Halford, Morbid Angel etc. etc. Not your average metal band, I'd say.
The music of Conquest is a onslaught of blazing guitars, pounding rhythms, massive riffing and power vocals. Frontman 'Derrick Brumley' has one heck of a scary voice and together with 'Mike Crook' is he responsible for some vicious guitar work. You'll bang your head to this, if you enjoy bands such as: Overkill, (old) Metallica, Sacred Reich or most of all Kreator. This is indeed better than many of the Metal/Thrash acts, already signed to labels like Massacre, Noise, Metal Blade etc. Just check out tracks like "Get Off My Back", "Snowman", "Hate To Want You" or "Feel My Pain" and you're hooked for life. I must add that the production of this independent CD is simply great! Not that' far behind the sound of the major metal acts.
Check 'em out at: www.conquestmetal.com
Mascot Records 2001
6 November 2001
Consortium Project is the brainchild of English singer-songwriter Ian Perry (Hammerhead, Vengeance, Perfect Strangers, Misha Calvin, Tamas, Ayreon and lately Elegy). After the self-titled 1999 debut comes this "Continuum In Extremis" in which Perry has been helped by a bunch of musicians so that it looks like a who is who on the European Progressive metal scene. Jan Bijlsma (Vengeance) bass, Dirk Bruinenberg (Elegy) drums, Stephan Lill (Vanden plas) guitars, Patrick Rondat (Jean Michel Jarre) guitars, Thomas Youngblood (Kamelot) guitars, and Gunter Wernö (Vanden plas) keyboards, just to name a few. The album was produced by Ian Perry and mixed by Tommy Newton (ex-Victory) who also worked recently with Helloween, Elegy, Kamelot and Ark. In addition, the inside booklet is excellent, providing all the info needed, (so is the press release that came along with the promo copy).
This is a conceptual album based on a quite interesting idea: a fictional world going out of control, which is saved by women (Neofems), who prevent men from destroying the planet. Their realization is a new peaceful world enclosed in a Biosphere, where Man (now referred as Monomales), have no part of this new order. But the strength of this album lies not only on the original idea, but also (and mainly) in the way of developing it as far as songwriting (most of the tracks were co-written by Perry along with some of the musicians involved) and playing are concerned. What first catches your eye (or ear in this case) is that, even though this is undoubtely progressive metal, there are no endless instrumental passages nor 12 minutes tracks with continous changes of key, tempo, etc. (no 6/8, then 12/16 and then a more usual 4/8 here). The songs are strong in themselves, all with their own identity yet well fitted on the main story, which means all of them could be potential singles, although sadly I seriously doubt this album will hit big within the mainstream metal scene. The sound is awesome, cristal clear, yet powerful. The atmospheres are extremely well achieved, getting you deep into the story, and the spoken intros in English, Dutch, German, French and Italian (hell, why did they forget about Spanish?) become almost unnecessary as the lyrics are more than enough to tell the story. I cannot point a single track as all of them are excellent, and the opening title track marks clear from the beginning what we can expect from this CD. The vocals are outstanding, and above all I would remark that Perry avoided too much screaming, as the really heavy, powerful tracks in the album would have tempted other singers to do. The guitar riffs are explosive, dense at times and always gorgeus. The solos are really well fitted into the atmosphere of the whole record. The rhythm section is as solid and tight as possible, and the keyboards deliver an overall mysterious feeling on most of the tracks, while on "Sentiment In Sanctuary" they become nicely melancholic.
Summing it up, a tremendous effort which will leave no one indifferent. Progressive with quite a lot of Power, mainstream heavy metal, even neo-classical (yet original) approaches at times, that flows effortlessly whether uptempo, double bass drum based heavy tracks or mid-tempo mellower songs. I could only describe the album as sophisticated yet not undecypherable. This is, by far, the best prog metal record I have listened to in years. They have managed to give each part of the story the most suitable climax, and this becomes a theatrical, futuristic drama. If only they could tour with this and have the right scenography on stage! Fear not by the mix of styles, as melody is the main thing here; that doesn't mean there's any AOR-related track here. No need for that indeed. Recommended for proggies with a hunger for new sensations, and for people who have a certain taste for fresh, innovative music. Not recommended for AOR, melodic rock die-hards fans.